Michael
¡°Good luck, little human.¡±
Michael opened his eyes, he felt groggy and confused. It was already bright in his room, and he was starving. Why did no one wake me, I am so hungry, he thought, his mind feeling like it needed some time to get going. He stretched his stiff limbs preparing to get out of bed and groaned at the tingly feeling.
¡°Well, look who is finally awake,¡± a soft voice sounded from his right.
Not recognizing the voice Michael''s head swung around, the sudden movement leaving him dizzy, and his headache came barreling in like a charging horse.
¡°Easy, little lord, you might need a minute.¡± The voice belonged to a woman, she was sitting on a chair right next to him, he had never seen her before, but he recognized her white priestly clothing.
¡°Who are you,¡± Michael asked, his voice rasping along his throat and causing him to cough.
The priestess took a cup and filled it with water before moving closer to him and helping him drink. Her bound golden hair virtually shone in the sun while she leaned over him. The water felt like pure honey going down his dry throat and he craved more but he wouldn¡¯t get it.
¡°My name is Sister Sola,¡± the priestess said calmly, ¡°I am taking care of you.¡±
¡°Why,¡± Michael said, not quite understanding the situation.
¡°You have been asleep for three weeks,¡± she answered his question, ¡°It is quite honestly a miracle that you are even alive.¡± She was now sitting on his bed beside him and watched him closely. ¡°Do you remember anything, like a dream or before you fell asleep or while you were in pain?¡±
Michael was silent, lost in his mind between the splitting headache and his racing thoughts.
Three weeks? That is impossible! If I slept so long, why am I this exhausted?
¡°Michael?¡± Sola looked at him with concern. She raised her hand to his forehead swiping aside his short brown hair. ¡°Are you okay, do you feel any pain, do you know where you are?¡±
¡°I have a headache, but it is not too bad.¡± He played off his pain and then continued, ¡°And I am at home, in my room¡±.
Sola''s expression changed to relief. ¡°Well do you remember anything,¡± she pushed her question from before.
¡°I had a dream that I was hurting so much, and I screamed, and many people were there and then it all just went black.¡± The words just spurted out of Michael''s mouth; his thoughts being lost in the pain again as he shuddered.
Sola looked at him with pity and explained, ¡°That was not a dream, did you dream anything else?¡±
Not a dream, he thought.
¡°I am hungry¡±, he said instead of answering her question.
She laughed, ¡°I would think so. Wait a second, I am gonna order you something.¡± She stood up and walked over to the big wooden door.
Michael felt weird, he couldn''t describe it, but he didn''t feel the same since he woke up. His mind was feeling like his body would after playing the whole day, but at the same time he felt clearer. A weird pressure had settled on his chest, and it was like he was a waterskin that had too much water in it.
His eyes scanned his room, it was rather empty, dominated by his bed, taking up most of the room. In the corner was a chest with his toys and a small closet on the opposite wall of the door.
Well, I am a child. What more do I need at my age, the moment this thought finished he was confused again. What kind of thought is that? He was then confused about that thought and continued running circles in his mind until Sister Sola returned from the door.
¡°The servants will bring you something shortly,¡± she said and sat back down on her chair. They waited in silence until the food arrived.
Michael devoured the meal with great enthusiasm and Sola asked him questions about his life, how he felt, and just random things.
After he had finished his meal, Sola moved back onto his bed and asked, ¡°Can I check something really quick?¡±
Michael nodded in agreement and the priestess put her hand on his chest. A yellow light began to shine from her hand for a second and then she removed her hand.
"You are a mage,¡± Michael shouted loudly in surprise. He had never seen a mage before, but he had been told many stories about the evil mages that would get him when he didn¡¯t want to go to bed.
¡°Yes, I am a priest mage of the Idas Church. You know of us, right,¡± she replied a little startled by his outburst.
¡°Uh, Father Albion and my nan said mages are bad,¡± Michael stuttered; he wondered if he should call for help.
¡°Well, I guess Father Albion should have also told you about the light and anti-mages serving the church and that those are the good mages,¡± she said while chuckling, ¡°but explaining something like that to a child is probably hard.¡±
This comment bothered Michael, he didn''t know anything about that, and his head got red from embarrassment.
Sola noticed his embarrassment and quickly said, ¡°I am sorry that sounded mean if you want, I can explain it to you another time, sadly our time here is over, and I have to leave for now.¡±
¡°Promise,¡± he asked.
She promised with a warm smile and then left his room. Michael was left alone with his thoughts, and they were picking up speed rapidly.
He had never really listened to the old Albion when he tried to tell him anything. This is going to change he told himself, I will learn everything that is to know.
Happy with this commitment he just made he began to drift back into the embrace of his warm bed, not even wondering about his sudden interest in learning and knowledge.
Sola
Sola was waiting in front of a wooden door for permission to enter. With the whole situation around Michael still on her mind, she fiddled with the golden half-sun brooch on her belt like she often did when deep in thought. The brooch symbolized her belonging to the Order of Purity, the mages within the church and it was her most prized possession. It was golden because she was a light mage and would be silver if she was an anti-mage.
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The door opened and a knight came through. He donned a chain mail shirt covered with the coat of arms of the House Rowan, two simple swords crossed on a red field. It was quite unimaginative if you asked Sola, but it got the message across quite clearly that this was a militant house.
The knight was an imposing figure, much taller than the 1,70 m tall priestess, and trained, his grey hair and beard disclosing his experience without diminishing his strong appearance. The two guards at the door were obviously standing straighter the moment the man entered the hallway.
He looked down at the priestess and said with a deep and cold voice, ¡°His lordship will now see you, sister¡±.
At their first meeting, Sola thought he had a problem with her, but she quickly learned that he was a hard man, an uncaring man. The only thing he did care about was his duty to his lord and as his chief guard, he mistrusted everyone.
The knight was the commander of the knights of the house Sir Godfrey Pyke and probably the strongest man in these parts of the land except for the lord of the castle of course. ¡°Thank you, Sir Pyke.¡± With these words, she followed the knight into the lord''s study.
It was a modest room, mostly filled with maps and a large table in the middle of the room and another smaller one at the end of it. An expensive-looking longsword was hanging on the wall, and Sola could feel the sword resonate with the ambient mana, but except for this, the walls were empty.
Even with the lack of decoration, the room didn''t feel empty, mostly because of the man behind the smaller table. He wasn''t as tall as Godfrey, but he had an aura of danger around him that exceeded even the huge knight¡¯s. The black hair and hard chin were probably aiding in his appearance even though his circle beard looked rather delicate for such a hard man.
¡°Lord Cedric,¡± Sola greeted the head of House Rowan with a small bow. His brown eyes fixated on the woman, following her every move as if she were about to do something terrible. She knew why he was on guard, for three weeks he had been waiting for someone to tell him that his son died, and such constant stress could make even the hardiest man a little paranoid.
Next to him stood his wife and Michael''s mother - the lady Mylia Rowan. She had a hand on Lord Rowan''s shoulder and looked similarly tense but had more eye rings than her husband.
¡°Your son has awoken,¡± the priestess started. Instantly a great burden seemed to be lifted off the parents and the room felt much more hospitable than before.
¡°How is he, I have to go see him.¡± Lady Mylia said with excitement and was already starting to move toward the door, but Lord Rowan stopped her. ¡°Slow down, let us hear everything first.¡± Then he turned back to Sola and motioned her to continue.
¡°He seems to be in some pain but ultimately alright.¡± Sola hesitated before finally saying, ¡°His condition was most probably caused by a magic affinity awakening, which was much more violent than normal¡±.
She saw the horror forming on Lady Rowan¡¯s face while the lord simply frowned at the information and quickly added, ¡°No need to worry though, I am quite sure that he awakened a light affinity, so there should be no problem. You should much rather see it as a blessing from Idas.¡±
Lord Rowan leaned back in his chair and seemed to ponder about the Priestess''s words, there was no doubt that he had at least some experience with mages. Lady Mylia asked, ¡°How certain are you?¡±
¡°Well, I did draw mana out of Michael, and it showed the typical glow of light-infused mana, so it has a high probability, but we will only know without a doubt once Michael uses it himself, or if you would like I could request an artifact from the church to test him.¡±
Lord Rowan shook his head, ¡°I trust your word for this. How do we proceed with this then?¡±
¡°That depends on what you want. You can send him to the church for training in magic, train him here or not at all,¡± Sola explained. ¡°The church would gladly take him in.¡± Her enthusiasm was overflowing, bringing back new acolytes for the order was a great achievement but she was to be disappointed.
¡°He will stay here,¡± Lord Rowan returned sternly, probably sensing her excitement.
¡°I would like to watch over him for the time being if you allow it, in case there are other problems,¡± Sola offered, undeterred by the count''s remark.
The lord waved his hand dismissively and replied,¡± As you wish sister. Stay as long as you see fit but make sure that if you talk about his affinity, you make it clear that it is light, I don¡¯t want rumors to form.¡± He then rose from his chair and Sola understood that it was time for her to leave. She excused herself with a bow and then left the room.
Michael
Michael''s dreams were filled with strange things, things he had never seen. Buildings tall as mountains, people dressed in strange clothing, and metal carriages fast as the wind. He couldn''t make any sense of what he saw and at the same time, he felt a certain amount of familiarity.
He heard a thundering sound and turned right, just to see one of the huge metal carriages charging him while he just stood there frozen. He tried to move but his body didn¡¯t listen to him and just before the carriage hit him Michael awoke with a gasp. Breathing heavily, he looked around, scared that the metal monster would follow him into reality, but he was alone in his room.
The pressure on his chest was still there but he felt like his mind was untangling, it was hard to describe the feeling. He put his hand on his chest and pushed a little but the pressure he felt was completely different than the one pushing outward from his body''s core.
A sudden knock scared the tense Michael for a second. After realizing what that knock was, he said, ¡°Come in,¡± while sitting up.
The door opened and in came a screaming child, followed by three more of Michael''s siblings. After a moment Michael managed to make out words in the yelling of his younger brother as the four-year-old tried to climb up on his bed, ¡°yu aweke!¡±
Finally, he found the wooden stairs, climbed up the bed, and threw himself on Michael. Michael was delighted by the clump of happiness and said, ¡°Hey there, Jona,¡± and hugged his little brother.
He diverted his attention to the other siblings. First was his half-sister Luciel kneeling on his bed and giving him a hug over Jona and said with a beaming smile, ¡°I am so glad you are alright.¡±
She was closely followed by the oldest, Matthias, who was also a half-sibling and the heir of the house. Both were in their teens at 15 and 13 years old and were a spitting image of their lord father with their black hair, brown eyes, and sharp features.
Matthias stood next to his bed and smiled quietly, seemingly content with silently witnessing the family moment.
Lastly followed by his older sister, Lira. She was two and a half years older than Michael and looked like a mix between the children of the first marriage and second marriage. Sharing her black hair with the half-siblings and the piercing green eyes of their mother.
She didn''t look too pleased with the situation and Michael was sure that she had been dragged along by her older half-siblings. Lira came to a stand next to the bed, crossed her arms in front of her chest, and said sarcastically, ¡°You gave us all a pretty big scare.¡±
Matthias gave her a disapproving look and wanted to say something, but Michael was faster, ¡°Yes, it scared me too but nothing I can do about that.¡± She was surprised about that reply as he normally would sheepishly apologize and never defend himself.
¡°Well, true,¡± she stuttered and scratched her arm nervously.
The four here weren''t his only siblings, he had a younger brother of one year too, and two older twin half-brothers, Harlov and Oska. He hated them and they hated him, so he wasn''t surprised that they weren''t here.
¡°Are mother and father here too,¡± Michael asked Luciel hopefully.
¡°They visited you earlier, but you were resting, and Father went out on a long patrol so he will probably be back in a couple of days,¡± Matthias cut into the conversation.
¡°Oh,¡± was the only thing Michael could think of saying. He had hoped that his father would be here when he woke up, but he was a busy man.
¡°So, what happened,¡± Luciel asked him excitedly.
¡°I don''t know honestly,¡± Michael answered lost in thought. ¡°I really don''t remember anything but the pain.¡±
¡°That was really horrifying, you were screaming as loud as you could for 15 minutes out of nowhere and then just fell asleep,¡± Matthias said while stroking his chin. ¡°But you got through it.¡±
Michael stared at Matthias, he was his idol, well after his father of course. Strong and cool and the perfect noble. Michael wished he could be like him once he grew up.
The siblings stayed for a while and played with him, told him what happened in the last weeks, and kept him company.
After they left Michael felt way better and even managed to stand up even though only for a moment and on shaky feet. He managed to stumble to the window after a couple of tries and pushed open the covers.
He breathed in the summer breeze and gazed at the surrounding landscape. In front of him stretched the lands of House Rowan, the wooden walls of the castle, and the town of Reen at its base and beyond the town large swaths of woods and plains, all bottled into a beautiful landscape by the horizon. He knew that if he looked in the other direction, he would see more wilderness and soon the mountains in the south and smiled.
This was his home and his future.
Chapter 3.
Michael
A week has gone by since Michael awoke from his coma. The days have been difficult, he had continually tried to walk further and when he failed, he was bored out of his mind. He had little to do in his room aside from thinking and the only thing keeping him sane were the visits of his siblings.
Today he was finally allowed to leave his room, but he had to always take a guard. The man following him wherever he went was a knight of the house, named Sir Lance. He was young, and probably just became a knight but he was Michael''s new guardian knight. Michael didn''t care though; he didn''t need a guard anyway.
Sitting in the courtyard watching the training of the squires, he appreciated the fresh air, the sun on his skin, and the show of martial prowess in front of him.
The commander of the knights Sir Godfrey was leading the training and to be honest he was mostly just beating the squires up. He was currently in a duel with a tall boy armed with a wooden shield and sword. He battered the shield with his two-handed sword and the squire could barely even keep on his feet.
He tried to counter after parrying a strike, but Godfrey was faster than any normal man should be and rammed his raised elbow right into the head of the squire. The boy stumbled back from the strike and couldn''t gain his footing before Godfrey delivered a kick against the wooden shield and the squire fell and hit the ground hard.
¡°Jeffrey,¡± the commander bellowed, ¡°You really have learned nothing, have you? You always try to take that thick skull of yours and head straight through the wall¡±.
Michael could hear Sir Lance shift uncomfortably next to him at the display, but Michael paid him no mind.
¡°I am stronger than you, have more experience than you, and I am an aura-level augmenter,¡± the commander continued tearing into the squire. ¡°How do you think a direct confrontation will go? I am really losing patience with you.¡±
¡°What is an aura level augmenter,¡± Michael asked Sir Lance.
¡°Aura level is the highest rank for an augmenter,¡± the knight answered.
¡°And what is an augmenter,¡± Michael followed up.
¡°A physical type of mana user,¡± Lance didn''t seem to be paying attention and just automatically answered.
¡°Sir Lance,¡± Michael said forcefully. The man seemed surprised at the tone and realized a second later what had happened.
¡°Milord?¡±
¡°Is there a problem with my questions or why are your answers this lackluster,¡± Michael scolded the knight.
Lance looked increasingly more confused at the whole situation and stuttered, ¡°No milord, I just ....¡± Michael cut him off and said, ¡°You didn''t think a child would understand?¡± He stared down at the knight, who seemed very uncomfortable with the situation. After a moment Lance seemed to wisen up and started to explain, ¡°Augmenting is one of the three forms of mana usage. It describes the practice of using mana to enhance one''s body and mind, like being stronger, faster, or having better reflexes. Everyone can use it but how well depends on the size of your mana well and your expertise.¡±
Michael was happy about the more thorough explanation and followed up with, ¡°What is a mana well?¡±
Lance was still standing in full attention while answering stiffly, ¡°The mana well is around your heart, and it stores all your mana while you don''t use it.¡±
Michael nodded and said, ¡°Okay, better,¡± then he turned back to the training. He could hear Lance exhaling like he had been holding his breath.
There is so much I know nothing about, Michael thought. Maybe I should ask Lance more questions.
He frowned at the thought of having to order him around to get sufficient answers and decided to look for someone who would be more enthusiastic about teaching him things. A moment later he realized what he had just done. The whole exchange was not really like him since when could he be so forceful? He frowned and was about the dive into the thought but stopped himself. It doesn''t really matter.
Michael stood up and turned back to his escort, who instantly tensed up the moment he did.
¡°Can you bring me to Father Albion, please, I don''t know the way.¡±
The knight gave him a slight bow and led the way. He brought him inside through the wooden hallways, past multiple guards in chain mail and servants hectically running around. Most took the time to show their respect for the young lordling in passing but for some reason, Michael didn''t like it.
Lance had to slow down a few times to allow the boy to catch up, but they finally arrived in front of a door, in one of the side corridors.
¡°This is the study of Father Albion, he is here most of the time as far as I know,¡± the knight said and stood at attention again. Michael inspected the knight for a moment, wondering if he was playing a joke on him, he then nodded and gestured to the knight that he would like to enter. Lance then knocked on the door and after a second a voice came from inside, ¡°Enter.¡± After Lance had opened the door Michael ordered him to stay outside and entered the room.
The room seemed small, with a couple of books and paper scrolls lying around. He had seen them before when Father Albion was teaching his siblings reading and writing. He once heard Oska say that books are the most horrible thing that had ever been created, one reason to like books to be honest if they make the life of the twins hell.
At a small and chaotic table sat an old man, wrapped in the clean white cloak of the priesthood. He had always scared Michael a little, his haggard face tended to throw frightening shadows but now he didn''t seem as frightening anymore to Michael. His fallen in eyes were following the young lord as he entered the room, judgment streaming from them, but Michael didn''t know why.
¡°You missed the last sermon,¡± he said, the disapproval clear as the day in his voice.
¡°I am sorry,¡± Michael replied distracted by the books which caused a weird amount of intrigue in him. He didn''t notice the old man frown at the disrespect and changed the subject, ¡°You are teaching my siblings, right?¡±
¡°That is right, I am teaching them reading, writing, math, and religious virtues,¡± Albion said, still fixating on the boy.
Michael bowed down to pick up a scroll. The priest shot up and shouted, ¡°Do not touch that, that is a valuable scroll containing the teachings of god and not a toy!¡±
Michael looked at him startled and took a step back. ¡°Why is a valuable scroll lying on the ground where anybody could just step on it,¡± Michael asked baffled.
Michael could see the old man getting more and more irritated by him, so he quickly tried to change the subject before he had any chance to irritate the man even more.
¡°I was just wondering if you could start teaching me stuff too, I would like to learn,¡± Michael said enthusiastically.
Father Albion was not so quick to forget his earlier remarks though and replied while staring at the boy, ¡°The first thing I would have to teach you is manners and respect it seems.¡±
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Michael just stood there keeping eye contact with the priest for a couple of seconds while thinking about the whole exchange, and then he said truthfully, ¡°I am sorry, Father Albion. I have shown you disrespect, and I apologize, ever since I woke up my mind seems to be somewhat unfocused. I would appreciate you teaching me, be it manners or everything else.¡±
After his explanation, he bowed to Albion and held that position while waiting for him to speak. The room stayed silent, after half a minute Michael rose and looked at the man to see why he hadn''t responded.
Albion was standing there as if he had suddenly become a statue, his eyes were wide open, fixated on Michael, his mouth pressed shut and he seemed to be trembling slightly. After Michael had risen, Albion''s right hand quickly moved to his sun pendant, and he started to whisper something.
¡°Are you alright,¡± Michael asked and took a step closer, Albion moved back at the same time and said with a shaking voice, ¡°You must leave here now, this is a holy place.¡±
¡°But I ¡¡±, Michael tried to argue but Albion shouted, ¡°NOW!¡±
Michael was startled by this and wanted to say something but then just shook his head, turned around, and left the room.
Hmm, what did I do, Michael wondered.
Sola
¡°He is not normal!¡±
Sola could hear the shouting before she even entered Lord Rowan''s study. Once inside she could also see who it was that was trying to convince Lord Rowan of something unnatural, it was the court priest of House Rowan, Father Albion. Sola couldn''t stand the priest, to describe him as conservative and superstitious would be an understatement and to have him as the teacher for the children of Lord Rowan was akin to a crime.
Other than the priest only Lord Rowan, Sir Godfrey Pyke, and Viscount Sygnus Telp were present. The viscount was the chancellor of Lord Rowan''s council of advisors and probably the second most powerful man in the Rowan domain. He was halfway through the room when she entered seemingly just arriving himself and turned his head to see who had entered behind him. He then greeted the priestess with a smile and a respectful nod.
Lord Rowan was looking relieved when he saw Sola enter, an expression she would have expected from the stoic man after the end of a battle and not because of a rambling priest.
¡°Milord, you have sent for me?¡± Albion turned around; it seemed he hadn''t noticed her arrival. He didn''t look pleased that he had been interrupted.
Might just be his face, Sola thought and shrugged mentally.
¡°Yes,¡± Lord Rowan answered, ¡°Father Albion has quite the accusation to share about Michael and as you have spent some time with him and are probably well educated in these fields, I wanted to hear your opinion on it.¡±
¡°Accusations? He is a six-year-old. What kind of accusations could you have against a boy,¡± she asked the priest sarcastically.
He was looking completely serious as always but seemed a little out of breath, he had probably tried to talk Lord Rowan into submission for some time already. He spat out with pure hatred echoing in his voice, ¡°The boy is a tenfold cursed demon child, may Idas give us strength to smite this foul spawn!¡±
Sola blinked once, looked at Lord Rowan, and then back, finally, she asked Albion, ¡°Are you kidding me?¡±
Sola waited for a moment for someone to tell her this was a bad joke. No one did, so she turned to Lord Rowan and said unbelieving, ¡°He is not serious, is he? That is complete rubbish, demon children are just a crazy fairy tale.¡±
¡°They exist,¡± Albion protested and took another deep breath.
Viscount Telp raised his hand before the court priest could start a sermon and said, ¡°Can someone please explain to me, in words I can understand and without too many mentions of smiting and god''s wrath, what exactly a demon child is supposed to be and why the timid Michael is supposed to be one?¡±
Sola quickly jumped in before the court priest could, and started to explain, ¡°Demon children are an old theory in some of the more superstitious parts of the Inquisition. The theory is that the soul of a child is pulled into the demon realm through his dreams.¡±
Lord Telp raised an eyebrow but didn''t say anything while Sola continued, ¡°Once in the grasp of the demons, the child will be tortured and broken until it submits to the demon. It will then be educated and trained in the art of seduction and manipulation and then sent back. Once returned the demon child will manipulate other children into doing evil or just do it itself.¡±
¡°Demon children form cults, murder their families, and slaughter the followers of Idas,¡± Albion added.
¡°To be honest the theory is really unclear about what demon children exactly do in the end,¡± Sola countered. ¡°They can do what we have described or become ruthless crime bosses or influential traders or a dozen other things.¡±
She then turned to Albion and said in a confrontational tone, ¡°And that is the main reason why this theory is not supported by the church, it is just a convenient explanation for people that are evil with which people can pull themselves out of the responsibility. Also, there has never been any case where a demon child could be brought to confession without explaining what a demon child is and how they are made.¡±
¡°The demon worshipers are more afraid of their masters than us,¡± Albion argued.
¡°What a convenient explanation but how do you explain to them admitting it after they have been explained to them what it is, the knowledge that we know makes them more afraid of us all the sudden?¡±
The priest wanted to reply something, but Lord Rowan stopped him and said, ¡°Okay stop. Please, Father Albion, explain your reasons why you believe Michael to be a demon child, you can argue after that.¡±
Albion cleared his throat and then began, ¡°Well, obviously my first indicator is his long sleep, I believe that this was the time when he was being broken and educated by the demons.¡±
Sola rolled her eyes and wanted to counter but a strict glance from Lord Rowan compelled her to keep silent for now.
Albion continued calmly, ¡°Secondly when he visited me today, I noticed that his whole character has changed, he is way too mature, he talks like an adult, and his eyes.¡± He shuddered. ¡°His eyes seemed to pierce through me, he completely changed, he suddenly asked me to start teaching him when only a few days before his unconsciousness he couldn''t care less. The last reason is the blatant disrespect he had for me and the holy scriptures when he visited me, but after I confronted him with it he noticed and instantly tried to pull back as if he tried to mask his behavior. That is not normal child behavior."
¡°Sister Sola what do you think,¡± Lord Rowan turned to her.
¡°Okay, first of all, his coma was most probably caused by a violent magic affinity awakening of ...,¡± Sola started.
¡°Ha, see! He already is starting his road to damnation,¡± Albion interrupted her with an arrogant smile.
¡°Father Albion, would you mind keeping your tongue in check, I didn''t interrupt you either,¡± she snapped at the priest, to which the man wanted to reply something, but Sola just kept talking. ¡°If you had let me finish you would have heard that he awakened the light affinity and I presume you will not suggest that the light mages are inherently evil,¡± Sola gazed at the priest, but he didn''t seem to want to say anything.
¡°In respect to the other two points, I also believe that Michael has changed from how he has been described to me before to how he acts when I was with him. In contrast to the honorable court priest, I do not believe that he was changed by demons or anything. It is not unheard of that people change after traumatic events, like a soldier losing his mind after a battle or a mother becoming suicidal after her children die. This also happens with children and from my experience is that children with hard lives tend to be more mature earlier than children with sheltered lives. I propose the explanation that due to the stress of the affinity awakening his mind had to mature at a rapid speed to survive.¡±
¡°That is complete rubbish, do you have any proof for this theory,¡± Albion said while throwing his hand up in disbelief.
¡°Well, there are enough examples in this world, that a person can change completely because of an event, but not that much proof for him being pulled into the demon realm,¡± Sola replied smugly.
Viscount Telp chuckled and said, ¡°I would agree with the sister on this point.¡±
Albion frowned and turned to Lord Rowan who had listened quietly and said, ¡°Milord, I suggest we call upon the Inquisition to send someone to ascertain the truth. We all here do not have the proper experience to pass an informed judgment.¡±
"Suddenly we don''t have the experience when you lose the argument. You seem very quick to change opinions. Were you also this quick in condemning Michael or did you take a little more time there," Sola''s anger began to break free.
Lord Rowan raised his hand signaling them to be quiet. He just sat there lost in thought. Sola had no idea what he would decide. She guessed that he loved his son, but he also hadn''t visited him since he had awoken so maybe he didn''t.
He then looked up at Father Albion and said, ¡°Request denied,¡± without further explanation.
¡°Milord, this is a risk for the family and maybe even the whole county,¡± Albion protested.
¡°I made my decision Albion,¡± he growled.
¡°I will still have to report this to the church,¡± the priest insisted.
Cedric Rowan rose from his chair and a sudden pressure fell on the room. Sola''s breathing got laborious, and she pushed mana into her body to defend herself from the pressure. Before anything could escalate Sola jumped in, ¡°Milord, I suggest both me and Father Albion write a report and send it to the holy mountain. From there the church can decide what to do.¡± The pressure immediately lifted, and Lord Rowan''s attention shifted towards her; after a brief moment, he nodded in agreement.
Albion didn''t seem happy with this and said, ¡°I will not have anything to do with him, so keep him out of my sermons and away from my study.¡±
¡°If that is the case, I will also request from the church for me to be placed here long term to guide and educate young Michael, which you will also probably not do, right,¡± Sola gave Albion a cold smile.
He shook his head in disbelief but didn''t say anything.
¡°Good, now that that is settled, I have work to do,¡± Lord Rowan said, his mood visibly foul.
Chapter 4.
Michael
The retainer dining hall was buzzing with life even at this early hour, the sun had just risen over the horizon, but Michael was already up and sitting alone enjoying his breakfast. His siblings were normally eating their meals in their rooms, but Michael was sick of being stuck in his boring room when there were so many interesting things to see. For example, the guards sitting behind Michael were talking about dire wolves down south getting more active with the end of summer.
¡°I heard there was even a dire wolf alpha sighted and that is why Lord Rowan himself went down there to hunt it down,¡± one of the guardsmen said.
¡°That''s rubbish, mate,¡± another man replied. ¡°You never see a two-skull monster evolve two times since the cataclysm.¡±
¡°Why would Lord Rowan go there otherwise, smart ass,¡± the first man grunted.
¡°Nobles like to hunt obviously,¡± he replied.
Michael was thinking about turning around and asking them what they were talking about but before he could do that Sister Sola sat down in front of him a plate in hand.
¡°Hello there, little Lord,¡± she greeted him with a warm smile.
¡°Hello,¡± he answered absent-mindedly as he tried to keep listening to the soldiers.
Sola didn''t give him a chance though. ¡°What are you doing here in this dining hall this is not a place where you normally find a noble and where is your escort.¡±
¡°No idea, he wasn''t there when I left my room and I really don''t like the main dining hall too many annoying people and I might run into the twins,¡± he shrugged.
The woman laughed and said, ¡°Well, by now Sir Lance is probably running around frantically looking for you but he won''t find you here I reckon.¡±
Michael shrugged again and frowned disappointed as the guards left their table, then he said kind of annoyed, ¡°I don''t need a guard anyway, so whatever.¡±
Sola looked up from her meal and said with a strict tone, ¡°Michael, that is not nice, he is there to protect you and if you don''t give him a chance to do so that is kind of your fault as well.¡±
¡°How is this my fault,¡± Michael protested.
¡°Did you tell him you would be up and about at this time of day?¡± Sola raised her eyebrow. ¡°You are already done with your meal and had to get here, and it is just a little after sunrise. Do you expect him to just stand guard the whole night on the off chance that you decide to get up early? He has other duties as well, you know.¡±
Michael got red, not because he was in the wrong but because he should have known better.
¡°You are right. I should go and find him,¡± Michael conceded.
¡°Don''t worry he knows where you are,¡± she said smugly. ¡°He found me first and asked me where you are and I decided that this can be a little lesson for you, good thing you accepted fault so easily or you probably wouldn''t have liked the next step.¡± She was actually looking a little scary right now and he asked with a slightly shaking voice, ¡°What was the next step?¡±
¡°Well, you will never find out,¡± Sola said winking at him and going back to looking friendly. ¡°Oh, I have some news for you.¡±
She took a bite from her bread and Michael got impatient, ¡°What is it?¡±
¡°I will be your personal teacher from today on, well if the church agrees,¡± she said with a big smile.
¡°Why,¡± Michael wondered. ¡°My siblings are being taught by Father Albion.¡±
Sola chuckled, ¡°You are special Michael, so you get special treatment.¡±
¡°Special? How¡±, Michael asked, he couldn''t think of anything that would make him special in comparison to his siblings and most certainly not to Matthias and he was also taught by Father Albion.
¡°You remember the day you woke up and a light shone from your chest?"
Michael remembered and he nodded.
¡°That was a test that proved that your mana has an affinity to light mana.¡±
¡°What does that mean,¡± Michael barely understood what they were talking about.
¡°It means you can be a light mage like me, and it makes you special,¡± the priestess looked him in the eyes.
Michael was horrified, mages are bad, and he was now one?
¡°This can''t be, I was always good, how can this be,¡± he started to tear up.
¡°Hey hey,¡± Sola reached over the table and grabbed his hand, she probably didn''t expect this reaction. ¡°Being a light mage is good, we are blessed by the god of light Idas.¡±
¡°Father Albion said all mages are evil,¡± Michael said with tears in his eyes.
¡°No, not all mages, I am going to explain it to you but don''t cry, alright,¡± the young priestess tried to console the boy.
Michael sniffed and nodded.
¡°Not that mature after all,¡± Sola said quietly while wiping away his tears, but Michael heard it.
After Michael had calmed down a little Sola began to explain, ¡°A long time ago there was a great war, humans fought the great evil of the demon realms. At the height of the conflict, many mages from the different schools betrayed the gods, and this led to the death of all gods but one, the one that remained was our god Idas and he survived because the mages of the light stayed loyal to the cause and their patron.¡±
Sola let the weight of the story hang in the room for a moment and then continued, ¡°This is the reason why light mages are exempt from the mistrust around mages in the eyes of the church - a special unit of anti-mages as well but that is a thing for another time - so you and I as light mages are also exempt from it.¡±
¡°So, there are different kinds of mages?"
¡°There are different kinds of mana and different ways to use them too,¡± Sola explained.
¡°What are they and how can I use mine and am I going to be as strong as Father,¡± Michael got excited with the prospect in front of him, all fear gone on a moment''s notice.
¡°You know what, let''s go outside then I can show you some things,¡± Sola smiled and stood up.
Michael followed the priestess through the hallways to the training square, the whole way imagining himself as a great warrior next to his father in battle. He had heard so many stories of his father''s accomplishments but never had he dared to think that he might join him on the field or even be helpful.
They reached the training square and Michael could see the men training but this time Sir Godfrey was nowhere to be seen.
Sola guided him to an open spot and turned around, ¡°I will explain the basics of mana and the three general ways to manipulate it. Later in your studies, we will go much more in-depth.¡± Michael didn''t feel good here, many people were watching them like they were some sort of circus, but he nodded.
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The priestess closed her eyes and made a circular motion with her hand and said, ¡°Mana is everywhere, around us inside of us in plants and animals even the ground. It is the central energy that connects us to the elements that define our world be they physical or more arcane.¡±
While she talked her hand pulled a dim silver afterimage behind it. ¡°This is mana, in its pure form mana will have a silver color associated with it.¡± - She flicked her hand and the string vanished - ¡°Now, mana can also take the properties of an element or concept of existence for example light.¡± Sola turned her hand palm up and a small ball of bright yellow light formed, ¡°The different types of mana are divided into two categories the elemental mana and the arcane mana.¡±
She closed her hand and the ball of light disappeared. Michael was mesmerized by the priestess''s magic as she took a wooden sword from the rack and began to draw on the ground while talking.
¡°The difference between the elemental mana and the arcane mana is that for the elemental mana, you need a personal affinity. You can work your whole life on trying to gain this affinity and you will never gain it. Arcane mana is different; through an understanding of the concept behind the type of mana you can learn it but the journey is hard and most won''t achieve anything,¡± while she talked her drawing began to take shape.
¡°The elemental paths are fire,¡± - she tapped on the symbol representing fire - ¡°water, air, earth, and lightning,¡± - tapping on each symbol arranged in a circle.
¡°These five are the basic elements and they are completed by the twin elements light and darkness.¡± Sola tapped on a sun and an empty circle both of which were drawn separately from the other elements.
Michael noticed that some people had interrupted their training and watched the lesson.
Sola turned to the second drawing. ¡°The arcane paths are more complex; they don''t have a simple element as their basis but a concept that defines our world. They are life, death, time, space, blood, and pure.¡±
She tapped the symbols this time they were far vaguer and drawn in pairs, with life and death, time and space, blood and pure next to each other.
¡°As you might have noticed these concepts are quite complex and the understanding you have to have to create arcane mana is very difficult to achieve.¡± Sola inspected her student and asked, ¡°Do you have any questions, was that too fast?¡±
Michael stood there in silence pondering and revisiting what he had heard and came to the conclusion that he had understood the basic outline the priestess had explained to him.
¡°I think, I understand. Every question I currently have would dive deeper than this explanation probably requires,¡± Michael answered.
A ripple went through the audience at his answer and Michael could even see some disturbed and doubtful faces.
Did I say something wrong, Michael wondered.
¡°Good.¡± Sola smiled. ¡°Quick learner, it seems.¡±
¡°Now we come to how mana is actually used,¡± Sola put the wooden sword aside and turned to the audience, ¡°If you are gonna listen make yourself useful, I need a volunteer with a reasonably sized mana well.¡±
She turned to Michael and said, ¡°Oh right nearly forgot a mana well is ...¡±
Michael jumped in and said, ¡°The mana well is the place where mana is stored in the body, right?¡±
Sola nodded and said, ¡°Very good, where did you learn that.¡±
Michael shone with the praise and said, ¡°Sir Lance explained it to me.¡±
Sola turned around back to the audience and a man had stepped forward as a volunteer and introduced himself with a respectful tone, ¡°Sir Geron, knight of House Rowan, sister.¡±
¡°Good, please get a training dummy that can withstand your manaless strike and a training weapon of your fancy,¡± Sola instructed.
She then turned back to Michael and began her explanation, ¡°The first and most common type of mana manipulation is the internal art called augmenting.¡±
Michael thought about telling her that he had learned about it as well, but he decided against it, he liked her explanation more.
¡°It is centered around moving your mana around your body and strengthening it in the process,¡± she turned back to Sir Geron. He was standing in front of a straw training dummy, a wooden sword in hand.
Michael inspected the knight, he looked strong and dangerous somewhat like a younger copy of Michael''s father with his black hair and brown focused eyes, but their faces were a different kind of hard.
¡°Would you do us the honors and hit that dummy as hard as you can without using mana,¡± Sola instructed the knight.
He nodded and lowered himself into a stance that Michael had seen often when watching the martial training. His body tensed up and he swung his sword with both hands. Like lightning, the sword hit the dummy and rocked it to its core, but it held.
¡°Very impressive,¡± Sola commented. ¡°Now do the same thing but use as much mana as you can.¡±
The knight complied, fell back into his stance, and prepared his strike. After a moment he stuck but this time the strike was barely visible. On impact, the training dummy gave way with a horrible cracking sound, and the upper part was sent flying.
Michael was so stunned by the display of strength that he didn''t recognize the voices of protest as a couple of bystanders had to dodge the flying target dummy.
Sir Geron turned around to the priestess and looked down at the training sword, it was just a stump, the rest of the blade gone. Without a care in the world, he went over to a barrel and threw the useless piece of wood in, it was already filled nearly to the top.
Sola clapped her hands once to regain the attention of her stunned student.
¡°Thank you, I think this example really hammered the point home, Sir Geron,¡± Sola thanked her volunteer. ¡°That would be everything for now.¡±
The knight made a small bow and returned to the audience.
¡°Augmenting can make you stronger, faster but also more resilient or heighten your reflexes but there are of course limits. The strengthening is based on the body, so if you are weak the strengthening will be weak,¡± Sola concluded.
¡°Now my favorite type of mana manipulation, magic. Magic is the manipulation of mana outside of your body, this is of course way harder to do as your control over your own mana lessens considerably the further away from your body it is.¡± Sola raised her finger and continued, ¡°The biggest difference between augmenting and magic is that in magic you have to make your intentions clear to your mana. You can cast without openly stating your intent,¡± - her fingertip began to glow- ¡°but only simple things and mostly with a connection to your body, as keeping your intent clear in your mind with all the thoughts and things that can distract you is hard."
¡°The real magic needs some kind of statement of intention, like an incantation or a ritual, let me demonstrate.¡± Sola closed her eyes and began to chant, ¡°God of light, follow me into darkness and illuminate the way forward. Guiding Light!¡±
In front of the priestess, three bright lights materialized. ¡°For now, it seems like I just made a couple of lights,¡± then she took a few steps forward and the lights moved with her. ¡°It is a simple spell; you can do much bigger things but the more complex the spell the more complex the show of intent.¡± The spectators watched on with interest, it wasn''t too often that you could see magic, especially in the open and while not fighting for one''s life.
Michael reached for one of the lights and his hand went clean through it. Sola smiled at this and continued, ¡°Magic is the most versatile version of mana manipulation and the one I will be teaching you.¡±
¡°With that, we come to the last form, artificing, the art of imbuing mana into an item and inscribing instructions upon it. This is rare and I honestly don''t know too much about the technical side of it but items that are built by them are called artifacts. They are very valuable as they can have magic or augmenting-like effects for the wielder or just be very sharp or durable,¡± Sola seemed a little put off by the fact that she couldn''t say more to this type. ¡°Questions?¡±
Michael thought about it and then asked, ¡°What is stronger magic or augmenting?¡±
All eyes fixated on the priestess as they awaited her judgment.
¡°That is a very volatile question to ask a mage when she is surrounded by augmenters.¡± Sola chuckled taking the tension out of the situation, and then continued, ¡°It depends, a mage can do more different things and is stronger on range normally but if an augmenter gets close it gets difficult. The problem with this thought experiment is that a mage normally has higher mana reserves as an augmenter, and he can also augment while an augmenter mostly can''t do magic.¡±
Michael could see some of the knights frown but Sir Geron stepped into the conversation, ¡°Milord if I might offer my experience on the matter?¡±
Michael nodded and the knight approached them.
¡°There is no clear answer to this question in my opinion,¡± Geron explained and kept his gaze on the priestess. ¡°Even though augmenters are pretty similar to each other, even when considering the effect that a mana affinity has on the augmenter, mages are complete wildcards. Every element is so different from the next, a fire mage might burn down the whole area and make it impossible to fight him but a water mage without much water access might be useless.¡±
Some of the older men nodded to the assessment as Geron continued, ¡°So the question is an augmenter or a mage stronger doesn''t lead to a satisfying answer, the question should always be is a certain augmenter type stronger than a certain mage type, and even what the circumstances are.¡±
Michael nodded eagerly and asked, ¡°Are you stronger than Sister Sola?¡±
Silence and awkward looks followed his question. Geron inspected the smaller priestess with serious eyes and finally said, ¡°I haven''t fought many light mages yet but generally their element is considered pretty useless in a fight except for trying to blind people.¡±
Eyes moved to the priestess to see her reaction, but she stayed calm and said, ¡°He is right, light magic is generally more of a supporting form of magic but of course, there are exceptions like the Master of the Order of Purity, Grand Master Gradel Thule.¡±
Geron nodded and said, ¡°True, there are always exceptions¡±.
Michael was bummed non the less, he had imagined himself standing next to his father ¡ how laughable.
Sola seemed to notice and announced, "Enough of magic, fighting, and all that stuff this lesson is over we are gonna head to my room next and see what you know already and start your general education."
She thanked Sir Geron again for his help and led Michael with a hand on his shoulder to the buildings. Some people were whispering with each other and gave Michael weird looks, much to his discomfort. On their way, Sir Lance joined them, and he didn''t look happy at all. Michael''s mood was at rock bottom now, he felt guilty and useless all over again.
Chapter 5.
Michael
The wind howled between the battlements, Michael tried to balance on a crate to get a good look at Reen below, but he just couldn''t get high enough. He was alone, Sir Lance had requested to be relieved from his duty and his request had been granted. It had been a couple of days but no new knight had been assigned to him and he didn''t know why.
I didn''t like someone following me around anyway, Michael thought somewhat bitter to himself while climbing down from the crate. He turned around and got a pretty good look at the wooden keep of the Rowan estate. A lot was going on as always, soldiers leaving and arriving from patrols, servants and workers running around, and always more training.
Michael didn''t like the hectic coming and going, he much preferred his lessons with Sister Sola. He smiled while thinking about it; there were so many interesting topics to learn about and Sola taught them with such vigor that Michael was enchanted. Once he mastered reading, he could read about faraway places and long-gone heroes, according to Sola at least.
He was still standing and watching from the wall when he heard multiple steps approaching him. When he turned his good mood vanished in an instant. The people approaching were the twin brothers, Harlov and Oska Rowan, Michael''s half-brothers, and their respective guardian knights.
¡°Hey there, you pest,¡± Harlov said with a big smile. He might look like he was kidding but behind the smile was cruel intent.
¡°Leave me alone,¡± Michael said and tried to move away but Oska grabbed him and pushed him against the battlements.
¡°We heard something really interesting about you, you freak,¡± he said, his fingers digging into Michael''s shoulders. Michael struggled against his grip, but the other boy was three and a half years older than him and much stronger. The knights were just watching, and Michael knew from personal experience that they would not help him.
¡°Let go!¡± Michael squirmed and struggled even harder, then the air was pressed out of his lungs by a strike to his stomach.
Michael coughed and Harlov said, ¡°Stay still, you demon-worshiping shit.¡±
¡°What are you talking about,¡± Michael pressed out between gritted teeth.
¡°We heard all about it, demon lover,¡± Oska growled while he grabbed Michael''s jaw and pushed him against the wall harder.
¡°I never expected different from your pampered kind, our mother was with father through the hard times, and you just leech off his status,¡± Harlov continued the hate speech of his brother.
Michael had heard it a thousand times already ¡ Father was an adventurer before he became a lord but after the rebellion, he gained a noble status for his exploits. His first wife was also lowborn and died giving birth to Harlov and Oska and Michael''s mother married Lord Rowan after that, she was a noblewoman. Harlov and Oska loved to pride themselves in the fact that their mother loved their father for who he was and accused Michael''s mother of just marrying for status.
Michael gritted his teeth, he could never stand up to them, he was alone, and they would just hit him harder if he did, so it was better to just take it.
¡°Do you really think we are gonna let you bring ruin over our family?¡± Oska got close to his face and laughed. ¡°How about we toss you down the wall so that you won''t be a disgrace anymore? Isn''t that what you want, not to be a burden, a scared little vermin that father doesn''t even pay attention to when he is dying.¡±
Tears rolled down Michael''s face, they knew his weak points because they were the source for most of them but still, he kept silent.
Oska''s face warped with anger, and he dragged Michael to the edge of the wall. Michael began to panic, he struggled against the older boy but to no avail. He could already see the gaping edge and he knew that it was about to be over.
¡°Milord,¡± one of the guardian knights said in a pleading tone. ¡°Your father won''t let this slip.¡±
¡°Shut up,¡± Oska screamed at the knight and went his way until Harlov stopped him. ¡°Don''t be stupid, Oska, we can''t just kill him.¡±
Oska scoffed and threw Michael back against the battlements. He crashed into the wood hard, but relief washed over him nonetheless; he was sure Oska would have done it.
¡°But we can hurt him so that he won''t be able to do anything against the family,¡± Harlov continued with a sadistic grin.
He then strolled over to Michael who was just standing up and put his hand on Michael''s shoulder. ¡°Try not to scream too loudly,¡± he said with a voice that could nearly be mistaken as caring and then he took a swing at Michael.
He hit Michael squarely on the side of his head and he went down again.
Why, why, why are they always like this, Michael thought, I never did anything to them and still they treat me like this.
His face was burning, and his sight was obscured by tears, then out of nowhere a thought occurred to him, it didn''t feel like his own thought at all but someone else''s, do you really want to get hurt more? Do you just want to take it? Is this how your life is supposed to be? No, it shouldn''t.
Harlov had backed away laughing and saying something incomprehensible to his brother, then he stepped forward and kneeled in front of Michael.
¡°You are pathetic. Where is your warrior spirit? There is no way you are Father''s child! What about it bastard, do you agree, you don''t even look anything like father,¡± Harlov taunted him to the laughter of his brother.
Enough, at that moment Michael pushed forward with all his strength and smashed his head into Harlov''s face. The boy fell back on his behind in surprise and pain, his nose was pressed in and bleeding.
¡°ENOUGH,¡± Michael bellowed while getting on his feet.
He then jumped onto the still-sitting Harlov and began to pummel at his face with everything he had. Hitting and scratching, screaming while he did so, ¡°I WILL NOT BE YOU PUNCHING BAG, I WILL NOT BE YOUR VICTIM!¡± Harlov had fallen onto his back from the onslaught, trying to protect his face.
It took a couple of seconds until Oska''s slow mind had comprehended what even was happening but then he tackled Michael off his brother. Oska grabbed his arms and tried to pin him down. Knowing he wouldn''t win a contest of strength; he rammed his knee up between Oska''s legs. With a soundless wail, Oska rolled to the side writhing in pain and holding his crotch.
Michael was quickly back on his feet and jumped in the direction of the still-shocked Harlov, who just got back on his feet. For just a glorious moment Michael could see fear in his hated brother''s eyes, he felt powerful, but his joy was short-lived as mid-jump a strong arm intercepted him.
The air was pushed out of Michael as he collided with the knight''s arm. Even before Michael even knew what happened he was pinned on the ground. Above him he could hear the panicked voice of one of the knights, ¡°Are you fucking crazy, Dittrich?¡±
¡°Calm down,¡± another adult voice answered calmly.
¡°Calm down? Calm the fuck down? You just attacked the lord''s son, he will have both our heads for that,¡± the panicked knight lamented.
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¡°I am a guardian knight, I had to protect my ward, his lordship will understand just fine.¡±
¡°You will pay for this,¡± this time he knew the voice even if it was a little muffled, it was Harlov. A moment later a searing pain shot through his head, and it was rocked to the side.
Well at least I gave it a good try, Michael thought as his consciousness began to fade. At least they can''t question my warrior spirit anymore. He closed his eyes and mentally prepared for the beating of a lifetime.
¡°HEY!¡±
What was that? A voice? I know that voice, but it doesn''t belong in this situation.
He was still waiting for the pain when the threatening voice returned, ¡°Get the hell of him or you will regret it.¡± Michael opened his eyes and tried to make out the source of that voice that he couldn''t place.
¡°Stay out of this or YOU will regret it,¡± Dittrich snapped back.
¡°I most certainly have nothing to do with this,¡± the panicked knight jumped in.
¡°Shut up,¡± the calm voice wasn''t so calm anymore.
¡°I will cut you in half and drag the site with more brain to his lord''s feet if you do not release the boy right now,¡± even in pain and confusion, this threat send shivers down Michael''s spine. He now could see a pair of brown boots and grey pants, he was certain, that was the origin of the new voice.
Finally, the weight got lifted off Michael''s back and he took a deep but hurtful breath. He then scrambled to get on his feet. Sir Geron stood there, sword in hand and a hard expression on his face.
He signaled Michael to move to him, and after a painful second in his cloudy mind, he got the meaning and walked over.
¡°Are you alright,¡± Geron asked him with concern in his voice.
As if the question was a signal Michael emptied his lunch on the ground but after that, he said between heavy breaths, ¡°I''m fine ¡ I''m fine.¡±
He was most certainly not fine.
He wasn''t too sure on his feet and leaned on the knight for support. He could feel a hand on his shoulder aiding him and closed his eyes.
¡°And you call yourself a knight, intervening in a children''s fight,¡± Geron growled.
¡°I protected my ward as any good knight would,¡± Dittrich said, even though he couldn''t see it Michael could hear the arrogant smile.
¡°From a six-year-old? What kind of a knight are you,¡± Geron''s voice was tense.
¡°Look at Lord Harlov,¡± Dittrich yelled. ¡°His nose is broken, scratches and bruises everywhere. This little demon spawn should be put down like the vermin he is. We all know he is a demon child; we should get rid of him while we can. No wonder no knight wanted to be his guardian knight.¡±
No one. No one wanted to protect me, no one is on my side.
Michael felt worthless and helpless, maybe he should just die.
¡°I really can''t stand children,¡± Geron''s voice echoed in Michael''s head.
He also hates me. Why do I even try anymore?
¡°But a six-year-old that can thrash two ten-year-olds might actually be to my liking,¡± Geron proclaimed. ¡°So, from today on until my service ends in completion, death or dishonor I shall be the guardian knight for Lord Michael of the House Rowan.¡±
Michael was shocked and opened his eyes just in time to see the arrogant smile of Sir Dittrich vanish.
Geron then turned to Michael and gently put him against the wall with the words, ¡°Wait here a second, milord, I have a score to settle in your name if that is alright.¡±
Michael could only weakly nod and fazed in and out of consciousness.
He could only remember glimpses of what happened next, a slash here and a dodge there but he quite vividly saw how Sir Geron - his knight - body slammed Dittrich down the inner side of the wall.
Then darkness followed.
Geron
Geron was standing at full attention, right after the incident on the wall he had brought Michael to the priestess. Even before Sola had even finished inspecting his injuries Sir Godfrey and two knights had arrived to take him away. Now he was standing in the audience hall listening to the father of that pipsqueak Dittrich complaining to his lordship.
Lord Rowan was sitting on the podium and looked frighteningly interested in the matter. Normally he didn''t care much for partitions or fights as long as no one was dead but this time he listened with interest.
They were not alone in the room, many knights, the nobles that had a residency in Reen or were in the castle were there, along with the council and most of House Rowan, except the two youngest boys, Michael and Harlov. Lady Rowan was sitting next to her husband and looked like she was about to rip someone''s head off.
¡°I want him stripped of his knighthood and thrown on the street,¡± Baron Redric Plon, Dittrich''s father, demanded. "He attacked my son, broke his hand, and pushed him down the wall.¡±
¡°He will survive, an augmenter can take that bit of damage,¡± Lord Rowan replied calmly. ¡°I would much rather hear what caused this fight in the first place?¡±
¡°My son only did ...,¡± Lord Plon began but was quickly cut off by the raised hand of Lord Rowan.
¡°Please, you weren''t present and have made your point very clear already. Geron,¡± and he turned his gaze upon the knight. He instantly felt like a deer being circled by a wolf, a feeling that only few could cause on the stalwart knight of Rowan. Geron thought back on how he had gotten himself into this situation and began explaining.
He was standing on a tower on the wall on guard duty like all younger knights had to do from time to time and heard a commotion on the wall beneath him.
Geron moved over to see what was happening and saw the twins beating up Michael again. This wasn''t too much of a rarity and had nothing to do with him, so he didn''t care too much. He had learned from a young age that those who don''t fight for themselves can''t be helped anyway.
Before he could turn away though he witnessed Michael headbutt Harlov and he couldn''t help but laugh. The knight then continued to watch the scuffle as Michael began to beat up the confused older boys.
¡°That is when the knight Sir Dittrich Plon¡± - Geron pointed at the injured knight, present even with his injuries on Lord Rowan''s command - ¡°stopped Lord Michael mid-attack and pinned him down harshly."
¡°He was attacking my ward, what was I supposed to do,¡± Dittrich protested, and instantly after he hissed in pain.
¡°It is okay for two ten-year-olds to beat up a six-year-old but once he fights back the adults have to weigh in, that is pathetic,¡± Geron returned.
¡°Let''s conclude for now that this was just a fight between children and you both escalated it,¡± Lord Rowan interjected.
¡°Just,¡± Lady Rowan exclaimed and looked at her husband. ¡°These boys have been tormenting our children for years now. Especially Michael, and he is the unconscious one. How long until they finally kill him?¡±
¡°Good riddance,¡± Oska said to himself, he was still standing a little leaned forward, but he wasn''t quiet enough.
¡°What did you just say,¡± Lady Rowan snapped at the boy. ¡°You spiteful little ...¡±
¡°Mylia¡±, Lord Rowan said in a commanding tone. ¡°Kids fight, it makes them stronger. Don''t you see? Michael finally fought back; he stopped being just a pushover.¡± Lord Rowan leaned back with a satisfied expression. ¡°I don''t think that shielding Michael would have ever achieved that. Now he can become strong enough to defend himself.¡±
Lady Rowan was lost for words and stared at her husband.
¡°That concludes with the business of the children fighting but not why two of my knights brawl it out on the walls and certainly not why a knight of House Rowan dares to put his hands on a member of the house.¡± His good mood seemed to vanish in an instant and a cold shower went down Geron''s back. ¡°I don''t appreciate my knights behaving like drunken fools,¡± Lord Rowan said loudly and with a threatening tone. ¡°If you have scores to settle you, do it in the training ring or I will personally remind you why rules exist.¡±
Geron knelt, not entirely out of his own volition but forced by the immense pressure coming from the count.
¡°I will let it slip this time, as I am in a good mood. Dittrich seemed to have been punished enough for laying a hand on Michael and Geron defended his ward. There won''t be a next time,¡± the lord finished his sentencing. Once the pressure vanished, Geron rose still shaken from the experience when Sister Sola approached.
¡°Sister,¡± Lord Rowan greeted the priestess. ¡°How are they doing?¡±
¡°Mostly only bruises on Michael, but the hits to his head have left him a little confused, Milord. He will be fine, I think. Harlov has a broken nose, also bruises, and scratches on his face but he too will be fine,¡± Sola replied politely but Geron was sure something was searing under that facade.
Lord Rowan laughed. ¡°He really came out pretty good for his first fight.¡±
¡°Tsk,¡± Lady Rowan stood up and left.
Lord Rowan watched her leave and then also rose. ¡°Seems we are done here.¡±
Michael
Michael awoke to his mother sitting beside him on his bed stroking his hair. It felt nice the warm embrace of his bed and motherly love.
¡°Mother?"
¡°Hey there, little warrior,¡± she said gently. ¡°I heard you were really brave today.¡±
¡°Where is Geron,¡± Michael asked while blinking the sleep away.
¡°He is outside.¡± Another voice, Michael turned his head and there he was, the towering figure of his father, standing at his bedside.
He had never visited him while he was recovering from anything, to be honest, they had rarely spent much time together at all.
¡°Father,¡± Michael was surprised.
¡°You fought bravely, my son. I am happy to see that you seem to have found your will to fight for your place,¡± Lord Rowan continued.
Tears of happiness welled up in Michael''s eyes, but he held them back as well as he could. He had never been praised by his father, was fighting back all that was necessary? Lord Rowan then nodded to himself and turned around to leave.
¡°Father,¡± Michael said and sat up, he turned around and inspected his son. ¡°I want to learn how to fight, how to protect myself.¡±
He crawled out of his bed, much to the dismay of his mother but he ignored her protests. He stood there in front of his father and proclaimed, ¡°I am done being weak, I am done being afraid.¡±
In most situations, the picture of a six-year-old saying these things would be comical but not here, not now.
With a wide grin on his father''s face, he said, ¡°Good, your training with Geron starts tomorrow. I hope you can take it¡±. With those words, he turned around again and left the room. Michael just stood there revitalized by what just happened.
Chapter 6.
Michael
Michael was awake hours before his morning lessons with Sola, he was just too excited for the day to sleep.
He imagined himself heroically fighting monsters at his father¡¯s side and got even more excited, there was no way that he could ever fall back asleep like this.
He rolled out of bed and slowly made his way through the dark room to the small table that he had requested. It was much more his size than all the other tables in the castle and he appreciated not having to climb around to get on the chair.
Once at the table, he looked for the candles and lit himself a light. He watched the candle flicker; it was as if it was alive.
If I already could use my magic I wouldn''t need a candle, he thought. He stared at his hand and imagined a small light popping up, but nothing happened.
He hadn''t expected something different. Sola had said, even being able to make a light on purpose at his age would be incredible. It seems that children don''t have too much control over their mana if they are not trained and most magic they use comes from emotion and is uncontrolled.
He pondered about how it would feel to use magic and then noticed that he had to redo the symbols he had just written, they were sloppy and not perfect at all. Michael refocused and continued his self-study until the break of dawn.
It was time for breakfast now, so he left his room, in front, he found Geron, ¡°Good morning, sir.¡± He hadn''t talked to the knight yesterday because his mother didn''t allow him to leave his bed anymore.
¡°Milord,¡± the knight answered with a bow.
¡°I wanted to thank you for your help yesterday, it means a lot to me.¡±
¡°Those who try to help themselves deserve to receive help,¡± Geron replied with a neutral tone.
Michael was nervously fidgeting as he said, ¡°You didn''t have to become my guardian knight though if you don''t like children.¡±
Geron made eye contact with him. ¡°My pledge was a spur-of-the-moment decision; I am ready to admit that, but I regret none of it. Always remember that it was not only me who made an oath on the wall, you swore to never be a victim again, and as long as you keep your oath I will look forward to my service.¡±
Michael got red in the face; he didn¡¯t know that the knight had heard him. He corrected his posture, suppressed the fidgeting, and slapped his face with both hands, ¡°You are right, I need to grow up.¡±
Geron laughed at that wholeheartedly. ¡°You have some time for that.¡±
They made their way to the retainer dining hall for breakfast and on the way, Michael asked, ¡°Today will be our first training, what will we do?¡±
¡°As your body probably will need a little more rest, we will start with what I will be teaching you in the future and get started on your augmenting training. Being able to use your mana will greatly improve your healing rate and the time we can spend on each training set before you get tired.¡±
Michael was already excited but tried to keep a composed exterior as he had seen from the knights and his oldest brother.
He noticed on the way that many servants and guardsmen were seemingly concerned when seeing him, while many knights and nobles he came across were looking at him with open hostility.
When he looked at Geron with questioning eyes, he explained, ¡°Word has already traveled that you beat up the twins, they are spinning the story so that they appear the victims. The rumor that you are a demon child doesn''t help either.¡±
Michael had asked his mother what a demon child was the prior night and after a little digging she had finally budged and explained it to him.
From there on he tried to ignore the looks and greet people he came across with a friendly smile. He wouldn''t be pulled down by this. Arriving in the dining hall they sat down at an empty table after Michael had insisted on Geron joining him for the meal.
¡°Sir Geron, would you mind telling me about yourself, as my guardian knight I would like to know more about you,¡± Michael asked the knight.
¡°There is not much to know, milord, I am a lowborn of the County of Emall, your father''s second county. I lived my life in a town there on the street, as my parents couldn''t feed me. When I was ten, I always hung around the militia, like helping out and cleaning gear for some food,¡± Geron was stoic even while laying his bleak childhood in front of his lord.
¡°At fifteen the town came under threat by bandits and the militia couldn''t deal with it, so they called for help. Lord Rowan came personally and led the hunt for the bandits. I followed the hunting party, joined the fight, and managed to impress your father. He took me with him, and I became a squire and then a knight and now we are here.¡±
¡°I didn''t know there were commoner knights.¡±
¡°It is not a popular fact, but Lord Rowan wants the best to be his knights and because he himself was a commoner before, he doesn''t care about one''s birth,¡± Geron watched Michael''s reaction.
Michael thought about it for a while and then concluded, ¡°That is smart, talent doesn''t depend on birth, right?¡± With an approving smile, the knight agreed, and they finished their meals.
After breakfast, they went to Sister Sola''s room for his magic training in the morning.
¡°Good morning,¡± Sola said when Michael entered her room and sat down at the table. She also greeted Geron before closing the door in his face with a cheeky smile.
¡°Today we will start putting theory into practice, it is not going to work out right away, but you will need to learn to connect to your mana well. Sir Geron will continue this training later, as it is vital for both augmenting and magic,¡± Sola explained.
She moved her chair in front of his and looked him in the eyes. ¡°Close your eyes and feel your heartbeat.¡±
He followed her instruction and breathed deeply.
¡°Focus on it and now try to focus on the same place but go deeper.¡±
Deeper? He tried to focus harder but that didn''t change anything. ¡°How do I go deeper?¡±
¡°Don''t talk, just focus on your heartbeat and imagine going deeper into yourself,¡± Sola whispered.
Michael frowned and listened to his heartbeat.
¡°Follow the sound. Let your mind wander, it will be drawn to the center, drawn to the light,¡± her voice so weak that Michael could barely hear her over his own heartbeat. He sat there, breathing, and listening, then he fell.
His world was a heartbeat, in the far distance a light, he felt his body pulsing and he was blind and deaf to everything but his inner workings.
Suddenly a touch dragged him back into reality and he nearly jumped off his chair. Sola was sitting in front of him with her hand on his arm.
¡°Why did you do that, it was working ... I think,¡± Michael complained.
¡°You were sitting there like that for half an hour,¡± Sola said with a knowing smile.
¡°What?¡± Michael had felt like it had been a minute or two.
¡°Actively trying to find your mana well before you do it on instinct is hard work and the mind loses itself in the depth of your undeveloped astral body, but don''t worry it is not dangerous and your mind would find its way out. That said, it is beneficial to leave this state of meditation regularly to reflect on the progress and put the goal back in mind.¡±
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That sensation of peace and quiet still hanging in the back of his mind, he nodded. He could imagine himself staying in that state for hours and forgetting to progress.
¡°It is normal that you don''t find much on your first try, your mana well is probably still small and dim, so give it time,¡± Sola added when she noticed Michael being distracted.
Michael blinked himself out of his thoughts and said, ¡°I saw a light.¡±
Sola frowned and tilted her head to the side, ¡°Are you sure?¡±
Michael nodded this time with more vigor.
¡°That is odd, normally for a child your age, your mana well should be so small that it is hard to find.¡± Sola seemed lost in thought. ¡°So, either you have an extraordinarily large mana well for your age, you are a protegee in finding it on your first try, or you got really lucky.¡±
Michael quietly sat there and listened to his teacher think out loud. She then stood up and began looking around, taking a book, and skimming over it before putting it down and taking the next.
Michael used that time to look around, he had been in here often in the last few weeks, but he never had the time to properly look around.
The room was simple, a bed, a wardrobe, and two tables, the big one he was currently sitting on and a small one where Sola was keeping her collection of books.
The book collection was rather small in comparison to Father Albion''s, comprising only six books but the biggest was probably more expensive than most of the ones that Albion had.
Sola had told him in one of his first lessons that the biggest of the books was a magical grimoire, that she had copied by hand in her time back at her order. It comprised proven magical rituals and magical phrases, that are used by the mages of the church. The others were smaller books of varying topics.
She came back to the table. ¡°Well, I have no definite answer but let''s just continue for now, we will probably find out sooner or later.¡±
They continued their training, but he couldn''t get closer to his mana well, no matter how much he tried.
At noon they concluded their lesson and Michael met with Geron in the training court for martial training. The knight had put down his armor and prepared a training dummy and wooden weapons.
Michael wore a simple shirt and pants, that he had ordered from the servants. He felt way more comfortable in these than in the fancy clothes his mother made him wear.
¡°Good. You are here,¡± Geron said while resting the wooden sword on its tip. ¡°First of all when we are at training you will not be my superior, I am your teacher and you will do as I say, or we can stop right now.¡±
¡°Understood,¡± Michael replied with fervor.
¡°Alright, you seem to be motivated. Sister Sola told me that you would start your actual mana manipulation training today.¡±
Michael nodded.
Geron cleared his throat he seemed kind of unsure of what to say. ¡°This training will be split into two parts, weapons training, and augmenter training. We will start with the sword as this is the preferred weapon of the house, but we will cover axes, bows, lances, spears, maces, and many more that you might need to know. I will also teach you some principles of unarmed combat but most of the practical training will wait until I find an opponent that is more in your capabilities.¡±
Michael nodded along dutifully.
¡°The second part of augmenting will at first be the same as Sister Sola''s training, we can''t proceed as long as you can''t reach your mana well. After that, we will use the resting periods between physical training for you to train moving mana through your body to teach you more control over it. Also, we will work on your astral body itself to allow you to move higher quantities of mana at greater speeds, this will be important for you to break through to the second stage of augmenting.¡±
He inspected his ward and asked, ¡°Any questions?¡±
¡°No,¡± Michael quickly said while shaking his head.
Geron then gave him the wooden sword, ¡°There are many different kinds of swords this one is called a long sword, ...¡±
They continued for the next hour with Geron explaining in great detail the differences and uses of the several sword types. After that, he showed Michael the basic starting stance, followed by mana training.
After four hours Michael was pretty beaten, his body had not been strained a lot today, but his mind was being taxed by the information and mana training.
The last stop of the day would be Sister Sola''s general education lessons. He was trying hard to keep his concentration while Sola let him memorize the heraldic of important houses of the Kingdom, but he failed miserably.
¡°House Markon,¡± Sola quizzed him.
¡°Two horses on a green field,¡± Michael said, sounding more like a question than a statement.
¡°That is House Tyr,¡± Sola closed the heraldic book that she had borrowed from the castle. ¡°Let us do something else you are not able to concentrate at the moment¡±.
¡°I can do it,¡± Michael protested firmly. He would show everyone what he could do, he had promised to not be weak.
¡°Michael, you need to get used to this training regime and it doesn''t help us anything to continue with this, so we will do history, where you can just listen,¡± Sola shut down his protests.
¡°Can you tell me the story of the rebellion then,¡± Michael budged.
¡°Puh, alright let''s see,¡± Sola leaned back on her chair and tried to remember the story.
¡°It was 16 years ago that the king of the former Twin Mountain Kingdom that ruled these parts died. He was a good king with terrible sons and so he named his daughter his heir,¡± Sola looked lost in thought.
¡°A woman ascending the throne didn''t bode so well with his sons and many nobles and as one would expect a bloody civil war erupted. The daughter and two sons proclaimed themselves king of the large kingdom and they went about their business in a brutal fashion,¡± she stopped for a second.
Michael used this pause to ask excitedly, ¡°And Father fought for one of them?¡±
She shook her head and continued, ¡°The civil war was already raging for one year with not much progress and mostly raiding and destruction.¡±
¡°King Johann Merland, a duke back then, rallied the nobles of our part of the realm as a fourth faction to gain independence from the Twin Mountain Kingdom. Your father was a friend of Lord Johann back then as far as I know and his personal guard, he was granted peerage and his two counties for his contribution.¡±
¡°Father must have been a great warrior,¡± Michael grinned.
¡°He even got a nickname since back then, the beast of Lionsgate.¡±
¡°Woah, what did he do for that, I want a cool nickname too,¡± Michael was in awe and sitting on the edge of his chair.
¡°Hahaha, you will have to ask him yourself for that story I wasn''t there either,¡± Sola seemed to be back to her joyful self.
¡°What happened to the rest of the Twin Mountain Kingdom,¡± Michael inquired.
Sola''s face was shrouded back into sadness. ¡°They continued to murder each other for five more years after King Johann''s formation of the Kingdom of Telios. In the end, it was senseless, and the Twin Mountain Kingdom broke apart into many small kingdoms.¡±
¡°Why are you so sad,¡± Michael was concerned about his mentor.
¡°Many died back then and that is sad,¡± she smiled at him and hid her emotions better.
They continued their lesson, skimming over different historical events until their time was over.
In the evening Michael went to the great hall for a family dinner.
The hall had a large fireplace on the wall that filled the room with warmth. The rest of the walls were filled with several trophies, some heads, some parts of beasts, and other broken shields or ripped banners.
In the center of the room was a long dining table, made from dark wood lined by sturdy-looking chairs.
Michael seemed to be the second to last to arrive, Lord Rowan being the only one nowhere to be seen. He made sure to stay away from his twin brothers and joined Matthias, Luciel, and Lira.
¡°Hey there, little brother,¡± Lira said with a smirk. ¡°Heard you whooped some ass yesterday.¡±
¡°Lira,¡± Luciel admonished her little sister with a frown. ¡°Those are not very ladylike words, are they?¡±
¡°Oh, my apologies,¡± Lira replied overly dramatically. ¡°My fair ears have picked up a rumor of the honorable duel, where you, good sir, heroically whooped some ass.¡±
Even Luciel couldn''t keep in a little chuckle as the brothers grinned widely. ¡°Lira is probably the least ladylike of all four of us,¡± Matthias pointed out while laughing.
He then gave Michael a pat on the shoulder. ¡°Harlov should be thankful, I think his nose now is actually an improvement, good job.¡±
"Can''t get beaten up forever, can I,¡± Michael was delighted by the support of his favorite siblings.
¡°And next time you can just blast them with light magic,¡± Matthias added. ¡°I am so jealous.¡±
Michael got a little self-conscious, ¡°I just started my training so I can''t do anything yet.¡±
¡°All in its due time, I heard only good things about your effort from Sister Sola,¡± Luciel smiled warmly. ¡°She is a sweet person.¡±
At that moment Lord Rowan entered the room and everyone began to move to their seats. Food was served shortly after, the dinner was venison, potato, and some vegetable stew with bread and wine or beer.
It was delicious, Michael had eaten in the servants'' hall for the last few weeks, so he hadn''t been able to get this kind of food for a while, so he enjoyed every bite.
Father had begun asking his children one by one what they were up to the last couple of weeks. That was probably the main reason he insisted on these dinners from time to time.
Toward the end of the meal, he finally got to Michael. ¡°So? How was your first day of training?¡±
¡°Exhausting, but I learned much, I can already see the light of my mana well, even though I can''t reach it yet,¡± Michael reported with excitement.
Lord Rowan nodded, he looked surprised. ¡°Already? Very good, keep it up and you will be a mighty knight one day.¡±
A warm feeling of pride flowed through Michael, strengthened by the fact that Oska and Harlov looked upset.
After all the children had made their report, they finished their meal in silence.
Father then leaned back his expression serious. ¡°The times are changing,¡± the ominous words guaranteeing the attention of everyone.
¡°A couple of days ago word came from the holy mountain, the church¡¯s scholars agree, that the mana levels have started rising again.¡°
Mana was in everything, even the air but it isn¡¯t always the same strength, Michael remembered the lesson on the cycle. The mana cycle was like the seasons, like summer and winter, Mana could be very high in the air or really low, and spring and autumn would be the times when mana rises or falls.
These seasons in the mana cycle could span hundreds of years, which made it a more momentous occasion than the normal seasons once one ends.
Lord Rowan continued his report, ¡°In the next days this knowledge will be made public, so there might be some unrest in the population.¡±
¡°Why is that,¡± Oska asked.
¡°Higher mana levels mean more monster spawns and higher-level monsters spawning, also there will probably be more mage activity.¡± Lord Rowan leaned forward. ¡°These are things we must protect the population from, and because of those reasons I will lead a hunt for monsters starting tomorrow and try to clear out as many as possible. Matthias you will accompany me.¡±
¡°We will also come,¡± Harlov said determined. ¡°Let us fight on your side.¡±
Lord Rowan shook his head. ¡°You are way too young to fight, you will stay here and protect the family.¡±
Harlov''s eyes focused on Michael he said, ¡°Yes, Father, we will.¡±
Chapter 7.
Matthias
Matthias was sitting at the fire. He was tired and bloodied; it had been two weeks since they started their hunt for the mana beasts.
It started quite well but by now it was just a slog of fighting resting and hunting. They exterminated giant centipedes, monster rat colonies, blood fang foxes, and other low-rank monsters. He had been in some danger on multiple occasions, but the knights were always there to pick up his slack.
A couple of meters away from him he could hear a veteran adventurer explaining monster theory to a couple of orphans that they had picked up in the last town and wanted to become adventurers. The adventurers are basically mercenaries who focus on hunting monsters or exploring dangerous regions. They didn''t like to be called mercenaries because they don''t normally fight in wars.
Just a formality as far as Matthias was concerned but he respected their wishes because they were exceptional monster hunters, and their support was valuable.
The veteran adventurer was just explaining the monster ranking system and Matthias chose to listen even though he had heard this lecture before, he had nothing else to do anyway.
¡°This here is a zero-zero monster, a monster rat.¡± He held the live monster down with his foot, it was looking like an actual rat just with red eyes and the size of a small cat.
¡°The first zero stands for their skull rating. Every mana beast type gets assigned a skull rating from zero to seven by the guild, it indicates the mana density inside of the monster on spawn and can in most cases be used as a measure of strength,¡± the orphans nodded.
Matthias smiled at the kids; they weren''t much younger than him, but he felt much older when looking at them.
¡°The second zero is the number of evolutions the monster had, once a monster has gathered enough mana it can evolve and become stronger, so a zero-two monster is a good bit stronger than a zero-zero,¡± the adventurer continued.
¡°They don''t seem so tough, I killed monster rats before,¡± one of the bigger boys bragged.
¡°Oh really, you dipshit,¡± the adventurer replied with a raised eyebrow. ¡°I imagine it was a single rat. Have you ever seen them come at you in the dozens? I have seen overconfident newbies being devoured whole because they didn''t respect their enemy.¡±
The boy scoffed and the adventurer continued, ¡°As dipshit here pointed out, low-rank monsters are not dangerous in low numbers, but they tend to swarm their prey. Only three days ago we burned out a rat colony with thirty rats, a non-factor for even a small group of knights and soldiers like ours but imagine a group of two or three newbies being swarmed by thirty cat-sized rats.¡±
Matthias stood up and wanted to go take a walk when one of the orphans asked an interesting question, ¡°What would a seven-skull monster be?¡±
The adventurer crossed his arms and thought about it for a few seconds, ¡°They can''t exist at the moment with the low mana levels, the highest I have seen in my days was a four-zero monster in a cavern with high mana concentration, that one was a big scare.¡±
¡°But from the records and legends of old and seven skull would be something like an undead dragon; breath of death, magic resistant, and near invulnerable against anything but the strongest attacks.¡±
Matthias frowned; he had hoped to hear something more interesting, so he left.
The next morning came way too fast, and Matthias was back in the saddle. They were currently tracking a dire wolf pack, the most dangerous monsters they had hunted yet with them being two skull beasts.
They had been tracking them since the start of their hunt, they were the only thing a militia could not deal with properly, but the beasts had avoided them successfully.
Matthias sighed, he really had imagined this whole thing differently, glorious fights and quick conclusion but all he got was running around and short monster massacres.
¡°Milord, you need to stay alert, dire wolves are way more dangerous and with the hunting party being split up, a fight could turn bad,¡± a knight admonished the count''s son. It was his guardian knight, an emotionless rock of a man named Zeke Tomp.
¡°I know but we have been chasing after these damn wolves for weeks and they keep eluding us,¡± Matthias complained.
¡°It is a lord''s duty to always be alert and be a good example to his troops,¡± the knight continued.
Matthias could only roll his eyes at that, Zeke had always just recited rules and virtues at him, without really trying to teach him the value in them, that part he always had to figure out himself.
The young lord sat up more straight in his saddle and began scanning his surroundings for activity as he had for two weeks already.
They were a small group of soldiers after his father had split up the hunting party into three parts to search the forest. His group contained twenty guardsmen, three adventurers with their five orphans, and three knights.
After confirming that everyone was where they were supposed to be, Matthias let his gaze wander toward the surrounding trees. The forest was mainly used for hunting game by the nobles of the area, so paths were not too well established, and the undergrowth was dense.
Matthias couldn''t make out anything interesting just trees and bushes and one or two animals running around. He suppressed a yawn when a random beam of light fell on something dark for a moment hidden in a patch of tall fern.
Stopping his horse, he frowned and tried to get a better look at whatever he just saw, the undergrowth was shaking slightly in the vicinity but whatever it was eluded his gaze.
The party also stopped, and Zeke moved his horse next to Matthias. ¡°What is the matter, milord?¡±
¡°I am not certain, but I saw something over there,¡± he replied still focusing on the fern.
The knight followed his gaze, narrowing his eyes to see. ¡°AMBU¡ !¡±
A scream cut through the warning and everything devolved into chaos in a matter of moments.
Matthias whirled around trying to make out the origin of the yelling.
A large wolf two and a half meters long had crashed into the guardsmen''s formation and dispersed them. One unlucky man had braved the brunt of the assault and was screeching infernally as the wolf tore him apart.
The rest of the guardsmen didn''t fare too much better, once they tried to assault the wolf, five more broke out of the tree line from both sides and attacked their rear. The formation was in shambles it was every man for himself, and soon more corpses littered the ground.
The adventurers in the vanguard fared better, only being a group of three they moved as one and prevented themselves from being split apart. They were still surrounded by multiple dire wolves and had positioned themselves back-to-back.
Taking this all in took only a second but it was a second too long as Matthias''s brain didn''t connect the thing, he saw with the attack fast enough.
His eyes darting back to the front, he could only see the leaping maw of a wolf in front of him.
His training saved his life. He pumped as much mana as he could into his left arm and managed to raise his shield in time to at least block the teeth. His horse couldn''t take the impact though and toppled to the side, Matthias crashed down with it and lost his orientation for a second.
Shaking his head, he tried to make out the location of his attacker and was greeted by a growling line of sharp teeth.
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He screamed at the beast and tried to get his sword out of its scabbard, but he couldn''t, his current position making it impossible.
Fear overcame the boy and he thought feverishly about how he could get out of this situation. The wolf pounced and opened its maw spewing blood all over him.
Matthias wiped his eyes free of the hot blood and saw a spear tip reaching out of the monster''s mouth.
Something grabbed onto his arm, he turned around and still saw Sir Zeke pulling on him. He just looked at the knight confused, and his brain didn''t seem to work.
The knight then slapped him across the face and yelled, ¡°Get up and defend yourself!¡±
The slap seemingly restarted Matthias''s brain, he quickly got back onto his feet and looked at the battlefield. Only a few seconds could have passed maximum but over half of the guardsmen were dead. One of the knights had rallied four of the remaining guards to his side and tried to reach the rest.
Matthias couldn''t see the adventurers anymore without his vantage point on his horse.
A couple of meters to his right he could see the orphans being attacked by smaller dire wolves, probably the unevolved ones.
Zeke and the remaining knight had quickly positioned themselves next to their lord, they were being circled by a couple of the large and smaller ones and basically devoured by hungry eyes.
¡°The pack is way bigger than the tracks suggested,¡± Zeke growled. ¡°We need to get Lord Matthias to a horse.¡±
¡°I will not leave my men,¡± he protested, having found his bearings with his sword finally in hand.
¡°You will do what you must,¡± the knight yelled without taking an eye off the circling wolves.
The words hit Matthias hard, they were close to the family words - ¡°We do what we must¡± - but he had never imagined them to be used like this.
One of the smaller wolves was the first brave enough to attack, he pounced on the other knight and tried to push him to the ground. His bravado yielded him nothing though as the knight simply sidestepped the foolish assault and cut the wolf down with a single strike.
The knights slowly began to move in the direction of their abandoned horses, which to their credit hadn''t run off too far from the fight. Always keeping their lord between them they cut down two more brave small wolves as the bigger ones watched them.
¡°What the hell are they waiting for,¡± the second knight asked, his voice surprisingly calm for the situation.
¡°They send in their weakest to test us, they know we are the most dangerous here, but they will rush us soon,¡± Zeke growled back. ¡°Once they do, I will rush in the direction of the horses with Lord Matthias, and you will follow behind us and keep our backs free.¡±
Matthias breathed heavily, the fear making it hard to get air but at the same time he steeled himself for the upcoming fight, and then the big ones charged.
Zeke rushed forward, catching the wolves off guard, and in a feat of strength smacked the wolf in front of him to the side with his war hammer.
Matthias lunged at the next wolf trying to imitate the move from before. He sidestepped and managed to not get hit, he then stabbed at the beast''s side strengthening his thrust with a good chunk of his mana, his sword piercing only a few centimeters before stopping, he could feel the impact with the bone.
Oh damn.
The wolf threw itself to the side with a growl right into him, his sword nearly got knocked out of his hand, and he stumbled.
He jumped back before he could fall and managed to stay on his feet.
Zeke grabbed his arm and pulled him forward, as they both pumped mana into their legs to propel them just a little bit further.
Behind him, Matthias could hear the wailing of wolves and the clashing of claws on metal. Gritting his teeth he continued forward, just a couple of meters left.
Was that hope? If it was it was crushed as a huge wolf came charging out of the woods and dragged one of the horses to the ground with ease, the other ones finally running off.
Matthias had thought the other wolves big but this one was a true beast, and it knew it.
Fur black and grey with teeth as long as daggers it looked at them with hunger in its big dark eyes as it broke the neck of the horse with an audible crack.
¡°Ah, shit,¡± Zeke said stopping on the spot. ¡°What a garbage way of finding out that the rumors were true.¡±
Matthias looked at his knight with growing horror, he had never heard the man curse but in this situation, it was probably reasonable. The beast in front of them was most certainly a dire wolf alpha, a twice-evolved dire wolf.
¡°What are we going to do,¡± Matthias asked panicked, looking back to the second knight who didn''t look so good anymore. He had killed two of the evolved wolves but was bleeding all over and still in a fight with two more and a couple of unevolved ones.
The other three big ones were behind them, growling at their prey and Matthias could see movement in the thick next to them.
Sir Zeke was looking around frantically. ¡°Alone I could take that alpha, but I can''t fight off the other ones and protect you at the same time.¡± Matthias could hear the frustration in his voice.
Matthias opened his mouth to order his knight to kill the Alpha while he tried to hold off the others, as a hunting horn bellowed close by.
The alpha instantly spun around and out of the undergrowth, multiple horsemen emerged, led by Lord Rowan himself. His cloak flew in the wind and his helmet hid his face; he looked like a hero out of the fairy tales.
He charged straight at the alpha while his men circled around and engaged the rest of the pack, trying to rescue the survivors.
Lord Rowan stood up in his stirrup and threw his spear with full power at the wolf. It dodged faster than its size would suggest, and the spear landed in a tree going through half of the spear''s length and sticking out on the other side.
The alpha crouched down ready to attack the horse, but Lord Rowan gave it no chance to, he jumped off and landed a meter in front of the growling beast.
Matthias ripped his gaze off the starting battle and turned around to where the second knight was. The fight had escalated but there was still the clump of wolves remaining so he charged straight there, willingly ignoring the fact that he could still easily die.
The battle had turned with the arrival of reinforcements. With their formations intact and the battle returning towards an orderly engagement, the wolves were at a disadvantage.
He charged at an unevolved wolf that was distracted by a rider and rammed his sword into his hind leg, jumping back after to avoid its retaliation. Once it turned around to bite him, the rider used the chance and pierced its neck.
The wolf went down howling, but it was held in place by the spear, Matthias finished it off with a thrust to the heart.
Next, he looked around and spotted the knight that had protected him on the ground. He ran over and wanted to help him when a bloodied evolved wolf jumped over another dead one.
Before it could reach him, Zeke was at his side, probably having been behind him the whole time, and crushed the wolf''s skull into the ground.
Matthias climbed over the corpse and finally reached the knight; he was already dead. Matthias was frustrated but continued on.
Looking around for his next enemy, he already wanted to charge over to where the guardsmen had been slaughtered when a strong hand held him back.
¡°That''s enough, milord,¡± Zeke told him with a stern look, ¡°let the knights finish them off¡±.
¡°But I have to find my men,¡± Matthias replied loudly.
Zeke shook his head. ¡°You can find them after the battle,¡± then he looked to the side a hint of regret on his face at the dead knight. Matthias gritted his teeth, and his fingers began to whiten from the pressure of his grip.
I failed, I should have stayed and fought, then he would be alive.
The fight didn''t take more than a few minutes from this point on, with the alpha slain by Lord Rowan and some of the knights chasing remnants of the pack into the woods.
Matthias was striding the battlefield, inspecting the carnage. Only the three adventurers, two knights, and three guardsmen had survived, most were wounded and one of the adventurers probably wouldn''t make it.
The casualties on the beasts'' side were equally devastating thirty-three wolves dead around half once evolved the rest unevolved. Matthias stopped at the spot where the orphans were torn to pieces and took in the saddening sight. The boy who was so confident only the previous night caught his eye. ¡®Failure¡¯ was the only word he could think of. While he was still contemplating this disaster someone approached him.
¡°How are you feeling,¡± his father asked him, stopping right beside him.
¡°How should I feel,¡± he asked his father.
¡°That was not the question.¡±
Matthias breathed in deeply trying to contain his emotions to the best of his abilities.
¡°Most of my hunting party is dead, I was going to flee, and you had to save us. Pretty sure to say this was a failure on all points,¡± he avoided the question.
Lord Rowan sighed, not being blind to his son''s evasiveness but he didn''t press the issue. ¡°From what I heard you were the first one to notice anything and you fought with valor,¡± he complimented his son.
¡°I didn''t even realize what I saw and running away is certainly not courageous.¡±
His father shook his head and changed the subject, ¡°The pack was way bigger than anticipated, I had planned for them to attack the smaller unit I split off, but they were smart and went for yours.¡±
¡°You planned this,¡± Matthias looked at him with a frown.
¡°We couldn''t just keep running after them so I put out some bait and split up our units if they were more along the numbers, we thought they were, you wouldn''t have been decimated like this even in an ambush,¡± the man explained.
¡°You were ready to sacrifice this whole unit,¡± Matthias said, getting louder and louder.
¡°No, your unit wasn''t supposed to be attacked, the unit that had more augmenters with strong mana wells, was supposed to be the target and they were aware of their purpose,¡± Lord Rowan stayed calm.
¡°AND WHY WERE WE NOT INFORMED ABOUT THE PLAN,¡± Matthias yelled at his father, his head red and tears of frustration welling up in his eyes.
¡°Calm down,¡± his father turned towards him narrowing his eyes.
¡°HOW CAN I CALM DOWN THESE CHILDREN ARE DEAD BECAUSE YOU KEPT THE PLAN FROM US!¡±
¡°Enough! This group was the non-combat group, I put you and the children in this group on purpose to keep you as far away from the battle as possible,¡± Lord Rowan piercing his son with his eyes. ¡°The knights knew the plan and they were supposed to keep it secret because I didn''t want to hurt your pride.¡±
Matthias stepped back with surprise. ¡°You put me in the non-combat group?¡±
¡°Yes, I watched you in the other engagements and you kept getting into trouble trying to prove yourself, against the lowest ranks of monsters that might work out but not here,¡± his father answered harshly not holding back anymore.
Matthias was red with shame as some of the adventurers openly watched the whole ordeal while the knights had the decency to pretend, they weren''t as well.
Lord Rowan sighed and then continued with a less harsh tone, ¡°You made it out alive, and so did some of the others. That is something to be thankful for.¡± With those words, he turned around and left his brooding son alone with his thoughts.
Chapter 8.
Michael
A couple of weeks had passed since his father and older brother had left on their hunt. There hadn''t been any word about their progress, but no news is often good news, at least according to Geron.
Michael''s schedule had settled into the daily routine of magic classes in the morning, martial classes at noon, and general education in the evening. His free time was mostly absorbed by studying and hanging out with the siblings he didn''t despise.
Talking of siblings he despised, the twins had tried multiple times to goad him into trouble. He quickly understood that he could ignore them safely as long as Sir Geron was present to prevent any advances they could make. To be honest, he wasn''t scared of them too much anymore after their fight, and seeing them stomp around frustrated every time he ignored their insults amused him immensely.
He was currently sitting in the sun in a corner of the training square and trained his mana well. He was getting close to reaching it as the light grew and grew with the weeks of training. Sola had concluded a while ago that his mana well had to be massive with the description Michael had given her and the fact, that he hadn''t even reached it yet.
His thoughts were calm as he slowly inched closer to the light within him. It had resembled a candlelight at the start of his training was now a huge bonfire. He was so close he could nearly feel the energy radiating out from the well. Actually, why not, he raised a metaphorical arm and reached out for the light.
Suddenly a warm energy erupted from his chest, and he tensed up with the feeling. Inside him, the energy began to flow through his body into every limb and part of it. He opened his eyes wide and looked at his hands as if they changed into something entirely new.
¡°You did it, didn''t you,¡± Geron asked knowingly while standing a couple of meters away from where he was sitting. He generally put in his own training while Michael was meditating.
¡°It feels like my whole body is filled with warm water,¡± Michael explained while still inspecting himself.
¡°Interesting, for me, it is just a cold feeling. Hmm hard to explain, but I guess different affinity mana feels different." Geron gave him a hand in standing up. "Well done, milord. Now your real training will start." The grin he had on his face concerned Michael a little and at the end of training his worries were confirmed as he was lying on the ground trying to catch his breath.
¡°What, are you done already,¡± Geron commented with a slight smile on his face.
Normally Michael would have had time to recover after physical training with meditation, but now Geron made him train moving his mana in the breaks. Moving mana is more mentally challenging than physically, but Michael tended to tense up a lot while trying to force his will upon his mana and with that his recovery time it became more of a second training.
¡°Good thing is I don''t feel anything anymore,¡± Michael grunted while breathing heavily.
Geron laughed at that. ¡°Good, then we have done it right."
¡°Kill me please."
The day continued without much happening; Sola was very pleased to hear him having gained control over his mana well, but magic training would have to wait for the next day.
Michael used his free time roaming the castle today, his brain too fried to continue studying. The castle had been quiet since the hunting party left, the training court only used by the remaining knights and many nobles having left for their estates or the hunt with the lord of the land gone for a while.
He strolled into the small garden, that is currently being tended to by an older man, he looked up from his work when the boy came around a corner.
"Welcome, milord,¡± the old man greeted him respectfully.
¡°Greetings, Tom, how are you doing,¡± Michael replied with a smile.
¡°Oh, you know, milord, the pains of age.¡±
Michael sat down on the bench while Geron took position at the entrance and closed his eyes, enjoying the shade of the lonely oak tree.
Michael had started visiting the garden a couple of weeks ago in his search for a quiet place, with the walls seemingly not being safe and most other places not giving him the peace he was looking for.
He heard steps in the hallway and opened his eyes. Two servant girls walked into the garden, probably using it as a shortcut somewhere else but when they saw him, they turned around quickly and left. Michael sighed and closed his eyes again. He was getting used to the weird treatment he was getting from most people, but it would be a lie if he said that it didn''t bother him.
Someone sat down next to him, he looked over and it was Tom.
¡°Why are you not afraid,¡± Michael asked him interested. ¡°Most people seem to be."
The old man rubbed his hands slowly and took a couple of seconds to answer. ¡°Years ago, at the time of the Twin Mountain Kingdom''s civil war, I was still a soldier¡± - he grinned - ¡°an old soldier. I fought for my land and the ones that I believed to be right. Towards the secession of the Kingdom of Telios I was wounded in battle,¡± he tapped on his leg. Michael had seen him limping often enough to know what he meant.
¡°I wasn''t useful anymore as a soldier and I looked for my place in life, but I was turned away from the very people that I fought and suffered for until I reached your father''s doorstep and he took me in as a servant,¡± the old man smiled while reminiscing.
¡°That doesn''t really connect with my question though,¡± Michael pointed out.
The old man laughed loudly, ¡°True, I forgot the important part."
¡°I was fighting for the opposing side and there were horrible stories told about the enemies, killing women and children, looting temples, being demon worshipers, and everything you could imagine. Every side of the war said the other ones are devils in human form.¡± He turned towards Michael with a satisfied expression, ¡°And this man judged me not on what my lieges had done or what kind of rumors there were but what he thought of me as a person.¡±
Michael nodded, thinking about the story.
¡°And that is why I try my best not to judge anyone except with my own experience and you are a good boy. I would even go so far as to say, that you will become a great man as long as you don''t drown in other people''s fear and hate,¡± Tom put his hand on Michael''s shoulder.
Michael smirked, ¡°You''ve known me for what? Five weeks and you can tell?"
Looking up to the sky the old man replied, ¡°When you are as old as me and have seen as much as I have you will also have a pretty accurate gut feeling.¡± An aura of experience and age radiated from the man to such an extent Michael had never felt before.
They sat in silence for a couple of minutes then Michael asked, ¡°Why do you tend to this garden when no one ever visits it."
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
A hint of pain came over Tom''s face. "Hm, this garden is a relic of the past. Lord Rowan''s first wife Lady Talia started this garden, she planted this tree, that gives us shade with her own hands."
¡°Since her death, Lord Rowan never visited the garden ever again,¡± Tom said while shaking his head slowly. ¡°And it is in a remote part of the castle surrounded by mostly the servant quarters, so the nobles never find their way here."
¡°Oh,¡± Michael looked up at the oak. ¡°What about her children?"
¡°Lord Matthias visits once or twice every month, Lady Luciel most mornings and the twins come around from time to time as well."
Michael frowned at the mention of the twins.
Tom looked at him and said, ¡°They are in pain, you know.¡±
¡°Who,¡± Michael gets torn out of his thoughts.
¡°Lord Harlov and Oska."
¡°What do you mean,¡± Michael asked confused.
¡°Their mother died while giving birth to them and I am sure they blame themselves, even if they would probably never admit it,¡± the old man explained.
¡°And that should wash away all the evil they have done, the pain they have inflicted,¡± Michael stood up and spun around in anger. ¡°Are you telling me to not take it so hard or forgive them?¡±
Michael pressed his hands into fists and remembered all the hardship, he had to go through. ¡°Should I forgive them for all the insults, for the beatings, for nearly tossing me down a wall, just because someone started a rumor, he stared at the man waiting for an answer. Tom looked at him with an amused face and Michael noticed how fast he got riled up.
¡°I don''t expect you to forgive, I want you to understand,¡± the man looks him in the eyes with intensity. ¡°Understand their motivations and the origin of their feelings and you can use this knowledge however you see fit."
Michael calmed down, his answer not what he expected. ¡°I should use their guilt against them?¡±
¡°Sometimes you have to do harsh things to protect yourself and those you hold dear." Tom was fixated on the sky, and he could see the regret on the old man''s face.
¡°I understand,¡± Michael replied with determination. ¡°I will do what I must!¡±
His smile returned, and Tom nodded, ¡°Yes, you will.¡±
Michael relaxed for a time longer and helped Tom tend the garden a little, his words still echoing in Michael''s head.
With the sun lowering Michael left. These visits would get harder as the days grew shorter with the upcoming winter, but Michael would enjoy them as long as he could.
He went back to his room and ordered some food. After an hour of studying, he headed to bed completely exhausted and quickly fell asleep.
*Bum* *Bum* *Bum*
A rhythmic sound of metal hitting metal rang through the darkness.
Michael didn''t know where he was, he couldn''t see clearly, and everything was hazy.
A shimmer in the darkness pulled him in. He walked over slowly, his arms spread out to find anything to guide him. He closed in on the shimmer and could see a wall of rock, was he underground? He reached out his hand to the shimmer when it suddenly vanished.
*Bum* *Bum* *Bum*
The hammering continued, seemingly coming from all sides.
Michael could see a fire and a man next to it hammering at an anvil. It was hypnotizing, the man raised his hammer only to have it come crashing down in perfect rhythm.
*Bum* *Bum* *Bum*
Michael awoke, breathing heavily, the dream already fading from his mind.
His gaze wandered to his window; it was still dark. He got out of bed and walked over to his window. The moon was still high in the sky and there was no indication that the sun would join it anytime soon. He watched the little lights of the guards patrolling on the walls and thought about his weird dream.
The next days went past in a blur as his training intensified with his access to mana his body and mind could take way more punishment and fewer breaks. His vast mana well helped him keep up with the strain while automatically training his control over it.
The dream followed him every night, the banging, mine, and smithy invading his thoughts evermore, but he told no one about it. Having these dreams could easily be misunderstood and the people were hostile enough as it is. He had tried to talk with Sola about mining and the metal craft, but she couldn''t help him there.
He grew frustrated with the situation he wanted to learn but no one would teach him the things Geron and Sola could not.
Sola
¡°How does he learn so fast,¡± Sola said to Geron.
They often ran into each other in the dining hall, and it had become somewhat of a habit for them to eat dinner together.
¡°I feel like he takes everything I say and just absorbs it into his very being, it is insane,¡± she continued.
¡°You sound like you are complaining," Geron noted while eating.
¡°Well, I am no teacher nor scholar, I can''t sate his thirst for knowledge, today he asked me about how ships work and what did I answer? Well, wood floats, ..., ridiculous,¡± Sola threw her hands up and covered her eyes.
¡°Aren''t you right though,¡± Geron said, her rambling amusing to him.
She opened her fingers enough to look him in the face. ¡°He looked at me as if I thought he was stupid. That boy needs someone with vast knowledge in different subjects or just a ton of teachers.¡± She let her head fall onto the table with a little *bong*.
¡°At least you know your magic, so you should be able to entertain him in that field at least,¡± Geron changed the subject to raise her spirits.
She raised her head looking a little better. ¡°True, we are still at the basics, and he is not as quick with learning magic as with the other things."
¡°Haha, you are happy about that,¡± Geron chuckled.
¡°He can''t be a genius in everything, and it is good for my self-esteem that I won''t be completely useless in a year,¡± Sola sighed.
¡°I don''t want him to think that I am pushing him off to other people if I suggest he should get other teachers though.¡±
Geron shook his head. ¡°He is a smart boy; he will understand if you explain it to him and it is not like you have nothing to teach him.¡±
¡°I really hope so.¡±
Michael
The days were starting to grow cold when Lord Rowan finally returned from his hunt. Michael was in the courtyard when the party arrived. They all looked tired, with bandages and field repairs everywhere but they also looked relieved.
Michael looked for Matthias and quickly found him. ¡°Welcome back, brother.¡±
Matthias smiled weakly at him and patted his head, ¡°Thank you, I am glad to be back.¡±
Lira and Luciel appeared between the horses and joined them. Lira inspected her older brother all around, ¡°it looks like you came back in one piece.¡±
A shadow came over Matthias''s face and vanished again a moment later. ¡°Had some close calls but I won''t leave you so quickly.¡±
¡°You have to tell us stories later,¡± Michael was excited to hear about the monsters and the hunt.
¡°First I have to clean up and get some rest, I feel like I haven''t properly slept in weeks.¡±
He looked so tired that Michael didn''t ask further, Matthias left shortly after to do exactly that.
A couple hours later Michael was standing in his father''s office, he had requested a meeting pretty much the moment the hunting party had returned. He hadn''t expected to get one on the same day though. He was just standing in front of his table while his father skimmed over reports.
Michael didn''t know if he should just start to talk or wait.
¡°So, what did you want to talk about,¡± his father finally broke the silence while still shuffling papers around.
¡°Sister Sola is a great teacher¡± - Michael began - ¡°but there are things she has no knowledge of, so I wanted to ask you if I can hire more teachers.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
Michael was surprised by the question and began to stutter a little, ¡°Be.. because I want to learn more.¡±
¡°But why?¡±
Michael was taken aback, he tried to think of a good answer. ¡°Knowing more always helps does it not.¡±
His father sighed and put down the papers, ¡°So what I am hearing is you want me to spend more money so you can learn things that you can''t even give me a good reason why you should learn them. What kind of teacher are you thinking about?¡±
"I would like to learn about everything!" His declaration would surely impress his father with his vigor and determination.
¡°Request denied,¡± Lord Rowan said simply after a couple of seconds and returned to his papers.
"What? Why?"
"Because you have no idea what you want and why you want it, you came unprepared to a meeting you requested and list selfish reasons for the county to spend money on you." His father didn''t even look up from his papers.
Michael gritted his teeth in embarrassment. "Thank you for your time."
He then turned around and quickly left, not noticing Luciel standing next to the door.
A couple of minutes later he was sitting in the garden by himself when Luciel found him.
¡°I didn''t know you came here,¡± she said while sitting down next to him.
¡°It''s the only place people don''t bother me with their stares,¡± Michael wiped his nose trying to get his composure.
¡°There there, you don''t have to be so mature you can let out your frustrations.¡± She put her arm around him and pulled him close.
¡°How can I prove myself if I don''t get the education I need.¡±
¡°Why would you need to prove yourself you are just a kid,¡± Luciel asked him.
¡°Am I? Everyone looks at me like I am going to turn into a monster at a moment''s notice. I just want to be treated with respect and all I can do right now is to learn as much as I can to be as useful as I can possibly be.¡±
¡°I didn''t realize you cared about what others thought of you,¡± Luciel pulled him closer.
¡°I want to care for them, like it is my duty but how can I if they all hate me,¡± Michael lamented.
Luciel thought about that for a moment and then rose from the bench. ¡°Go change into your training outfit and bring a cloak, we meet at the gate in an hour. Before Michael could ask more questions or protest Luciel was hurrying away.
Chapter 9.
Michael
An hour later Michael and Geron were waiting at the gate dressed in simple clothes and hooded cloaks.
Lira was the first to arrive. ¡°Hey, Michael.¡±
¡°What are you doing here, Lira?¡±
¡°Luciel asked me to join you,¡± she gave him a sinister smile. ¡°You don''t want your beloved older sister to accompany you, or what?¡±
¡°I don''t even know what we are doing,¡± Michael admitted without reacting to her weirdness.
¡°We are going into the town,¡± Lira said, while Luciel and Matthias exited the nearby door.
¡°What into the town? Are we even allowed to?" Michael had only ever seen the town out of the carriage or from the castle.
¡°We aren''t prisoners, or did I miss something? We do that from time to time, but you were always too young to come with us. Your mother would have our heads, but I think you need this, so it''s a risk worth taking,¡± Luciel explained when she stopped next to them.
¡°Milady, have you informed your knight or your father where we are going,¡± Geron spoke up.
¡°Sir Tristan knows where we are going, don''t worry sir Geron and you are also staying here,¡± Luciel smiled at the knight.
¡°You can''t go down into the town without any guards, milady,¡± Geron protested.
¡°We have Matthias, he will be enough, and we are going to stay in the good parts of the town, promise.¡± Luciel smiled at the knight, but Michael knew that the promise wouldn''t be enough for the stalwart man.
¡°It is alright Geron we will be fine,¡± Michael told his knight, which looked dissatisfied with the situation but nodded.
After they left the gate Michael said to Luciel, ¡°I expected him to make more of a fuss.¡±
Matthias chuckled, ¡°He is going to follow us of course.¡±
¡°What?¡±
Luciel hit her older brother, ¡°Not so loud or he will hear you. They always follow us and think we don''t notice but we are not as stupid as our knights sometimes believe.¡±
¡°But why can''t they just come along if they will follow us anyway,¡± Michael asked confused at the weird hide-and-seek.
Lira rolled her eyes playfully. ¡°Because they will try harder to not stand out if they are following us in secret. So, we can have our fun without having an obvious guard following us around.¡±
¡°Ah, I see, so where are we going.¡±
¡°We, my little brother, are going to a tavern,¡± Matthias grinned at him.
Michael just blinked at him in confusion.
Suddenly they were sitting in a loud tavern room around a table. The tavern was well visited with most tables occupied and the two tavern maidens running around to get everyone their food and drink. The walls were full of hunting trophies, Michael could see large wolf heads and antlers that seemed to be made out of iron between many smaller pelts. The patrons looked the part, mostly men with scarred faces and loud laughter.
¡°What is this place,¡± Michael asked loudly to overcome the noise.
¡°It''s the regular tavern of the adventurers and travelers coming through the town and the adventurer¡¯s guild is next door. You can hear many good stories here if you listen,¡± Matthias explained, easily adjusting his voice to the tavern.
One of the tavern maidens came to their table and smiled at them warmly. ¡°Welcome back, seems like your little family has expanded.¡± The girl seemed barely older than Matthias and Matthias looked very happy that she had come to their table.
¡°Greetings, Sally. We wanted to get our little brother out of the house for once, he needs to get out more,¡± Matthias smiled at the girl. They held each other¡¯s gazes for a moment before Sally turned toward the rest.
¡°What is your name, little one,¡± she leaned over to him with a smile.
¡°I am Michael, nice to meet you,¡± Michael said shyly.
¡°Nice to meet you too, Michael, I am Sally.¡±
She seems nice, Michael thought.
Luciel turned to Michael and whispered, "You should keep your real name to yourself by the way, I am sure some people here know who we are, but we don''t want too much attention. That would defeat the whole purpose of going here." Michael nodded; he hadn''t thought about that.
Sally then looked at the rest of the table, ¡°So what can I bring you."
¡°The meal of the day for all of us, a beer for me and cider for the rest,¡± Matthias ordered with the girls nodding along.
¡°Alright coming right up.¡± She turned around and walked away.
¡°Uhh, a beer, look at the mature maaan,¡± Lira teased Matthias.
¡°Oh, shut up,¡± Matthias rolled his eyes at her.
¡°Maybe you should write her a poem or sing her a song in the moonshine,¡± she kept on teasing.
Luciel chuckled as Michael followed the conversation not really getting what they were talking about.
"Maybe you should rather think about your Balian than try to shame me," Matthias returns fire. Lira goes red immediately, "I have no idea what you are talking about."
The teasing continued for a while longer, but Michael was not interested, he didn''t get it anyway. When the food came, they shifted to Matthias telling them about the hunt for the next hour.
"Oh, you couldn''t even tell a dog from a wolf, let alone an alpha from a normal dire wolf," a man on the next table joked at another. He was a small man with blond hair.
Stolen novel; please report.
The other man, a bulky human that could be confused with a giant, stood up and yelled, "You calling me a liar, you second-rate trash." They were not sitting at the same table before but now they are standing face to face both obviously drunk and annoyed by the other.
The first man tipped the other on the chest. "I am not calling you a liar; I am calling you blind." Reacting to the challenge the giant threw a punch, and the smaller man dodged backward, laughing while he did. "As I said blind!"
"Well, here we go again," Lira said and moved to the other side of the table next to Michael, away from the fighting adventurers.
"This happens often?" Michael looked at Lira.
"Yes, adventurers are hot-headed people, they will fight a little, then calm down and drink together," she answered with a shrug.
They watched the two brawlers for a while, with the large man trying to catch the smaller one and the smaller one trying to evade while continuing to taunt his enemy. Misfortune struck the small man though, as he tripped over the leg of another patron and fell. The other man used this opportunity to grab him and pull him up with a wide grin. He swung with his left fist right at the face of the small man but was stopped mid-air by Matthias grabbing his wrist.
Michael gasped, when did Matthias get there and how did he stop a punch from such a large man with one hand?
"Put him down please," Matthias said calmly to the large man, the man stared at him in his drunken state.
"Stay out of this, boy," he growled at Matthias pulling back his hand, Matthias released it. Michael spotted Sir Zeke on the other side of the tavern rising from his spot and watching the unfolding situation.
"Is this what we are here for, to fight more?" He turned toward the rest of the tavern, and most of the people turned toward him. "I say we are not here to fight; I say we are here to share stories of adventures and drink of course. So let us not fight but talk, I am here today to tell the story of how Matthias Rowan, the firstborn son of Lord Rowan, nearly died against a pack of dire wolves led by an alpha."
He instantly had the attention of the whole tavern as he began dramatically telling his story, even the giant put the other man back on his feet and listened. Matthias seemed to be in his element with all eyes on him; he virtually glowed.
"This is why Matthias always comes here, to hear the stories and now Matthias has some to tell himself," Luciel said with a smile but Michael was completely focused on his older brother. Matthias had taken the situation into his own hands and defused it, not only that he captured the whole tavern in his story, and even though he himself is just a teenager all these adults are listening to him. He will lead the house one day, and Michael wanted to be there at his side.
Sola
Sola was again waiting in front of Lord Rowan''s study, she wondered why he had summoned her. After being escorted in she made a small bow in front of the count, sat down, and asked, "How can I be of service, milord?"
He held up a letter. "A week ago, a letter from the holy mountain arrived in regard to Michael."
Sola tensed up and leaned forward, waiting for him to continue. He unfolded the letter and read it out loud. "Lord Cedrik Rowan, we have received your reports on Lord Michael''s condition and the accusations that court priest Albion has raised. After extensive discussions in the ranks of the inquisition and order of purity, it has been decided, that the concept of the demon child will continue to not be accepted by the church. That said the accusations of Father Albion will not be further investigated."
Sola breathed out heavily, she hadn''t noticed that she had held her breath.
"In regard to Sister Sola''s report on Lord Michael''s light awakening, the Order of Purity and the church in its entirety would like to extend their congratulations, with this letter will be a gift delivered for young Michael. We would also like to offer him a place in the Order of Purity." Lord Rowan took the little box in his hand and weighed it. "Do you have any idea what is in there?"
Sola nodded. "It will probably be a symbol of Idas blessed by a high-ranking member of the Order of Purity. It is meant to keep evil from the wearer and is a different version of our pendants, for non-members of the order." She points at her sun-shaped brooch.
He nodded and continued reading, "Sister Sola''s request to be placed in Lord Rowan''s court to be the teacher for Lord Michael is granted, and she will remain there until he successfully passes the rite of purity. Signed by high priest Eria."
He put down the letter. "I will inform the court and especially Father Albion tomorrow about this and hopefully put an end to these vile rumors. One question I still have though. What is the rite of purity?"
"It is the final trial a mage has to go through to become a church-accepted mage and be under its protection. The concrete details are a secret I am afraid."
Lord Rowan nodded again; he didn''t expect anything else from the secretive mages.
A knock on the door diverted their attention away from the letter and Sir Godfrey entered. "Milord, Lord Michael is outside and requests a meeting."
Lord Rowan sighed and motioned the knight to send him in.
Michael
Michael walked into the study and was surprised to find Sola also there. His confidence sank a little and he wondered how she was going to take this.
"What is it, Michael? I am very busy," his father asked him with a slight annoyance.
"I have an answer." He stopped in front of his father''s table.
"An answer?"
"To the question from earlier today, ''why I want to learn everything''." Lord Rowan inspected his son with awakened interest, and he signaled him to continue. "I want to learn everything for Matthias and the people of this land. He will be the lord of this house one day and I will stand by his side and counsel him on everything he needs to know. Like Viscount Telp is your right hand, I want to be the same for Matthias and the more I know the better I can fulfill this role." Michael stood there after finishing and waited for his father''s judgment, not being able to read his expression at all.
After a while, Lord Rowan asked with an expression of stone, "You are prepared for a life in servitude? To live for another man''s glory while you are always just the advisor. Can you really put your own interests into the background?"
This was the moment it would be decided, Michael knew that but what was the answer his father wanted to hear? He always embraced strength in everything, so would he accept his son wanting to serve for the rest of his life? It didn''t matter to Michael, he would say what he felt in his heart, not what his father wanted to hear.
"We do what we must! For the protection of those that I am also responsible for I will fight any battle, make any sacrifice, give up my personal glory and even my life."
A fire erupted in his father''s eyes and Michael knew he had won. Then a bellowing laugh broke the silence. "To think that out of all of my children you, at the age of 6, would be the first one to get the true meaning of our house words. You have changed a lot since your coma and to call you a child seems evermore strange. I don''t know what happened to you while you were asleep to have let you become so different, but I truly know one thing, you came out a better version of yourself and I am proud."
Michael teared up at the words of his father but fought to keep his composure, he couldn''t say a word, or it would all break out. Lord Rowan turned toward Sola, who had been silent throughout the whole exchange. "Sister, my son requested funding to hire more tutors, what do you think about that?"
Michael looked at her, he hadn''t talked with her about it first, but he probably should have.
She smiled. "Honestly, I am relieved. I was planning how to bring up this subject with Michael myself. To say that Michael learns fast is an understatement, I am not qualified to teach him everything he wants to know but I believe that with the best education possible, he will become a great help to Lord Matthias.
Lord Rowan nodded, "I believe so too. Your request is granted, I will personally take care of the recruitment process for your head tutor, I have someone in mind already."
"Thank you!" Michael said excitedly and jumped up. The two adults laughed at his vigor.
"Oh right, a letter from the church came, concerning you," his father mentioned. "It agrees that you being a demon child is complete idiocy and they send congratulations on your light awakening with a gift." He pulled a little box out of a drawer and handed it over. He opened the box with enthusiasm and found a little Idas sun pendant, he could feel a faint energy coming from it as he took it out of the box.
"What is it?"
"It will protect you so keep it close," Sola answered with a proud expression. He put it on and felt a little safer already, but if that was true or just an illusion he couldn¡¯t say. He thanked his father again and then left.
Michael was excited, everything had gone well today. His brother and father came back safely, he was going to get a handpicked tutor and the rumors were proven false. He went to bed with a huge smile that night and was welcomed by his dreams again.
Chapter 10.
Michael
A little over a month had gone by since the hunting party had returned from their journey. Not much had happened in this time, Michael was training the whole day and still waiting for his new tutor to arrive. He knew that his father had sent out messengers a few days after his promise and some of them had already returned not finding who they were looking for. Michael was always getting excited when one returned just to get disappointed, He didn''t have any time to obsess over this right now though as he was in the middle of martial training trying to block Geron''s blows.
"Left, Right, Top!" The knight slowly gave him instructions on where to block. "No, you need a stronger base while blocking a strike from the top or I will simply break through." They had been at it for over two hours already and Michael''s muscles were burning, even though he was continually letting his mana flow through his body, concentrating it in his arms to the best of his abilities. He wasn''t very good at focusing his mana, to be honest. While he concentrated on shifting his mana a little, he missed a block and got a hit to the ribs as a reward.
He gasped but managed to keep on his feet, shaking his head to refocus.
"Maybe it is time for a break," Geron concluded but Michael shook his head again. "I can keep going a little more, as you said, I gotta hit my limits to break them." Geron inspected him for a moment and then got back into stance. "Ten hits cycle, slow, you begin."
Michael also lowered into the basic stance and began slowly but carefully repeating the movements he had learned. After completing his ten strikes they seamlessly changed roles and Geron became the attacker, commenting on every strike he did. This training is not meant to teach Michael to determine where strikes would come from but to imprint the right moves into him.
When Michael was on the third cycle, he saw someone enter the training field with his father at his side. The man was small, very small, and donning a long grey beard. He was distracted for just the right amount of time by the strange-looking man to take a hit on the head. This time he couldn''t keep on his feet and collapsed on his knees, breathing heavily.
Geron knelt in front of him. "Are you okay?" Michael nodded, he had lost his grasp on his mana from the blow and the muscle ache had returned in full.
"We are done for today, recover for now," Geron said and gave him some water.
After Michael had recovered a little, he asked, "Who is that with Father?" Geron turned around to see who Michael was referring to, he seemed surprised at the sight. "That''s a dwarf." Lord Rowan and the dwarf made their way through the training grounds with most of the present people stopping their routines to either pay respect to their lord or stare at the unusual visitor.
Michael got back on his feet, ignoring his burning muscles, and greeted his father and the new arrival.
"This is my son Michael and the one I wrote you about. Michael, may I introduce Solon Gremson, an old friend of mine." Lord Rowan looked rather satisfied with himself.
Michael nodded his head politely. "It is a pleasure to meet you."
The dwarf inspected the young lord with dark brown eyes from head to toe, he was only a little taller than Michael, so it made it easier to keep eye contact. Michael got a little nervous at the dwarf''s inspection, from the stories he had been told when he was small dwarfs were a grumpy and reclusive race, fueled by greed and distrust toward others.
After a moment the dwarf bowed. "It is a pleasure to meet you as well, young lord." His voice sounded well-mannered and not as harsh or grumpy as Michael had imagined a dwarf to sound like. "Your father has told me some things about you in the letter he sent but I would like to get to know you myself."
"Of course, but I would like to wash up a little first."
"How about we meet in an hour for lunch, there we can talk in peace just the two of us," Solon proposed.
Michael agreed and asked Geron to inform Sola that he would have to cancel today''s afternoon lessons.
An hour later Solon and Michael were sitting in the dining hall in silence. Michael had a feeling that he should just wait for the dwarf to speak, so he waited. Solon looked old, his hair gray his face lightly wrinkled but his eyes alive and vibrant. He was dressed in simple travel clothes and made a modest impression.
After 30 minutes of sitting in silence, Solon finally spoke. "You seem to have patience, that is good. I had feared you would be impatient like your father, but it seems this was unfounded."
Michael cleared his throat, "I spend a lot of my free time alone studying, so silence is no stranger to me."
"I must say I was really intrigued by what your father wrote me, a substantial personality change and growth of maturity because of a violent mana affinity awakening. I never heard of such a thing, at least not that it was a positive change, I have seen people go mad but not grow as a person." The dwarf ate in between sentences. "So why do you need a new teacher."
Michael was sure that his father had explained it already but guessed that this was also part of the evaluation.
"I want to learn everything I can to help protect my people, and Sister Sola who is currently my teacher, can''t teach me everything I need to know. She says herself that she is neither a teacher nor a scholar and my growth would be better with someone who is."
"You don''t need me to learn how to protect your people though, there are many knights here that can teach you the way of the sword so that you can go out and slay monsters." Solon looked like he was more absorbed by his food than the conversation but something in the back of Michael''s mind was telling him, that this was only a facade.
Michael frowned, how could he explain his thoughts, even to himself they seemed so foreign sometimes. "Monsters are not the only thing that the people need to be protected from though, bad leadership and a lack of competence through ignorance were the cause for far greater disasters than monsters have for the last hundred years." He blinked not knowing where this sophisticated answer had come from.
The dwarf put down his cutlery and looked him in the eyes. "Are you really Michael Rowan?" The tension between them could nearly be cut by a knife, it wasn''t like when his father got angry but more natural. Michael sat there for a couple of moments thinking about the question that he had asked himself multiple times already. On many occasions his thoughts felt like not his own, they just appeared out of nowhere, fitting to a certain subject but they didn''t feel like thoughts more like suggestions.
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"I am me and no one else. The whole situation confuses me as well but that is everything I can say." He held eye contact with Solon until he leaned back. "Alright, then let me introduce myself properly for now. I am Solon Gremson, I have wandered this world for nearly 80 years now, from the far north to the deserts across the sea. I have dedicated my life to the acquisition of knowledge, and I will for now take you on as my pupil. Do not disappoint the faith your father has placed in you." His serious aura had dispersed, and he now smiled warmly at Michael.
Michael''s eyes sparkled and he asked excitedly, "I bet you have a lot of great stories to tell."
"Haha, yes and you will probably hear many of them, as they contain lessons for the future."
"Where are you from, are there dwarfs living nearby, I never saw one before."
"My home is the dwarven kingdom of the Ereic Mountains, maybe 500 kilometers to the southeast from here, it is in the same mountain range you can see when you turn your eye to the south." A warm expression came over Solon''s face as he thought about his home.
"What is the most memorable thing you ever did?" Michael was now fully engrossed with his head coming up with all kinds of questions. Solon leaned back on his chair and grabbed a simple pipe out of his bag. "That is a very hard question, but I would say wandering with the giants of the north to see the mountains of pure ice is one of the top experiences. They shined with the sunlight like a thousand diamonds and at night green lights filled the sky rivaling their beauty."
They kept on talking for another hour until Solon had to excuse himself.
Solon
The cold wine went down Solon''s throat as smooth as silk. He had been on the street for too long again and had nearly forgotten the finer things in life.
"Good?" Cedric Rowan was sitting next to him in his private chambers. "The best thing I had in a while," he admitted. "How is the smoke?"
Cedric nodded while he puffed on his pipe. "Very exotic." Solon laughed wholeheartedly. "I hope so I carried it around from the far east."
Solon looked at him, he had aged quite a lot since the last time the dwarf had seen him, with many more scars and a harder expression in general. "15 years, huh? How is everything around here?" Cedric sighed and said lost in thought, "Yeah, 15 years. I have to deal with these damned nobles all the time, with their cocking around, intrigues for influence, and general self-importance. Governing this land is just a pain, sometimes I curse the day Johann granted me these lands and I accepted. 13 years of peace since we tore the Twin Mountain Kingdom down. I am not made for this Solon, I never was."
Solon inspected the man, he looked tired all of the sudden, just fed up with everything. "It''s true, you never had the patience, Talia sure did but not you."
"I did it for her you know, I knew I would never be happy with this position, but I wanted her to have a good life, I wanted to protect her from everything. In the end, fate is cruel, and death came in a way I had no power over." He looked over at the dwarf. "We could have used your knowledge back then. I do not blame you in the slightest, but we really could have used you."
"I know but I didn''t want to see the carnage, I had even back then seen enough bloodshed for two lifetimes."
Cedric frowned at this and then said, "But why did you never come back? Not even to visit?" The dwarf smiled and took another sip of the wine. "There was nothing for me to do here. There were things to learn and places to see elsewhere. You know me I could never stay still without a purpose."
Cedric leaned back and chuckled, a sound that reminded Solon of old times. "What do you think of your new purpose? Will he keep you sedentary for a while?"
Solon looked out of the window for a while, appreciating the great view of the landscape and stars. It was at least better than looking around in the room. Cedric had always been a minimalistic person, putting low value on art or other kinds of decoration, that he hadn''t killed himself. This room mirrored this very well, with a huge bear pelt covering the ground and simple furniture filling the room. Solon was sure that the drapes and flowers that spotted the room here and there were not Cedric''s idea.
"He is a curious boy. He possesses a lot of patience and seems very intelligent. I will stay and teach him as long as he doesn''t give me a reason not to. I am growing old, maybe it is time to settle down as well."
Cedric laughed loudly and said, "You are what? 140 years young? The brightest days are just in front of you." Solon joined him in laughter; they were both at least a bit tipsy already.
Michael
Michael was changing in his room after martial training, the afternoon lesson was now delegated to Solon and Michael would leave soon. He was looking forward to the lessons and wondered what they would start with, maybe stories of faraway lands or the secrets of the world. Michael could barely keep his excitement in check as he left his room. Geron was already there and brought him to his teacher''s room.
Solon greeted them in front of the room. "Follow me, young lord." He began walking down the corridor and Michael was glad that there was finally someone he had no problem keeping up with. "Where are we going, aren''t we going to be studying in your room," Michael asked the dwarf.
Solon smiled cheekily. "I have used most of my life to travel and experience things, do you expect my lessons to be carried out by brooding over a stack of books?" Michael nodded; he hadn''t thought about it that way. "Just theoretical knowledge will make you knowledgeable but it will also narrow your mindset and make you unskilled, so I will have you try out many different crafts and have you apply everything you learn to the best of our possibilities. I have already secured funds from your father''s steward; he wasn''t too happy though."
Michael chuckled a little and then realized that his initial question hadn''t been answered yet. "But what are we doing today?" They turned into a corridor that Michael had never been in, but he could smell food, his teacher kept quiet until they reached a large open doorway with servants running in and out. "Today I am going to start teaching you how to cook." He entered the kitchen and Michael followed him confused and asked, "Cooking? That seems not that important for me to know."
Solon smirked at him with an amused expression. "I thought you wanted to learn everything." Michael got red and nodded. "Yes, I want to but with the time we have don''t we have to put priorities on important things first?"
"It is true, though we have a lot of time in the next couple of years, we will have to leave some things out because no one can learn everything in the short time of a couple of years, but cooking is an important thing to learn even though you don''t realize it. If you get a report of a certain amount of grain being stored, how many people can that feed, and for how long? How much food does a person need to survive? What do your peasants eat? All things you will get a special insight for if you know how to cook, also if you are out in the field or traveling being able to cook at least simple meals is pretty important."
"I understand, I am sorry I didn''t think about it that way." Solon turned to him and held a thick finger into his face and said strictly, "Don''t ever apologize for asking a reasonable question. Think about how much this question has taught you already, if you hadn''t asked and just taken my opinion then you wouldn''t have seen the reason in this field of study and maybe put less effort in. In my lessons ask any question you have, and you shall receive an answer, there are very few dumb questions in the world that are not worth asking."
They continued on until they found a certain man, whom Solon approached. "Good day, is everything prepared?" The man bowed and guided them to a remote part of the kitchen where the ingredients were placed already. Solon thanked the man and he quickly left with a worried gaze toward Michael.
Michael frowned but before he could have his mood soured, Solon interjected, "Don''t worry about that, they will see soon. You have holed up in privacy for months now since the rumors started, so they had no way of judging you differently, but this will change now they will see you put in effort, and they will learn to respect you for it."
With a smile, Michael then listened to the introduction of food and the basics of cooking and once they had finished, they even shared their work with some of the kitchen staff. Even though they were reluctant at first, after seeing Michael himself eat the food and the first brave servant trying it, they indulged in the high-quality food, that they would normally never get to eat.
Chapter 11.
Michael
The winter had passed since Solon had arrived in Reen. Due to the cold weather hitting the county, Michael and most everyone had spent their time inside except for training. Now with the spring being right around the corner, Michael was standing in the courtyard with the rest of his family and the knights lined up as well. Michael was dressed in the fancy clothes that he hated and placed in a line with his siblings, waiting for the arrival of his uncle, Count Duncan Grim, and his family that had announced their visit.
It was always like this when he visited, at least the last time Michael had witnessed his uncle visiting even though he was very young back then and his memories were somewhat clouded. Michael didn''t understand why they had to make such a big fuss over the brother visiting, they never had for anyone else. He had asked both Solon and Geron and they had agreed that he would understand once his uncle arrived if Michael paid attention. So now he was standing there surrounded by the might of House Rowan all donning the crossed swords on a red field family heraldic, even his father was wearing it.
The first thing he saw of the visitors was two pairs of knights entering the gate, they looked battle-hardened like the older knights of House Rowan and were donning the heraldic of house Grim, two swords on a black field. He had learned early on that the two brothers shared a strong bond, and the bond was symbolized on their heraldic with the sword of the other being embedded on each one''s house banner.
Following the knights came Lord Grim himself on a huge black horse. He was wearing chain armor and had an expensive-looking sword on his waist, the kinship between him and Lord Rowan was very apparent as they shared the same black hair and hard facial features, but his uncle had no beard.
Behind Lord Grim came a fancy carriage and then more knights and servants. The convoy stopped in the courtyard and Lord Grim got off his monstrous horse with a wide smile. He stepped over to his brother his arms opened wide. "Brother!" Lord Rowan also smiled and embraced his brother and slapped him on the back. "Good to see you, little brother. Long time no see. You really should get out more."
Lord Grim looked at the line of his nephews and nieces and said, "It most certainly has if I look at your children, damn there are even two new ones, do you ever stop." Lord Rowan laughed loudly, and Michael looked at his father with a somewhat confused expression. "Not everyone is as content as you." The door of the carriage opened and out came Lady Helena Grim.
"Helena, great to see you," Father said and hugged her as well. Lady Rowan walked up to greet them as well but Michael noticed that their greetings were much colder than with his father. After a moment Lord Grim''s daughter also left the carriage, her fire-red hair - which she shared with her mother - bound to a ponytail, she jumped down the step ignoring the hand a knight had offered her. She was only three days older than Michael but showed considerable grace in her movements.
"Come on kids bring it in for your favorite uncle!" They began to move, and it took a while until all greetings were finished. Michael wasn''t particularly fond of this situation - too many people - so he greeted his uncle and aunt, exchanged a couple of words, and kept a little to the back.
After the greetings were finished Lord Grim looked around and then said, "You really have put on quite a show here, dear brother. This will be hard to top but I brought you a gift to lessen my shame." He signaled towards his knights who then dragged a girl in chains to the front. Her appearance wasn''t like anyone Michael had ever seen, with dark brown wavy hair, her skin covered in paint and her clothes made from furs that looked like they had seen better days. She herself looked like she had seen better days to be honest, covered in bruises and scars. She looked a little older than Matthias - Michael guessed - and she was fighting like her life depended on it.
Michael could hear his mother breathing in sharply as she saw the girl approaching. "What is this thing doing here?" Thing? Michael thought. He wondered what she had done to be put in chains like that.
His uncle looked very satisfied as the girl was forced onto her knees next to him. "One of the barbarians across my border, she might not look like it but she is a pretty strong fighter and fierce. She could give you a good fight, I am sure."
Lord Rowan looked at her and then at his brother. "Duncan, couldn''t you have just brought me a nice sword or something? Beating up a prisoner seems pretty inhumane, don''t you think." Lord Grim rolled his eyes and said a little annoyed, "Not more inhumane than killing animals if you ask me, they are barely more than that anyway. You wouldn''t complain if this was one of these beastmen your border is dealing with."
Lord Rowan stared at his brother with a stern gaze and the latter finally gave up. "Okay, okay, I kind of brought her to get a rise out of you and to prevent you from complaining about not getting into interesting fights."
"I knew it, you rascal," Lord Rowan smiled satisfied, and signaled some guards to take the prisoner away. The moment they got her on her feet she spun around and kicked one of the guards in the stomach. The man fell over and she turned around to attack the other guard when she found herself faced with Lord Rowan''s sword. Michael hadn''t even seen him draw it; he was way faster than everything he had ever seen Geron do.
"She is a fighter that much is clear. Be careful with this one," he warned his guards, and they dragged her away. Michael followed them with his eyes until they vanished in a doorway.
"Aren''t you going to greet me, little cousin?" He turned around a little jumpy and was now face to face with the freckled face of Tara. She chuckled at seeing his confused face and hugged him. "What do you mean little cousin? You are only three days older than me." She looked at him with a raised eyebrow and a smirk on her face. "And I will hold these three days over your head for the end of time, little cousin." He also smirked at her, she was nice and also visited more frequently than her father ever did.
They were funneled into the hall next for a welcome feast and to share news and gossip.
"You must have been so excited when you awakened your light," Tara said, probably more excited than Michael was himself. He smiled and thought about the grueling training of the last months, his mind continuously strained and on the edge of breaking but at least he could make a light by now, only a basic one without any incantations and smaller than he liked but a light, nonetheless. "It is a lot of work, but I like it, it is a unique challenge."
"So, it is true you really have become a study rat, I didn''t believe it." She looked a little shocked. Michael rolled his eyes amused but couldn''t say anything before his father raised his voice to address all the nobles, knights, and guests. "Welcome everyone, I am glad that you have come so numerously. We are especially happy to welcome my brother and his retinue from Grent County. In these times of the rising mana, we will have to stand together to keep our people safe from the mage and the monster." He raised his glass, and the present applauded his short speech, Michael had a somewhat sour taste at the mention of mages but clapped, nonetheless.
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Next, his uncle, who stood next to Lord Rowan, raised his voice. "We are grateful for the invitation and the hospitality. To be honest mostly for the wine, I wish we had good stuff like this." Laughter echoed through the hall and Lord Grim smiled, "Jokes aside, as always the Houses of Grim and Rowan shall stand together for eternity, the way we have done, even before they existed. To that, I raise my glass and say forever." He raised his glass, and the people followed him in chorus, "Forever!" Lord Grim looked rather pleased with the reply and the feast continued.
Michael listened to some of the conversations here and there, most were talking about hunting or fashion. He tried his best to join some of the conversations, but he felt bad for them, they were always trying so hard to suppress their feelings and be polite. He was also incredibly bored by the subjects, that he quickly stopped his effort and excused himself from the event.
Wandering through the hallways, he tried to calm his nerves. He didn''t like nobles, at least most of them. they were disingenuous and arrogant, and many of them were as uneducated as any farmhand. Michael sighed; he knew he would have to learn to get along with them, but they made it difficult for him. Really why would anyone give these people any power, except for some like Viscount Telp, they seem like incompetent pricks, he thought. Michael breathed in a couple of times, calming down wasn''t working at all it seemed. He stepped out on the training court and saw the strange woman chained on a wooden pole guarded by two men.
Her eyes lowered to the ground; she looked like she was sleeping but the tension in her body suggested otherwise. Michael approached her and the guards stood straighter before stopping him. "Milord, please keep your distance, we can''t risk any incident." Michael nodded at them and stopped 5 meters from the prisoner, inspecting her.
"What did you do to get caught?" No answer, she probably didn''t even understand him. Suddenly a strange sentence came from behind him, and the prisoner''s head shot up. Michael didn''t understand a word of what was just said and turned around to see Solon walking towards him from behind. "What did you say?" Michael guessed that it was the language of the prisoner, that the dwarf had spoken, not being surprised in the slightest that he was able to speak it.
"I asked her your question," the dwarf answered and stopped next to his ward. Michael looked back at the girl, but she just stared at them with pure hatred. "Why doesn''t she answer," he asked his teacher. Sadness echoed in the old dwarf''s voice after he said something in the strange language again and the girl shook her head. "She can''t, my guess is they cut out her tongue."
"What?" Michael looked at him with widened eyes, "Why would they do that?" Solon shrugged, his face still clouded, and then said, "Humans, ..., scrap that, every race can be cruel to those that don''t follow their own ways."
Michael clamped down his fist and thought about it, he had learned already that the southwest of the kingdom bordered on tribal territories and that those didn''t follow the Idas church but to treat them like this only because they had differing opinions? Michael''s anger was fueled by a sense of freedom, which he felt from the back of his mind.
Without turning to Solon, he asked, "What can we do?" The dwarf was silent for a moment while he contemplated their options and what he should tell the young lord. He was careful to not suggest anything that could endanger his ward or give him any dumb ideas like trying to free her or something. "She was gifted to your father, so you will either have to convince him to free her or that he gifts her to you."
"How can you even gift a person; the church forbids slavery."
"The church only protects those that follow its faith, slavery is not that uncommon in the kingdom. The only reason you haven''t seen any yet is that your father neither trusts them nor wants any anywhere near his castle. Normally that is." Michael''s brain was turning with the information, how selfish, that was not the way the faith had been portrayed to him by Sister Sola. That is not how he felt when he thought about Idas.
With a last look at the prisoner, Michael turned around and began to walk back to the festivities. He only took a few steps when the voice of his mentor followed him, "What are you going to do, Michael?" He could hear the worry in his voice. Michael turned around with a sly smile, "I am gonna do what you taught me, gather some information, make a plan, and see where it takes me." The worry vanished from Solon''s face, and he followed the boy with a slight smile.
It took nearly an hour to get back into the hall, find his uncle, and get his attention but he had finally managed it.
"Michael, how are you doing?" His uncle ruffled his hair and smiled at his nephew. "I am pretty good, I was wondering if you could tell me the story, of how you captured the barbarian girl." Lord Grim raised an eyebrow, "These kinds of things are a little too brutal for a child your age."
"Please Uncle, I am not that little anymore and I heard many brutal stories in my lessons," Michael tried to put up the facade of an innocent and curious boy to not freak out his uncle with his way too mature way of talking that he normally had. "Right, your father told me that you are a really curious boy, and he doesn''t adhere to the concept of sheltering his kids anyway. Alright, then I will tell you."
He made himself comfortable on his chair and began the story.
Duncan Grim - 2 Months Prior
Lord Grim was sitting on the back of his horse watching the slaughter. The element of surprise was firmly on their side as they burned down the barbarian''s village. This specific clan had raided deep into his territory in the last couple of months, killing, plundering, and dragging away his people, but they had gotten sloppy. A month before his scouts had been able to track the last raiding party through the snow and locate their village. Even if they noticed, they probably wouldn''t have expected the soft people of the kingdom to brave the winter into enemy land, but they had underestimated Lord Duncan Grim and now had to face the consequences.
The kingdom''s troops had attacked in the middle of the night and to call the ambush successful would have been an understatement. Nearly half of the houses were burning before the savages knew what hit them. After stumbling out of their houses they were met by the knights of House Grim and the slaughter had commenced. It was over already, his men were clearing the houses right now, their victory already assured, they didn''t need to set them aflame just yet and destroy valuables or risk the life of any citizen that still could be saved.
He grinned and watched as his men carried valuables and dragged prisoners out of the houses, that weren''t burning. These savages never learn, they raided the kingdom and thought themselves better only to be shown their place shortly after, at least they would pay a little for the damages they had inflicted.
Suddenly he heard a crashing sound when one of his knights was catapulted through a door. He fell to the ground and squirmed to get the bend helmet off his head. Before anyone could react, a blur followed him through the door and planted an axe into his chest. It was a girl standing over the now certainly dead knight, clothed in only a simple shirt and pants, her face covered in blood and growling with rage.
Lord Grim held up his hand, stopping his men from swarming the girl, and got off his horse. He approached the girl, his sword in hand and a smile on his face. Showing his own abilities from time to time helped the morale after all. She made the first move and approached him with inhuman speed, looking more like a charging animal than a warrior. He wasn''t just some knight though and let his mana flow into his blade, swinging it to shoot a blade of mana in her direction. She ducked under the mana blade and pounced at him, her sword and axe swung in his direction from different angles.
With a quick step back, he dodged the short axe and blocked the sword with his own, having to supply his arm with a surprising amount of mana to block the heavy strike. This girl was way stronger than she seemed but even though she was good and strong, she was emotional. Rushing in again, he could see the hatred in her eyes and for a moment he pitied the girl. Such promise, such talent, cut short.
Blocking her sword again, he swung his armored fist against the head of her axe, and with a loud crack it flew away. He used his position to swing at her head with his free hand.
She ducked under the strike and pushed herself with all her strength headfirst into him. Surprised by the total lack of self-preservation, Lord Grim reacted not fast enough to dodge, he could see her teeth as she opened her mouth, it being the only weapon she had and going for his throat.
How dumb is this girl? A shock wave erupted from the count and sent the savage girl flying, crashing into the snow-covered ground five meters away. She shook her head and tried to get back on her feet but Lord Grim was already above her.
"You are quite amusing," with these words his fist found her temple and she lost consciousness.
Chapter 12.
Michael
After the story had concluded Michael thought about what he had heard. He was glad to hear that his uncle wasn''t a bad man at least, just dragging away people. The barbarians had it coming after raiding the kingdom. His uncle couldn''t tell him if the girl was part of the raids but either way her capture was not unjustified.
"What happened to her voice," Michael asked his uncle. He frowned at him and then answered, "Did you try to talk to her? My men said she bit her tongue off, to kill herself." That sounded reasonable to him, so he let it be and left his uncle at the table.
He returned to his seat and pondered at what he had learned and how he could make use of it. She is a strong warrior who now belongs to Father, slavery is only allowed for people who don''t follow the church so if she converts, she might be able to be freed. Alternatively, I can ask Father to free her, as he doesn''t seem to like the whole thing himself.
He spent the rest of the feast going over his arguments only occasionally interrupted by his siblings or Tara.
The feast ended shortly after, and Michael returned to his room and went to bed. Since Solon had taught him some basics on mining and smithing on his request, the dreams had vanished, and Michael was glad about that. He was also somewhat concerned about being influenced by the dreams this way but learning about something this mundane shouldn''t be a problem.
The following day was filled with friendly contests among the knights, riding, duels, and archery and Michael was there most of the time to watch. His teachers had agreed that it would be better for him to watch those and show himself attending than to sit in a room learning. Most of the contests were held in a prepared field with tents and audience ranks that had been built in the last weeks. Many had come to witness the event.
Currently, two knights were fighting in the ring, one of House Rowan and the other of House Grim. They were both young and the knight from House Grim seemed to have the upper hand. Pummeling the other knight relentlessly he pushed him further and further toward the arena boundary. The Rowan knight tried to regain a steady footing and raised his shield, but his enemy used this opportunity to throw his whole-body weight into the shield and pushed the knight out of bounds.
"Out of bounds, Sir Gellard wins," knight commander Godfrey announced loudly, and the spectators applauded. With the next round of combatants preparing to enter the ring Tara leaned over toward him. "You want to bet who wins the next one?" Michael looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "Do you know who is fighting?" She punched his arm and said with a high voice, "Michael, pay attention."
She shook her head as he grinned and pointed at a knight getting ready on the right-hand wall, "That is Sir Thoben Slorn, one of Dad''s best young knights and he is fighting that one over there I think Sir Geron was his name." Michael snapped to attention in an instant and he blurted, "I bet on sir Geron." She looked at him surprised, "You know that knight? Very well I wanted to bet on sir Thoben anyway. What are we gambling for?"
"You want us to bet something?"
"Why bet if there is nothing in for me," she smirked at him.
"Don''t be so sure of your victory. How about a favor?"
"A favor?" She blinked at him, "That is boring, how about a toy or a piece of jewelry."
"Alright, if you win you can pick a toy from me and if I win you owe me one?" She nodded confidently, seemingly very confident but Michael had a stacked deck as he didn''t care about his toys anyway.
A couple of minutes later Sir Geron and Sir Thoben were facing each other in the ring, both in chain mail and armed with swords and shields. They had already traded a couple of blows, probing the other, when Geron threw down his shield and looked at the other knight, the challenge to fight as their lords would was more than apparent. Thoben accepted the challenge, to be honest, there wasn''t much he could do with all the audience and even his liege watching.
They circled each other like fighting wolves. Thoben made the first move dashing forward, he tried to land a blow right down the center. Geron blocked it with ease and countered with a downward slash, but Thoben had already moved back.
Geron refused to give him time though and followed him, placing well-trained slashes while Thoben parried them with accuracy. All this played out at inhuman speed with both of them enhancing every part of their body with mana.
After blocking another blow, Thoben surged forward, sensing an opening, his blade scraped over Geron''s mail without much effect, but it was a hit, nonetheless. They separated again and Thoben smiled at the other knight his helmet allowing for the face to be seen. Geron didn''t look impressed, and his facial expression was one of pure concentration.
"Looks bad for your guy," Tara said with an amused smirk. Michael didn''t answer but he wasn''t too concerned, he had seen Geron fight before, and he knew he could be faster.
Geron changed his stance, his feet sturdily planted into the ground, the sword being level with his shoulders and pointed at his enemy. Thoben dashed forward boosted by his earlier success. The moment he got close, Geron''s sword seemingly vanished and reappeared close to Thoben''s shoulder. He had managed to block the strike, but it vanished again and again, Thoben managed to block it multiple times, but Michael could see the strain it had on the knight.
Michael let his mana flow into his head and eyes, enhancing his perception and sight. Of course, the sword wasn''t truly vanishing but rather so fast that a normal eye couldn''t follow. The next strike aimed at the leg of Sir Thoben, he scrambled to get his sword down fast enough, but he noticed too late that the strike was only a feint and arched up to hit his arm. The moment before the strike hit, the blade suddenly stopped.
Geron and Thoben stood there frozen in time until Geron was satisfied that everyone should have seen what would have happened next and took a step back. Thoben didn''t move an inch and just stared at his enemy.
Commander Godfrey entered the court and proclaimed, "Sir Thoben, your enemy has spared your arm, do you wish to continue the fight?"
The knight took off his helmet, frustration painted onto his face as he bared his teeth and growled, "I yield." Godfrey nodded and proclaimed Geron the winner.
Michael looked over to Tara, who looked like she was about to cry. "Well seems like I won." She looked at him annoyed, "What do you want?"
"Forget it, I wanted to bet for the fun of it not to get anything out of it," he laughed but she didn''t seem amused. "You want me to break my promise?"
Michael sighed and thought about it, there wasn''t anything he wanted from her anyway, that''s exactly why he didn''t feel like betting something. "You know what, we never specified when I had to call in the favor so I''m just gonna keep it."
Tara scratched her head and shrugged.
A metallic sound drew Michael''s attention back to the front, Geron had kneeled down in front of the podium where the families of house Rowan and Grim were seated. "I request a duel with Lord Duncan Grim!"
A ripple went through the stands and Michael could hear many nobles whisper about the nerve of this knight, but he couldn''t help but grin. His uncle inspected the young knight with a relaxed expression as he said, "You are indeed a strong young knight but fighting me is far beyond you, I will spare you this embarrassment." Laughter rose from the ranks close enough to hear but Lord Rowan was not so amused. "You spare him one and inflict another, my dear brother? He requested a fair duel, and you deny him like this, I do take offense at that."
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Now it was for Michael to chuckle as he saw the nobles that had laughed before sinking into their seats.
"You expect me to fight him?" Lord Grim looked surprised at his brother. Lord Rowan rose from his chair and looked down at his brother with an animalistic grin. "No. Now I expect you to fight me!"
Duncan laughed loudly. "I apologize, Sir Geron, it seems I have been rude, if I am still able to stand after this duel, it would be my honor to fight you as well."
Commander Godfrey announced, his voice amplified with mana, "Next duel, Count Cedric Rowan against Count Duncan Grim." The audience erupted in applause, this was what they were waiting for, a clash between the mighty brothers, who had gained nobility through their martial prowess. Every fight that had come before was just child''s play, with mostly the young knights showing their skills, now the veterans were coming out and it started straight at the very top.
Michael turned to Tara, "You wanna bet?" She shook her head smirking, "Father would be annoyed."
"You think my father is stronger?" Michael was surprised by her words and turned back to see his father and uncle get out of most of their clothes except a shirt and pants and grab their swords.
"Dad, always says his one goal is to be better than your father someday. I think he is jealous sometimes."
Now they were in the ring stretching their muscles and preparing. "Are they not gonna wear any armor," Michael asked surprised at no one in particular. It was Matthias who answered from behind him, "Armor wouldn''t stop them if they aren''t careful so being more agile is better."
Michael turned around to his older brother. "They are so strong that armor doesn''t work?" Matthias nodded and said, "Everything that is not an artifact won''t stop them, the only use armor would have is in the case of a glancing hit and a glancing hit is not going to hurt them too much. That''s also why they fight with their own swords, they are artifacts, and no normal sword could withstand the strain of them going all out." Michael turned back around; he was nervous and gave Idas a short prayer that nothing bad would happen.
The fight was about to start, and Michael preemptively let his mana flow through his body.
His father made the first move, traversing the distance between them in a moment, when their swords clashed the air vibrated with power. They looked like they were dancing as they attacked, parried, and dodged each other, Michael was hardly able to follow their strikes even with enhanced sight and perception. Pretty much on equal footing, they separated. Michael noticed something odd about his uncle''s sword and concentrated on sensing mana and he was right, the sword was filling with mana. A moment later he swung it and the mana separated from the blade forming its own slash, flying towards Lord Rowan, who redirected the mana blade upwards where it vanished into nothingness.
Lord Grim was right behind the slash and struck low, the attack being dodged and returned as Lord Rowan used his raised sword to attack his brother from above. The fight continued and Michael was fascinated by the martial skill and the amount of mana both of them were burning. Suddenly a swath of mana erupted from his uncle''s entire body and was met by a similar push from his father.
"What is that," Michael asked and leaned forward. From behind him, he could hear Matthias''s voice, "Aura. The third rank an augmenter can reach is to be able to forcefully push mana out of one''s body and use it to send a shock wave at the enemy or make an aura that serves as kind of a shield. It is immensely difficult and as far as I know, Father and knight commander Godfrey are the only aura-level augmenters in the county."
Michael stared at the display, it looked like magic, but it wasn''t.
They continued pressuring each other with their mana, for normal people it probably looked like they were just standing still but Michael could see the forces push against each other. This is not sustainable; he thought and was promptly proven right as his uncle dashed to the side while dropping his attack. The shock wave went past him with a bang. He attacked his brother again, but Michael could see that he was noticeably slower now, his mana reserves probably dropping fast.
Lord Rowan mercilessly used his advantage of not having slowed down too much and pressured his brother, pummeling him with strikes until he finally got his sword through onto his brother''s chest. He stopped a little in front of it, Michael assumed to not hurt him. They were both breathing heavily and were covered in sweat. The fight hadn''t been even five minutes, but they looked exhausted, his uncle more so than his father.
"Winner is Lord Rowan," Sir Godfrey announced and Lord Rowan helped his brother up.
The fight was short and to the untrained eye it might have looked basic, but everyone could feel the pressure of them clashing.
"If I had a mana well as strong as yours this would be much easier," Michael heard his uncle say as they returned to the podium. Lord Rowan laughed and slapped him on the shoulder, "I am just better than you."
"Shut up or I am going to beat you up," Duncan smirked but Michael thought he had seen a slight hint of annoyance or frustration on his face. "Wasn''t there a knight that wanted to fight too?" His uncle turned around suddenly to the field where Geron was waiting, he bowed and said loudly, "It would be my honor, milord."
The count turned around and walked back down and proceeded to unceremoniously beat up Geron in a minute even though he was slower than when fighting his brother. Lord Grim then took Geron to the side after the fight and seemed to give him his opinion and some fields of improvement. Michael suspected that this was the real goal his knight had in mind. Even though his reputation probably took a hit for it.
The event continued until late that day, but no fight could garner as much attention as the fight of the two counts.
Barbarian Girl
She was cold. The winter was ending but she was too scantly clothed, with only pants and a shirt. It didn''t help that her arms were bound over her head, and her fingers were freezing. She just wanted to die with her people but that wasn''t going to happen, she knew that. This was all Sev''s fault, that fucking asshole. We can raid the kingdom; they are weak and rich. They would never attack us in winter and when the spring comes, we will just move further away. That is what he said and now her family was dead or enslaved and she was a prisoner.
She hated them, what they did to her clan, and what they did to her. She wanted to scream but only incomprehensible sounds would leave her lips and so she didn''t bother. She just sat there trying to curl together as much as possible to keep herself warm.
She began to drift off when she was suddenly kicked. Her eyes sprung open, and she hissed at the guard that had kicked her. He grinned at her, and she could feel the urge to strangle him if he would just take a step closer.
She could hear voices in front of her and turned to see who it was. A group of people was approaching her, led by the same kid that had tried to talk to her yesterday, followed by the dwarf and a knight that she hadn''t seen before. The boy was carrying a bundle of something and talking to the others. After reaching her, he looked at her and said something that she couldn''t understand. She frowned and thought, is this kid dumb? The dwarf began translating, his pronunciation weird but she could understand him.
"I will be translating from here on. My name is Michael Rowan, son of Count Cedric Rowan. I apologize for your treatment here, but I don''t have the authority to change much. I have brought you warmer clothes, a blanket, and a hat if you swear to not strangulate anyone with them. I tried to get you inside but that was denied, I am sorry."
She stared at the boy, what is his angle, was he some kind of weirdo? No, he is way too young for something like this. She wanted to refuse, just to be stubborn but she knew there was no point in making herself suffer without a reason, she would need all her strength if she were to escape.
"I need an answer. Do you swear to not attack anyone with what you are given and also not make any problems while you put on the extra clothes," the dwarf asked again.
She sighed and nodded, her attempt to make the signs of the oath with her hands failed as she couldn''t get them down to her chest. The boy watched her interested and said something, the dwarf didn''t translate so she guessed it wasn''t meant for her. The guards protested, at least that was how it sounded but, in the end, her shackles were opened, and the boy came closer and put the bundle of clothes in front of her.
Rubbing her wrists, she thought about jumping the boy right now, he was the son of a count so maybe with him as hostage she could gain her freedom and she hadn''t managed to make the oath so it wouldn''t raise the wrath of the gods. She sighed again, she wanted to make the oath and agreed so she wouldn''t break it even if technically she wasn''t bound. Also, the knight was watching her every move and he looked like he would cut her down the moment she tried to reach the child.
She put on the cloak and hat, burying her hands under it to warm them up when the boy handed her some gloves and the dwarf said, "Take the gloves, you need to keep your hands over the blanket where the guards can see them at all times, or it will all be taken from you." She chuckled in response and pointed up at the shackles to say that she would have no way to put them under the blanket anyway.
The boy looked up at the shackles and said something, again her guards protested but after some stern words from the knight, they lowered the shackles.
After she had been cuffed again the boy left and she was sitting confused in her much more comfortable situation.
Chapter 13.
Michael
Two weeks later peace returned to the castle with the departure of House Grim. It had been stressful, with so many feasts and tournaments, so Michael was happy to be back to his normal routine. Right now, he was at martial training, sitting in a corner letting his mana circulate through his body. Like a stream, the mana flowed. Everywhere he opened up a path the energy pressed to get in and only his will could regulate the amount entering the path. He still was neither good nor efficient with it and Geron had told him before that it would probably take years until he was reasonably good at it but as in everything, Michael tried his best to excel at it.
He liked mana training; it was challenging and at the same time gave him time to let his mind wander. Like the problem with the prisoner, he hadn''t tried to talk to her again since he had given her the clothing but with most of the nobility and their guests having left, he would probably try again soon.
He breathed slowly when he was disturbed by Geron, "Alright time is up, back to physical training." Michael opened his eyes and got back on his feet. He took his training sword off the wall and took a look around. The training court was filled to the brim with knights and squires, Michael had seen the twins and Matthias earlier, but he couldn''t make them out in the crowd. After the tournaments had concluded the motivation to become better had risen dramatically and Michael liked the atmosphere of improvement that it gave the training yard.
"Okay we will go into a new drill," Geron said, while Michael still looked over the yard. Then he saw the spot where the barbarian girl was cuffed to the pole and his blood began to boil. The twins were there and up to no good as usual, hitting her with wooden swords, her hands were tied over her head again. Michael was already moving before he fully knew what was happening, charging across the yard, fluently passing by other people. He could hear Geron call out behind him, but he didn''t listen.
"Stop," he yelled as they turned around, he brushed by them before they could react and stood between the girl and his brothers. Harlov grinned at him, "Look at that, the monster defends the savage, what a story."
"Leave," Michael growled at him. "She has done nothing, there is no reason to be so mean to her."
"There is a really good reason actually because you care and she has no rights," Harlov laughed, and the hatred that Michael had felt blunting in the last couple of months reignited in an instant.
"You call me a monster, but your heart is as black as a starless night."
"Oh, little brother, no need to become personal here. What will you do? You can''t always be here. We know your daily routine." Michael shook his head; how could anyone be so evil for no reason? They accuse him of being a demon child while no one seems to question these two cruel assholes. "Father will not allow you to do this."
"Do you really think Father cares what happens with some savage", Harlov laughed at him. "He didn''t even bother to make sure she doesn''t freeze, isn''t that a kind of mean as well?"
An audience had formed, and Michael could see Geron standing there as well, watching the confrontation. Michael knew he couldn''t interfere as long as it was a fight between kids and Michael didn''t walk away but he didn''t plan to de-escalate at all. Michael raised his wooden sword and pointed at Harlov challenging him. "Then I have to stop you myself, right?" Harlov looked at him and started laughing, "You?"
"Yes me, I challenge you to a duel!"
Harlov looked smug but still asked, "You want me to fight a little child?" With the theatrics written on his face, he just tried to avoid looking like someone to beat up someone smaller than him.
"Are you scared?" Michael growled; he didn''t believe that a childish dare like this would rile his brother, but it did give him a good reason to accept this duel and that is everything he was looking for anyway.
"Hm, I normally wouldn''t do this, but I frankly can''t have this accusation stand, can I? I accept your challenge." Harlov looked satisfied and Michael was already looking forward to wiping that smirk off his face.
The other people quickly made space for them, some of them grumbling annoyed at their interrupted training, others interested in the duel. Geron stepped next to Michael and said, "Didn''t expect that, why are you so focused on helping this ... girl." Michael could hear the indifference towards the barbarian girl and looked at his knight with interest. "Why do you think it is okay to treat another person like this?
Geron shrugged, "They attack the kingdom, so they don''t deserve anything different. I don''t agree with kicking and hitting prisoners without a reason, but it could be worse."
"Huh, didn''t expect that. Well, I think they deserved to be attacked and killed in battle for attacking the kingdom, even to be imprisoned but I don''t think a person should own another person or treat them like shit just because they believe in another god. Idas taught us to stand together and protect humanity, this is about that." Geron listened to him and then nodded before he spoke again, "I understand, then you just have to win, to give weight to your words."
"Got any tips on how I can manage that?"
"Rely on your basics and augmenting, you need to wear him down. You have started your training earlier than they have; they only started a year before you so the difference shouldn''t be too big. Also, I heard that they are not that diligent when it comes to training. You need to bridge the gap in the physical aspect with your mana, be careful when he uses his as he has a stronger body to enhance but your mana well should be stronger. Good luck, milord."
"Thank you, I will manage," Michael turned around and entered the ring, the oldest knight present was standing in the middle and Harlov and Michael approached him. "I will be the judge on his fight, the winner will be who can bring the enemy to yield or make him unable to continue combat. If I determine that this duel is concluded, I will also call it off early to prevent unnecessary injury."
"Anything that isn''t allowed," Michael asked the judge.
"Don''t try to kill each other, nothing else. Anything else?"
Both of them shook their head. "Good then take your positions."
Michael breathed in deeply trying to center himself and turned towards Harlov. They were both carrying only a sword and were dressed in training clothes. Michael hadn''t been drilled on shields yet, so it wouldn''t help him anyway.
"Begin!"
Harlov charged Michael instantly, striking him from above. Michael raised his sword and blocked the strike; he ached under the force and funneled more mana into his limbs. He parried two more heavy strikes and jumped back, while doing that Harlov attacked him again, managing to graze him with his longer reach. Gritting his teeth Michael went on the offensive striking at the left side of his brother, planning to draw his sword in an awkward position.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Harlov grinned as he blocked the strike with his arm and swung at Michael''s head, he went down with sparks in front of his eyes. This is not a real fight with sharp weapons, I can''t fight like it is one, Michael thought while he got back on his feet. "Haha, where is the confidence you had before", Harlov taunted him, he didn''t give Michael time to recover and charged him again; striking once, twice, and a third time, Michael blocked each strike, his muscles strained under the stress.
I can''t keep fighting like this, he is stronger than me, his thoughts raced as he tried to come up with a solution. I am not going to go down so easily, he thought to himself, trying to reset his mind and focus.
The next strike came, and he wanted to block again but changed his mind and dodged back. Harlov followed him and struck again, Michael dodged again and frowned. He is really predictable, that''s why I blocked every strike. He kept dodging a couple more wide swings and moved around his brother. "And asked me if I am scared? Stay and fight you coward, running away is against the rules," Harlov yelled at him frustrated.
What did he say? Against the rules? A grin formed on Michael''s face, and he stood still when Harlov came at him again. The strike was coming from the left side, Michael made a step back at the last moment, closed his eyes, and snapped his fingers while pushing in as much mana as possible. He could see the flash through his closed eyes for the moment it lasted and heard Harlov scream shortly after, "ARGH!"
Michael reopened his eyes and saw Harlov staggering back one hand rubbing his eyes, still groaning. Michael took the opportunity and began his assault. The first strike was against the sword-wielding hand, forcing him to drop it with a wail. The next followed against his knee and he went down. He tried to get up again, but Michael struck him in the stomach and he went back down on one knee. Michael raised his sword to let it fall on his kneeling brother when the judge interjected, "Enough! Lord Harlov is not able to continue the fight without his weapon and eyesight. Lord Michael wins the duel." Michael stopped his strike and took a step back.
"That is bullshit," Oska yelled and walked into the ring. "Using magic in a duel, do you have no honor!"
Michael looked at him emotionless while rubbing his head where he had been hit and said, "Can''t remember magic being prohibited in the duel."
"Pff, that should be obvious, but I should have not expected anything different but cheap tricks from someone like you!" Harlov was still groaning on the ground, Sir Dittrich kneeling next to him.
Michael scoffed at him and asked the audience loudly, "Was it a cheap trick to use magic? To use the full extent of my abilities when my opponent didn''t care to make a rule about it, even though he knew about my magic. To use what I can with an enemy that is bigger and stronger than me?"
The present people began to whisper to each other differing opinions being thrown around when finally, the authoritarian voice of the judge silenced them, "It was no different than using aura, or a mana sword. I have to say though, that it wasn''t the knightliest move, akin to throwing sand in the eyes of your enemy but it is neither dishonorable nor cowardly in a fight against a physically superior foe. I also want to note that Lord Michael here displayed better martial skills and restraint in the usage of stamina and mana. I do believe that if the fight would have continued, Lord Harlov would have run out of mana in a minute or two and then the fight would have been over anyway."
Many of the knights nodded in understanding or agreement. Harlov finally got back to his feet and seemingly began seeing something again. He was fuming and made a step towards Michael picking up his sword, "You little demon." He was stopped by the judge, "Milord, you have lost the duel fairly. Please refrain from doing anything to stain your honor."
He growled like an animal and then turned around stomping away, followed by his brother and their knights. The crowd dispersed with some of the knights coming over to Michael to congratulate him. Geron waited for the others to have their turn before he approached him. "Good job, nice movements and good idea with the light. I knew you showed promise," he praised him with a smile.
"It was more on Harlov''s predictability than me being good."
"Don''t sell yourself short, you fought with structure and what Harlov did seemed like a pretty reasonable level for a little more than one year of training with no experience. Of course, I saw things that we have to touch upon," the knight dismissed his answer.
Michael thanked him and walked over to the barbarian girl, he had no way to talk to her, so he just made sure, that the guards lowered her chains back to the comfortable level and told them to not change it again.
Barbarian Girl
That boy seems really weird, she thought to herself, earlier today she had been annoyed by two brats, and the weird boy, Michael was his name she believed had chased them away. She was thankful for his help as she just wanted to be left alone but she had no clue what his deal was and that bothered her. Not like she could ask him anyway. It was evening now, and most people had cleared out so she was left with two guards and one guy that was training on the other side of the yard.
A door opened and she could see the dwarf walking through it he was carrying a wooden stool and came straight over to her. She looked around but couldn''t see the boy anywhere.
"May the mother be with you," he greeted her. She narrowed her eyes and stared at him, a dwarf who knew their language and their culture.
"I have spoken with Lord Michael and heard what happened, he wanted me to tell you he is sorry for your treatment, but he will try to keep an eye on it." The dwarf looked at her for any sign of a reaction, and finally, she nodded, just to get this over with.
"He also asked me to find a way for you to communicate, so I will work on extending a combat sign language that I have learned in the northeast into a full sign language if you are willing to learn it." She thought about it but saw no reason to learn anything if she was probably gonna be dead in a couple of weeks anyway, so she shook her head.
The dwarf sighed and looked at her with pity, she hated every moment of it and growled at him to the best of her abilities. "Oh, I am sorry." He sat there in silence for a minute until he asked with a heavy voice, "You didn''t bite off your own tongue, right?" She stared at him and violently shook her head. She would never do that; how could she ever speak to the mother and the father with no voice for them to hear her?
"I thought as much." The silence extended for another minute when he finally looked her in the eyes and continued, "I have lived with a clan that follows your beliefs before. I don''t claim to be an expert, but I can say that I know your ways. If you let me teach you sign language, the mother and father might see your efforts and accept it as prayers too, the oath sign is also more important than the spoken word so why should it be different here?"
She looked at him with confusion, he knew about the oath sign? Then he knew back when the boy brought her clothing that she wasn''t bound but trusted that she would keep her word anyway?
"What do you say? Do you want to try it?"
She thought about it. In her culture trying and struggling was seen as a good thing even when one fails but just giving up disgraces oneself, that is the reason she is still fighting every time someone pokes at her and why she would never have bitten her tongue off to kill herself. Would the mother and the father accept prayers made without a word?
She nodded slowly, she had to try, and the argument of the dwarf made sense. He smiled at her warmly, she had no aversion against the dwarf, he seemed like a good person and wasn''t a human of the kingdom anyway, so no reason to hate him as well.
"My name is Solon Gremson by the way, soon we will figure out a way for you to tell me your name. I would also like to teach you Remurian, the language of the kingdom if that is alright? You will spend a lot of time here and I am sure it would be easier for you if you understood people instead of being beaten until you understand what they want."
The girl nodded, knowing their language would probably help her escape later so she accepted his tutelage without much thought. She was looking forward to doing something except sitting around and fighting with annoying people.
"You know, Lord Michael also wants to learn sign language and your language to be able to talk to you."
She frowned and raised her hands, trying to signal confusion as to why this boy even cared. The dwarf seemed to understand what she wanted because he laughed and said, "He doesn''t like the principle of slavery and treating people one is responsible for badly. Also, he is very curious, so I believe he wants to ask you about your culture and people."
This boy is really weird, she thought.
Chapter 14.
Michael - Roughly one year later
Michael was waiting at the gate for Solon, today they would visit the town again, they had started these excursions nearly a year ago to get a better feeling for the citizens'' lives and to get some hands-on experience with their crafts. The last year had gone by in a flash, between his studies and training. The barbarian girl was still in custody, but Michael had managed to get her inside at least. Lord Rowan had started to use her as a training partner for his knights a couple of weeks after she arrived, to give them experience against other fighting styles; she retained a positive win rate and birthed a whole betting ring. He tried to get her released on his birthday and multiple occasions after but sadly to no avail yet.
The twins were making problems as usual but most of the fights they got into tended to go in Michael''s favor the more time passed, so they hadn''t tried in a while. Michael stepped to the side making space for a group of knights to pass by when Solon entered the courtyard and came over to him. "Greetings, Lord Michael and Sir Geron," he greeted them with a nod.
"Greetings, Solon. Where are we going today?"
"We will take a walk through the merchant district, I want to teach you the different requirements a town needs for traveling merchants in contrast to merchants that are settled in a town." The dwarf liked doing this, wandering through the city while he explained subjects and then demonstrating them.
The town was empty today, the dirt roads still wet from the last rain. They managed to reach their destination quickly, dodging the puddles that had formed. The market was a little more filled but not excessively so. Many of the merchants greeted them, Michael and Solon were coming here often after all and were well known. They wandered through the market, here and there talking to the merchants about their needs and perspective on the towns they traveled to.
They finally stopped in front of a local smithy, that they had visited for smithing lessons. The smithy and the building next to it needed some repairs, if it was because of neglect or money problems, Michael couldn''t say. They walked into the open work area, the tools were neatly placed on the workbenches, the fire in the furnace was burning low and a hammer was lying on the ground. Michael frowned, something wasn''t right here. Solon walked up to the hammer and picked it up looking over to Michael while placing it on the anvil.
They walked over to the door at the side of the house and knocked. Nothing happened and so they knocked again. After a couple more seconds a maybe 16-year-old girl opened the door, her eyes and cheeks were red, she had cried before. "I''m sorry we are ..." When she saw who was in front of the door she stopped talking.
"What happened child? Where is your father," Solon asked the smith''s daughter.
She led them into the house. It was strangely empty, Michael couldn''t put a finger on it, the furniture was there but somehow it seemed so empty. They continued into the kitchen where the 14-year-old son was sitting on the table his head covered with his hands and he asked with a defeated voice, "Who was it?"
"Lord Michael is here, Zeb," the girl said, her name was Lina if Michael remembered correctly. Zeb''s head shot up and he jumped up from the table, "Lord Michael, I am sorry I didn''t see you there."
"Calm down, everything is alright, tell me what happened to your father."
They sat down around the table while Lina made tea, the pot looking like it had seen better days. Michael frowned, a broken teapot in a smith''s house?
"So?" Michael asked again when no one began talking. Finally, the son got over his reservations and started explaining, "It was a normal day, we opened up the smithy like we always do. A couple of hours after dawn, four men came into our shop looking for my father, he told me to go inside but I listened to them anyway."
He shuddered and looked plain miserable. "They said that Father had to pay up his debts, I didn''t even know we were in any. He couldn''t and begged them to give him more time. They said he had to come with them to the boss and they would work something out."
Now Michael got what felt off about the house, he could see nothing of any real value, smiths tended to be well off, so it stuck out to him.
Lina began to sob over the teapot.
"I don''t even know how much," Zeb said with his voice breaking down while holding back tears.
Michael frowned, "Do you know who he is owing money to and where he was brought."
"They were Red Fredrick''s men, the owner of the Red Lady, I guess they brought him there," Zeb said quietly. Lina turned around, "How do you know that? By Idas, that''s who you have been hanging around with lately, isn''t it? With these damn criminals?" He avoided her gaze and Michael stopped her before she could lay into him more. "You can yell at him after I am gone. Do you know where this Red Lady is," he asked Geron, who looked a little uncomfortable with the question.
"I do know where it is because some of the other knights go there but I never did," he said quickly.
Michael raised an eyebrow, "What''s the matter, Geron?"
Solon was more serious than usual and quickly explained, "Lord Michael, I assume the Red Lady is a brothel and Sir Geron doesn''t want you to think, that he visits such establishments, just because he knows where it is."
"Oh", Michael had heard about brothels but had never seen one. "Well, I guess." He turned to the smith''s children, "I will go there and see what I can do for your father, if I don''t come back go to the castle and tell them where I went."
"They wouldn''t dare do anything to the Lord''s son," Geron said with a scoff.
"Pays to be prepared, what I have learned about criminals, makes me worry just going into their midst."
"There shouldn''t be any problems, they are not street vagabonds but it is always good to have a backup plan," Solon agreed. Lina and Zeb thanked him profusely before he could finally leave the house.
"Who is this Fredrick," Michael asked while they went down the street.
"He owns the Red Lady, a brothel and gambling den, he also gives out loans to nearly everyone who needs one in town and owns some other businesses. He is probably the richest citizen in town who is not a noble," Geron explained while leading the way. Michael frowned, "Why is he not arrested if he is a known criminal?"
"That is because he is not a criminal, at least there is no proof of it. He might be a low life and a loan shark but he doesn''t break laws as far as I know. He also has powerful friends and customers so no one can lay a finger on him without solid evidence."
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The scenery changed as they got closer to the Red Lady, it looked way harsher than in the merchant district. The people seemed more serious and beggars were at every corner. "This doesn''t look so nice." Geron had to defend Michael from a couple of beggars, who tried their hand on a little more aggressive begging until they reached the door of the brothel.
Geron opened it for him and they entered. Michael was instantly hit by the heavy air filled with the scent of tobacco and cheap liquor. The front room was filled with tables, surrounded by men, they were playing dice, cards, and other games. Scantly clothed women moved through the gaps, talking to the players. On the other side of the room was a large bar manned by a huge man and filled with bottles.
A gorgeous woman noticed them enter and walked over to them with a smile. "Aren''t you a little too young for this place, my boy," she said to Michael.
"I would also rather not be here, the smell is horrible," he said truthfully. "I am here to talk with the owner Fredrick."
"What? Your old man sends you to pay his debts or what, kid," a man standing next to the door interjected and the woman quickly walked away. "Come back if you have an appointment and get rid of this self-important face." The man walked in front of them and glared at Michael. Geron tensed up and laid his hand on his sword and the thug laughed, "You want trouble, big guy?"
A couple of other men closed in on them as Michael raised his hand signaling Geron to stand down and then smiled at the man. "My name is Michael Rowan, son of Count Cedric Rowan, I want to speak with your boss, right now."
It took a moment for the man to understand that he was not kidding. The eyes of the man then widened and he began suddenly stutter, "M-my ap-apologies, milord, I didn''t recognize you. I will inform the owner immediately please wait by the bar for a moment." He scuffled away quickly, much to Michael''s amusement. He had noticed on his excursions with Solon that surprising rude people with his status was quite entertaining.
He strolled through the room, not intending to go to the bar and many eyes followed him. A young woman approached him nervously, behind her he could see an older woman watching her approach. "Can I get you something, m-m-milord," her eyes show her panicking as she stumbled over her own words. Michael smiled at her warmly, "No, thank you, it''s nice of you to ask but I won''t be long here anyway."
The woman looked back to the older woman concerned, "If there is anything I can do, please ask." She bowed and returned to the other woman who didn''t seem too happy and talked harshly to her, judging by the young one''s body language. Before Michael could do anything more the thug returned and quickly bowed, "The boss will see you now, please follow me."
The group followed the man up the stairs, he could hear moaning and other noises from the rooms they passed but tried his best to ignore them until they reached a fancy office. The ground covered in a fine carpet, ornate furniture, and shelves covered in books showed the wealth of the owner. He was an unimpressive man, seeming out of place in a room such as this, average height, thin, brown hair, there was nothing that made him stand out except maybe his fine clothing. With a bow, he introduced himself, "My name is Fredrick, I welcome you in my humble establishment."
"Michael Rowan, I thank you for your time." Michael sat down while Solon and Geron stood behind him. "I am looking for a smith named Harald, I heard your men took him away."
Fredrick raised his eyebrows surprised by his direct question and said, "I had no idea you had any connection to this smith, he didn''t mention it at all." He inspected the young lord before he signaled to one of his goons to get the man. "Could I ask what you want from the man, he owes me a quite substantial amount of money, which I need to collect."
"Yes, I heard about that. What kind of a sum are we talking about here?"
"I am sorry, milord. That is a business secret, after all, you would not want me to tell other people, how much you owed if you did. To be honest, I shouldn''t have told you that he owed me at all but you seemed to know that already," his voice was slick and Michael didn''t like how condescending it sounded under the surface. He stayed silent until the door opened again.
Harald was covered in bruises and his face looked like he had bled a lot and someone tried to quickly wash his face clean. Michael shot an angry glance at the loan shark and said, "Did you do this to him?"
The man smiled apologetically, "It is my right to collect on my debts and convince them with harsher methods if needed."
Michael went over to Harald and looked at him, "Are you alright?"
"Lord Michael, what are you doing here," the man rasped with a hoarse voice.
"Doesn''t matter, how much do you owe him, and how did it happen?"
Harald coughed and said between them, "When my wife died, I started drinking, I don''t know how it happened but I lost a lot of money on the gambling tables here. I couldn''t stop, I just couldn''t."
"How much," Michael pressed the issue. "2200 Ruan."
Michael sighed and closed his eyes. The currency in the kingdom consisted of the copper coins levi and the silver and gold coins ruan and 2200 ruan was indeed a substantial amount.
"Alright get up we are getting out of here," Michael said and motioned Geron to support Harald.
Fredrick watched everything and with a polite smile said, "That still leaves the problem of how Harald will pay his debt."
Michael looked at him with a cold gaze and said, "You will get your money, don''t worry."
The man feigned surprise, "Are you gonna vouch for it, milord?"
"I said you will get your money."
Fredrick bowed and said with that damn sly tone, "I can offer to drop the debt for a little favor, milord. I see that this matter is important to you."
Michael didn''t answer and just left the room with the smiling man, his retainers following behind him.
When they reached the street Michal could see a wagon turn into the street next to the brothel, he heard someone he was sure. Michael went over to the street and peeked inside, the wagon was standing in the alley and a couple of men were walking around it. He could hear the screaming of women and a moment later saw them getting dragged out of the wagon. "Non-believer," Solon said with a forcefully neutral tone. "The men are sold for labor and the woman ... well."
"I get the gist," Michael said and turned around.
He was virtually seething as they made their way back to Harald''s house
- an hour later in Harald''s house -
"Dumb, dumb, dumb," Lina yelled while hitting her father, tears running down her face.
"I am sorry, darling," the man said defeated, his eyes empty.
"I am sorry if I have to interrupt but there is still a problem to be solved here, how are you gonna pay your debts?" Michael felt bad that he had to break up a family moment even if it was a bad one but he wasn''t in the mood to wait here sitting and not doing anything until they were done.
Harald sat down heavily and shook his head, "I don''t know, I will have to sell the house and smithy, I don''t have the money otherwise."
"Where are we going to live," his daughter wailed and he gritted his teeth.
Michael didn''t expect anything else. He looked at Solon, they had talked on their way back trying to come up with a solution, the dwarf nodded slowly.
"We made a plan. I will buy your house and smithy for exactly 2200 ruan and you can keep living in it and working in the smithy but you will only receive a fixed salary. You will work for me and pay rent for the house," Michael explained.
"I would be selling for less than everything is worth and make less than before," Harald complained weakly.
"But you won''t live on the street and have a stable income with which to feed your family. I want to help you, I really do but I am not some kind of saint. You will have to carry the responsibility for your mistakes." It probably sounded harsh and he had thought about helping them out of the goodness in his heart but Solon had painted a colorful picture of what would happen. The smith might learn from it and lead a happy life or he would just go back and drink and gamble it all away again with the mindset that he will be saved again. He was doing the man a favor already, he would be better paid than if he tried to work in another smithy and keep his house for a reasonable rent.
"The money that destroys my life is so little that even a noble kid can easily afford it," the smith grumbles lost in thought. Michael narrowed his eyes but before he could say anything, Lina yelled at her father. "The Lord is trying to help us and you insult him? What in the thirteen hells is wrong with you?"
The smith looked at Michael and seemed to realize what he just said, he couldn''t find his words as panic was written over his face. Michael accepted his panic as an apology and said, "I forgive you because this situation must be harsh on you. Also, it is not a purchase I can easily afford, I will have to use all of the money that I have saved and most of the money that is supposed to go into my education this year. I will be more or less broke after this if I don''t ask my father for money."
The smith apologized profusely but Michael brushed him off. After accepting the deal Michael and his retainers left the house promising to return with the money the next day.
The walk back to the castle was a silent one, Michael was lost in thought until they reached the gate. Once they did he turned around to Solon and Geron and said, "I have some work for you."
Chapter 15.
Michael
Michael''s dreams were strange that night. Pictures of people in chains flashed through his eyes, filled with a feeling of contempt and hatred. Followed by mass graves of the same people surrounded by men with distorted grinning faces and gold flowing out of their mouths as the blood ran between their feet. Michael tried to run, tried to get away but an old voice spoke to him, "You can''t escape this, Michael. You can either fight it or join it."
Michael closed his eyes and covered his ears in panic, he didn''t want to be here he just wanted to get out. It felt like he was a kid again, the same as he was before the coma, he was scared and tried to avoid everything.
"You must choose. I hope you make the right one," the voice echoed in his head when he awoke with a gasp.
He breathed heavily when he sat up in bed, the dream started to fade but the emotions were still as clear as day.
Why are my dreams always so intense, can''t I just dream of dragons or unicorns for a change, Michael thought as he rolled out of bed. It was time for him to get up anyway he had an early appointment with his father today. He grabbed a notebook and began quickly scribbling down what he had seen in his dream before it faded completely. He didn''t trust his dreams after the whole demon child disaster, so he had started to write them down. After he was done, he carefully hid the notebook under a floorboard next to the nightstand that he had loosened for this very use.
- A while later in Lord Rowan''s study -
"So, you want a written order from me, instructing you to clean up the town from criminals?" Lord Rowan seemed amused by this request.
"Yes, Father."
"And why exactly do you want to clean up the town so suddenly?" As always, his father was open to any suggestion as long as good reasoning was presented.
"I was in the town the last two days and talked to the merchants about what was most important for their trade to flourish, and they said that a high crime rate was one of the most detrimental things. This is also one of the things we, as the ruling family, have great influence over to change it," Michael explained his well-prepared arguments. He wasn''t going to run into such a meeting with half-baked preparations ever again.
"I heard about it; you have bought a smithy. My steward came to me complaining, how the money supposed to be for your education is wasted on that." He looked at Michael for a moment before he continued, "But Solon has assured me, that this is to teach you how to handle a business and that it was a very good deal, that will turn profitable in the end."
"Yes, and this operation will help teach me, how a town watch works and how they go about their work, while simultaneously educating me on the effects of crime on the town."
"Is there even a high crime rate in the town, that would justify work? The commander of the town watch hasn''t reported any surge in crime."
Michael had anticipated that question and had prepared an answer. They had paid the debt of Harald yesterday and spent most of the day speaking to the locals, all to prepare for this conversation, everything would hang on how his father would take his arguments. "Yes Father, there is. I talked to many traders, craftsmen, and other workers, there seems to be a lot of crime that just doesn''t get reported for one reason or another. I don''t want to accuse anyone without further proof, but I heard that some of the watchmen don''t take crime reports very seriously or investigate them lacklusterly. I don''t know if it is because of a lack of motivation or a worse reason but I intend to find out. Even if there is none, I can still learn something that will prove advantageous in the future."
Lord Rowan sat in silence for a while, inspecting his son while he thought about what he had heard. "Are you suggesting that some of the watchmen are being paid off?"
His father didn''t care for much concerning his governing of the counties, but order and security were something he cared a lot for. "I think it is a possibility, yes."
The man sighed and concluded, "And that is also why you asked this meeting to be in private and for me to not share any details."
Michael nodded.
"You know most people would laugh in your face, a seven-year-old trying to clean up the town and investigating the town watch. It is a weird situation to be sure, but you are not normal yourself." His father looked like he was reminiscing his eyes unfocused and a slight smile on his face. "Over a year has gone by already and I have watched your progress with interest. I decided a long time ago to not treat you like a child but as an adult, you simply are. If someone asked me who was more mature you or Matthias, I would be hard-pressed for an answer."
Michael smiled a little, he had completely given up on trying to fit into his age a while ago. His father seemingly tried to get to the point of his rambling, "If Matthias or any other adult that enjoyed my trust, came to me and told me what you have, I would grant their request. So, I don''t see a reason to deny it to you, but I want to warn you, I will judge you on how you handle this also like an adult. You will have to prepare for the consequences if you fail."
"Of course, Father. I will not disappoint you."
"I am counting on it."
Michael got his letter and left the study, meeting up with Solon, Sola, and Geron in Solon''s room.
When he entered the room Solon asked him, "How did it go?"
Michael held up the letter as an answer and the dwarf relaxed and asked, "You didn''t tell him about your plans, did you?"
"No and he didn''t ask, also I formulated it vague enough that I can justify it later if necessary. Now we just need some information and evidence, but it will have to wait for after our meeting with the town watch though, we do have to make a show out of stamping down on thievery and similar so that no one gets suspicious. What did you find out Geron?"
The knight signed annoyed, "I asked around and the town watch seems to be doing its job from what I could gather in the castle, but the moment you leave official sources it all flips. Bribery, protection money, and stuff like that seem to be rampant in the lower strata of the town and the town watch does nothing. It doesn''t happen in the richer districts, so they don''t care, or they are paid to not care."
Michael could understand his annoyance, the knight was part of the poor population before Michael''s father took him in, so he could relate to the people. "And Fredrick is the center of it all?" Geron shrugged, "the people are most scared of talking about him, so I assume that he is."
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Sola was listening to the whole conversation. "It is the same as in most bigger cities with the lower-class citizens, I could have told you as much. But I don''t really see the reason why you should personally take care of this. It does seem awfully risky for someone of your age."
Michael looked at her surprised. "Sola you were the first person to not treat me like a child and now you want to start? I don''t think there is anyone else that would do anything because as Geron said, it doesn''t affect the upper classes so it will never reach Father if the town watch doesn''t care. It is on us to do something about it."
"I am just concerned for you, I have seen what can happen in large cities with vast criminal networks, to people that try to challenge them. There are literal wars between criminal groups." Michael put his hands in hers and looked her in the eyes, "I will not back down just because it is dangerous, you know this because you have taught me these values."
She smiled proudly and replied with a chuckle, "Should not have done that until you are a little bigger."
He squeezed her hands lightly before he turned around. "Good, Geron you will accompany me to the town watch barracks and we will see what is going on soon."
While Geron and Michael were walking through the streets Michael asked, "Do you think this is too dangerous?"
The knight didn''t seem too surprised by the question. "It could get you in trouble, but I still don''t believe that anyone would lay a hand on you, if anything happens to you, I could imagine Lord Rowan personally rampaging through the town."
"Really?" Michael chuckled at the thought when Geron continued, "But we need to be careful, we have no idea who is in on this whole thing and who to trust and even though you might be safe, other people like Harald and his family are not."
"We will not talk about our plans with anyone, we will see if we can sniff out the bad ones in the town watch first."
They approached the watch garrison''s gates, where they were greeted by a guard who escorted them inside. The garrison wasn''t as big as Michael had anticipated, a large wooden building with a little courtyard in the middle. There was currently a group of ten watchmen training in the yard.
"It is smaller than I thought," he said to Geron, and the knight nodded. "There are smaller watch rooms on the walls and the castle, so the main garrison doesn''t have to be all that impressive. The town is also not that large, so it doesn''t need too many watchmen with the guards and knights of the castle so close by."
They continued through the building, ignoring the curious looks they got until they reached the watch commander''s office.
He was a tall and older man, dressed in the coat of arms of the town watch, his tired eyes focusing on Michael as they entered. He had seen the man before in the castle, he never looked happy whenever Michael had seen him.
The man bowed and introduced himself, "My name is Johnson, commander of the town watch, I welcome you to our barracks." Michael greeted him too and they sat down.
"What can I do for you, milord?"
"I have visited the town often in the last months and heard from the citizens that thievery is something that is on the rise, and it is becoming a problem, I have gotten an order from my father to come here and join the investigation and try to solve the problem or at least watch your people while they do it, as part of my education. I would like to see how the men of the town watch investigate crimes and solve cases." Michael tried to sound as excited as possible to fool the commander, that he was just an excited child.
The commander looked at him tired not giving him much of a reaction at all, he didn''t even try to hide it, "I heard that you intermingle a lot with the townspeople, but I assure you we don''t have a thievery problem, there are some cases as normal in any bigger settlement but nothing big."
Michael calmly took out a scroll and handed it to the commander, "These are all thefts I could find in the last two days, imagine how many I couldn''t find in such a short span of time, they are mostly in the lower income parts of the town and so they probably think the watch doesn''t care, that''s why they don''t report them. Father said that it could become a problem if that amount of thievery starts to boil over into the trade district."
The commander looked at the list and frowned, "Hm, this is indeed a lot, how did you come by this list if they don''t report it?" Michael smiled innocently, "I asked."
The commander sighed and rubbed his eyes, "Alright, ehm I will introduce you to Sergeant Pollok he takes care of these parts of town and will take you on his investigation." A couple of minutes later the man entered the office, he saluted quickly. Michael inspected the man and wondered how a man of his weight could do this job, while Commander Johnson explained the situation to him.
"Understood, sir, I will get my boys to take a look and ask around, but I really don''t see a reason for his lordship to waste time on some petty thefts," the voluptuous man said.
"It was ordered by Count Rowan himself, for the boy to learn about our work and petty theft is the safest way to do it. Lord Rowan has surely thought about it, and it is not your place to question it," the commander didn''t show any kind of the overboard respect Michael was used to from other people. The sergeant had a hint of contempt flashing over his face, Michael wondered if it was towards himself or the commander.
"Yes, sir." He turned to Michael and stood to attention, "It will be my honor to show you what the town watch is all about, milord." There is the overdone respect, Michael really preferred the commander''s attitude of respect but not overly so.
They left the office and went into the quarters of the watchmen where Pollok assembled his men. They were a mixed bunch of people, eight of them with Pollok. He explained the situation to them and their orders and then turned to Michael, "These are my men, a part of them at least there are nineteen in total under my command. We are organized in shifts, so normally we are fewer here, most of the men here are not on active duty right now but if an order comes in, we are always happy to jump in."
Michael nodded, that made sense as they probably have patrols out at all times, they need to cycle their men. The men didn''t look very happy though.
Pollok organized three groups and sent them out to question the citizens of his area and investigate the thefts. Michael watched the different men carefully trying to judge their reactions, but he didn''t get too much, he hoped that Geron had a better eye for people than him.
Michael was in the sergeant''s group and followed them around the street, while they questioned the people and conducted random searches. He tried to ask many questions to mask his real purpose here, but he did actually learn a thing or two from the watchmen, as they explained how they picked out who looked suspicious or how thieves normally conduct their business. He also got a quick lesson on lockpicking which was actually quite interesting.
Michael also quickly noticed the reason why the thefts, beatings, and extortion were mostly not reported, the people seemed afraid of the town watch and visibly confused at their nice demeanor and questions. As expected, their questioning didn''t lead to much, but they caught a man with a lock pick set and he was brought in for questioning.
After a couple of hours, they ended their tour and after arranging the time to meet for the next day, they parted ways. Michael and Geron headed to his newly acquired smithy, as this project would need a lot of work as well. On the way there Michael asked Geron for his thoughts on the day. "There is definitely something wrong with the town watch, the people were too afraid of them. I would bet my sword that this Pollok is involved."
"I agree, nothing seems to happen without his orders," Michael said. "We have to find out who is getting bribed first before we can do anything else, if we can''t investigate without Fredrick being tipped off, we won''t get anywhere."
They continued to the smithy where they met with Harald and Solon. They went over the books, or rather their lack off, and Michael got on-hand lessons in business management after a while Harald was forced to sit next to him to learn, as Solon criticized how the shop was run before. They got to the conclusion, that they would need to repair the building first and try to bring in more customers by showing a more competent front before they would do anything further.
At the end of the day, Michael finally got into his room and was glad that the day was over. Tomorrow normal training would start again, with only his afternoon lessons being conducted in the smithy and with the town watch.
He let all tension fall off his limbs and stumbled over to his table. He had neglected his studies the last day and wanted to get back into them. He rummaged around on his table until he found the sheet of paper with his magic invocations on it. Just as he wanted to start, he noticed a book with a red cover on the ground next to his table, he hadn''t noticed it before because of the darkness in his room but with the little orb of light hovering in his hand, the book was quite obvious.
Michael picked it up and inspected it, he had never seen it before. Maybe Solon forgot to tell me that he got me a new book, he thought but quickly rejected that thought, the dwarf wouldn''t have just dropped it on the ground or even left it in his room for that matter.
He opened the book and saw a bunch of numbers and names. It looked a little like the balance sheet Solon had shown them earlier, but it was different. Michael skimmed over the entries but couldn''t make sense of the names and numbers until he found a name he recognized.
"Pollok."
Chapter 16.
Michael
Michael was deep in concentration, trying to visualize the spell, and then spoke the invocation, "Lord Idas, blind my enemies with your light. Blinding Light!"
Nothing happened, the same as the hundreds of times he had tried before. He shook his head frustrated; he had no idea why his incantations weren''t working. He had no problems with instinctual magic but the moment he tried something more complex with an invocation, it never worked. Sola had told him that making the connection between an invocation and the spell could take a lot of time and he shouldn''t be disheartened by his lack of progress, but he had seen the doubt and concern in her eyes. For the past year, he had tried to get into more advanced magic, but he had hit a wall and didn''t know how to overcome it. Blinding Light was one of the easiest spells in the church''s catalog, creating a gleaming orb that would hover in the air and flood everything around it with light, but he couldn''t even get this spell to work.
His thoughts wandered away from his constant failure to the red book, he had found yesterday, currently hanging over his shoulder in a bag. He wasn''t quite sure what it was but there had to be a reason why someone put it in his room. He sighed and leaned against the wall outside of the town watch garrison. He was waiting for Pollok to come out, Michael had gotten there early so the plump man wasn''t there already.
A group of watchmen ran out of the gate and into the town. These were not the first to be in a hurry, something must have happened, Michael thought. Finally, Pollok exited the gate looking around until he spotted Michael and Geron and waddled over to them. "Greetings, milord."
"Hello. What is going on, the watch seems to be in quite a hurry today," Michael asked without hesitation. The man looked miserable, pale as a corpse, and with rings under his eyes, something truly horrible must have happened. "You were right about the problem that could come off the thievery, a very valuable item was stolen from an influential citizen and now half the watch is out searching," the sergeant explained, he had lost his sly tone and sounded genuinely afraid.
"What was it that was stolen and from whom," Michael asked with interest, he was wondering who could make the man look so spooked.
He took a moment to answer, probably thinking about if he should share this information, but finally, he spilled it, "The owner of the Red Lady Fredrick, or Red Fredrick as some call him. He is a very influential and rich man in town, and he got a red book stolen, he said it was very important for his business, and he even put a reward of 3000 Ruan for anyone that returned it."
Michael grabbed onto the bag more tightly, he suddenly had a really good idea what this book was and his mind raced. 3000 Ruan is a lot of money for anyone in town, except maybe the nobles, this book must be either really vital for his trade or very volatile. "Are you alright, milord?" Pollok''s words ripped him out of his thoughts, he hadn''t noticed that the man had watched him, so he quickly answered, "Yes, sergeant, I am alright. I was just lost in thought. My father gave me the task to get to the bottom of the thievery before it swamped the merchant district, but it seems I have started too late."
The man nodded and Michael was glad that he seemed to believe his lie. "It seems you have an important matter in your hands, sergeant. I will return home today; you have better things to do than take care of curious me. We can postpone this until you have solved this case, but you will have to prepare to tell me the story of how you did it," Michael smiled at the watchman, knowing fully well that they would never find the book. He then deflected the polite protests of the man and sent him on his way.
As they watched him return to the barracks Michael said to Geron, "I think we got a blessing from Idas." Geron frowned at him in confusion while he grinned like a child who just got a pot of candy.
- one and a half hours later in Harald''s smithy -
They were sitting in a small room in Harald''s house next to the shop, that the smith had freed up as a future accounting room, present were only Solon, Geron, and Michael. Michael had just finished telling Solon about what Pollok had said about the stolen book and its importance. With a smile, he grabbed the book out of the bag and said, "I would assume they mean this book."
Geron''s and Solon''s eyes widen, and they start talking at the same time, "How did you get that?"
"I found it on the ground in my room, it seems someone wants to help."
Geron frowned and said, "Or blame you for the theft." Michael blinked, oh right, that could be it as well. Geron seemingly guessing what he thought looked at him with disbelief, "You haven''t thought about that they might have come behind what you are doing and tried to frame you to get you to stop?"
Michael rubbed his neck and laughed nervously, then he said, "Might have not thought that one through but we should at least check what it is before making any guesses. I am sure this has something incriminating in it."
Solon agreed and Michael opened the book on the table for everyone to see, "I have skimmed through it a little and every page is filled with names and numbers, also I found Sergeant Pollok''s name here." He showed them the page and Geron pointed out another two names that he recognized.
"I know what that is," Solon said with a victorious smile. "This is a ledger containing bribes, it''s the only explanation, if it is real this will be a great help for us, and with the reaction from the town watch and Fredrick, we can assume it is."
"You mean we have a list of who in town is being paid off?"
"Exactly and at the same time it is proof against Fredrick as well, as bribing officials is indeed a crime." Michael got infected by the smile of the dwarf and grinned again like at the garrison, whoever dropped this book in his room deserved a commemoration.
Geron looked less enthusiastic, "This seems a little too easy, don''t you think? A conveniently extensive ledger serving as proof and at the same time helping us identify everyone involved?" Michael thought about it, it could be a trap but how would they know what we were doing? Following us and listening to us on the street? That was dumb but we talked very quietly and enhanced our hearing, so there is no way that anyone could have heard us from further away, right?
"We might want to look into it further before doing anything, confirming this list would be our first priority," he decided for now. He could hear a quiet bump that he would have missed if his senses weren''t pushed to the maximum and whirled around to where the sound came from. Geron was already back on his feet and sprinted outside.
"What is it," Solon asked with a frown, following his gaze.
"There was a sound, someone might have listened," Michael said while also hurrying outside.
They couldn''t find anyone to Michael''s confusion. Lina was at the market and Harald and his son were in the smithy. They returned to the room shortly after. "We might be a little jumpy right now," Geron concluded.
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"So how are we going to confirm this list," Michael got back to the subject at hand.
"You two go through the list and try to identify as many people as possible, I will look at the calculations and see if I can find any mistakes or similar that would suggest it being fake," Solon suggested. Geron nodded and then said, "We should probably visit the home of some of these people, who should have little money, and see if they live over their monetary situation. Talking to friends and neighbors would probably also be a good idea but we would need to be more careful there."
They worked through the book and Michael was shocked at how many nobles and watchmen were in the book, Geron had become very quiet after he found a couple of knights as well.
"I can''t see a reason anyone would fake a book like this, incriminating so many powerful people," Michael said while shaking his head. Solon shook his head and added, "This is a well-structured ledger, the ink on the earlier pages is a lot older than on the newer ones, if someone forged this, they would have either needed to use some tricks or started this years ago. I can''t find any clue on this book not being real either."
Geron finally said with a dangerous tone, "I have a good idea how to confirm this."
Geron
Geron had left his ward in the smithy and had made his way toward the castle. He knew exactly where to go and quickly found the person he was looking for, Sir Trenton, the guardian knight of Lord Oska. He had always been a rather jumpy fellow, so a prime target, Geron had never understood how a man like this could become a knight, but he had to admit that Trenton was a respectable swordsman once he got his nerves under control.
He was currently sitting alone in the dining hall, eating his lunch with a stressed expression. Geron approached the man from behind and placed his hand on his shoulder, leaning over him and growling, "Hello there Trenton, we are gonna have a little talk." Trenton was startled by him and jumped a little but was held in place by Geron''s hand. He winced and asked with a nervous smile, "What is it, Geron?"
"Come on we are going somewhere more private," with these words he grabbed the knight and pulled him off the bench, making use of his larger physique. He ignored the complaints and pushed Trenton towards his room, after they got in, he slammed the door of the small room shut and fixated on the other knight, who was visibly uncomfortable.
"You can''t do this, I am a knight as well," he protested again this time with more vigor, and tried to push past Geron who blocked him with a hand on his chest. "I wonder how long you will still be one."
Trenton looked at him with wide eyes, normally he was a little jumpy but not a coward but right now fear surrounded him. Geron was pretty sure he didn''t even have to get a single word out of the other knight to know the truth.
"What are you talking about," Trenton asked him while his eyes shot around the room looking for an escape. Geron tried to look as intimidating as possible, which came easily with the fire of anger burning in his chest. "If I tell Lord Rowan that you take bribes, what do you think how long it will take for you to be thrown out of here?" Pure panic came over Trenton''s face and he began to stutter, "I-I d-don''t know what you are t-talking about."
"Oh really, a little book says something else."
Trenton fell on a chair and finally resigned, "You stole it?" He clamped his hands in front of his face before he continued, "I couldn''t refuse, my family needed the money and I don''t get enough from being a knight, please I beg you don''t tell on me."
"How did he approach you?"
"I came to him for a loan, and he offered to pay me for some assistance."
"What kind of assistance," Geron asked in a neutral tone.
"I introduced a couple of people and intimidated others for Fredrick," the knight looked a little relieved to finally have it off his chest.
"Who else is in his pocket?"
"I don''t know much but when Fredrick called us in to send us on the search for the book, he said that all of us are in there and we would all be fucked if it gets in the wrong hands." He rattled down a couple of names that he knew of, they overlapped with the names in the book Geron had seen. He now just needed to make sure Trenton would not tell anyone about their conversation, good thing that he already had made a plan for this.
"I knew you would break," Geron said with a disdainful look. "I told Fredrick if someone does, it would be you."
Trenton looked at him with confusion, "What?"
"You just told me everything, without ever checking if I had any information or was just fishing, with the book stolen, we can''t risk you opening your mouth like that," Geron said while closing in on the knight.
"You are one of Fredrick''s men?" Trenton looked like he was dreaming, not understanding the situation at all.
"Yes, and you are a liability right now. You have two choices you either pretend you are sick and stay in your room for a couple of days while we find the damn ledger or we will go on a small patrol," Geron''s voice had dropped down to a threatening growl, and it showed its effectiveness immediately as the other knight got pale as a ghost.
"You can''t ...," he gritted his teeth and tried to keep his composure.
"Good, you are a natural at looking sick, remember if I hear that you have talked to anyone, you will not be the only one that is going to have to carry the consequences, now get out." The knight quickly left the room and Geron was confident he wouldn''t talk, at least not unprovoked, it would be really bad for their investigation if he did.
Michael
"Concentrate Michael. We have to wait for Geron anyway so we can at least get some work done," Solon reprimanded Michael. They were planning the repair and reorganization of the smithy, but Michael''s thoughts were continually drawn toward the book. He rubbed his eyes and tried to concentrate more when the door swung open and Geron stepped in.
Solon leaned back waiting for him to speak while Michael stood up too tense to sit right now. Geron nodded slowly, "The book is real." He sat down heavily and looked like he was seething under the surface, Michael could understand him. For him becoming a knight of House Rowan was the biggest honor and the best thing that ever happened to him, to see others kick that oath with their feet must have been hard on him.
"So, what now," Michael asked the group looking from one to the other.
"We should inform your father of everything we have found," Solon suggested. "He will take care of things."
"I said I would take care of it; I won''t run to him to finish what I started. It would also be risky to involve my father because he is always under pressure from the nobles and with some nobles in here," - he tapped on the book - "they would want to bury it. I do not intend to put Father in this position and rather take care of it without making it a political nightmare." Michael didn''t want to hand it off to someone else, the whole thing went through much faster than he had anticipated, thanks to their secret benefactor but he still wanted to see it through to the end.
Geron interjected with his proposal, "Then the next option will require us to muster enough force to take care of it, we need to get Commander Johnson on our side, he isn''t in the book but there is always a small chance that he is in on it anyway. It would also be very beneficial to get a couple of knights to participate. I can get four knights that I trust with my life, I am sure they will happily join a raid if I explain the situation."
Michael nodded, that could work. "Good we will have to go to Commander Johnson then and you can talk to the knights later, we need to do this as fast as possible to prevent anything from leaking and give them time to react. Solon, I am afraid I will have to cut our planning session short."
The dwarf smiled proudly at the boy, "That is alright."
- half an hour later in watch commander Johnson''s office -
Johnson walked towards his desk, Michael and Geron right behind him, and said, "Can this not wait till tomorrow, I have a lot of work to do." Michael said nothing until the commander had sat down, he signaled Geron who locked the door and threw the red book on the table.
Johnson first looked with confusion towards Geron locking the door and then with widening eyes at the red book. "Is that the stolen book we were searching for? How do you come to be in its possession?"
"Open it," Michael said without further explanation. The man frowned and reached for it, after skimming over the contents of the book, his frown only deepened. "What is this?"
Michael sat down and leaned back before starting to explain, "This is Red Fredrick''s bribery ledger. It contains all the people he has bribed in the town and how much, it also contains at least a dozen names belonging to members of the town watch."
Johnson''s gaze fixated on the book as he frantically turned the pages, after a minute he leaned back with a tired sigh. "Son of a ... It seems I have failed in my duty, I had absolutely no idea. 12 years I have done this job already, I hated every moment of it, but I wanted to be useful and provide for my family. I should have resigned a long time ago and now I have brought shame over myself."
Michael watched the man, it was true, he never seemed happy and was always tired. Father had always put much value on the man as he was a friend of his mentor, so Michael was inclined to believe him that he didn''t know. Michael wanted to say something but before he had the chance the old man growled with fire in his eyes, "I would love to go out there and rip their limbs off myself, but I reckon you have a plan."
Michael grinned, he liked the man way more like this than his tired, buried by bureaucracy, kind of attitude, so he began to explain.
Chapter 17.
Barbarian Girl
She was leaning against the wall in her cell, it was not even bright outside yet but she didn''t have much to do but train and sleep anyway so her sleeping habits had become a mess. She was glad that she had a room now where no one bothered her, the little lord had kept his promise. The days had become uneventful lately, in the morning the dwarf would come by to teach her his sign language and remurian, around noon she would often battle the knights in the training ring, and in the evening the little lord often came to talk to her. It had been a year and she hadn''t tried to escape once. Why? She couldn''t answer that herself. Maybe it was because she didn''t believe she would succeed or because she had nowhere to go if she did succeed, either way, she didn''t like to think about it.
She wanted to go back to sleep when she heard voices from beyond the door and tried to listen. "Milord, you can''t, we have orders." That was most certainly one of her guards, she was not completely fluent in their language yet, but she understood much and could guess the rest. It turned out that learning a language every day for hours a whole year long is pretty effective.
"I have an assignment from my father, and I need her for it, so step aside, I will bring her back don''t worry." That was the little lord, he was up to no good again as it seemed.
The door opened and indeed the boy stepped in, he dropped a package of clothes and a belt with a sword and an axe attached in front of her feet. In her language, he said with a broad smile on his face, "Come on, Eydis, we have work to do."
Michael
Michael stood in the courtyard of the town watch barracks, inspecting the watchmen as they arrived for the announcement that Commander Johnson had called them here for. All of the corrupt men were here and a high number of the good ones as well, 82 in total. Many of them eyed Eydis with mistrust and curiosity but no one commented on the young and armed barbarian girl. She in turn ignored them completely and simply enjoyed being out of the castle.
It was nearly time. Commander Johnson stepped forward letting his gaze glide over his men, there was no hint of tension in his body, he looked as tired as always, but it was only a facade. Michael was impressed at how the man could keep his cool with the whole plan relying on this moment; he wished he could be as calm. The commander then clapped loudly into his hands to gain the attention of his men but also as a signal. A door on the side of the yard opened and four knights came through it, positioning themselves around the watchmen, who looked at them with confusion.
Johnson clapped in his hands again to regain their attention and began loudly, "Men, today I have a duty that weighs heavily on me, as it is a result of my lacking leadership. Lord Michael Rowan has brought to my attention, that a part of the watch is receiving bribes and working with criminals."
The men were whispering to each other with some of the ones that Michael knew froze in place.
Johnson raised his voice to overcome the noise, "I will now read a list of those that have become criminals in this fashion, I implore you to not resist, the knights of Rowan will cut down anyone that does. Those that are not called upon and know they have never taken any bribe, will arrest the traitors on my and Lord Michael''s order." At the end of his sentence, the knights drew their swords to hammer the point home.
The watchmen eyed each other with mistrust and voices of protest could be heard, as Johnson began to slowly read the list. With every name called the chaos in the ring of knights worsened as the watchmen were unarmed and a scuffle of the loyalists arresting the traitors ensued. It didn''t take too long, as most of the traitors didn''t put up any resistance and the ones that did were quickly overwhelmed by the loyal watchmen.
The traitors were dragged to the front and forced on their knees in front of the commander and the knights sheathed their weapons as their work was done. 21 men, some weeping, some begging for mercy, others denying everything and the rest dead silent.
Johnson eyed every last one of them before he spoke again, "You are a damn disgrace, every last one of you, you will be dealt with, but we have other things to do first. Take them away and make sure that not a word of this gets out." The prisoners were dragged away under protests and yelling. After the men had returned from imprisoning their former comrades Johnson called forth the three sergeants present. "I will now explain what your objectives will be, so listen well. The only way the town watch can regain its honor is to make this right ourselves."
- two hours later in the Red Lady -
It was a typical morning in the Red Lady, business was slow, as it always was at this time of day and mostly the new girls were on shift to get some practice in the lower income hours. It was actually kind of idyllic if you were to compare it to the shouting and laughing of the evenings. This idyll was suddenly broken when a man rushed in screaming, "The town watch is coming!" Suddenly there was panic, the warning pretty much useless as men dressed in the coat of arms of the town watch entered right behind him, one shouted, "Everyone on the ground."
Screaming and running ensued as many tried to get out as fast as possible through the back door. They were stopped when more watchmen broke down that door and boxed them in. Most complied after that, throwing themselves on the ground their hands covering their heads.
Some didn''t comply and tried to fight their way out, but those notions of bravado were quickly snuffed out by the batons of the watchmen. The whole thing only took a minute, and the watch was in control of the main room. Behind the watchmen followed Michael accompanied by Eydis and Geron. He took in the sight for a moment and then made his way to the stairs.
"You can''t do this, do you have any idea who I am, I am a noble, you filthy peasants!" That grabbed Michael''s attention for a moment, and he looked over to where the voice was coming from. It was a corpulent man at one of the tables, his face red in anger and breathing heavily while a watchman tried to search him for weapons. Michael shook his head and continued on, when they reached the stairs, he turned to Eydis and said, "Go look for the slave quarters and make sure they are safe please."
She nodded and went past the bar looking for the women.
The watchmen waiting at the stairs began ascending them once he had arrived and split up at the top of the stairs, securing every room. Michael followed the ones that were headed to the office hearing more shouting as the watchmen dragged people out of the rooms. The guards in front of the office drew their weapons when they saw the watch approaching and prepared for a fight. Geron stepped forward, for them to see and said, "Do you think this is worth it?"
They looked at each other and decided that fighting a knight was way out of their pay grade and threw down their weapons. They were arrested and Geron pushed open the door to the office and entered with two watchmen before Michael followed.
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The office was as neat as the time Michael was there before except for the table, where documents were quickly moved out of the way and some even on the ground, Fredrick was currently ripping some apart when the watchmen grabbed him and forced him onto the chair, preventing him from destroying any more.
"What is the meaning of this," he yelled while fighting against the watchmen''s grip, his anger nearly concealing his confusion.
"You are being arrested, that is what is happening," Michael said with a calm voice while Geron drew back a chair for him to sit down.
"I am a law-abiding citizen! You have no cause to arrest me!"
Michael took out the red book and held it up, "The corrupt men of the town watch have already been arrested and some have also already confessed. So, for the cause, it will be bribing official personnel, but I am sure we will find other crimes later, like extortion, kidnapping, and maybe even murder."
"That book does not belong to me," he was in shock, it was clear as day, just a couple of minutes ago he was a man who had everything, money, power, and status, and now everything fell apart seemingly out of nowhere.
Michael leaned back and smiled, "Don''t worry you will be able to explain everything to my father once you are judged, you only have to convince him."
"I have powerful friends; they will not let this go!"
"Their influence might be a lot smaller than you think if they stand there beside you. You really shouldn''t have chosen a life of crime if you didn''t want to end up in this situation." Michael picked up a piece of paper from the table and looked at it, it was a letter he was writing, nothing suspicious about it.
"The rumors were true," he whispered to himself, and after a couple of moments of silence, the man finally looked at him with a weird look in his eyes, a mix of panic, confusion, fear, and hate. "You are no child; YOU ARE A DEMON!"
One of the watchmen punched the man in the stomach and he gasped for air. Michael frowned; he really hated that rumor. "You just underestimated me because I am a child, nothing demonic about it." He got back on his feet and told the watchmen to take him away. He yelled the whole time as he was dragged out.
Michael looked through the bookshelves when a watchman came in and said, "Milord, I think the ..." - he thought for a second - "the woman you came with wants you to come to her."
Michael chuckled and asked, "How did you figure that out?" He already started moving as the man made a face and admitted, "It was quite difficult, with the hand waving." When Michael got down the stairs, he called the sergeant who had led this raid, the man hurried over to him and gave him a little bow. "Anything to report?"
The man shook his head, "Nothing specific, milord. We are still interrogating the employees, we did secure the whole building though, and are going to start to search and confiscate everything relevant."
"Any word from the other units?" The raid on the Red Lady was not the only one, all over the city the town watch supported by the knights was raiding warehouses, homes, and businesses, trying to round up anyone with a connection to Fredrick and his criminal activities. They focused on the criminal elements for now as they were at a higher risk of fleeing or concealment than a bribed official might be.
"Nothing yet, milord."
"Alright, good job," he left the sergeant and followed the watchman out into the backyard. Here he saw the other building on the property where the slaves were housed and now, they were mostly spread in the yard talking with the watchmen.
Michael found Eydis in a group of women and approached them. "I am here, what is the matter," he signed at her, once she had spotted him.
"They know of a hideout where other girls are kept but can''t speak remurian so I thought you could relay that," she signed back. Michael wondered how she had communicated with the woman but pushed the thought to the back of his mind for now. He called in a watchman and told him to relay the information to Commander Johnson and that he should send a patrol. He then translated what the women knew and sent the watchman on his way.
He stood there for a couple of minutes taking in the scene, the women looked alright, most well fed and few had any sort of injury, but many had a gaze, that was far away as if they weren''t in the moment. Michael could see a couple of faces that he recognized from when he was here before but didn''t approach anyone, he would have to hear a lot of their stories later anyway and didn''t want to cloud his mind with anger right now.
Eydis tapped on his shoulder to gain his attention and began to sign, "What is going to happen to them?" Michael had thought about it before, but it was a difficult question. "Their ownership will go over to my father if Fredrick is found guilty, same as all his possessions. What happens with them afterward I can''t tell you. My father doesn''t trust slaves, so he won''t employ them in the castle or anywhere, the only reason he keeps you is because you were a gift from my uncle, and you are locked up nearly all the time."
She frowned at the mention of her being a slave but didn''t sign anything while he continued. "They might be sold, I guess that would be the most probable situation." He saw the frustration on her face at this. She probably hoped they would be freed or at least kept by Lord Rowan as he treated her with some amount of humanity at least, even if it was little.
"We will have to find out later, I will talk to my father and see what I can do alright?" She smiled at him, something that had happened more often, the longer she had been in Reen, and he returned the smile. They stayed in companionable silence for a while longer while the watchmen carefully grouped and questioned the slaves, they also knew that they would go into the property of house Rowan, so they were careful.
"Milord, there is trouble!" Michael turned around and saw the sergeant followed by an out-of-breath watchman approaching him. "What is it," he asked with concern, his mind spinning up every catastrophe, that could possibly have happened.
"The unit raiding Fredrick''s estate has met strong resistance from a skilled augmenter. The knight you sent was still in combat with him when I left but it didn''t look good, so Sarge sent me to get reinforcements," the runner said between deep breaths.
Damn, Michael thought, he had expected to have the highest resistance in the Red Lady, that is why he brought Geron and Eydis here, but it seems like he was wrong. "Geron, Eydis on me."
"Should we send support," the sergeant called after him.
"You stay here but send word about it to the commander."
Michael hurried through the building until he got out to the street. "Guide the way," he told the runner.
Michael had problems keeping up with the adults but with some mana injection, they managed to reach the estate in a reasonable time, as it wasn''t too far away from the Red Lady anyway. At the gate, they saw a group of watchmen staring concerned inside, some injured as well, when they saw them coming, they waved them inside. Behind the gate was a small courtyard, multiple men were already lying on the floor some groaning, some completely devoid of life but Michael could see only specks of blood here and there. The knight he had sent was weak on his feet, swaying left and right as he grasped his weapon. The man in front of him was a small man with an athletic build and a shit-eating grin on his face. He was clad in normal clothing and only had arm guards in terms of armor and most curiously he didn''t have a weapon.
Geron rushed onto the side of his fellow knight and grabbed him. "Are you alright?" The knight only weakly nodded before he sunk together, the tension falling from his limbs now that support had arrived. Michael ordered a couple of watchmen to take him away, all the while the small man just watched.
"You must be the demon boy noble I have heard a lot about," the augmenter said with a smug tone.
God, he hated that rumor. "And you are?"
"You can call me Yon."
"Alright Yon, I order you to surrender yourself on the orders of House Rowan, get on your knees, and put your hands on your head," Michael said with as much authority as he could manage but Yon didn''t seem all that impressed. "Sorry, no can do. I have been contracted to protect this house and everything in it. But I would consider voiding my contract if you pay me enough and let me go my way."
"You really think that is going to happen?"
"Nah, but I reckon you would really like to get on the information and stuff in this house before they burn it all," he was still grinning like he had all the cards in hand.
"Well, I guess we just have to take care of you fast enough."
"The last one didn''t fare so well," Yon laughed loudly.
Geron stepped forward and said, "I will take care of him." Before he could get far, Eydis grabbed his arm and walked past him. He looked at Michael with a raised eyebrow, who just shrugged and said, "Guess she wants to let off some mana."
"Oh, now you have to let little girls fight for you or is she supposed to be my payment?" Michael gritted his teeth and said loudly, "Beat him up, Eydis, but it would be nice if he survives, I want to see him hang."
Yon still laughed as the fight began.
Chapter 18.
Michael
Michael inspected the enemy augmenter as Eydis approached him slowly. He had talked very confidently with the man to try to get him to give up but in truth, he was concerned about the fight. The previous knight had been bested and Yon looked like he didn''t take much damage himself except for a couple of swallow cuts. His lack of a visible weapon still confused Michael, so he asked Geron, "Where is his weapon?"
Geron was seemingly dragged out of his thoughts by the question and blinked a couple of times to refocus, then he explained, "That man is a brawler, a kind of augmenter that doesn''t fight with weapons but with their body. It is common with strong augmenters born in poor parts of society as they can''t afford weapons that can withstand their strength. Once they earn money with their power, most won''t bother to learn a weapon and just add brass knuckles and arm guards to better fight against armed opponents."
Michael couldn''t see any brass knuckles on the man, but he had the arm guards. "Will Eydis win?" Geron didn''t take his eyes off the two adversaries, when he answered, "I don''t know, she is strong but Brawlers are difficult to fight against." Michael nodded and turned his attention back to the fight.
Eydis stood still for a moment before she dashed at the man, both of her weapons in hand. She had still 5 meters between them when Yon smiled and said, "Let''s play, little girl." The grin was instantly wiped from his face as Eydis flung her axe at him in full sprint.
He gritted his teeth and ducked to the side, dodging the missile but losing his balance. Eydis took advantage of that and swung her sword at his shoulder, trying to sever or at least injure his arm. Yon moved his arm to block the sword, Eydis still moving toward him with her momentum, and swung his right fist at her face.
"She needs to keep her advantage of reach, why is she getting so close," Geron growled while this exchange took place.
With the fist approaching her face, threatening a rather abrupt end of the fight, Eydis yanked her head to the left avoiding the attack and dropped her sword. Her hands moved with inhuman speed and suddenly Yon''s right arm was in her grasp. With a fluent move, she turned a little and flung the small man over her shoulder, crashing him into the ground hard.
Michael could hear him gasp as he impacted into the dirt. Geron said baffled, "Is she a brawler?"
Eydis followed up the throw with a kick in the direction of Yon''s head, but the man rolled out of reach fast enough to avoid it. He jumped back on his feet, but it cost him enough time that Eydis was upon him again punching at his face again and again, Yon only barely being able to block much less regain his balance. He tried to counter-attack and managed to score a hit on Eydis''s arm, but she ignored it and kept attacking.
Michael marveled at her aggressive fighting style. He had seen it before in the training ring when she beat up the young knights, but she was not holding back in this fight at all.
Yon was on the defense until he inevitably stumbled over one of the injured and fell. This time Eydis was not recovering from a move and jumped on him before he even reached the ground. His head bounced up from the impact and was met with a fist slamming it back down. Dazed, Yon tried to get his hands up, but Eydis had pinned them with her knees.
She pummeled him for a good twenty seconds until he finally lost consciousness, displaying the hardiness of an augmenter. She rose from her defeated enemy and scoffed as she turned toward her stunned onlookers.
"Damn," Geron said. Michael was similarly flashed but where it was more of a feeling of pity for her victim from Geron, Michael was simply impressed by how efficiently she had beaten him. He shook off his thoughts and ordered the watchmen to advance into the house. Some gathered the wounded and dead, while screams could be heard from inside the house as the watchmen broke down doors and chased the inhabitants.
Michael stepped over to Eydis, mostly to get out of the way of the working watchmen, and said, "That was quite impressive." She looked at him with a satisfied smile and signed, "Quite refreshing as well, but it would have been more interesting if he wasn''t tired and low on mana already."
"Why did he fight then?" Michael frowned as Eydis shrugged. "Where did you learn to fight like that, without weapons I mean?"
She wiped her bloodied knuckles with on her sleeve until Michael gave her a handkerchief, which she gratefully took. "There weren''t any girls close to my age that wanted to learn to fight in my village so I had to fight with the boys, and they didn''t pull their punches," she finally explained after she had cleaned her hands and could sign again.
"What did she say," Geron asked, Michael had suggested that he should also learn the sign language but he hadn''t shown much interest in it so he had given up on that for now. He relayed her answer to the knight, and he nodded. "It was a good tactic in the end. Most brawlers are used to fight against armed opponents where the brawler wins once he gets close. No knight worth his salt would ever give up his reach advantage to slug it out in hand-to-hand combat because they will always have less experience in it. So, I am pretty sure he didn''t even know what hit him."
Michael smiled. Geron normally had a cold attitude towards the barbarian girl, not paying her much mind, and Michael was happy to hear the respect in his voice.
With their work done here, they returned to the barracks to get an update on how the whole operation had panned out. The walk back to the barracks was long, it took nearly half an hour, and when they got there, they were greeted by a pair of knights stationed at the gate. They were not part of the four knights that Geron had recruited.
Michael and his companions entered the building where they were met by knight commander Godfrey Pyke standing in the center of the garrison yard next to Commander Johnson. They were looking at a map of the city rolled out on the table that had been placed there and it looked like Commander Johnson was explaining what was happening in town.
When Michael entered the open space, Commander Godfrey raised his head, his expression one of pure ice. Michael couldn''t resist the urge to try to swallow the sudden lump in his throat. With a voice that mirrored his facial expression the giant of a man spoke, "Lord Michael, we got your message, and the individuals in question have been either arrested or called in for questioning." Even though the whole sentence was positive he could feel a silent irritation hanging onto every word.
"I am very grateful for your help, Sir," Michael said quietly. Commander Johnson looked at him with pity but did nothing to interject in the conversation.
"Your father has sent me here to find out exactly what is going on in his town and bring you both back to him to explain your actions after it is somewhat concluded." Michael wanted to run away, to hide, it was as if the anger of the man and the prospect of his father''s possible wrath had chased away any maturity and personality change, he had experienced in the last one and a half years and left behind only the scared boy.
He breathed in deeply, this is not you anymore, he centered himself and fixed his posture. With as much respect as possible in his voice, he answered, "Of course, Sir. I will carry the consequences of my action whatever they might be."
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
- A couple of hours later in the audience hall of the Castle of Reen -
The audience hall was in chaos, with nobles yelling at prominent citizens, and knights arguing with each other, in the middle of it were Michael and Commander Johnson, both silent as a grave. The highchair of Lord Rowan was empty and none of the council had arrived yet.
Michael sighed, this situation was exactly why he had made his move in secrecy, no one could agree, and, in the end, someone would have spilled the beans prematurely. It was frustrating hearing them argue about the damage to the town''s image and the economy when most of them had never seen the poor parts of town in person, much less the fear in the eyes of its inhabitants.
"This will have consequences!" One noble yelled at a trader, who replied with a heavy accent, "Ye, it will, you pompous arsehole. We will see how yer like it when you can''t get yer fancy dresses anymore!"
Michael had lost track of how they even got to this point from the current situation, but he had already heard that the nobility and merchants went for each other''s throats at any possible moment.
The door behind the podium opened and through came the council headed by Viscount Sygnus Telp followed by Lord Rowan. Michael tried to discern his father''s feelings from his face, but it was a mask of neutrality right now. The people present stopped their fighting when Sir Godfrey pounded his sheathed sword on the ground and turned toward their lord.
He sat on the highchair for a minute in silence until he let his gaze wander over his subjects and said with a calm and collected voice, "This morning, shortly after sunrise, the town watch conducted a series of raids on targets connected with a large bribery ring in town. This happened on my orders and was organized by Commander Johnson with my son Michael as representative of the house. The operation is currently still ongoing but mostly in the clean-up phase. Multiple individuals have been arrested in connection to this, most importantly the head of the ring, Fredrick Lokenson, best known as the owner of the Red Lady, has been arrested. The trial of those involved will commence in the next couple of days and will be held publicly. Questions?"
Michael was stunned, he had expected to be publicly questioned and reprimanded or something like that, but he never thought his father would simply take the responsibility for the whole thing without so much of a word exchanged between them.
A merchant stepped forward and bowed before Lord Rowan before stating his question, "The market was closed the whole day and some of my wares have been damaged by the watch while searching my wagon, will we be compensated for damages and missed trading opportunities?"
"You will be compensated for property damaged by the operation but there won''t be any for lost trading opportunities."
"Milord!" A noble this time, Michael recognized him as the corpulent man who had protested loudly in the Red Lady, "How will you justify the actions of your watchmen against the nobles of your realm? I was brutally pushed to the ground and searched as if I were some commoner rat!"
Lord Rowan''s eyes narrowed as the man spoke, but Michael could hear multiple supporting voices out of the nobility. "If you hadn''t been at the brothel, you wouldn''t have had any problems, would you?" A couple of chuckles went through the crowd as the noble got red, likely because of anger and not embarrassment though.
"I cannot accept my honor being trampled like this, I demand the watch to officially apologize," the man said with a raised voice but not yelling.
"I would suggest you be more careful in the future with your choices then," Lord Rowan growled and cut off any further complaint. "I forgot to mention something, it had slipped my mind." He held out his hand and a servant brought him the red bribe ledger. He held it up for everyone to see and said, "The most important evidence we have is this complete ledger of everyone that Fredrick ever bribed, for safety reasons concerning this important piece of evidence it will not be exposed to the public but kept save unless it is needed."
A ripple went through the audience. The message was clear even if it wasn''t directly spoken, "Accept what happened or we will persecute every merchant, noble, and knight that is in here." Even though the number of high-class people in the book was low, no one knew how many were in there except those who had read it, and they wouldn''t want to risk the social and economic backlash of an extensive persecution. With the threat hanging over their heads, the meeting was very short, with just a couple of questions being asked. At the end of the meeting, Lord Rowan called on Michael to follow him into his study. Michael sat down while his father stood in front of his sword on the wall, his back turned toward Michael.
"You did good work," he said without turning around. "Tha...", Michael started, he was stopped in his tracks as his father turned around his expression hard and anger twinkling in his eyes. "But that doesn''t excuse what you have done. You hid your intentions from me to get my support, you overstepped your authority by taking the savage out of her cell and you brought chaos into my town, all without even thinking of consulting with me." He got louder and louder but always stopped one step short of yelling. "You brought danger upon yourself and could have destabilized the whole town if not the region if your operation had failed and the nobles intervened. What were you thinking? Were you thinking at all? Didn''t you say you wanted to work for the benefit of the lord and the realm? This looks more like trying to gain personal glory to me."
He looked at Michael with fire in his eyes. Michael could hear his heart beating in his chest, he felt hot and a weird pressure on his whole body, he wanted to say something, but the words stuck in his throat. He couldn''t hold eye contact with his father and adverted his gaze.
"Don''t you have anything to say for yourself? Where is the confidence that you needed to pull something like this? I don''t understand it, why would you not come to me first? Explain it to me!" Father sounded confused by this point, his questions not only out of anger but out of a real desire to understand what went through his son''s head.
This was the moment Michael needed to lay out everything and hope his father understood his reasoning, but his voice didn''t obey him, and his eyes started to get wet. Lord Rowan sighed and fell into his chair. He rubbed the flanks of his nose up to his eyes and said, "Take your time, I will wait."
A minute passed as Michael breathed slowly, trying to regain his composure, and then he said with a shaky voice, "I didn''t do it for myself, I did it because of the same reason you said. I thought that if I told you, you would have to talk it through with the nobles and that they would attempt to intervene. With me doing it without notice they had no time to react and now have to just deal with it. I also never planned on going for any noble or other prominent person, leaving you the decision, while I cleaned up the cause of the problem. I just wanted the people to not have that look of fear in their eyes anymore, to not see the children of a grieving smith fall into despair. Have you seen them, Father? The look of panic that the people in the lower town have when the watch approaches?" His voice broke with the last sentence, but he forced it to continue, nonetheless.
His father''s expression softened as Michael spoke, but he didn''t interrupt him.
"I wanted to solve a problem without creating a new one and this seemed like the best idea for me. I will admit that I was concerned that you would forbid me from going through with it or take the task away from me. You have believed in and supported me since I woke up and I wanted to show you that I am useful. I did everything possible to prevent anyone from finding out beforehand. I am sorry that I hid it from you and that I overstepped my bounds. Eydis was extremely useful, she helped us identify another hideout and beat an enemy augmenter that had taken out one of the knights."
Michael gasped a little as he had spoken without stopping to breathe. His father sighed and shook his head, "The worst thing a councilor or retainer can do is leave his lord in the dark. If anyone had asked me what was going on I would have had nothing to say. If I had a better solution to the problem, I would have never had the chance to voice it. And most importantly have you asked yourself what would have happened if I had known about the bribery ring and a long-term plan in place?"
Michael froze while looking at his father, he had not, and the thought had not even occurred to him. He continued, "What if there was someone behind Fredrick, pulling the strings and now I lost any chance of catching them? You were lucky this time but if you pull something like this in a war, many lives could be lost, your siblings, me, or the whole kingdom. Don''t ever leave me in the dark about something like this again, do you understand me?"
Michael nodded, tears welling in his eyes again, he messed up, in his arrogance of being smarter and more mature than his peers, beating the twins at their own game, and starting to turn around the opinions of many. How could he have been so dumb? His father trusted him, and he could have ruined everything. Rammed a knife right in the back of all his plans because he thought he knew better. He was dragged out of his sinister thoughts when his father knelt in front of him and said, "I am glad you are alright and I am proud of what you have accomplished, it is a great service to the people and to me. Just do what you do best, learn from it, and let me guide you the next time you do something dangerous like this, okay?"
Michael had never heard his father speak so softly before and he finally broke down crying and threw himself at his father who embraced him with strong arms. He whispered with a joking tone, "This stays between us, I have a reputation to uphold."
Michael chuckled between sobs.
Chapter 19.
Michael
It took a while until Michael had calmed down enough to be presentable again. His father was back to his normal self as well and he waited for Michael to ready himself.
"Let''s go to the council chamber we have some things to discuss, and the others are waiting for us." Michael was surprised, Matthias was the only one that had been invited to any council session yet. They left the study and made their way over and Michael asked, "Father, why did you stand up for me? You said I would need to take responsibility?"
"That is quite easy. It was something that could have led to problems for the whole county if not handled carefully. I would have let you take the blame if it wasn''t a catastrophe in the making but this was too dangerous for a learning experience. I am content with chewing you out myself."
Michael nodded as they reached the council chamber. It was a boring room, just a large table with chairs and a small counter at the side with refreshments. Most of the chairs were already filled. Michael didn''t know everyone present; he saw Viscount Sygnus Telp - Lord Rowan''s chancellor -, Sir Godfrey Pyke, the thin steward, Father Albion, and Commander Johnson, there were two more men that he didn''t know the name or function of, but he probably should learn them at some point.
Father Albion gave Michael a disapproving look but didn''t say anything, the discussion over his attendance had already been had it seems. Michael sat down next to Commander Johnson on the only free chair.
Once Lord Rowan had sat down at the head of the table he began talking. "Now, Michael you have done a great job and deserve a reward, what do you wish for?" Multiple members of the council frowned but still kept quiet.
Michael thought about it, he hadn''t expected a reward and had nothing prepared. "I would like to be granted the ownership of Eydis, the barbarian girl", he said after a moment of contemplation.
Lord Rowan didn''t look surprised and answered, "I guessed as much but you are going to set her free anyway and I want to reward you. But as you won''t let it go otherwise, I will grant you the girl as a reward for her service in the training yard and in this operation so choose something else."
This time the steward spoke, "Milord, would the continued amount of money the treasury spends on Lord Michael''s education not be a reward enough?"
Lord Rowan laughed and looked at the man, "Eckbert, would you really reward someone with something that you are already giving them? You are the perfect steward, aren''t you? Alone the money Michael has brought in through this operation is far enough to exceed the costs of his education."
The man hesitantly nodded and said, "That is true, we have no exact numbers yet, but should everything go over to the house it will exceed the costs."
"That is an understatement, alone the slaves will be worth a lot," Commander Johnson interjected.
"What is going to happen to the slaves," Michael asked at the mention of them, all heads turned toward him.
"They will be sold", Eckbert said with a raised eyebrow.
"To whom, they have gone through much and deserve a better life." He could see the irritation in the steward and Father Albion, but he didn''t care, he had promised Eydis to speak on their behalf. "To whoever pays a good price. I don''t see how what they have gone through is of any concern."
Viscount Telp interjected here and said, "I heard that you have a distaste for slavery, could I ask for your reasoning?"
Michael looked at the man, he didn''t appear like he wanted to challenge his opinion but was truly interested in what he had to say. "The teachings of Idas are my reason, it says that humans need to stand together to fight off the coming darkness, to protect and care for one another, so that they will have your side once the time has come for the next cataclysm."
Father Albion scoffed and said, "You speak of the teachings of Idas, but you seem to know nothing of it. The protection and care is only meant for his followers and not for some heathens."
"Really?" Michael glared at the old man, and he looked back with open hostility. "I have read the holy scripture and I didn''t find any mention of discrimination against other humans."
"Obviously you haven''t read every scripture as Solarion the Third has written, ''those that do not follow the Lord of Light shall be shown nothing but contempt and don''t deserve to be shown his love and mercy''."
Michael rolled his eyes, "You mean the Solarion that burned thousands on the pyre and heralded an age of fear and suffering?"
The old priest wanted to return something, but Viscount Telp slapped the table, "Alright, alright, I didn''t want a theological discussion." Albion looked annoyed but only shook his head when the chancellor continued, "I understand your motivation, young Michael, and I will buy the slaves and have them work in my hometown, I promise they will be treated well."
Michael nodded at the man and thanked him. He hadn''t expected this, but he began to like the viscount, even though he was a noble he seemed more humane and competent than most others he had seen.
Michael fell back into silence as he thought about what he wanted. He couldn''t think of anything useful, he got Eydis and his mentors who could teach him everything he ever wanted to know. He could ask for more money for his education, but he didn''t want to seem like a greedy person, so he didn''t know what to do. He racked his head, but he just couldn''t think of anything, he never has been a material person.
Suddenly a thought shot through his head, and he said without thinking, "I want the Red Lady." Eight pairs of eyes pierced him, and he could see surprise, confusion, and disgust in some faces. He quickly followed it up, "I of course don''t want to use it as a brothel and gambling den anymore but as my personal training ground. It is large with many rooms, multiple buildings, and a large backyard. I will need funds to renovate of course but I can fill the property with different rooms built to learn, quarter my teachers, and have enough space for outside training and activities. I have found that I have to come down into the town nearly every day, the room in the castle is limited, and the atmosphere is often very hectic which is detrimental to my studies."
Silence fell on the room as everyone awkwardly watched for Lord Rowan''s reaction to the request. He looked at Michael with his usual neutral face, not betraying any emotion, "You want to live outside of the castle?"
"It would be more convenient as the Red Lady is situated relatively central in the town and to speak plainly, there is not much in the castle that is required for my day-to-day activities, while the town is very relevant. I will miss my room and home, but I think this would be a logical step to enhance my learning experience. I will have more privacy and don''t have to for example use the large and busy kitchen in the castle for lessons, where I am in the way all the time." Michael felt like he had good arguments even if it was a spur-of-the-moment idea.
"What about your family?" Lord Rowan asked with no accusation in his voice.
Michael stopped for a moment before he confidently said, "I will of course come to the castle frequently and will also invite the family to come to visit me. The Red Lady is large enough to even host family dinners from time to time if you want but I will always be there when I am needed. It is not that far away from the castle as well. I don''t want to separate from the life in the castle and my responsibilities as part of House Rowan, but I think in this phase of my life where I have to concentrate on my education, this is the best step." With a glance at the old Albion, he added, "It might also help some people to get a better night''s rest if I am not constantly around."
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
The tension in the room could virtually be grasped by one''s hand as no one dared to break the silence. Michael held eye contact with his father who looked lost in thought. For two whole minutes, no one spoke a word until Lord Rowan sighed and said, "I can''t disagree. It makes sense and I also come to the same conclusion when I think about it. Your mother will not like it but if you think that this is what you have to do then I will grant your request."
He turned toward his steward, "Eckbert, make arrangements for a sufficient sum of the confiscated money to be put at Michael''s discretion, you can negotiate the amount with Michael and Solon later. Of course, it will need to wait for the conclusion of the trial to grant you the funds and the building but that shouldn''t be an issue."
The steward didn''t look happy about this additional expense, but he scribbled something on a piece of paper without sharing his thoughts, no one in the council did. Michael wondered if he should leave now that this business was done but they just continued without minding him. He listened closely to the conversation trying to understand what they were discussing and maybe learn something.
Toward the end, Commander Johnson addressed Lord Rowan looking more serious than Michael had ever seen him, "Milord, I regret to ask you to accept the resignation of my post as commander of the town watch. This post never fit me anyway and this situation has shown me clear as day that I am a liability on this post. I will continue to serve you in any capacity I can, but I request to be relieved of this duty."
Lord Rowan looked sad at this but not surprised as the other council members were split in surprise and neutral expressions. "You have never been a liability in your whole life, my friend. I understand and accept your decision, I will look for a replacement. Will you keep the post until I find one?"
The commander nodded and Michael was surprised how quickly this whole thing had been resolved, no arguing, no talking it through, he just stated his desire to quit, and Lord Rowan accepted it. Michael wasn''t sure if he could have done the same, but he understood that someone who had no desire to do a job would do a poor one if he is forced, as Commander Johnson had demonstrated.
The meeting ended shortly after, and Michael was elated by how everything had worked out the whole day.
- A while later in Michael''s room -
Michael had gathered all his retainers in his room to break the news. Geron and Eydis were standing close to his table, and Solon and Sola had made themselves comfortable on his bed. Geron was eyeing Eydis, probably questioning why she was here and not in her cell.
Michael didn''t waste any time and said, "We are moving out of the castle and into the town." He let that statement sink in for a moment. The eyes of the others widened, and Sola said with disbelief, "Your father is kicking you out of the castle? He can''t do that! You did good, he can''t punish you this harshly just because you didn''t keep him informed." Michael blinked confused and Solon added, "This is not how I know Cedric; he was always such a fair and honorable person. To think he would throw out his own son like that is unbelievable." Michael blinked again and Geron looked like he was about to rush out and challenge Lord Rowan to a duel when Michael began laughing loudly and all of them looked at him weirdly.
"Hahaha, this is not a punishment, it is my reward, well one of them. At first, I asked to be granted the ownership of Eydis but Father said I would set her free anyway so he gave her to me and said I should choose something different. It was really hard to think of something because I have everything, I ever could want but then I realized that the one thing I missed was a quiet place to learn. The castle is way too busy all the time and we always have to go somewhere to learn any craft, so I got the idea to ask for the Red Lady and it was granted. I also asked for enough money to renovate it for our needs. So, I am offering each one of you a place there with me, except for you Eydis, I will set you free once the trial is finished and the reward is official."
He smiled at her, but she didn''t return it, she seemed lost in thought and not as happy as Michael would have thought she would be. Before he could ask her about it, Solon spoke while he stroked his beard, "That sounds better. So, we are going to move out into the town, that will indeed save a lot of time, how big is this Red Lady anyway?"
"There are two buildings one has two stories and a large room on the ground floor with smaller rooms and a kitchen and many small rooms on the second floor. The second building is more of a warehouse with a lot of beds. Both are pretty big so we will have a lot of space," Michael explained excitedly.
The dwarf nodded, "That sounds like a major improvement from the cramped space we have available in the castle."
"And it has a large backyard between the buildings, that is surrounded by a stone wall, so enough space for martial training and other outside lessons", Geron added while looking to the ceiling, remembering the layout of the property.
Sola looked at the others with a frown. "Am I the only one who thinks that living in a brothel is a horrible idea? They are dirty, sinful, and we don''t even know what kind of vermin is running around there, that is not a place for a young lord. It will also look bad for Michael to move into a brothel."
"We will renovate everything thoroughly and throw out everything that isn''t part of the building so there is no reason to think about what it was before", Solon said, seemingly sharing part of her concerns. "Also, you can cleanse the building and bless it in the name of Idas if that makes you feel better about it. Changing a den of sin into a place of learning and growth would be a good deed, wouldn''t it?" Sola looked a little better with that and added, "Well, that might work. I still think that it will be bad for Michael''s reputation at least in the short term but I see the advantages."
"What about you Geron, you also have duties in the castle," Michael asked his knight. The man shrugged his shoulders and answered with a relaxed tone, "I will bring my horse with me and will go up to the castle for my duties, we might have to change the daily schedule though. The big problem that I see is that I won''t be able to properly guard you alone outside of the castle."
"The schedule change at least shouldn''t be too much of a problem with the time we can save by not having to run through half the castle for every lesson or into the town", Solon had a satisfied facial expression, he was probably making plans in his head already.
Michael smiled, "It will take a while though first, the trial will have to complete, I don''t think there is a way that Fredrick is not determined guilty. After that, we will have to renovate so it will probably take a month or two until we can even think about moving. I recommend that we visit the building in the next few days and try to get a sense of what we want to do, so we don''t waste time once we can start rebuilding. We will take care of the guarding problem in that time, maybe hire someone else or something."
The others agreed and Michael released them, it was pretty late already but he asked Eydis to stay for a moment. Geron looked back with a concerned look on his face but still left the room.
Eydis stood there like a statue, she had not contributed anything to the conversation from start to finish and something appeared to be on her mind. "What is wrong Eydis, shouldn''t you be happy, you are going to be free soon."
She looked at him with sad eyes and signed, "Aren''t you going to ask me to stay? You need a guard, and I could do that." Michael raised his eyebrows in surprise and said, "Why should I? You wanted your freedom since the day you got here, I am sure you want to go back to your people."
She shook her head slowly, "there is nothing to go back to."
"What are you talking about? Don''t you want to find your family?"
Clenching her fists for a moment before she answered with slow movements, "They are all dead, little lord. They killed my family while I hid. I was stronger than my father, but he knew there was nothing I could do so he told me to run and hide. I couldn''t even do that correctly." She trembled with regret. "I turned around when I heard their screams and found them dead. I just wanted to die with them but not even that was granted for a coward like me."
Michael took a deep breath before he answered, he didn''t want his voice to break mid-sentence. "I am sorry about your loss, Eydis. Aren''t there friends or other clan members that you would like to find though."
Even though he tried to be as empathetic as possible he could see anger in her eyes as she began to frantically sign, her version of yelling, it became hard for Michael to understand her, but he tried his best. "How far do you think I would get? At the latest when I left your father''s land, I would be hunted like an animal and either enslaved again or killed! Everyone that is left of my clan is either a slave that could be anywhere, moved on already, or dead!"
"Do you really want to give up this easily," Michael said, he was getting agitated as well.
She gritted her teeth and with a growl she signed, "Just tell me if you want to get rid of me!"
Michael stood there for a moment stunned by her words. "I don''t want to get rid of you. I want you to do what you want as a free person."
"Then let me stay here! I want to stay with you and Solon!"
Finally, the coin dropped in Michael''s brain. "You want to stay?"
"Yes, you both are special people! You gave me hope when I had none! You treated me like a human when everyone just saw me as an animal! And I want to have a home again! I don''t want to be alone ... please don''t leave me alone." Her face was red, but Michael could see the pain in her eyes.
He stepped toward her and hugged her around her belly because that was everything, he was able to reach and said, "I would be happy to give you a home. You will never be alone."
She fell to her knees and hugged him back, this time correctly, and signed behind his body where he couldn''t see it, "Thank you, Michael."
Chapter 20.
Sola
A week had passed since the raid on Fredrick, the trial had been concluded and the renovation of their new home had started but it would take a while, their plans requiring most of the interior to be ripped out and new walls being built. At this point, it might have been cheaper to just tear it down, but this was not what was important right now.
"I am sure you will manage it soon, Michael," that''s what Sola had said earlier trying to sound positive but failing miserably. Now she was sitting in the retainer''s dining hall with Geron and Solon, rambling over the fact that she couldn''t figure out why the boy couldn''t manage to cast any spell that went over the phrase-less level.
"I just don''t know what is wrong," Sola said shaking her head. "He is so good with everything even though the phrase-less magic is more challenging for him than mundane learning, it doesn''t compare with his absolute ineptitude towards real magic."
Geron looked unusually concerned, he normally took her rants in a relaxed manner, which could be infuriating at times. "It can''t be his mana control; he is doing just fine in the augmenter training."
Sola sighed, "I have tried everything, guiding him through the incantations, giving him a part of the spell for every word to focus on, or even trying to speak the spell with him and showing him the effect, but nothing. He just can''t make a connection between the spell and the incantation."
"That is indeed an unforeseen hurdle," Solon said while stroking his grey beard as he did often while thinking. "I have had lessons with the most different subjects with him and he had problems with some of them, but I have never seen him fail completely. His determination and will to learn carried him through every subject yet."
"His motivation is definitely not the problem," Geron agreed. "He is even trying the spells while we are going anywhere or waiting for someone all the time and I am sure he is practicing in his free time as well."
Sola leaned back, looking at the ceiling when Solon suggested, "How about you take us through your process of binding a spell to a phrase and we can see if we get an idea where Michael''s unique way of thinking could lead to a problem. Explain it like we have no clue, step by step so we don''t miss anything."
Sola frowned, she had thought it through a hundred times but no change she made ever worked, she was out of ideas, so she began explaining. "It is really not a complicated process in theory. As you know magic is the art of manipulating mana to force a certain effect. The mana needs to be told what to do, if you just want to make a light you can easily make the instructions in your head, that is what we call instinctual or phrase-less magic. Theoretically, every spell can be cast by just thinking the instructions if you have enough brain capacity but as the magic gets more complicated this becomes impossible for humans because you have to make these instructions fast, without error, and hold them all in your mind until the spell takes effect.¡±
¡°Making a light and having it follow you for example would entail, making the ball of light, determining the distance between you and the ball, and making it move accordingly. In a test environment that might work well enough but in combat it is ridiculously difficult to keep that amount of concentration. Because of that, incantations were developed to link a certain part of the spell to a word if you make the incantation your brain will have learned what it has to do when these words are spoken and you just have to funnel in mana to activate the spell."
"It is like when you train enough with a sword the movements will come naturally to you without much thinking," Geron asked to which Sola nodded. "That is correct, now the problem with Michael is that the spell doesn''t trigger while he says the words even if he concentrates on making the spell with his mind. He can do it without the phrase but once he tries to add the phrase it doesn''t work anymore."
"I will explain the bonding process. You normally start with segmenting the different parts of what the spell should do, in the case of the guiding light as I said, we have, make a light, determine distance, and the moving. You would now take parts of the phrase and learn them separately, in respect to this spell, ''god of light, follow me into darkness and illuminate the way forward. Guiding Light''. I split it into four sections, ''god of light'', is creating the light, ''follow me into darkness'', is the range between us, and ''illuminate the way forward'', is the movement. ''Guiding Light'' serves as the combining link and the point where all the parts are enacted together, which is why most of these spells have a name or something similar that is said at the end. I let Michael learn the different parts and bond them to the part of the spell and then let him cast them together but neither the parts nor the full thing works for some reason. I have seen him make a light and let it follow him without an incantation, so the spell is not the problem," Sola explained.
"So, if he can make it, where is the problem," Geron asked with a raised eyebrow.
Sola looked at him and looked annoyed, "As I said for a simple spell it might work if you have enough time and a quiet place to cast it, but he can''t do that in a fight or with complicated magic."
"So, to conclude, he can move sufficient mana, he can make the spell and he knows the incantation but can''t make it work together," Solon recapitulated everything to which Sola nodded. "If he can move mana and make the spell, the incantation should be the problem, no?"
"Yes, I got that idea as well but as I said breaking it down for or giving him other spells to try has not worked either."
This is leading nowhere, we are just repeating all my thoughts, Sola thought with an internal sigh.
The dwarf shook his head and clarified, "No, you misunderstand, it is not a problem with Michael not understanding the phrases but that the phrases don''t work for him. Have you tried having him come up with his own phrases for a spell?" She looked at him as her brain registered what he had said. Her eyes lowered to her hands and still, her brain was trying to wrap itself around the idea and follow it to the conclusion. "These incantations were passed down to us by the greatest minds of the order of purity. They are meant for beginners, made extra-long and clear.
The others didn''t say anything as she sat there a realization dawning on her. "But Michael is not a priest", she said more to herself than the others. "He doesn''t see each spell as something that is granted by Idas himself. He can''t make the connection between the prayer and the spell because those are two fundamentally different things for him."
Solon smiled at her and nodded, "I came to the same conclusion."
Sola slapped her hands in her face and said, "Dammit, I am the worst teacher to ever walk this land. I tried to force-feed Michael these incantations because that is what I and every member of the order of purity did. But I never did the same classes on the connection between Idas and magic with him, that I have gotten so he never understood."
"Hold on a second," - Solon laughed - "That is not the moral I was thinking about. You should let him come up with his own phrases."
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"Yes, I know my head was just running circles, I had no plan to do something different." She was still depressed by her lack of insight, and that the dwarf had found the problem in minutes that she couldn''t in months.
"Sometimes everything that is needed to solve a problem is another''s perspective," the dwarf said, obviously having guessed her thoughts.
Michael
Michael was sitting in his room. Three days ago, Sola had come up with the idea for him to try to find his own phrases for his magic, he had spent the last three days researching, trying, and writing down potential options. Making phrases was not easy, Sola had told him, he needed to make something that was clear and prevented his mind from trailing off. All his attempts hadn''t given him any success yet, which is probably the reason new mages were normally provided phrases as they are made to guide the mind to the right outcome.
He leaned back and inspected a piece of paper where he had written down a couple of phrases that he had come up with, but they didn''t feel right. This whole training didn''t feel right. It was immensely frustrating for Michael he couldn''t understand why it didn¡¯t work; magic was just so illogical. Say a couple of words that don''t describe what I want but are linked to what I want to describe what I want, he thought, even the sentence was convoluted, and he wasn''t even sure if it made sense. He had tried to make a phrase that actually described what he wanted but it didn''t work, it either didn''t give him any effect or was too long and he couldn''t finish in time he lost control, and losing control of a spell was not fun even with as little mana as he was working with. Once control was lost the mana would just fly off in all directions with force, he had been catapulted off his chair once or twice, so he had started to try his spells with his back against the wall. It wasn''t enough to do any actual damage though and he had no way of controlling it.
He threw the paper on his table and closed his eyes. I have an affinity to light mana, everyone that has an affinity can use magic, he thought annoyed. Well at least instinctual magic. He wasn''t sure if there were people who just never managed to do phrase magic, he hadn''t had the courage to ask yet. He wanted to get back to his work when a sudden knock pulled him out of his thoughts, and he turned to the door. "Come in!"
Eydis opened the door and stepped inside. "Michael, your father is calling for you. He wants to meet you in the great hall." She had started to share the guard duty with Geron and much to the latter''s annoyance also weighed in on the martial training. He nodded and washed the ink from his hands, cleaned up his quill, and returned the order to his desk.
They left the room and made their way to the great hall, where he saw that most of his family was already present, only missing the two youngest and his parents. He walked through the room when he was stopped by the twins, he sighed as they stood in front of him, looking at him with a cheeky smile. "We heard that you are going to move into the town. Father finally kicked you out?" He had successfully avoided them for the last one and a half weeks.
Michael smirked at them, "I am just afraid your stupidity will rub off on me if I live so close to you." Oska snarled and made a step forward. Michael fixated on him and said with a smile, "You want to try again?" The last fight Oska and Michael had was a huge disappointment, where Harlov had at least some sense of tactic, Oska only relied on his strength and that didn''t work against Michael anymore.
He gritted his teeth and growled, "Good thing you will be gone soon, I can''t stand being associated with vermin like you."
Michael shook his head while smirking, but Eydis stepped forward and signed, "Do you want me to teach them a lesson?" Michael answered in her language and relished in the confused look of the twins. "No, they are making fools of themselves perfectly fine. It is actually quite entertaining."
"Speak a civilized language," Harlov snarled. "This animal should be in chains and not our esteemed great hall."
Michael narrowed his eyes and snapped at him, "If you want me to beat you up so badly just say the word." He clenched his fists and watched Harlov for any indication that he actually wanted to fight. He just scoffed and said with an arrogant tone, "I won''t fight over beasts." Michael wanted to beat some respect into his half-brother but a strong hand held him back. He turned around and saw Matthias.
"It is not worth it Michael; they are just jealous of your success. just keep your calm and you will be fine," he said. Michael knew all that, but he had this sense that he had to challenge them on their actions against his retainers, maybe because they couldn''t actually fight back? "Go away, you two. You won''t achieve anything here," Matthias turned to the twins and they walked away saying something under their breath that Michael couldn''t hear.
"They will never change, I''m afraid," Mattias said but before Michael could reply anything, Lord and Lady Rowan entered the room. They gathered their children around themselves, and Lady Rowan began to speak. "Children, we have been invited to the capital by his royal highness King Johann, for the Festival of Light." The Festival of Light was a yearly event that celebrated Lord Idas and his gift of light, and the start of summer. It was one of the biggest festivities the whole year around and would be in around one week and last for three days. The preparations in the town were in full swing already and Michael had been looking forward to it, even though the mood was slightly dampened by last week''s events.
Next, his father spoke up, "We will be taking along Luciel, Harlov, Oska, Lira, and Michael. Matthias, you will stay behind and take over my duties and take care of your younger brothers while I am gone." Matthias looked disappointed at this, but he quickly nodded in acknowledgment. "Yes, Father." "
As the event is close and the invitation has arrived rather late, we will leave tomorrow at noon, so I want all of you to prepare. The journey will take us around five days by carriage and we will stay for at least two weeks, possibly longer depending on what his Royal Highness has planned. Any questions?"
"Is it proper to bring Michael, we don''t want to make a bad impression," Oska said with a nasty grin. Lord Rowan sighed and said, "I am beginning to wonder that about you sometimes. Anything else? No? Good." With that, he turned around and left through the door he came from.
Michael laughed at his father''s remark and grinned at the confused Oska.
"Congratulations on going to the capital while I have to work my ass off here." Matthias''s voice had a joking tone, and he chuckled a little.
"Well, Father trusts you enough to keep everything running," Michael said with a playful punch to his brother''s arm. Michael got distracted for a moment by Luciel happily bombarding Lira with what they could wear and how great the capital is and that they were going to have so much fun, while Lira looked like she was stuck in a cave with a wolf. Michael turned back and said, "You have been in the capital already, right? How was it?"
His eyes moved up as they often did when someone tried to remember something. "It is a huge city, way bigger than anything we have down here, and the palace is huge and built out of stone. It is a great experience, and you can find people from all around there, the strangest creatures, and weird food."
Michael listened to him ramble for a while longer when they were interrupted by Michael''s mother. "I fought for you to come with us before you leave our home forever," she said melodramatically as always.
Michael rolled his eyes internally and ignored the accusation, "Thank you, Mother, I am sure it will be a great learning experience."
She made a face at his polite answer, he knew it would annoy her, and said, "Why don''t you use the time to rethink the whole moving out thing, you are way too young for that anyway." She had been like this since Michael had asked for the Red Lady. Michael loved her, she was his mother after all but she was never a mother really. There were always servants taking care of him and he mostly saw her at dinners or when she wanted to dress him up in something. After his coma, the latter had mostly vanished, so they hadn''t spent much time together anyway, so it was a little hypocritical of his mother to now make a fuss about him moving a couple of minutes away.
He smiled at her and said this time a little less politely, "Mother, we had this conversation five times in the last one and a half weeks. I am going to go through with it and will only be a few minutes away. I will visit the castle often and you can visit me, you won''t notice a difference at all." If they never did anything together his being away won''t make a difference. She pouted and looked at him with big eyes, lately, he often had the feeling their supposed roles were reversed, him being the adult and her the child.
"We can talk about this on the way to the capital, we will have the time, but I need to get going to prepare for the journey," he quickly weaseled out of the conversation, silently hoping they wouldn''t need to talk about it again. He quickly said goodbye to his siblings and got out of there as fast as possible, excited for the upcoming trip.
Chapter 21.
Michael
"Damn," Michael said under his breath as the carriage shook and his writing smeared, he was still trying to come up with incantations that worked for him the last three days of travel. He was together in the carriage with his mother, Lira, and Luciel. He had hoped to be able to have lessons while traveling but Solon and Sola had decided to stay back in Reen and take care of the renovation.
He remembered back to when he had asked them and Solon had stated that he didn''t like the capital, so he preferred to stay away from it, too many people were xenophobes against non-humans. Sola had also declined, badly hiding some kind of sadness when she said that she would also like to stay away from that city, she hadn''t given a reason, but Michael didn''t press her on it.
So now he was stuck with self-study, which wasn''t the worst, he needed the time for his magic, but it was sometimes hard to concentrate with his family around him talking or disrupting him.
He looked out of the window and took in the scenery of the forested hills and farms passing by the latter becoming more prevalent the farther they traveled north into the other parts of the Duchy of Praanen which Reen was part of. The whole duchy was at the frontier and in contrast to the other duchies quite underdeveloped, with spanning forests and smaller settlements.
He watched the sun close in on a hill and knew that they would stop at the next settlement to stay the night. Looking forward to some physical training after traveling the whole day he leaned out of the window to see how it was looking in front. He could only see the road and the backs of the knights.
"Michael come back in you will only become sick," his mother said while looking up from the embroidery she was working on. Michael let himself fall back into his seat and closed his eyes with a sigh.
The next time he opened them again they had reached a village that would be their quarter for the night. Michael stretched while he looked at the village, it wasn''t too big maybe 40-60 people judging from the number of buildings he saw. A couple of meters away he could see his father talking to a man that appeared to be the village elder.
After a while, he turned around and came over to them. "There is no tavern or inn in this village, they don''t get too many visitors it seems but the elder has offered that at least the children and women could sleep inside for the night."
His mother sighed, he knew that she liked it more high class, but she said nonetheless, "Better than sleeping outside. Come on kids let''s see where they can get us situated for the night."
They walked over to the village elder and introduced themselves. "Thank you very much for your hospitality, elder," Lady Rowan said with a warm smile. He smiled back and gave her a little bow, "We have enough beds for your family in old Ignees''s house, she has lived alone since the last of her boys decided to go become adventurers last year and would certainly appreciate the company. Her husband owned the biggest farm in the village so their house should be big enough."
Michael asked for directions to the house as he wanted to get some training in before going to bed. He found Geron and Eydis easily in the back of the caravan, currently getting off their horses and getting them ready for the night.
Michael greeted them and waited until they were done with their horses, they looked for a quiet place and started training. Michael had started fighting with Geron as training, of course, he was holding back, or this would be pointless, but he tried to give Michael a challenge that he could grow on. They fought for a while, with every time Michael got hit, he had to explain what he did wrong. After being disarmed again Eydis let out a chuckle.
She sat a couple meters away and looked at them with amusement. Geron turned to her and said, "It is bad manners to laugh at a student."
She shook her head and began to sign, Geron looked at Michael, he had started learning the sign language as he was training Michael with her, but he hadn''t come very far yet. "It is not Michael I am laughing about; it is your training and fighting style I am laughing about," Michael translated, he was tempted to paraphrase what she said but decided that that would only bring more problems when the words and the mannerisms didn''t match.
Geron frowned at her and raised his hands questionably, "What is the problem with my training and fighting style, Lord Michael is doing just fine with both."
"She says it is rigid and inflexible, and that a warrior needs to be quick on his feet and even quicker to adapt. This training of learning certain strikes and blocks will teach him to be locked into a mindset that will get him killed when things come around that don''t fit into his moves."
Michael looked at Geron to see what he thought of it and could see that he didn''t like what she was saying. "This is the fighting style of House Rowan, the same that Lord Rowan uses, I think he knows better than you."
Eydis shook her head and signed again, "I have never seen your lord fight, but I have seen his brother, and he nearly got his throat ripped out because he didn''t adapt fast enough."
"And still he beat you," Geron said, his frown at her belittling his fighting style still on his face. "The kingdom''s swordsmanship is centered on control and organization, while the tribes run and flail around like beasts, we stand our ground as a unit where it is required to be somewhat rigid to not disrupt formations. That is the way we knights fight."
"Yes, and it is predictable and vulnerable in one-on-one situations. Why not teach him something that people are not familiar with, if they are all this inflexible," Eydis said with a shrug not caring about the frustrated knight''s expression.
"Listen, this fighting style might be inflexible in your eyes, but it has proven its worth a hundred times against barbarians, monsters, and knights," Geron sighed, calming himself.
"How about I just learn both and then I can use either one when it is more suitable or even mix them," Michael interjected into the conversation. Geron scratched his head and said, "The problem is not learning different fighting styles the problem is that you might have problems adapting to them at the same time, when I tell you that you need to stand firmer and a minute later Eydis tells you that you need to be lighter on his feet. I can get frustrating for you." He looked at Michael sympathetic, knowing fully well that Michael would throw himself at the challenge and he did.
"Let''s do it, we can split training time into three parts and both of you get your own time where you can do what you want without the other interfering, and then there is mana training that you have either agree on or do it together," Michael said with a broad grin on his face.
Geron shook his head with a slight smile and said with theatrical pain in his voice, "I knew you would say that. I guess Eydis and I can also show you stuff against each other" Eydis mirrored Michael''s smile and signed, "You better not be too tired when I get my turn, there won''t be much of this lazy standing around and bashing at each other on my watch."
After they finished their training Michael''s whole body hurt. Eydis was true to her word, she didn''t start by showing him stances or strikes but jumped right into live-action combat and she was not fighting fair like Geron. She kicked, grabbed his sword, and once even threw dirt at him with the words, "You think your enemies are gonna fight fair? Honor will not save you when a beastman comes barreling in with a battleaxe." After he had survived the training, he made his way to the house of the woman named Ignees.
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The moment he arrived, the woman ushered him inside and towards the table where his family was already waiting. She was making them dinner and giving them sweets and tea. It was a great atmosphere after the days of travel and Michael relished in the homeliness of the old woman''s care. Even the twins were grinning and having fun, despite Michael on the table.
A couple of hours later Michael was lying awake in his bed, it was less comfortable than the one he had at home but that was to be expected, what really kept him awake though was the loud snoring of Oska, two beds over to his left. He sounded like a boar searching for mushrooms, and Michael was wondering how Harlov and his father could sleep with this noise pollution.
He turned in his bed and tried to put his pillow over his ears, but it didn''t help much. After an hour of turning, he finally got up and dressed. It wouldn''t be the first night with minimal to no sleep and he could rest in the carriage tomorrow, but his exhaustion from the training would be difficult. He sneaked through the house trying to not wake anyone and closed the front door behind him.
It was a cool spring night, and he took a deep breath while dragging his coat closer to his body.
He began to wander the village, dodging the night patrols of their guards, he was not in the mood to explain what he was doing outside. He had the advantage that they were moving with torches and were visible from far away, so it wasn''t too hard to evade them.
After five minutes of walking, he finally found a quiet spot where the patrols wouldn''t find him. He made himself comfortable on the ground next to a small building, it had no windows on his side so he was confident that he could go about his business in peace. He nestled into a corner where the building had a little extrusion.
Taking deep breaths he closed his eyes, barely able to keep them open, and let his warm mana flow through his body, the cold of night vanishing in an instant and the tiredness followed behind. He raised his hand and spoke quietly, "Orb of light, follow above me. Following Light!"
Nothing happened. He sighed and opened his eyes; he could feel a small amount of mana leaking out of his hand from his failed spell. He tried again and failed again. He next held out his hand and tried, "Orb of light." He wanted to at least make the basis of his spell work, but it didn''t.
He let his head fall back against the wall and sighed. Am I not able to use magic? Maybe I should just focus on augmenting and try to become an aura-level knight like Father, he thought. He knew fully well that he wouldn''t do that, but he was frustrated, and these kinds of thoughts gave him something to let off some steam. He sat there for a moment until he started uttering his incantations again trying to make the magic work.
A couple of minutes later he was startled out of his work when someone addressed him from the side. "What are you doing out here at this time of the night, boy?"
His head jerked around to the side and saw an old man standing in the dark, looking at him with narrow eyes. He hadn¡¯t heard the man approach at all even with his mana-infused senses.
Michael scrambled to his feet and wiped the dirt from his pants before he spoke, "I am sorry, I was just getting a little alone time, being surrounded by people the whole day is exhausting." He smiled innocently even though he wasn''t sure if the man could even see his face in the darkness. Michael could see rather well with mana in his eyes and the faint shine of the moon overhead.
The man moved closer and inspected him - he could seemingly see just fine - as he did Michael smelt a whiff of humid air, he frowned but didn''t think about it too much. The man scoffed and finally said, "Didn''t someone teach you that lying is bad? You were practicing magic!"
Michael stared at the man in disbelief, had he heard him, or was he standing there longer than he thought? He thought about what he wanted to say when the man spoke up again, "Alright, it is cold, so come in and you can practice there if you don''t want anyone to see." He turned around and began to move away smoother than would be expected from someone of his age. Michael stood there confused for a moment but quickly decided to follow the man, he wanted to know how he figured out what he was doing and see what he wanted.
It turned out the house that Michael was leaning against was the house of the old man, maybe he had heard him from inside. When he entered his home he took a quick look around, there wasn''t much noteworthy here, just a small square village house with a single bed, a table, a fire, and some other furniture, but a shelf in the corner garnered his attention for a reason he couldn''t explain.
"Come on sit down, I will make some tea," the old man said while pointing at the table. Michael did that while watching the man, now with the light of the fire he could get a better look at him. He had long white hair, and a short, well-maintained beard. His clothes matched the simple linen that he had seen on the other villagers.
"So, what does a little light mage do behind my house? Are you hiding your gift from your lord?"
Michael blinked and looked down, he had a simple cloak and shirt on, the old man was probably thinking he was some kind of retainer of the carriage train. He met the man''s gaze and said, "How do you know I am a light mage?"
The man sat down in front of him and said plainly, "Caught your incantations."
Michael nodded, "Makes sense and no I am not hiding it from anyone, I just wanted a quiet place to train. "
"Which was going poorly, I assume."
He frowned frustrated at the truth and said, "What do you know about magic, maybe it was going perfectly?"
The man raised an eyebrow. "I was an adventurer in my time, I retired around ten years ago and moved here but I saw and traveled with some mages, and I can tell that whatever you were doing wasn''t working."
"I am sorry, I shouldn''t have lashed out, I am just tired and frustrated. I can''t get any incantation to work, instinctual magic is alright but once I add any phrase it falls apart." Michael rubbed his eyes while talking, trying to get rid of the exhaustion that had sneaked up on him again.
They sat in silence for a moment until the man finally spoke. "You have a variation of a typical problem that elemental mages tend to have, in the cases I have seen it only weakens their magic and prevents them from becoming as strong as they could be, but you might be too young to understand."
Michael looked at the man with a stern expression and said, "Please explain it to me and treat me like an adult, everyone else does it."
At this moment the water began to boil, and the old man stood up to pour it. He returned with a teapot and gave Michael a cup made from clay.
"Alright, what is the difference between the elemental and arcane paths?" He asked, looking at Michael with a raised eyebrow, Michael could hear the doubt in his voice.
"The elemental paths require the user to be awakened with a mana affinity for the element and are used to manipulate one of the basic elements of the world. The arcane paths require the user to have a high understanding of the concept of the path and are used to manipulate one of the basic concepts of the world," Michael recited what he had learned.
"Very good, you are a knowledgeable kid," the man said a little surprised and Michael smiled at the praise.
"Now the problem many elemental mages have is that they think that their affinity is everything they need. This is wrong, the affinity does give you a base understanding of the element you are gifted with, which in all cases I have seen is enough to grant you the ability to cast but having a great understanding of your element is still required to be strong in it, the same as in the arcane magic. That is why most of these order of purity doofuses are so damned weak, they just think of their magic as a gift of god and don''t try to understand it."
Michael raised an eyebrow at the mention of Sola''s order but didn''t say anything about it. "So, you are saying I don''t understand enough about light to cast with it?"
The man sipped at his tea and said, "Well no, here comes the variation part. You do have enough understanding to do magic, you can do instinctual magic after all, but your mind is fighting you while you do it. I have seen it before but never in someone as young as you. I will explain it anyway even if I have no idea how it does apply to you. You have a great understanding of your element, but you don''t know that it applies to your magic, if that makes any sense?"
Michael frowned, not understanding what he meant. The man''s fingers drumming on the table he leaned back scratching his beard.
"Think of it like this, you know how a sword functions, pointy end for stabbing, sharp end for cutting, made out of metal, etc. but when a person gives you one you just take it at the blade and pummel someone with the hilt. You do know how a sword functions, but you don''t apply it to sword fighting because you think the two things are not related, rather you try to come up with your own way. You can fight like that but the moment you are distracted you will cut yourself and lose concentration completely."
Michael looked at the man with a smile and said, "That is an actual tactic to hit someone with the guard while grabbing on the blade."
The man met his gaze and shook his head annoyed, "You get what I mean."
Michael nodded, "I think so, but I don''t really know much about light and how it works."
"That is what I thought, light and darkness mages have it very hard because their elements are difficult to understand or even learn about at all, but it is the only explanation I can think of. I never heard of an elemental mage that had too little understanding to cast, only either he couldn''t apply his understanding or too little mana and that is not your problem."
Michael''s head began to hurt as he tried to wrap around the concept of getting his brain to connect knowledge about light with the practice of light magic.
Chapter 22.
Michael
Michael thought about what the man had said, I have to accept that what I know about light is applicable to my magic. How do I even do that? Light comes out from a source, like the sun, a fire, or the moon. It can be warm or cold. I have no idea what I am supposed to know about light that makes my mind go: no this is not magic, screw you!
His gaze was fixed on his tea as his mind raced. Magic is just the process of manipulation of an element or concept of existence so why would my mind separate my understanding from magic?
A hand moved into his view as the man grabbed the teapot to pour himself some more, Michael jumped a little, startled by the sudden motion, and knocked against his own cup spilling a little tea on the table. "Oh my god, I am sorry," he quickly said but the man waved him off. "It''s nothing I will clean it up later, only a few drops."
Michael looked at the four drops on the table and frowned. Suddenly a picture flashed in his mind out of nowhere of two candles being lit and their light merging. He continued to stare at the drops, in the back of his mind he could feel something, a whisper that he couldn''t understand. He tried to focus on it and another thought flew through his mind, two streams merging into a lake, its surface seemingly one.
His hand slowly moved to the drops, and he fell into a trance, not even sure if he was moving his own body or if he was only a spectator. A finger touched the spilled tea and moved the drop to another until they merged into one. His mind felt heavy now, everything but the liquids and his thoughts went unnoticed. His other hand moved sluggishly above the teacup, and he dipped his finger in ignoring the heat. He held his finger above the big drop of tea he had merged before and let the tea drop of his finger into it until it became a puddle.
Suddenly his mind was clear again and he jerked his head up to see the old man watching him with interest. "Light is like water!" He exclaimed and jumped up from his chair the man still watching him in silence. "Hundreds, thousands, maybe more little parts but if you put them together they look like one part like a-a a lake, it''s made up out of an uncountable number of," he stopped for a moment, his mind running too fast to formulate coherent sentences if he wasn''t careful, "drops, yes drops, and light is the same, it just seems like a sunbeam because we can''t see the parts like in a river but unlike a river, we can''t take out the drops to see them. So, I have to move the small parts and not just ..." - he moved his hands around without any meaning - "light."
He looked at the old man with excitement to see the reaction on his face, he smiled at him and said, "I neither have any idea if you are correct or how in the thirteen hells you even got there but try it." He sounded as excited to see as Michael, as the boy breathed deeply to try to get into a more focused state. It took him two whole minutes to even calm down enough that his thoughts didn''t jump from subject to subject like a cat surrounded by mice.
He held up his hand, his eyes closed to reduce distractions. He would start with something easy, a circular light. Alright, take the small drops and fill them in, I need to make a circular form with my mind. His mind worked hard on imagining a round body and filling it with small parts of light like one would fill a flask with water drops.
He opened his eyes, spoke the words, and let his mana flow, "Orb of Light!"
With a flash a bright fist-sized orb flickered into existence and was reflected in Michael''s eyes as he stared into it, not believing that he actually did it.
"I DID IT," he yelled jumping around, the spell disappearing with his lack of concentration. He could feel a sense of satisfaction flood into his awareness from a corner of his mind.
"You sure did, boy," the old man nodded in confirmation.
Michael imagined the look on Sola''s face once he returned and he could show her his progress. He looked at the old man with an excited face and said, "What else do you know about magic that might help me? Please, I want to learn everything I can."
The man scratched his beard as he looked at Michael, "Well I did hope you would be happy after clearing up this obstacle, but it seems I will have to tire you out more."
Michael looked out a window, it was still the middle of the night, he got up from his chair and said, "Oh I am so sorry. I am keeping you from your sleep, I will leave so you can get some rest."
The old man waved him off and said, "Ah don''t worry about that, I am not that old. Curiosity is one of the greatest virtues for a mage and who am I to deny a fledgling mage like you, the knowledge I hold."
Michael sat back down and looked at the man with gleaming eyes. The man rose from his chair and went over to the wall to take a cloth from it and threw it over to Michael, "But first clean up the mess you made."
Michael wiped off the table and the old man asked, "Why do you even want to learn magic in this world that hates them?" Michael stopped for a moment to think about the question and then answered, "I was pretty upset when I was told that I had a mana affinity and could be a mage. I only learned that those who had one became mages and were evil. Of course, now I know you can just decide not to become a mage but back then I was scared. Sister Sola, my teacher, explained to me that light mages and pure mana mages are not considered evil, so I had no reason not to learn it."
"That Sister Sola is a member of the order of purity", the old man asked him with a raised eyebrow.
Michael nodded with vigor.
The man sighed, "I am going to tell you something, boy. No mage is inherently evil, for a matter of fact I never met anyone who was inherently evil. I might not be able to explain why they are doing what they are doing but there is always a reason, and it was always a choice."
"But they are responsible for the death of the gods, if they didn''t do what they did then the great cataclysm could have been avoided," Michael argued.
The man shook his head, "If a part of the knights of House Rowan would rebel, would you hold them all accountable, better yet would you hold those that have been born after the rebellion accountable who are born with talent and want to pursue it." Michael looked at the man and frowned as he continued, "Would you be responsible and evil if you had gotten a fire affinity and still wanted to become a mage, to not waste your gift?"
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"This is the reason why magic is not outlawed, except for darkness magic, as long as you don''t break the law you can be a mage," Michael continued to disagree.
The man laughed with a dead voice, "That is what you think. Have you ever seen a mage that is not a light or anti-mage in service of the church?"
"Well, no," Michael said truthfully.
"Why do you think that is? They are certainly not that rare."
Michael had no answer so the man said, "Because they are hunted by the church, they follow them around until they find anything they can accuse them of. A wind mage pushes someone out of the way of a charging horse and is accused of attacking someone. A water mage extinguishes a burning house and is accused of having laid the fire to be a hero or collect a reward. It happens everywhere and no one cares because mages are evil. Not to mention that everyone that gains a darkness affinity is instantly burned at the stake as soon as they find out."
"I can''t believe that!" Michael shook his head vehemently. "And the dark mages are the great betrayers, they convinced the others to betray the gods and are the worst of them all!"
"I am not talking about dark mages, boy. I talk about everyone that has an affinity with darkness mana," the man said with a sad expression. Michael stared at him when he realized what the man was saying. "Everyone with the affinity?" He nodded slowly, "It doesn''t matter how old, being awoken with the darkness affinity is an instantaneous death sentence in the eyes of the church and their inquisitors will go about that business without mercy or remorse. I have seen it before."
Michael didn''t know what to say, he just sat there in silence, mulling over the old man''s words.
Michael said quietly, his gaze fixed on his teacup. "I don''t know what to think about it, I can''t ignore what I have been taught for the word of a stranger."
"Just remember what I said boy and you will understand one day," the man said.
"I-I better go," Michael said, with a stutter.
The man nodded while lost in thought as Michael left the house.
- Next morning -
Michael was up first as he never had gone to bed and sat at the table still lost in thought about what the old man had told him when their host Ignees entered the room. "Oh my, you are up early, my boy. Are you hungry?" She moved slowly through the room towards the food cabinets.
"I am an early bird," he said with a forced smile while she began to gather breakfast without waiting for his answer. Michael watched her for a while until she sat down at the table.
"You have a nice home," Michael tried to make small talk. The woman smiled at him, "Thank you, my dear, that is very kind of you to say. It does get very lonely in this big house from time to time I have to say though."
"The elder mentioned one of your sons becoming an adventurer," Michael remembered.
The woman nodded, "Yes, he left last year, saying that he wanted to become famous and rich and all that." Michael knew that adventurers didn''t make much money if they didn''t find anything special or worked as mercenaries as well but maybe with the rising mana levels and more dangerous monsters that would change, not a trade Michael wanted to make but something he couldn''t stop even if he wanted.
"Why did he go? Were the times hard?"
"No no, we have been blessed the last years, we haven''t had any famine, drought, or sickness for at least ten years at least. He just didn''t want to live the life of a simple farmer as the rest of my sons do." The old lady smiled warmly not betraying any sadness at her son''s choice.
They kept on talking for a while until the rest of his family joined them for breakfast.
"Michael, where did you go last night," Lord Rowan asked his son.
"Couldn''t sleep, so I wandered around a bit." His father raised an eyebrow at his troubled expression but didn''t address it, "Make sure you get some rest in the carriage."
Michael nodded but didn''t feel like contributing to the lively conversation at the table.
They left shortly after, giving the old lady a generous amount of compensation, even against her complaints, and made their way back to the carriages. Michael quickly looked for Geron and Eydis, he found them with the horses, getting them ready for the day''s journey.
Geron looked up from his saddle and said, "You look like you haven''t closed one eye last night."
Michael grunted at that, "That''s because I haven''t."
"What''s the problem, was the bed uncomfortable?" Geron raised his eyebrow while he asked that and Eydis looked at him with concern.
Michael stood quiet for a couple of moments, thinking if or how he should approach what was on his mind. The confusion and conflicting feelings were painted on Michael''s face as he finally decided on the direct way and asked Geron, "Is it true that mages are followed, framed for arbitrary crimes, and arrested? Is it true that everyone who awakens the darkness affinity is burned at the stake, even children? Even if they never did anything wrong."
He didn''t even need an answer Geron''s expression instantly gave him the answer, was it shame or sadness? Geron fidgeted on his feet as Eydis and Michael watched him with growing horror.
"It is not illegal to be a mage in this kingdom," he said while shaking his head. "It is not even illegal to be a dark mage, much less to have a darkness affinity but the Inquisition does not share this sentiment. While the church officially also doesn''t condemn all mages, they don''t do anything to stop the Inquisition from hunting them down and are actively encouraging the hunt on darkness affinities unofficially. No one cares about the mages, and no one wants to upset the Inquisition or the church, so we just let them do it."
"So, it is true!" Michael said loudly, "Our people are being hunted in their own land without having committed any crime and we do nothing to protect them?"
"It is not that easy, Lord Michael. Standing against the church like that is not worth it for a couple of mages," Geron said, trying to calm Michael down. His words had the opposite effect as a cold fury began to rise in his chest. "I can''t believe you," Michael yelled at him. "Have you forgotten your oath? Protect the weak, the ones that can''t defend themselves? I would define people, that can''t do anything to protect themselves or be branded a danger and burned, as the innocent and weak!"
Geron looked at him and at the head shaking Eydis as he began to get agitated as well and hissed, "What am I supposed to do in your opinion? Run out there and kill every inquisitor I can find? I have my own orders, your father''s orders! Protecting a couple of mages would bring more suffering than it would solve. You need to grow up, not everyone can be saved!" He spat the last words out with so much pain and regret that Michael stopped a moment and stared at his knight.
Eydis didn''t say anything and just watched the exchange with a more neutral expression.
Geron breathed in deeply and said, "I am sorry milord, I spoke outside of my rank and accept any punishment."
Michael was still stunned by the sudden outburst of the normally more reserved man, he had seen him become annoyed and agitated at times, and that time on the wall had heard his fury but this time was the first time he had faced it himself.
"I am sorry, Geron. It is not your fault how we treat our mages; I shouldn''t have yelled at you. I am just so frustrated, I always hear that we are more civilized than others and the love of Idas, that we should stand together against evil but everywhere I look and everywhere I go, I only find injustice. I only find betrayal of exactly these virtues, why are we not following the way that is preached to be the best one, why is everyone so ... so, so evil?"
Before Geron could answer Michael¡¯s world began to spin. He had used his mana continually to keep himself on his feet and the drain of that, the physical training, and his magic training had depleted his mana well.
¡°I don¡¯t feel so good,¡± Michael said as he began to stagger. Geron was by his side immediately and Michael lost consciousness.
Chapter 23.
Michael
Michael had slept through most of the following day, being drained of all mana was an unpleasant experience. He had also been questioned about what happened and why he had used so much mana. To his relief, Geron had covered for him, with an excuse that they had used a lot of mana in training and that Michael must have used the last of it when training magic.
That was enough to convince his mother and siblings but the suspicious look from his father when talking to Michael showed clearly that he didn''t believe a single word, but he didn''t press the issue. As always, he expected his children to come to him themselves if it was something that required his attention.
Now they were finally near the end of their journey with Lionsgate coming into view. The city was indeed huge. Tall walls surrounded large parts of the city but there were many houses also in front of them, giving the city a sprawling feeling to it. As they closed in on the gates Michael could see hundreds of people also heading for it, loaded with goods, and drawing carts behind them. He was sure they were coming for the festival that was about to start tomorrow. The people all made way for their caravan, and they quickly reached the gate, which they passed through without stopping. Michael could see the city watch, in black tabards with red lions on them push people out of the way for the carriages.
Michael was still bothered by what happened in the village, but he chose to not think about it, so he pushed open the wooden window and took in the city. As they drove through the streets Michael was overtaken by the number of people around, the streets were filled to the brim with them but somehow, they still managed to make way for their carriages, they had to slow down considerably even with this.
His attention was dragged to the many shops lining the main road as they became fancier the closer, they moved to the palace, he saw smithies, fletchers, elegant tailors, and even a jeweler. All buildings were decorated for the upcoming festival and the stands were filled with fresh food.
On a crossing he could see a large plaza in the distance, he was sure he heard animal sounds coming from there, but the streets were way too noisy to comfortably enhance his hearing. He chose to be satisfied with watching the shops that were moving past him until a bell dragged his focus on the large church of Idas in the distance.
It was a large structure with a singular tower rising from its center, adorned with statues of ancient heroes and sun symbols, so many in fact that Michael thought that they had overdone it. The sight of the church gave him mixed feelings, he was impressed by the building and wanted to see it from close up but on the other hand, he was still on the fence about the church lately with their refusal to help slaves and their active hunt on mages.
He was beginning to fall back into his dark thoughts when the crown jewel of Lionsgate came into sight, the royal palace. The first thing he saw were the bright walls surrounding it, they were not quite white, but they were definitely brighter than the outer walls. Next, he saw the gate, adorned with banners, and flanking the entrance stood two intricate lion statues, the Silvermane Lion, a magical creature and the signet beast of the royal family. The palace guards stopped them at the gate, checking their invitations and every carriage, they were wearing the personal heraldic of the royal family on their coats of arms, the head of a Silvermane Lion on a golden field.
After they had crossed the gates, the true beauty of the palace was revealed, a long road connected the gate and the palace buildings, it was flanked by multiple gardens, with flowers of colors that Michael didn''t think were possible in plants.
He could see dozens of people stroll through them, simply enjoying the spring flowers. On the right side of the road was a small lake that split the gardens in two, with a small island in the middle. The large palace buildings supplemented the organized flower beds with clean edges and tall towers, Michael could see the reflection of glass windows from the distance and a single thought flew through his head. How much did this place cost? The glass alone must have been exceedingly expensive, and to use it for windows, this thought made Michael''s purse hurt.
The caravan finally stopped next to a white fountain in front of the large stone buildings, which was also adorned with lions. Michael made his way out of the carriage first followed by his sisters and his mother. They were greeted by a line of knights in the Merland tabard, led by a man in a silver set of plate armor. This was the first time he had ever seen a set of plate armor; Solon had told him that the dwarves liked to use them, but humans generally didn''t know how to make any. The knight was probably in his late forties or early fifties but had an aura of cold proficiency that rivaled Lord Rowan''s.
When they had all exited their carriage the silver knight stepped forward and greeted them with a respectful nod. Lord Rowan stepped over to him and grabbed his forearm with a smile, "It is good to see you, Gavin." The knight smiled back, "It has been too long already, old friend." After a moment of silence, he added now back to his polite manner, "The king could not step away from his duties to greet you, but he will meet with you soon."
Lord Rowan nodded at this like he expected it and said with a lowered voice, "Do you have any idea why he called for me so suddenly?"
Gavin shook his head, "You will need to ask the king about it."
Lord Rowan shrugged and turned around, "For those of you who haven''t met him yet, this is Sir Gavin Strom, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard and the strongest knight in the kingdom."
Commander Strom laughed at this introduction, "I am sure Duke Torras, and you could give me a good run for that spot, I am getting old you know." Michael closely inspected the knight that his father deemed his better.
He was smaller than one would expect and had grey hair with a clean shave. His movements seemed sluggishly slow, but Michael knew from stories about the man that this was just a facade.
Lord Rowan said nothing to that and Commander Strom first greeted Lady Rowan with respect before he turned to the children. Luciel was first, "How you have grown from the little girl I saw last time, you look so much like your mother." Luciel looked like she was going to cry at the mention of her looking like her mother and thanked the man with a huge smile.
He next moved over to the twins, "The last time I saw you boys you were just babies, you will become great knights, judging the speed that you are growing." They smiled and nudged each other.
"Now you two I haven''t met yet, but you must be Lira and you Michael, right?"
They nodded in unison and the man continued, "It is a pleasure to meet you."
"And an honor to meet you", they answered. Michael followed it up with a question, "Is it true that you have a lightning affinity?"
Commander Strom looked at him with an interested expression, "Yes, that is true, why do you ask?"
"If it is not too much of an inconvenience, I would like to request a lesson on how an affinity can change one''s augmenting and how to utilize that, as you are the first augmenter with an affinity that I have seen."
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Lady Rowan interjected, "Come on Michael, the commander is a busy man, I am sure he has no time for this." Commander Strom smiled and raised his hand, "It is alright milady." He said before turning back to Michael, "We affinity augmenters are pretty rare in these lands. I will see if I can make some time but as your mother said, there are a lot of duties I have to attend to so I can''t promise anything."
Michael nodded and thanked the man. He inspected Michael for a moment longer until Lord Rowan said, "Come on, Gavin, let''s catch up."
They walked away and shortly after a fancy-looking servant came over to them and bowed. "I will escort you to your quarters, please follow me."
He led them into the building, and it was as luxurious on the inside as it was on the outside, filled with art, tapestries of epic battles, and large glass windows. After a couple of minutes of walking through the hallways, Michael''s curiosity got the better of him and he halted, inspecting the windows closely. He wondered how such a fragile material could withstand being so thin and in such a large piece without shattering. He decided that he had to find out where the royal family got these windows from and maybe go there to ask.
When he turned back to his family they were gone, he looked around confused but couldn''t find them. With an annoyed sigh he made his way back to the carriages, he figured it would be easier to find the way back out than to find his family in this huge palace. He quickly learned that he hadn''t paid enough attention to which path they had taken so he nearly instantly chose a wrong turn.
After the third dead end, he found himself in he finally resolved to ask for directions. He walked back to the last hallway junction when he heard the clashing of wood on wood and yelling down the hall. The curiosity that had brought him into this situation took the reins again and he followed the sounds, ignoring his former goal of finding the way out.
He found the source of the clashing when he walked through a door into a small training yard. There were six boys, aged around ten years old, two of them currently in a spar with wooden swords while the rest cheered them on. On the opposite side of the ring stood a knight in the same silver armor that Commander Strom had worn before.
The first boy that was fighting was somewhat small for his age and had black hair while the other was tall with brown hair. They looked relatively evenly matched concerning swordsmanship, and both were most certainly trained. The taller boy was trying to leverage his superior strength against the black-haired boy by continuously attacking him while the black-haired boy tried to prevent having to block the heavy strikes of his opponent by being quick on his feet and dodging.
This was working well for a time, but the tall boy was speeding up his attacks, Michael frowned at the still-slow attacks and sensed the mana for a moment to find that they weren''t strengthening themselves, which made this kind of speed more reasonable.
The black-haired boy had to block attacks now from time to time and it was obvious that every blocked strike shook him to his core. If this fight were to drag on, then it would be a clear victory for the tall boy.
He made a heavy two-handed swing over the head which the black-haired boy deflected to his left. There was an opening and he lunged at his enemy; his wooden sword aimed at the tall boy''s chest.
If the tall boy manages to block or dodge the attack he wins, Michael thought and the moment the thought passed, the tall boy started moving backward but stopped immediately after, getting hit as a consequence. Michael frowned and the spectators cheered at the conclusion of the fight.
The tall boy scratched his head and said, "Well fought your Highness. I was so sure that I had you."
The black-haired boy laughed and patted the other''s shoulder, "You nearly did."
The boys talked excitedly with each other until the tall boy saw Michael and said loudly, "Hello, who are you?"
Michael was happy that he had decided to wear good clothes today as he walked over to the boys and bowed in front of the black-haired boy. With him being called ''Your Highness'' he was probably a member of the royal family, and the other boys were most certainly nobles as well and he didn''t know the hierarchy except that the black-haired one seemed to be on top. "My name is Michael Rowan, son of Count Cedric Rowan. My apologies for watching the spar without introducing myself but I didn''t want to interrupt.¡±
An expression of surprise mixed with interest appeared on the black-haired boy as he asked, "Cedric Rowan, you said?"
Michael nodded politely. "Interesting," the boy replied before introducing himself, "My name is Zenial Merland, son of King Johann Merland. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." The moment the name fell, Michael realized that he was not just a member of the royal family but the crown prince of the kingdom. He quickly bowed again and said, "It is an honor, your Highness."
The prince nodded at this and after a few moments where he didn''t say anything else the tall boy introduced himself. "My name is Theodore Gretten, son of Count Uther Gretten. It''s a pleasure." After those the other four boys introduced themselves one by one, they were all sons of various counts of the kingdom.
After they had all introduced themselves the prince spoke again, "So you watched our spar, do you have anything to say about it, you probably have some of the talents of your father and can give us some advice, eh? Oh, maybe I should ask first if you already started your martial education."
"I have indeed started my education already and you both seem to be well-trained," Michael said carefully. He decided not to mention that Theodore threw the fight on purpose.
The prince seemed to sense his reluctance though and followed it up, "I want your full and honest opinion, whatever it might be."
Michael was quiet while he pondered what he should say. He didn''t know what kind of a royal the prince was, so he needed to be careful not to offend him. In the end, he chose to just say what he thought, as lying to a royal was probably a bad idea.
"You are both trained and showed good basics. Personally, I would have waited for a better opportunity to strike and not bet everything on it like you did because you would have lost if Theodore didn''t stop his dodge and let you win." He put on a stern expression and made sure that his words didn''t sound mocking or judging in any way.
Zenial frowned and looked at Theodore, "You let me win?" The latter froze in place, you could virtually see his brain working on whether he should come clean or lie. It took him so long that he realistically only could come clean without looking like a fool, so he sighed and said, "It is true, your Highness. I fought with my all the whole fight but at that moment I heard my father''s voice in my head and hesitated." He lowered his voice to imitate his father and said, "Don''t you do anything to embarrass His Highness, not ever."
Zenial laughed and said with a hint of frustration in his voice, "Dammit Theodore, how am I supposed to improve if you let me win."
Theodore bowed, "I am sorry, your Highness. It will never happen again."
"Alright alright, as long as we are clear," the prince waved him off and turned back to Michael. "I wish you were a little older, I would be interested in how good you are." Michael thought for a second and then grinned, "I would be fine with giving it a try, your Highness. I fight my brothers from time to time and they are around your age."
"Isn''t that kind of unfair with the height and strength advantage," Theodore said with a raised eyebrow.
"We normally go at it with augmenting and because I have a larger mana well, it evens out most of the time," Michael explained with a smile, remembering the multiple times he had beaten up his brothers.
Prince Zenial thought for a moment about how they should do it and then said, "How about you use mana to reduce the advantage I have but not more?"
"That would be too difficult to balance mid-fight for me, I am afraid. I would probably swing between too much augmenting and too little and it would invalidate the meaning of this duel. So, let''s just both use our mana as much as we want." He would be at more of a disadvantage if he was distracted by balancing his mana on such a defined ruling than if he just fought without any.
"Alright, but let''s try not to hurt each other," the prince agreed.
Michael nodded and then remembered something, "Oh I am also a light mage, but I won''t use it in this fight."
"I heard about that", he said while moving a couple of meters away.
Theodore handed Michael his wooded sword and Michael said, "Sorry for telling on you." He actually felt bad about it, he could have just left out the part about letting him win but he didn''t. Theodore shook his head with a friendly smile, "Ah don''t worry, I deserved that, the prince doesn''t hold a grudge about something like that, should have just said something myself. Now good luck and do your best." Michael smiled back at the boy with appreciation.
The prince looked at Michael with a grin, "Let''s have a chat after the fight but first I want to see how much your good heritage is worth."
Michael grinned back and said, "The heritage will have nothing to do with it after I have beaten you."
Chapter 24.
Michael
Michael weighed his sword in hand trying to get a feel for it as he waited for the other boys to make space for the spar. Michael was tense, he wanted to make a good impression for his house, so he let his mana flare up inside of him. It had fully recharged since yesterday''s training and hummed warmly in his chest.
Zenial looked confident, probably underestimating Michael, but he was fine with it, it only gave him an advantage. He thought about how he should approach this fight, Zenial was small for his age so the physical difference probably wasn''t too big, but Michael had no idea how large his mana reserves were.
He chose to take an aggressive approach like Eydis had shown him the last days, he was concerned that he had very little experience with it and didn''t want to make a fool of himself in front of the prince, but it was easy to overwhelm someone with a fighting style they are not familiar with. Michael had to learn that the painful way with Eydis. So, it was probably worth the risk.
Theodore stepped forward and announced in an overdramatic voice, "This spar goes until one participant lands a good hit, augmenting is allowed but no magic. Try not to injure each other. Anything else?" After they both shook their head, Theodore continued, "Alright, then ready, BEGIN!"
Michael moved first, he wanted to get the initiative and throw the prince off balance as fast as he could. With mana strengthening his legs he crossed the small distance between them in a second and swung his sword against his opponent''s hands.
He could feel the rising mana in the air as Zenial also began to burn mana and he pulled back his hands in time to dodge the strike, at the same time raising his arms for a fast strike from above. He was way faster now with the added mana, but it seemed like he wasn''t using as much mana as Michael because they were pretty even. He was probably trying to make this fight fairer, or perhaps he had a small mana well.
Michael didn''t ponder on it long, as Eydis had said there is no fair or unfair in a fight just a winner and loser.
Michael let his mana surge in his arms for a moment to smash Zenial''s strike away and followed it up with a stab at his shoulder. The prince jumped back too fast though and avoided it, shock written on his face at the show of strength.
Michael didn''t want to let him get back into the fight and swung his sword in an upward arc at him, encouraging him to lean back to dodge and lose his balance. He did exactly that, dodging Michael''s sword by a few millimeters. Michael stepped forward before his swing was complete and shoulder-checked the prince with his right shoulder. In his unbalanced stance, he couldn''t prevent stumbling from this even from someone smaller than him.
The prince tried to regain his bearings, but Michael gave him no chance, following the sequence up with a backhand swing of his sword. He could sense an eruption in mana as the prince pushed as much mana as he could into his body to dodge the strike. He did manage it but by doing that leaned so far back that he couldn''t prevent falling.
He landed on his behind and saw Michael standing in front of him, his sword pointed down at his chest.
"Michael wins," Theodore''s voice sounded more like a question than a statement. The boys were staring at Michael and the prince waiting for his reaction. The fight had not even taken a minute to conclude and Zenial looked like he didn''t understand what just happened.
They stood there for a moment when Michael heard his mother''s voice from behind, "MICHAEL ROWAN, what are you doing!"
He turned around and could see her hurry through the training yard, an out-of-breath servant running after her. "Help him up," she said and pointed at Prince Zenial, who looked completely lost in this situation. Michael gave the prince a hand and pulled him back to his feet with a little mana support.
His mother bowed deeply and said, "I apologize for my son''s behavior, please forgive him for his transgressions."
"What," Michael blurted out not understanding what his mother was even talking about.
She looked at him accusingly, "Where did you learn that beating up your superiors is an okay thing to do?"
Michael blinked at her for a moment then said, "Mother this was a spar!"
"First you run away and then you pick a fight with the ... a spar?"
"Yes, he asked me to spar with him because he knows about Father," Michael answered with a raised eyebrow.
She looked over to the prince who nodded, too confused to say anything. She got red in her face at this and quickly bowed to the prince and grabbed Michael''s wrist, "Oh then everything is fine. It was an honor to meet you, your Highness. Come on Michael, we have to get going." There was no way that she could have hidden her embarrassment worse as she dragged Michael away smiling a broad and forced smile.
Even though he loved his mother sometimes Michael wondered how they were related.
The boys just stood there stunned, watching them leave without a single word and Michael called, "Thanks for the spar, it was fun," before he was dragged through the door he came from.
- two hours later -
Michael was sitting with his sisters at the table in their common room. He and Lira were playing cards while Luciel rubbed the nap she had out of her eyes. Lira slammed down an Idas 8 card and said, "Tough luck, little brother." Michael stared at it in disbelief, "How? How is it possible that you always draw exactly the card you need? Are you cheating again?"
She held her hands up in an innocent gesture and said with played offense in her voice, "I have never in my life cheated on anything. I am just blessed with superb luck."
"Never cheated," Luciel said with a yawn, "Well at least you have no problem with lying." Lira looked at her older sister, "Hey, don''t pick sides, you are supposed to be impartial in younger sibling arguments."
"Oh, I most certainly am," she laughed with her clear voice.
"Another one, all or nothing, I will get you this time," Michael said with determination at which Lira laughed. "We are not playing for anything; you can''t call all or nothing." She started to mix the cards nonetheless and looked at Luciel, "You in?"
"Oh no, you know how competitive I get, and I have to deal with you people for the next couple of weeks," she shook her head. This made Michael smile as he remembered that the last time they played Luciel threw her shoe at Lira, accusing her of cheating. To be honest, everyone accused Lira of cheating, but no one ever could tell how or where exactly.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
They played a couple more sets when their father entered the room, looking somewhat confused and amused at the same time. "Michael, what is with your mother? She said she is too embarrassed to leave the room, and something about you beating up Prince Zenial?"
Michael scratched his head and laughed awkwardly, "I did not beat him up, I want to make sure that that is noted. I did beat him in a spar, but I never touched a hair on his head while doing that." His father looked at him until he continued. "Mother found me the moment the prince was sitting on the ground defeated and assumed that I beat him up, so she yelled at me and apologized for my bad manners."
Lord Rowan stared at him for a moment, and Michael began to worry that he had done something wrong after all, but then his father burst out into laughter. "Haha, so that''s what happened, I guess I understand why your mother is embarrassed. This actually takes me back to my time as a youngster. Well, much older than you are now but still young." He sat down and grabbed the deck of cards shuffling it and dealing cards. Michael looked at his siblings, confused by his father¡¯s mannerisms.
"The king and I actually meet on similar circumstances."
- 19 years ago -
Cedric stretched his arms and yawned. He left his tent and joined the other hunters at the campfire. Before he reached it, his little brother Duncan tried to walk past him, but Cedric grabbed his arm and spun him around. "What happened there," he asked him and pointed at his black eye. "I was just too slow in training," Duncan mumbled and tried to keep walking. "Hey," Cedric stopped him again. "You mentioned the drinking again, didn''t you? How many times do I have to tell you not to do that?" Duncan ripped his arm free and walked away, mumbling to himself, "Yeah whatever, one day I will kick that drunk''s ass."
Cedric shook his head and continued to the campfire where he found the old drunk. "How is it, can we start the hunt?" His father shook his head and said with a rough voice, "The duke''s son, Johann Merland, wants to join us to get some hunting experience so we are waiting until he gets here."
Cedric sighed annoyed, "Great, babysitting for a sheltered noble boy, this is going to be so much fun." His father looked at him strictly, "This escort will give us more money than our hunts of the last two months, boy. So, I expect you to be on your best behavior and do your goddamn job."
Cedric rolled his eyes when his father couldn''t see it and looked at the clay bottle at his feet, from how it was lying he guessed it was pretty much empty again. He got up to check his equipment when he heard horses approach. He turned around and saw a young blond man, maybe a year or two older than him, clad in brightly colored leather armor with a silver cape and on a white horse, followed by a knight of House Merland. He had to hold back hard to not start laughing at this display of fanciness of the noble. His outfit virtually screamed that he had no clue what he was doing.
He sat on his horse until someone grabbed the horse''s bridle and then got off it, walking over to Cedric''s father. "Good morning, Mister Beor. So, this is your hunting party." He let his gaze wander around looking not very impressed as it finally landed on the fourteen years old Duncan. "I hope he is not part of the hunt, wouldn''t want to babysit a child the whole trip."
Cedric narrowed his eyes and said, "Duncan is part of our crew and he is a trained part of the hunt, unlike you."
"Cedric," Beor snapped at him but the noble seemed to ignore it. "If you say so, boy," he said while strutting around like a peacock.
"Boy?" Cedric''s temper started to boil over, "What are you 19? 20? And I bet with not a minute of combat experience."
"CEDRIC, THAT IS ENOUGH," Beor roared at him. "SHOW SOME RESPECT, BOY!"
Johann raised his hand with a smile and said, "Why don''t you show me the worth of this hunting party in a duel."
- In the present -
Lord Rowan scratched his head, "So yeah I had a bad temper, and the king was a pretentious little shit."
Michael looked at him with interest and asked, "And did the duel change your mind?"
"Oh, no. I wiped the floor with him. It was over in like three seconds," Lord Rowan said with a reminiscing smile. "The changing my mind thing came later when we hunted with him, and he saved Duncan''s life from an iron boar that came out of nowhere and nearly killed him."
"And you kept hanging around after or how did that friendship evolve out of beating him up," Lira asked while laying out a triplet, soliciting a groan from Michael. Their father went quiet for a moment, looking at his cards intently but seemingly not really seeing them. "My father died shortly after, stabbed in his back by his brother over an artifact we found. Had to find a new source of income and Johann wanted to create his own adventuring party, he paid much better than what I could make so I accepted."
"Oh, I am sorry. I didn''t know that about grandfather," Lira said with a low voice. They had never really heard anything about their grandparents from their father''s side. "You don''t need to call him grandfather, I never really called him my father out of my own will either. He was a real bastard and deserved what happened to him." He was playing with his cards in hand when he looked up and saw the shocked faces of his children. "Oh, sorry kids. Shouldn''t use such language in front of you, those were just some dark times back then. There is a reason I normally don''t talk about it." He smiled at them but couldn''t alleviate the pity his children felt. They never knew how hard he had it been when he was their age and even now, they only scratched at the surface.
They finished their current game in silence when Lady Rowan walked into the room, determination on her face. Lord Rowan turned around and smirked at her. He then jumped up and put his hands up, "Darling calm down, we are only playing a game, even though Lira is beating our ass. It is only a game."
Michael nearly choked on nothing, and the others got big eyes and looked over to see her reaction. Her mouth was open, her eyes wide and she stood frozen in her spot before a hint of a smirk came on her face. She walked the last meter and hit her husband on the chest, saying, "You are a scoundrel, Cedric Rowan and I have no idea why I ever married you!" She then pouted with a certain glimmer in her eyes. Their father just grinned at her with a dumb expression but said nothing.
Michael and his siblings exchanged more glances, they had never seen their parents like this. Is it because we are away from Reen, he pondered.
She finally shook her head and changed the subject, "Where are the twins, I want to discuss the plan for the next three days."
Luciel answered, "They went out a while ago, and said something about exploring the palace."
Her stepmother shrugged, "Whatever just gotta tell them later, I guess. So, the festival will go three days and the most stressful will be tomorrow. In the morning we will attend church, after that will be a party in the gardens of the palace, and approaching evening is the feast in the great hall. The following day will only be a feast in the evening and on the third day we will have the great bonfire and a feast to finish off the festivities." She explained it like Michael had seen Commander Johnson explain the raid like a battle plan and this made him chuckle.
"Of course, I have prepared outfits for all of us because frankly, the fashion sense of all of you except Luciel is absolutely atrocious." Luciel smiled at the compliment and Michael saw his father get pale and say to himself, "Oh no."
Lady Rowan continued, "Our goal is to go with simple elegance, we are not walking decoration like other people seem to think looks good, we will actually look good. For the church I have ordered white with golden details and a hint of our family colors black and red, and no you can''t wear chain mail under it. This will honor Idas and show our dedication. Once we return from the sermon, we will change into simpler clothes suitable for a garden party, as it is still spring, they will be a little thicker. And for the end of the day, we will go with a dominant black with red details for the boys and red with black details for the girls." She had a very proud expression on her face and looked into the group to see their surely overjoyed reaction.
Lord Rowan was rubbing his temple as he began to speak, "I really don''t want to ask, Mylia. What did this cost?"
"It is the price of good politics, my dear. I know you don''t like it but making a good impression with our appearance is already half the fight. And because I know that you don''t like this whole talking with people and connecting, it''s the least you can do to stand beside me looking the part while I take care of our reputation and what is expected of us." Lady Rowan had raised a finger and looked at her despairing husband.
"Well, if that prevents me from having to deal too much with the nobles, I guess it is worth the cost," Lord Rowan said while shaking his head.
Lady Rowan clapped in her hands happily and said to the children, "Alright kids, go to bed early, the tailor will be here early to do some last-minute changes if you are not up you will have to deal with it if the clothes don''t fit."
Michael sighed, as much as he wasn''t like his father in appearance, he did share his dislike of parties and gatherings. The next days would be so stressful, and he was already exhausted.
Chapter 25.
Michael
Michael groaned as he took off his white and gold shirt, the service in the church had been long and the air in the church thick. He hadn''t attended any sermons in a while since Father Albion banned him from his, so he had forgotten how boring and uncomfortable they were. The high priest had just talked and talked for over three hours, Michael could have sworn that half the church would be asleep after half the sermon, but they all pulled through, maybe dreading divine punishment or something.
"Come on, Michael. Hurry up and change," he could hear his mother call into his room. He groaned again, after that mind-numbing service came the garden party where the adults would make light conversation and he had to listen to them talk about which daughter should marry whose son or how big the boar was some lord has killed. Michael wasn''t actually sure what he disliked more the service or the prospect of the garden party.
He quickly changed into the thicker tunic and put on his cape, wiggling a little until it sat right. When he left his room, he found Geron and Eydis waiting in front, Geron in his coat of arms and Eydis in a black and red shirt and cloak with the house crest on her chest.
"You are looking good," he said to them. Lady Rowan came into the hallway before they could answer, followed by an unhappy-looking Lira and a beaming Luciel.
"Where are the twins and your father," Lady Rowan looked at Michael with a slight of annoyance in her voice.
Michael just shrugged and she stomped off toward their rooms. He turned back to Geron and waved at them as he followed her together with his sisters. Geron and Eydis stayed behind, they were not invited to follow along to any of the events, only the heads of noble houses or other important figures were allowed to have one guard with them because too many augmenters following the order of a single person could lead to situations with arrogant and self-centered nobles.
The twins left their room before Lady Rowan could open the door and stepped out. She inspected them with a neutral expression and then said, "Oska fix your cape, please."
He looked irritated and not very comfortable with the clothes that his stepmother had ordered for him even though they looked like a perfect fit. "You are not my mother, so don''t pretend you care," he grumbled as he yanked his cap into position.
Lady Rowan shook her head with disappointment, "I am not but I am sure your mother wouldn''t have let you go to an event with chaotic clothing, she never did herself in the years I knew her. So, stop being a brat and accept kindness when it is offered."
He grumbled a little but couldn''t return anything before Lord Rowan entered the hallway, dressed in a simple but elegant black vest and a red cape. "Let''s get this over with."
They made their way outside of the building where open carriages waited for them to bring them to the garden party. Michael thought that this was kind of stupid and they could have just walked over but who was he to argue. They reached the open field of grass a couple of minutes later. It was in the middle of the flowerbeds and at the shore of the lake Michael had seen on their way in. He hadn''t noticed the tables and parasols yesterday but now they were filled with people and beverages. Servants walked among the nobles distributing snacks and drinks with fluent movements that one would expect from a dancer.
Lady Rowan let her gaze wander over the crowd until she found who she was looking for. "Come on, we have to greet the king and queen first." She began to move over the field on a direct trajectory with a group of nobles that had formed around the monarchs. Michael couldn''t see them in the crowd and cursed his small stature. The rest of the family followed Lady Rowan with appropriate speed and when they approached the group Michael could hear a clear and sympathetic male laugh.
"Make way people," the voice said, and the nobles parted in front of House Rowan, opening the view for Michael to see and approach. In front of them stood a tall man with bright blond hair, held back by a sturdy-looking silver crown that contrasted his hair perfectly and a well-maintained beard, he looked about his father''s age and was covered in silver clothing with golden details, it reminded Michael of the outfits of Idas priests but a little different.
Next to him stood a woman with long black hair and a simple yet somehow at the same time elaborate blue dress. Her crown was also silver but much thinner with a focus on elegance. She looked at the newcomers with a polite smile, giving them a nod of acknowledgment. She obviously was the Queen Susanne Merland.
Behind them, Michael could spot Sir Gavin Strom, ready to strike anyone down who approached his charge with ill intent.
The family approached the king and queen and bowed in front of them. It was accepted to just bow and not kneel during festivities when kneeling would unreasonably dirty one''s clothes, one of the things where King Johann was laxer than other monarchs Michael had read about.
The king signaled them to rise and approached them, holding out his hand to Lord Rowan, and said, "Good to see you, Cedric." Lord Rowan grabbed his hand and returned the greeting. After a quick introduction of the children, the king moved on together with their father. The king had many nobles to greet and talk to, so he had little time for long conversations. Michael was a little disappointed that he didn''t get to talk to the king except for introducing himself but he would probably get a chance later, at least he hoped so.
Lady Rowan spoke to them while Michael watched his father and the king move away, "Okay, children. You can now talk to people, eat a little, and socialize but behave and don''t eat too much, we don''t want to make a bad impression." She then turned around and made her way into the crowd, greeting and making small talk with the other guests. The twins also left, Michael didn''t care to see where they were going, and his sisters turned toward him. "What are you going to do? Want to look at the buffet, I am starving", Lira asked him, but he shook his head. "Go on, I have someone to find. I will come back later," he waved at them as he started walking. He could see the question on their faces, but he was gone before they could voice them.
He walked around the groups of people, thankful that it wasn''t as packed as the church had been. He came past many nobles with crests on their clothes and decided to train a little while he was looking by trying to identify the houses. He had a good memory but there were many lesser nobles present so he could only figure out around half of which he saw.
After moving around a table that had blocked his view, he finally saw the crest he was looking for and walked toward the small group of children, Prince Zenial in their midst. He approached them and saw Theodore spot him coming and nudge the prince. He turned around and looked at Michael, he then smiled, and a heavy weight fell off Michael''s shoulders. He was concerned that the prince would not react well to his defeat or mock what happened after, but he looked actually happy to see Michael.
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Once he reached them, Michael bowed and said with a respectful voice, "Your Highness, my apologies for the quick exit I made yesterday. My mother seemed to be embarrassed by the misunderstanding." Zenial laughed at that and said with a wink, "No worries. It is good to see you again, I was concerned you would avoid me after beating me up so badly."
"True that was a really effective fighting style," Theodore added with a thoughtful expression, other kids that were there also expressed interest in where he had learned to fight like that.
Michael rubbed his head awkwardly and admitted, "Eh, most of it was improvised, I just started learning that fighting style a couple of days ago but knew out of my own experience that being faced with an unfamiliar style can throw someone off pretty hard. I wouldn''t get you with that next time though, now that surprise is gone and without experience in the aggressiveness of it."
Zenial waved him off, "Don''t be humble, yes you surprised me but your strength and the way you moved even impressed my guardian knight. You have some serious talent, must be in your blood with how my father talks about yours." Michael was surprised at the unexpected compliment from a knight of the Kingsguard, he knew that he was better than other children his age but having a guardian of the royal family say it gave him a large confidence boost. "I thank you and your guardian knight for the compliment," he said while trying to suppress a self-satisfactory smile.
"How about it, once this festival is over, we can train together and you can show me some of your tricks," the prince said excitedly, he reminded Michael of himself when he wanted to know something so he could not say no. "Of course, it would be my honor."
"Stop with the ass kissing," the prince smiled amused. "I get enough of that, and we will be friends so you can just call me Zenial or Zen, as long as we are not on some official function."
Friends with the crown prince, he thought excitedly but then frowned and looked at Theodore. He knew that the boy called the prince ''Your Highness'' and not by his name, at least last time he didn''t. The tall boy seemed to guess his question and explained with a shrug, "My father would rip my head off if I called the prince by his first name and that is not worth the trouble."
Michael nodded at this; his mother would probably not be that amused as well but his father was calling the king by his first name, so Michael didn''t see a problem with it either. "I would be happy to be your friend, pr... Zen."
"Very good," Zen grinned. "Do you want to hang around with us? These garden parties are beyond boring, and we are just decoration here anyway with the adults plotting and planning."
"Yes please!" Michael joined the group of boys as they walked around talking and playing games. It felt good to just be a kid for a change, with nothing to learn, no responsibilities, just having fun with other kids. He never had any friends close to his age that weren''t part of his family because he was the count''s son, first a coward no one wanted to be seen with and then a demon child everyone avoided. Now with a group of noble children of the same station or higher, he felt free, liberated of the pressure of doubt if they liked him, free of the stigmata that had followed him through his life. He was just another noble child and he relished in the opportunity to be just that for the time he could.
Zen was right though, the garden party was boring, the adults were just standing around talking, quiet music being played in the background. After three hours Michael and Zen were standing alone on the shore of the little lake and were throwing stones in the water.
"So, my father told me a lot about you lately," Zenial said to Michael. "He is very interested in you it seems to me."
Michael looked at him suspiciously with a raised eyebrow, "Your father, the king is interested in me?"
"I don''t know what exactly he is expecting you to do in the future, but he said I should pay close attention to you." He looked at Michael closely and added, "But this is not the reason I want to be friends with you, I think you are interesting on my own and not because of anything my father said. I know how difficult it is to have friends in our positions, but I promise I will never try to trick you or any of my friends. I chose to not play along with these politics and the backstabbing, you know."
Michael met his gaze and tried to determine if he spoke the truth. He had little experience with the politics of the capital and there was very little politicking in Reen, but Zen looked just fed up right now, even though he just mentioned it for a moment. Michael believed him and felt a certain kinship from their mutual dislike of the topic. "I believe you and someday you will be king and can change how it works," Michael said, to which the older boy smiled and nodded lost in thought.
They stayed a while in companionable silence until Zen had to leave and Michael returned to his sisters. The garden party didn''t continue for much longer and shortly after they left back to their rooms to rest and change for the feast in the evening.
- A couple of hours later -
Michael was looking into the great hall with wide eyes, Lira and the twins standing next to him also staring at the spectacle of luxury. They were met with a magnificent sight, the hall was larger than any room Michael had ever seen, at least fifty meters long, and the ceiling nearly reached the height of the city walls. It was illuminated by large crystals hanging from the chains in the ceiling and large windows on its right-side wall. The floor was made out of bright wood and seemed to reflect the light back into the room. The hall was filled with rows of tables, making space for hundreds of people, and still had a large circular space open for dancing. On the northern end of the hall was a long table on a podium overseeing the entire hall. There the royal family had taken their place and throned above their subjects.
The hall was already filled up a lot and Michael wondered where their seats would be. Michael smoothed out his black tunic and looked over to the servant who had approached them, signaling to follow them. Another man announced loudly, "Count Cedric Rowan of Reen and family!"
While they walked through the hall, he could hear whispering conversations and felt the gaze of some of them on himself. There were some counts here and there but the lower-level nobles were in the majority, he recognized many from the garden party. He tried to ignore them and rather focused on the wonders of the great hall, he had absolutely no idea how they even built something this big, but he would have to ask Solon when he got home.
They moved further and further through the hall until they reached the podium, and the servant began to climb the small set of stairs. Michael looked at Luciel who was walking next to him and she looked nervous but still shrugged and ascended onto the podium.
The right side of the table is still free and would probably be their seats. On the other side of the table, Michael could see an assortment of important-looking men, and most important of them was a man with piercing brown eyes. He was in his early thirties and had perfectly groomed long brown hair and was dressed in a grey tunic with silver detail, that got nearly lost in the grey fabric but shined when the light hit them right. His cape was adorned with a dire wolf pelt and even though he didn''t wear a family crest on his clothes Michael knew who that was, or at least he was pretty sure he knew. The man was Lord Leopold Wulfen, the Duke of North Mark and the chancellor of the king. He was one of the most influential men in the kingdom and one of the most dangerous according to what Michael had heard.
He stared at the man for a couple of moments until he met his gaze. Michael quickly looked away and concentrated on not tripping or embarrassing himself any other way.
The king rose from his seat as House Rowan reached the table and waved at the space to the open spots to the left of him for them to take their places. As Michael moved over to his seat, he could see the queen and the prince on the other side of the king but also a girl with black hair, leaning over the table to get a good look. She was around Michael''s age and watched the newcomers with interest.
Michael was too nervous to pay her much mind though and quickly sat down on his chair, adjusting his cape to sit comfortably. The servants quickly moved in between them and filled their cups. Michael stared at the glass cups as the liquid filled them and wondered if he could have one of those.
The king rose from his chair and spoke to the whole room straining to be loud enough, but Michael couldn¡¯t see any mana from him. "I welcome each and every one of you. I am glad to see so many friendly faces and I will not keep you with a lengthy speech. I am just going to say that especially now we will have to stand together and thank Idas for the light that protects us with the rise of mana and monster activities. So, I raise my glass to Idas¡¯s protection and to our unity."
He raised his glass of red wine, and everyone followed his example.
"To Idas and to unity!"
Chapter 26.
Michael
The feast was great, with exotic food, and drinks. Michael was especially thankful that he had a place to sit and not deal with other people. So, he happily dug into his iron boar steak, it wasn''t every day that one could get monster, so he relished in the well-made meat and felt the traces of mana in his stomach. His siblings also seemed to enjoy the meal and chatted excitedly at the opportunity to eat at the king''s table. To Michael''s surprise, he saw the king had another meal on his plate even though he couldn''t quite make out what it was.
After the meal the queen rose from her chair and moved down into the hall, followed by most people on the table, including her children and Lord and Lady Rowan. Michael was about to submit to the social pressure and also go down to socialize when his gaze fell on the king, who was watching him with interest. Upon making eye contact he motioned Michael to come closer and he followed the order and moved over to his father''s now abandoned chair next to the king. He knelt down and after a dismissive hand wave of the king sat down on the chair.
They sat in silence, the king inspecting him and Michael just awkwardly trying the remain calm while listening to the playing music. The table had completely emptied now as if everyone had gotten a signal to leave them alone that Michael had missed.
His mother and father were standing in a group of counts talking, Luciel was with noble girls giggling and secretly pointing at handsome boys and Michael could see Lira snuck to an empty part of the hall, most certainly trying to avoid Luciel. The twins were standing next to an older boy that they bowed to, Michael didn''t know who he was though.
He couldn''t see the prince anywhere but as he scanned the hall, he suddenly made eye contact with Duke Wulfen again, he was staring up at him, not even trying to conceal the fact. This made Michael swallow nervously and look away.
His gaze fell on the dancing floor next; it was still deserted as most would let the food settle before trying their luck and being the brave ones to be first.
After his cursory scan, he returned his attention to the king who was still looking at him, it was then that he finally broke his silence. "I heard a lot of different things about you. You are a genius. You are a monster. You are a mage. You are a demon worshiper. I am somewhat conflicted about what kind of an opinion I should have about you."
Michael thought about his words for a moment, he had expected to hear something about himself but as Zen had never mentioned the rumors, he had hoped that they had not spread here.
"You should make your opinion, your Majesty," he said diplomatically while keeping eye contact.
"Why? Is what I heard wrong?"
Is he playing with me or testing my arguments? Michael thought quickly, he didn''t want to be in this situation, but he had to make the best of it, and if what he heard about the king from his parents was true and how Prince Zenial acted as an indicator, he would go the direct route without holding back.
"Why should a person let his opinion be formed by rumors and hearsay when he has the opportunity to make his own? There are many different opinions about everyone and if one doesn''t make their own it will just be left to chance which one, they will get." He began to calm down, he was more comfortable with thinking and making arguments than socializing meaninglessly.
The king smirked for a moment and then said with a thin smile, "You are indeed not normal. Do you know why I am interested in this at all?"
Michael shook his head. "No, your Majesty."
The blond man leaned back, finally letting off Michael, his gaze wandering into the crowd. "Has your father ever told you how we met?" After Michael nodded, he continued, "Good, and how I know your father, he correctly portrayed me as a pretentious cunt?"
"He said ''pretentious little shit'' if I remember correctly," Michael said with a nod. This made the king laugh, and he took a moment to regain his composure, "Well, it seems like we are gonna make a noble of your father yet. Another fifteen years and he might just call me pretentious." After he said that a flash of dread appeared for a moment but was gone so fast that Michael wasn''t sure if he just imagined it.
"Now the point of this is that meeting your father helped me a great deal. He didn''t grovel, he didn''t lie to me, and he most certainly beat my ass when I needed him to. He made me a better man and my son Zenial needs that as well. He is not as bad as I was back in my time, that I made sure of, but he is surrounded by people who want to please him and would do everything to get in his good graces. He doesn''t have anyone that would beat him up when he deserves it."
Michael already knew where this was going, the king was not trying to conceal it at all, but he wasn''t sure how he felt about it either. The king didn''t notice his hesitation and just continued talking. "But you did exactly that, the first time you met him, just like your father did with me. You also told him an uncomfortable truth without knowing how he would react. I wasn''t sure if this resulted from you just lacking respect but that doesn''t seem to be the case. You just have a strong self-confidence in your own opinion, don''t you?"
Michael chuckled and thought sarcastically, self-confidence? Yeah, that is totally me. He then paused and held that thought. He wasn''t the same boy he had been last year; he had beaten his brothers, instigated a large crime raid, beaten a prince, and just now had given the king advice even though it was presumably just a test. He had become self-confident; it was hard to deny from the evidence. Sure, he was still nervous or scared but he pulled through.
"I understand, your Majesty, but I am just a child, I am sure there are others that would be better suited for this," Michael said, he felt like a hypocrite as he used the child card that he always tried to get rid of but there had to be an advantage of being one, so, in the end, he didn''t feel too bad.
The king leaned back with a smug face and said, "Are you trying to prove me wrong on the lying part? You spend all your time studying or training, you risked yourself to help your town and you are going to move out of your family home to concentrate on your studies, throwing away all the security and boons of it to better yourself. All that at the age of seven, do you really expect me to believe your child act? If you did, you might want to reduce your self-confidence a little and take some acting lessons."
Michael chuckled a little, "I am not as self-confident as you think so it comes from a place of truth, your Majesty."
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"I am not asking you to do anything in particular just to be his friend so that you can rub off on him a little as your father did with me."
He thought back at the scene at the lake earlier and shook his head determined, "I won''t do that, your Majesty. He gave me the courtesy of telling me that you told him to get close to me and that he won''t do it because you said so, so I will do the same. I will be his friend because he is intelligent and friendly, not because I have been ordered to, and once he doesn''t seem like someone that I want to be friends with anymore, I will stop being one." Michael stared at the king to see his reaction to the straight-up refusal of an order, but he wasn''t too concerned, the whole conversation had given Michael a sense of the man. He was just trying his best for his son and didn''t seem like a raging tyrant that would have him punished for refusing an order like this, it was more like a request anyway.
"Perfect answer, my boy," King Johann nodded at him with a confirming smile. "I hope the two of you can connect and that you can help each other become better men, just like your father and I did."
"Thank you, your Majesty."
The king waved him off and said, "You may leave now Michael. And thank you."
Michael stood up from his chair with a smile and bowed toward the king before he made his way down the podium. Out of the corner of his eye, he could still see Duke Wulfen watching him. He ignored it and just looked for a quiet place to sit down and think about what happened.
As he made his way through the great hall, there were many eyes following him and with a little mana he could hear the whispers.
"What did the king want with the boy?"
"He is the son of Count Cedric."
"Maybe we should see if he will tell us something?"
"He is just a kid what would he tell us?"
With a sigh, Michael let his mana die down and moved on, more politics. He wondered if the king talked to him in such an overt way on purpose to gain the attention of the nobles, but he couldn''t find a reason for such a ploy.
Michael sat down on a bench at the western wall and watched the dance floor, as the first people entered it and began dancing. Michael thought about looking for a dance partner, as his mother was certainly expecting him to do at least one dance, but he was too tired and not in the mood. The day had drained him more than any day of training could, so he just sat at the sidelines and watched the others dance, captured by the slowly whirling colors of the dancer''s clothes.
He could see Luciel dance with a handsome teenager, her dark red dress making her stand out next to his colorful outfit. She looked like she was amusing herself and was smiling a lot. On the other side of the room, he could spot his parents making their way toward the dance floor, his mother''s arm wrapped around his father''s. He couldn''t make out their faces, but he was sure that she was more excited to dance than he was.
He sat there for a while just watching and enjoying the time alone when suddenly someone sat down next to him. He jumped up a little and looked over startled, he hadn''t noticed anyone approach him with the ambient noise of the feast.
His unexpected visitor was the king''s daughter, with shoulder-long hair in a single braid, a beautiful silver dress, and a silver diadem in her black hair. She looked to be around Michael''s age and looked at him with her shining blue eyes. She looked frantic and said, "Quickly, talk to me." She was looking around as if she was trying to find someone in the crowd and when she did, she swung her head around to Michael with a pleading gaze.
Michael could see the older boy that the twins had bowed to earlier out of the corner of his eye; he was approaching them, and Michael was pretty sure that he was who the princess was running away from. He looked at the princess who was still looking at him with those blue puppy eyes and just blurted out the first thing that came to his mind, "Do you want to dance?"
She stared at him for a moment, and he already thought that he had said something disrespectful when her face lit up in understanding. She jumped up and said excitedly, "Yes please!" She held out her arm for Michael to grab as he looked at her stunned. He could see the older boy had nearly reached them when he finally got up, took her arm, and began moving toward the dance floor when they were stopped by the older boy.
"Princess!" He said loudly stepping in front of them, "I was looking for you." He was tall, probably around thirteen or something like that, with short brown hair and a slender body.
She looked at him with a stressed look and smiled awkwardly, "Oh my apologies, but I was already asked for a dance, so maybe another time."
He stared at Michael with a condescending gaze and said, "You should think about your status, boy."
His eyes reminded Michael of someone, and he realized that he had seen the older boy on the table before, he was sitting next to Duke Wulfen. Michael frowned at him and looked up into his eyes, he was in no mood to argue and didn''t want to get his family into trouble, but he really didn''t like his tone.
"And what status might that be?" The sharpness in his voice cut through the stale air and the teenager narrowed his eyes before he answered. "I am Julius Wulfen, son of Duke Leopold Wulfen, I am your superior so show some respect. You are too low in the hierarchy to even approach the princess."
Michael smiled at him, "Well, that is for the princess to decide and now that we have settled that, the princess is part of the royal family, so she is your superior, she agreed to this dance so show some respect and back down." He stared at Julius for a moment before he turned to the princess, made a small bow, and held his arm in her direction. She was barely holding back from laughing and took his arm. They walked away from Julius who was just standing there frustrated, and Michael could see the princess smile as they did.
Michael didn''t look back as he led the princess onto the dance floor.
"Thank you," she said quietly, "I didn''t want to make any trouble for you."
They reached the dance floor and Michael held out his hand to start the dance, she took it, and they began slowly circling each other. Dancing had been a part of his education of course; he had painstakingly tried to convince Lira to practice with him, but she had denied it every time, so he was forced to train with Solon as he was at least close to his size. He had been glad when Tara was in Reen as she had been more gracious than Lira and practiced with him.
"Always there to save a princess," he smiled at her, and she chuckled. "But I haven''t properly introduced myself, I am Michael Rowan, son of Count Cedric Rowan. At your service, your Highness."
"Oh right, I just jumped into it without proper etiquette. I am Miranne Merland, but you can call me Mira, thank you again for saving me," she said without missing a step in their dance. She was definitely trained in the art of dancing, probably much more than Michael himself and she seemed very sure on her feet, moving with a certain grace that one would not expect from a child.
"So, what was I saving you from, exactly?" Michael asked as he whirled her around into the next position.
Her expression darkened as she said, "Julius, Duke Wulfen''s son. He is annoying, I don''t know why he always wants me to hang around him, but I don''t like him. He is mean to everyone that he says is beneath him. The last time I said something I got scolded by my mom, so I just run away now. I really hope you don''t get in trouble for talking like that, his father is important."
"Well, nothing we can do then. Just happily going for my last dance in life." Michael chuckled and she quickly joined in. He wasn''t overly concerned about any consequences, the king seemed pretty relaxed, and Michael had done nothing wrong.
"So why did you choose me as your savior," Michael asked with an interested glance after a while.
She stayed silent while they continued dancing until she finally spilled, "My brother said you are his friend and that you beat him in a spar so I thought you would probably be nice and strong." Michael smirked at that, "It seems everyone knows that I won against the prince in this palace." Mira didn''t reply anything to that and just concentrated on her movements.
They danced in silence until the song was over. Once they had left the dance floor, Michael bowed respectfully and said, "It was a pleasure to dance with you, your Highness."
"And with you," the princess said with a shy smile before they parted ways.
Michael met up with the prince and the other boys, they were hard to find in the large room, but he managed it in the end. When he met up with them Zen gave him a knowing look and signaled with his head toward the king and Michael shook his head with a smile, which the young prince returned. They spent the rest of the evening walking around talking and playing games.
Chapter 27.
Cedric
"Finally, some peace and quiet," Johann said as he fell into a chair in his private room, Cedric following behind him.
They had left the feast nearing its end, Johann had asked Cedric to follow him into his private quarters to talk and he had agreed. The room mirrored the palace pretty well, to call it a room was probably nearing an insult as it was more like multiple rooms that made up his private quarters that in total were bigger than most houses in Reen. They were packed with luxuries and decorations; Cedric had never understood why Johann was so obsessed with these kinds of things.
He sat down in a luxurious chair, that was carved out of dark wood and had symbols carved into it, Cedric was pretty sure though that they had no magical power.
He smirked at his old friend and said, "You are getting old or what?" He looked at the man and his smile froze on his face as he saw the dread on the king''s face.
"What is the matter, Johann?" Cedric wasn''t sure if he wanted to hear the answer, the last time Johann had looked like that, his oldest son and wife had been murdered while he was out on a hunt, they were not the only ones his father, mother, and brother were all killed because they supported no one in the civil war. Cedric could still hear the wails that had pierced the night that day and he would never forget them as this was the point from where everything changed forever.
To see his friend, have a similar but weaker expression on his face made his heart freeze.
"I am dying, Cedric. My healers say I am suffering from mana burn," he said with a forcefully neutral tone. He was staring forward, his gaze fixed on a bust of himself that was standing in the corner.
Mana burn was a rare disease, that acted like a strong allergy against mana, which in a world that had mana in everything was a probable death sentence with the lowest mana levels but with the rising levels, it was a certainty. He couldn''t use his mana anymore as that would trigger seizures but if he didn''t use it the mana would gather in his body until it poisoned him. So, he would sooner or later die either because of the seizures or the mana poisoning.
They sat in silence for a couple of minutes before Cedric asked, "How long?"
"Could be one year could be five, depending on how much exposure to mana I have and how violent my attacks will be. It is hard to predict this kind of disease."
"Is there nothing we can do? Nothing the Order of Purity can do?"
The king shook his head and Cedric sighed. "So, what am I here for then? You have certainly not called me here for moral support."
Johann laughed at this and said, "You are the last person I would ask for moral support." Cedric joined in his laughter.
After a while, they were just sitting in silence again until Johann began again, "My son is too young to become king. I am sure he will be a good king once he is an adult, but he will have to brave many dangers until he gets there. I need you to help him with that."
Cedric leaned forward. "Is your son in danger?"
"Nothing specific, but you know how succession can be, especially with such a young successor. Our neighbors will sense weakness, the barbarians will raid more often, and nobles are always ambitious," the king said dismissively.
"You know I am useless at politics and intrigue, the only thing I am good at is killing things," Cedric warned him, wanting to prevent the request that he was sure would come in the next sentence.
"I know you are. This is why I want to request that you become the master of war in my son''s council once I am dead and protect the kingdom for him to grow into his position without being ripped apart." The king knew that Cedric would hate this request, he could see it in his eyes, but he made it anyway.
There were some that could match him in a one-on-one confrontation but no one in the kingdom could stop him on a battlefield, his sense of tactics, mastery of sword, and augmenting being too oppressive. Johann needed him to be in command of the military of the kingdom to deter any from invading the kingdom and he was prepared to risk their friendship to achieve that.
"You promised me that I would have nothing to do with the royal court when you made me a count. And now you want to force this position on me?" Cedric was angry, his expression formed into a snarl and his eyes narrowed.
"I am not forcing you to do anything, I am requesting as your friend," the king said calmly.
"So, I can refuse," Cedric asked him with a suspicious look.
"Of course, you can!" The king tried to play it off nonchalantly, but Cedric could see the tension in his body and knew that he would be disappointed if he actually did refuse.
"Why not Duke Torras, he is also a great military leader?" Cedric tried to get out of the situation, but he had little hope of it. Johann shook his head and said, "I want you Cedric, I am concerned that Duke Wulfen is going to try to enhance his influence, he is a very ambitious man and Duke Torras is not. He would just do his duty and nothing more. You would fight for Zenial, on more than one battlefield."
Cedric sighed and got up, "I will think about it and talk to my wife, but I have my own kids to care about so don''t expect too much."
Johann rose as well and looked at his friend with sad eyes, "That is everything I can ask for. I am sorry that I have to come to you with this, but it is the best for my family and family comes first, right?"
They didn''t exchange any more words as Cedric left the room. He wasn''t sure what he was going to do, and his head began to hurt already.
Michael
The following day Michael had more free time, there was only a feast in the evening, so he used the morning to train with Eydis and Geron. He was finishing the training with some meditation when he heard a familiar voice.
"Oh, is he training mana movement right now? I can come back later," Prince Zenial said, probably to Geron. Michael opened his eyes at this and saw Zen and Theodore standing at the edge of the training yard. He stood up and walked over to them.
"I was pretty much done anyway," he said with a smile.
They greeted each other and then Zen asked, "We wanted to go into the city and look around at the festival a little if you want to come along?"
"Sure, just have to wash up and we can meet out front, I wanted to visit the city anyway."
They did exactly that and met up half an hour later at the fountain that Michael had arrived at two days ago. A carriage was already waiting for them together with some horses for their knights.
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"So, what is the plan," Michael asked curiously.
"Ehm, I think we should just take a stroll through the trade district for today, it is pretty central, and we can go anywhere from there. Also, most of the festival''s activities should be around the trade district so it is a good place to start," Theodore explained.
"Have you been living here long," Michael asked Theodore, who nodded. "Yes, my father is the master of coin and we have been living here for like three years already."
"Don''t you miss home?"
Theodore shrugged, "Sometimes but Lionsgate is a great city with much to do and most of my friends are here so not too often."
They continued their journey in the carriage until they reached the trade district. There they parked the carriage and took a look around. The district was filled to the brim with people drinking, singing, and dancing. On the edges of the street, there were countless stalls, selling food and drinks. The atmosphere was lively as the people celebrated.
They started making their way through the streets with the silver knight of Prince Zenial in the front making a path and Geron, Eydis, and a knight of House Gretten behind them. Most people quickly made way for them as soon as they noticed the knight of the Kingsguard and they advanced faster than Michael would have expected.
"This city is so big; I have never seen anything like it. I can''t even guess how some of these buildings have been built." Michael looked around with curiosity flowing from his eyes as they darted around.
"No one does," Zen explained. "Many of the more impressive buildings have not been built by us but were ruins that have been rebuilt and renovated, like the church or parts of the palace like the great hall, we had the feast in yesterday."
"Really?" Michael was surprised, "I never heard of that."
"Yeah, I guessed so much because your home is a frontier and didn''t have many ruins that could be used." That explained at least why he never saw anything like this in Reen or even heard about it in the area.
After pushing their way through an especially thick crowd Michael said, "I have never seen this many people, how does this city even function."
Zen laughed at that and said, "Believe me this is nothing yet, it will be even fuller in the evening when everyone is out drinking themselves into a coma. I saw it last year, that is a sight you will never forget, trust me."
After making their way further through the crowd they finally reached a plaza with a large wooden arena built in the middle, the plaza was even more packed than the streets. Michael turned to Zen and asked, "What is this?"
Theodore and Zenial gave each other amused looks and Zen then said, "This my friend is the monster arena."
Half an hour later they were on a platform watching a man in a ridiculous costume announce the next fight. It was easy to get good seats with Zen present and they didn''t even have to wait. All of Michael''s further questions of what this was exactly were shot down with a ''you will see''. Of course, he guessed it was some kind of fighting arena and with the name monster, multiple options came to mind, but he decided to just let it go and see what happens. Discovery is half the charm of a new city after all ... or so Solon had said, Michael hadn''t seen too many new cities yet.
"Welcome, welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen! And an especially warm welcome goes to His Highness, Prince Zenial Merland!" He made a deep bow in their direction and the crowd applauded the crown prince. He waved at them with a smile and nodded at the showman.
The man bowed again, this time at the crowd, and then raised his hands dramatically, "So now without further ado, we will start the show. Our first fight of the day will be the mighty hero Siegwalt!" He then motioned towards a wooden gate opening and a small man in chain armor entered the arena, he was armed with a short sword and a shield.
"Facing off against the vile and despicable skull faaaaaced GOBLIIINS," the showman yelled, and the audience erupted in applause. A gate on the other side opened and three small green humanoids entered. They had skulls bound on their heads, a small piece of cloth covering their bodies, and were armed with knives.
"Goblins aren''t monsters," Michael said with a raised eyebrow. Theodore looked over at him and asked, "What do you mean?"
"Well, most people that say monster mean Mana Beast and a goblin is no Mana Beast," Michael explained.
Theodore scratched his head, "What is the difference?"
Zen jumped in here and explained, "Mana Beasts are formed by atmospheric mana and goblins are born from other goblins."
The goblins had used the time of their conversation to charge at Siegwalt. They were screaming like lunatics and saliva was flying everywhere, while Siegwalt threw kisses into the crowd, completely unimpressed by the little green devils running at him.
When they reached him and the first one slashed with his knife, he suddenly fell into a combat stance and dodged the weak strike of the goblin. He retaliated by kicking the creature in the head, sending it flying five meters before it crashed into the arena wall. That kick was certainly strengthened by mana.
The second goblin met a similarly pitiful fate as Siegwalt just dodged his attacks until he found an opening and smacked the goblin on his head from above. Michael could hear the skull the goblin was wearing crack first before its head was carved in by the mighty blow and the goblin hit the ground and stopped moving.
The last goblin tried to run away after seeing his comrades be ruthlessly murdered but he didn''t get far. Being half the size of his opponent also meant that he was quickly caught up and grabbed the goblin and threw him to the ground placing his foot on the struggling creature''s neck and slowly pressing down after kicking away his dagger while showing his muscles and posing to the cheering crowd.
"That was quite anticlimactic," Michael pointed out at the easy victory.
Zen shook his head and said, "These fights aren¡¯t meant as fights for survival. They are just for entertainment and to assure the people of the superiority of the human race, so they don''t fear the monsters, a population that is too scared to work don''t pay taxes."
"It is also fun to see these beasts being stomped, most people in the city will never see a monster, ..., well that might change in the future," Theodore added.
Michael rubbed his chin while he thought about what they said, "Seeing the human win is definitively better for morale but I still hope they have some better fights."
Theodore nodded and said excitedly, "I heard they have a stone crusher, but I don''t know if it is up today."
"What is that?"
"Uh that one is a monster, I think. Imagine a huge bear that is strong enough to crush a boulder, hence the name," Theodore explained with a raised finger.
"Do you know what designation it has," Michael followed it up, he had never seen a live monster yet and was curious.
"Designation?" Theodore looked confused; he most certainly hadn''t studied any monster lore but Prince Zenial saved him. "It''s a two-zero if it is a cub."
"So, like a dire wolf?"
"Yeah, but dire wolves are pack animals, and the stone crusher wanders alone so one of them is much stronger than a dire wolf, the wolves would probably be one skulls if they weren''t moving in packs," the prince most certainly had done his studying.
They continued to watch the fights as the gladiators killed monster rats, centipedes, and even a dire wolf in ever-increasing difficulties.
After two hours of fights, the showman raised his voice again. "I thank you all for your visit, the next show will be in the evening, and tomorrow at noon we will have the most intense fight this city has ever seen, the fight against the fearsome STONE CRUSHERRRR!!"
"So probably more like a two-one," Michael said to which Zen nodded. "Gotta come back for that tomorrow."
After that, they wandered the city for a while longer before they made their way back to the palace for the evening feast.
Zenial
Zen had seen so many feasts and heard his father''s speeches a thousand times already that he began to lose interest. His mind was wandering as his father talked about unity and strength, so much in fact that his sister needed to tap his arm three times until he finally noticed.
"What is it," he whispered to her.
She looked at him with a curious expression and asked, "I saw you arrive with the carriage earlier where were you?"
"I went into the city," he said, uninterested in a conversation with his little sister.
"What did you do there?"
He sighed, she would not leave him alone until he spilled the beans anyway, so he resigned himself to another thing he had no interest in, "I went with Michael and Theodore to the Monster arena. Satisfied?"
"Why didn''t you take me along," she pouted.
"Because you are way too young for that," Zen said in a questioning tone, shaking his head at her.
"Michael is about my age," she argued.
"Maybe on the outside," Zen chuckled a little.
"Take me the next time or I will tell Mom that you have gone to see these fights again," she said with a smile.
Zen rolled his eyes; he knew that his mother would be mad if his precious little sister told on him. She always said these fights are for peasants and not royalty and he should go for the more sophisticated things in life. It was hard enough to convince his knight not to spill the beans but to deal with his sister was easy at least.
"Fine, you can come," he said with a defeated tone, and she just smiled at herself and turned back to her food.
Chapter 28.
Michael
Michael was rubbing his eyes to get rid of his exhaustion, he hadn''t gotten too much sleep before martial training this morning.
"Tired," Theodore asked as he looked at him with a sympathetic smile. Michael nodded, "Yeah, made bad decisions last night about when to go to bed."
The other boy laughed. "I don''t know you for long, but I assume it was for studying?" Michael nodded again.
They were waiting for Zen and Mira at the fountain, the carriage was already standing ready. It didn''t take long for the prince and princess to emerge from the palace, oddly they were not followed by their Kingsguard knights.
They approached them and Mira looked a little skittish. Zen waved them closer and spoke quietly with a look at Geron, Eydis, and Theodore''s knight. "We have a problem; our mother wants us to stay in the palace because the last day is always the craziest in the city."
"Hmm, that is unlucky," Michael frowned, "What are we going to do now?"
Zen thought for a moment and then visibly resolved himself. "I really don''t want to miss the stone crusher. We need to sneak out." Mira nodded hesitantly.
"What? We can''t do that!" Theodore said a little louder. Michael frowned but said nothing waiting for the prince to explain. "Not so loud, Theodore. It is the only way, Mira and I ditched our knights already, now you just need to send yours away too. Just tell them that we are going to stay in the palace and go play or something and we don''t need them here."
"Isn''t that way too dangerous to go into the city without protection, especially when today is supposed to be the most dangerous day," Michael interjected.
"It''s not that dangerous and we are just going to go to the monster arena and back so it shouldn''t be a problem. If we take anyone, they will probably prevent us from going, it is a royal order after all and even if they don¡¯t, they might be punished for disobeying an order," Zen explained.
Michael was not convinced, "Won''t we get in trouble as well if we just go?"
"We might if we get caught," he said with a cheeky smirk.
"Is it really worth it just to see the fight," Theodore said with a doubtful expression. Zen sighed and then shook his head, "Yes you are right, I can''t really pull you guys into this. You should go ahead, and we will figure something out, you are not banned from leaving the palace after all."
Theodore looked at the prince with an unsure expression, "I don''t know." The prince placed his hand on his friend''s shoulder and said with an encouraging smile, "Don''t worry we will find our way."
"You are gonna try either way, right," Michael asked and Zen nodded. "Well, it would be more dangerous if you two try alone so it is better to just all go together. I have a condition though, we will take Eydis with us. She is not a knight of the kingdom so she is not bound to the royal family, and she won''t tell on us, even if anyone except me could understand her."
Theodore''s expression brightened up at this and he nodded lively, "Yes, we would put you in danger if we didn''t."
Zen quickly agreed with a smile, "Alright, she can come, gonna make me feel better about it as well and might help us leave the castle with a guard." Michael looked at Mira and asked her, "Are you okay with this? We are going against the wishes of your mother."
She smiled at that and said, "I never get to do anything fun if you ask my mother. I want to see that monster bear."
"Alright, I will take care of our escort then." Michael turned around and walked over to the knights and Eydis. He feigned disappointment and said, "The queen has prohibited the prince and princess from leaving the palace, so you won''t be needed today."
"What are you going to do then," Geron asked, with a raised eyebrow.
"We are going to hang around and play so you can head back," Geron looked not really satisfied with that answer and that was exactly what Michael had expected. "If it makes you feel better, Eydis can come with us as a guard, the others are interested in her anyway."
Geron didn''t seem completely convinced but Michael''s underhanded tactic had soothed his concern enough that he believed him and took off with the other knight. Michael felt bad for deceiving his knight, but he technically had not lied at least, not that Geron wouldn''t chew him out if or more likely when he found out.
"So, what are you guys going to do," Eydis signed at him, looking not too happy to be on babysitting duty. Her mood quickly changed as Michael explained the situation to her. She chuckled, "Oh, Geron will be so mad."
Michael shook his head at her amusement but hid his own smile as he returned to the others. "So, I got rid of our shadows what now?"
"We just get in the carriage and go. There is no way that mother bothered to inform the guards or servants of her decision to keep us in the castle so it should be no problem," the prince shrugged as he explained the plan.
The guards at the gate looked a little confused about the small escort they had but they didn''t dare argue with the crown prince about it. This aside they reached the plaza with little difficulty and Michael instantly saw what the queen meant by the most chaotic day. The streets were swamped he had thought them full yesterday, but this day was on an entirely new level and the crowd moved more like a connected mass than single people. It was very lucky for them that they had managed to drive right to the monster arena, or they would have had big problems getting through the crowd.
After they got to the arena, they approached the entrance where the ticket shop was. The clerk sitting there instantly jumped up upon recognizing the prince and after a respectful greeting ran away. He returned with the showman that they had seen narrating the fights the day before.
"Your Highness and Lordships, we are honored to have you return to our humble arena," he bowed deeply.
Zen smiled at the man and replied, "Couldn''t miss the stone crusher, could we?"
The man nodded excitedly, "Yes, indeed. A great specimen." He thought for a moment and then continued, "The show won''t start for half an hour yet, so if Your Highness wants, I will give you a tour of our monster den. That is what we call the backstage area with the monster cages."
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The kids looked at each other with excitement and quickly agreed, so the showman led them to the back. While they walked, he looked at Eydis, "You are an augmenter, right?" She just stared at him, and Michael answered in her stead, "Yes, she is, why?"
"The mana beasts are quite perceptive of mana so please keep it down, so they don''t rampage in their cages. I would hate for any of my merchandise to get damaged because they run into the bars," he said with an excusing tone. Eydis nodded at him, and Michael also locked the mana flow of his well. He pulled his cloak tighter as the warmth left him, it was a strange sensation to not have the warm feeling anymore, even though he was not actively moving mana in his body there was always a small amount seeping when he didn''t concentrate on containing it.
They entered the large tent that was connected to the arena and were instantly hit by the screaming and screeching of the captured beasts. They couldn''t see too many as most cages had blankets covering them, which the showman explained, "We keep them covered to keep them calmer." Michael could see some goblins covering in an uncovered cage a little to his right though, they looked at him with big eyes and huddled together in a corner of their prison. Eydis was eyeing the cages with distrust and had her hands on her weapons the whole way.
In the tent were a couple of workers moving the cages around, getting them ready for the fights and Michael was surprised how many were left after two days of the event, so he asked the showman about it.
"You are right we have used around 30% of our merchandise in the last two days but they were all just a couple of hours, today there will be more fights and bigger ones so we need more beasts, the grand finale so to speak."
They finally approached the largest cage; it was three meters high and even wider and covered in a heavy blanket. The showman waved two workers closer and said, "The prince, princess, and their friends would like to see the stone crusher." While the workers moved, he turned back to the children and said proudly, "We caught him over a month ago close to the border of the Firn Kingdom in the west.
The workers grabbed the blanket, pulling it down, revealing the contents of the cage. It was a huge bear, with fur as black as a moonless night, too big for its cage, and had barely enough room to turn. Michael couldn''t see much else of the lying monstrum as it laid with its back turned to them.
He looked over to the showman and saw the excited looks of his friends. The showman stared with wide eyes at the bear before he frantically asked the worker, "When did you check on it last?"
The beast began to move in its cage.
The worker looked at the man confused and said, "Yesterday upon feeding, we are not supposed to feed them before fights, why?"
Michael looked at the moving mass of black with interest when suddenly two red eyes came into view, followed by a row of teeth that would be claws for smaller predators.
"THAT IS NOT THE STONE CRUSHER WE PUT IN THERE! IT IS EVOLVING, YOU IDIOT," the showman yelled, half his sentence being blocked out by an ear-shattering roar of the now two-two mana beast. Before anyone could react, it lunged forward in its claustrophobic enclosure and ripped through the iron bars like they were not even there. Its enormous left paw hit one of the workers and flung him like a wet towel into another cage breaking the wooden frame, Michael watched the man drop to the ground dead. He swung his head back to the monster, towering on its hind legs it was at least four meters tall. Its claws were surprisingly small but maybe they just seemed like it because the paws were that large.
Eydis was faster to react than the others and sped past them, her weapons drawn and her mana flaring up. The rest of the monsters in the tent reacted to the sudden energy spike and roared more aggressively, Michael could hear the banging of claws on metal from all around him. Before Eydis could reach the evolved stone crusher, he spat out a torrent of darkness in her direction. It couldn''t hurt her as it had no physical punch to it just like Michael''s light magic, but it took her vision. The darkness didn''t just remain around her but drowned out every light in an ever-growing area, having engulfed Michael and his friends already.
"We need to get out of here," the showman yelled and ran into the darkness.
Michael could hear fearful breathing from the others and quickly said, "Stay close."
"I am scared," Mira wailed and Michael could feel her hand brushing past him, he grabbed it so that she wouldn''t run away. "Calm down, the bear must have gained a darkness affinity in its evolution because it was kept in darkness for a long time." While he said that he raised his hand and let a bright ball of light flicker into existence, dragging every part of light he could find in his vicinity into it.
The light clashed with the darkness but illuminated a small area around Michael, it wasn''t much as Michael struggled to focus his concentration in this situation. He wasn''t happy with the size and pumped more mana into the orb which got brighter and increased the area. He could see the stone crusher charge at Eydis, right as the light touched them. She dodged at the last moment and the bear crashed into a wall of cages, causing some to break and the ones stacked above to fall down.
Eydis tried to move to Michael, but the bear came barreling out of the pile of monsters and broken cages, roaring and still focused on Eydis. She was probably the one with the most mana as Michael was still a child even with a large mana well for his age, so the beast would not leave her be. Eydis jumped back and looked at Michael, concern in her eyes but it was not for her own safety, this much Michael was sure of. She nodded in the direction from where they came from and ducked under a swipe that would have crushed her every bone.
Michael understood that she wanted them to get out of here but if he left then she would be blind again. He stood there, rooted in place as his mind raced. The bear rammed into another pile of cages toppling them over. Michael gritted his teeth and looked back to the first pile, with horror he saw a group of giggling goblins climbing over the cages breaking locks and releasing growling beasts. He had no idea why they were doing that, but they grinned manically while they did.
Suddenly Mira pulled at his arm, and he looked at her. "I want to go," she said with tears running down her face. Michael looked at Zen and Theodore who stared at the fight between Eydis and the monster and called, "Snap out of it, the monsters are loose we need to get out of here!" They didn''t react, he wasn''t even sure if they heard him over the fighting noise, so he took a step closer and pushed Zen into Theodore to gain their attention.
They spun around and stared at him, and he repeated, "The goblins are setting the monsters free, we need to get the hells out of here, now!" Michael could see his panic reflected in the wide eyes of the other boys as they nodded and turned around. Michael led the way back the way they came, the light in one hand and Mira in his other. Suddenly a worker appeared. He looked at them confused and opened his mouth to say something, but before he could a dire wolf juvenile came out of the darkness and pounced on him. Michael just kept running pulling Mira behind him and the screaming man vanished in the darkness.
They finally reached the exit and walked into the light. The people on the plaza hadn''t even realized that anything was happening and were standing, talking, and trading like normal. Michael ran over to the fighter Siegwalt whom he had seen in the arena yesterday, he was standing in front of the arena entrance posing and advertising the fights.
"Siegwalt, the monsters are free! They broke free!" He yelled at the man while he looked around with confusion, trying to find out who was calling for him. That was when the first monsters broke out of the tent, a red one-meter-long centipede being the first to skittle out of the darkness. As the people around just stared at it, not understanding their situation, the beast didn''t waste any time and attacked the first person it saw, biting down on a man''s leg, chopping it off on the first try with its strong mandibles. Now panic ensued as more mana beasts followed the scent of mana, blood, and fear out of the tent and attacked the bystanders.
"Come on stay close to the wall or we will be trampled," Michael yelled as he moved along the wall, toward their carriage. He looked back to assure himself that Zen and Theodore were following him as he still held Mira''s hand. Behind them he could see the juvenile dire wolf that had killed the worker, at least he thought that this was the one, the blood on his jaw showed that he had killed something at least. The wolf was looking around for its next victim when his eyes met with Michael''s, the wolf let out a howl and charged after them. Michael was an easy target with a lot of mana for an unevolved predator.
"RUN, RUN, RUN," he yelled, as he sped up he had to suppress the urge to use more mana and tried to match Mira''s speed.
Michael kept looking back and saw the wolf coming closer. Siegwalt moved between them, readying his sword. He would make short work of the unevolved dire wolf, as Michael had seen him do before.
Chapter 29.
Michael
Michael and the others were gaining distance, while the noise of screaming humans and howling monsters made communication near impossible. Michael looked over his shoulder again, to see Siegwalt swing at the unevolved dire wolf, the beast jumped back dodging his strike. They were safe for now but Michael''s concern for Eydis hampered his relief.
The feeling of safety was instantly shattered as Siegwalt looked toward the arena gate and moved back. A second later a group of dog-sized ants skittled through the gate, the connection between the arena and the monster den must have been open. The wolf used that opportunity to slip past Siegwalt who had bigger problems to attend to than a single two-zero monster, as the ants engaged him.
They had a good head start but the wolf was back on their tracks, still following the easy and mana-rich targets. There was no way that they could outrun it in an open field, but they still kept going.
The people fleeing left of them were mostly stuck as there were so many people there and the ones further back didn''t know what was happening and unknowingly blocked the escape of the others. Michael could see spear tips poking out of the mass, the city guard was surely also hampered by the fleeing citizens and unable to advance against the flow, so there was no help even remotely close.
Looking back again he saw that they wouldn''t make it, the wolf was too fast, so Michael had to make a decision. It only took him a heartbeat to make it, so he let go of Mira''s hand, stopped, and turned around. As he did, he could see the confused expressions of Zen and Theodore as they ran past him, too fast to stop before him.
He raised both of his arms and breathed in deeply, "Drown the world before me in light, GLEAMING BURST!" He had not connected the intent with the incantation enough to just speak it, but it still helped him visualize the effect. From his hand, a small light began to shine, and Michael was horrified at the small light, fearing he had failed his spell, just a moment later it fully activated and exploded in the direction of the dire wolf. It howled in pain as the light blinded it, wincing and turning away. Michael hoped that it would rethink the ease of its hunt and go after someone else.
Right after having finished his cast, Michael spun around and scrambled to catch up with the others, who to his surprise had also stopped to wait for him.
He waved at them to keep going but he saw the indecisiveness in their faces. He had to come up with a plan to get out of the plaza, the wolf would not be stopped for long, its blindness would fade quickly ¨C Michael¡¯s magic was still weak - and then it would be back on their heels. He looked frantically around while he ran over to them. All the streets from and to the plaza were blocked with people, maybe they could get inside of a shop and barricade the doors. That thought was crushed as he saw that all the shops were flooded with people who had the same idea. He could see many people banging on doors to be let in. He needed to get the others out of here, but he couldn''t see a way.
When he reached them, they could see the desperation on his face and yelled, "What now?" They had moved a little further from the immediate battle zone and could understand each other again. Michael shook his head while clenching his hands and looking back to the disoriented wolf, that was shaking his head and rubbing its eyes with a paw. "I don''t know ... there is no way off the plaza, but we can''t stay here!"
Zen spoke up first, "Let''s get out of here first! Follow me!" He turned around and ran toward the corners of the plaza, looking for holes in the walls or paths that the other people hadn¡¯t noticed and blocked. They closed in on a wall between streets, there were no people there as they all pushed towards the adjacent streets opening up the path toward the wall. Shortly before they reached it, they could hear an angry howl, Michael looked back for a moment and saw that the wolf was able to see again and was moving in on them.
They reached the three-meter-tall wall but there was no way through or over and they didn''t have enough time to reach the crowds. With a wooden *clonk* a ladder crashed down from the wall and startled the kids who had turned their backs to it, watching the monster closing in or looking for an escape path. Michael''s gaze shot up to see who had dropped it but there was no one.
Shaking off his confusion he pushed Mira toward the ladder and yelled, "Go up, quickly." She began climbing and Theodore followed, Michael wanted to go last but Zen just grabbed him and pushed him up the ladder before he followed behind. Michael reached the top without problem; it was a thin stone wall cutting a backyard of a warehouse from the plaza. Theodore jumped down, growling on impact. He turned around and held out his arms, "Jump, your Highness." Mira looked unsure but then jumped down, being caught in the waiting arms.
Michael turned around and grabbed Zen''s arm as he also reached the top, just when the wolf leaped at the ladder, rocking it, and nearly causing Zen to fall. They turned around looking at the beast and a hysterical laughter overcame them as they looked down at the wolf that would have ripped them apart if they were just a little bit slower.
The wolf took a couple of steps back and Michael''s eyes got big, "We need to get out of here. Fast!" He jumped down the wall and the impact rocked his legs; Zen was right behind him when the wall began to shake violently, and a paw followed by a gaping jaw appeared as it struggled to shove its body over the wall.
"Why can''t this shithead give up," Theodore wailed. He didn''t voice his opinion; he just grabbed Mira again and started running as the others did the same. They left the backyard onto a pathway that was not directly connected to the plaza so there weren''t any people there. Michael ran toward the first door he saw and banged against it, "Please open up, help us!" But no one answered.
The juvenile had made its way over the wall by now and was following them again, so they had no time to try more doors. They ran trying to find a main road, a guardsman, or anyone who could help them. At this moment the bells started to toll; the guard had finally realized what was happening.
They turned left, they couldn''t outrun the wolf but if they changed directions often, they might have a chance. Michael saw people - probably workers - running past the alleyway they were in and yelled for help, but no one even stopped. The wolf was close Michael could hear its paws hammering on the ground.
He knew that the wolf was following him and not the others he had seen it in its eyes before, so he let go of Mira''s hand and shouted, "Go left", as he slowed down to let the others pass him. They did but Michael cut right not left into another alley. They were on the wrong side of the town, exactly on the other side of the one facing the palace, this part was apparently a district filled with warehouses with many small alleyways, and very few were working today because of the festivities. Michael was shocked at how full the plaza had been and just a couple hundred meters away the streets were deserted.
He could hear Zen yell behind him having realized that Michael had left them. The wolf did exactly what Michael expected and also cut right into the alley. Michael had separated from the others; he was exactly what the predator was looking for.
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The advantage now was that he didn''t have to match Mira''s running speed, he pumped his legs full of mana and bolted down the alley, cutting left and right wherever possible. He just needed to find a soldier, this was only an unevolved dire wolf a single trained soldier was all he needed, he saw people running away here and there but no one helped him.
He failed and came to a sliding halt at a dead end. The wall in front of him was too high to jump and nothing he could climb up with. His eyes darting around he fixated on a door and ran toward it, hammering against it and yelling with all he had but no one opened.
It was the only door, the only way out, he turned back and saw the wolf standing at the entrance of the dead end. It moved in slowly, licking its teeth and for a moment Michael thought it was grinning at him.
Panic threatened to overcome him as he looked around for a weapon, something to defend himself with. He had not felt this kind of fear since he was beaten up by his brothers, and Oska pulled him to the edge of the wall. There was no one to save him now. He was about to just surrender to his fate, when a wave of calm washed over his mind and a single word echoed in his brain, "FIGHT!"
The panic was pushed out to the edges of his awareness, and he breathed deeply. If he could blind the wolf again and get past it, he had a chance. The beast was closing in until it was only four meters away when it pounced.
"DROWN THE WORLD IN LIGHT, GLEAMING BURST!" Michael yelled and let his mana flow freely. An explosion of light shot in the direction of the wolf and Michael quickly moved to run past the beast.
He was stopped dead in his tracks as he collided with the head of the wolf and saw to his horror that it had closed its eyes. He was flung back, even the unevolved juvenile being strong enough, he crashed into the wall behind him. At this moment he cursed his element, if he had fire or lightning or any other element, he could fight but light was useless in this situation.
He slid down the wall until he was sitting, his head was spinning from the impact and the wolf was approaching him. He managed to raise his hand and the wolf quickly closed his eyes, but Michael was too confused to manage a coherent cast. The wolf opened its eyes after a moment and bared its teeth as it prepared to pounce on Michael.
Before it had the opportunity though it was suddenly hit by a knife, right in the neck. It winced and tried to jump back but its body was not obeying it as another knife cut through the air hitting the wailing wolf in the eye. The wolf cried out and collapsed.
Michael was saved again; he was confused but this time he was faster. He looked up and saw a man standing on the edge of the adjacent building''s roof. He was wearing a simple grey hooded cloak, nothing of his body was visible but Michael could see an also grey mask under the hood. It was formed like a lynx with pointy ears and rims that symbolized the whiskers, but it had no opening for the mouth, just two empty holes where his eyes should be.
They made eye contact and Michael asked as loudly as he could, "Who are you?" The masked figure didn''t answer, he just stood there as if frozen in time. "Thank you for saving me", Michael tried to get the man to talk but after a moment of stillness, the figure just turned around and vanished from the building''s edge.
"Wait, come back," Michael yelled after him and tried to get up but sunk back when the world started to spin. He had used a lot of mana with his overcharged magic and wasteful use of augmenting, but the bigger problem was his banging head. He must have gotten a strong hit on his head when he hit the wall.
Breathing slowly, he tried to control the feeling of sickness in his stomach. The wolf corpse in front of him had become his focus as he stared at its dead eye - the one without a knife in it - and just breathed. He didn''t know how much time had passed when suddenly Eydis came to a screeching halt at the entrance of the alleyway and looked at the scenery with widened eyes. Shortly after Zen, Theodore, and Mira also came into view behind her, all visibly afraid and Michael saw wet spots on Mira''s and Theodore''s faces, while Zen had an expression that could have been made of stone.
"Hey there," Michael said with a forced smile, he raised his hand to wave which gave him a ridiculous appearance as he sat there.
Eydis was the first to move and ran over, giving the wolf a side glance to make sure it was dead, and then hurried along to Michael. He noticed her ripped clothing and blood running out of multiple smaller wounds. "You okay," he asked her to which she gave her version of laughing, it really didn''t sound like a laugh, but the sentiment was enough for Michael to be placated in his concern.
"Who did this," she signed at the wolf after a quick inspection to make sure Michael was not in any danger.
Before he could answer, the other kids arrived running, throwing themselves next to him and inspecting him for injuries while all talking at the same time. Michael smiled as they babbled on, even though he didn''t understand a word, their concern warmed his heart.
He had survived, thanks to the mysterious stranger but he would find out who he was and thank him for saving him not once but twice. First, he would have to deal with the aftermath though and it wouldn''t be pleasant, of that, he was sure.
- An hour later in the palace -
"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING," the queen was yelling at them. They had just arrived and were greeted by an assortment of knights and nobles. With them were also Michael''s and Theodore''s parents, most of the Kingsguard knights, except Commander Strom, and some of the knights of Rowan. The atmosphere was horrible. The royals were furious, Geron looked at Michael with a betrayed expression, and his mother seemed like she would rip his head off once they were alone. The only one who looked remotely calm was his father, who just stood there watching the chaos unfold with a neutral expression.
"We wanted to watch the stone breaker fight," Zen said with a timid voice, too embarrassed to look his mother in the eye.
"Oh, these stupid fights," she yelled, "I told you to stay away from them, but you just go ahead and drag your sister into it!"
"I w-wanted to go a-along, I-I pressured Zen to take me with them," Mira said, trying to sound brave but her voice shook.
"I am so disappointed in the both of you," their mother glared at them when the king spoke next. "Me too, you have disobeyed your mother''s orders and brought danger upon yourselves." They shrunk under the strict gaze of their father until he looked over to Theodore and Michael, but it seemed like he was focusing mainly on Michael as he said, "It seems I have to reevaluate my opinion."
Zen caught the meaning quickly and stepped forward in front of Michael and Theodore, "NO! It is not their fault, they tried to keep us from going but I said that I would go either way and they didn''t want us to go alone and insisted on bringing at least Eydis with us. Without them, Mira and I would probably be dead right now." Mira quickly followed her brother''s example and also moved in front of them protectively while nodding at her brother''s words.
"The right thing was to stop you and once they failed to tell us so we can stop you," the queen snapped at them, but the siblings stood their ground. "That is not how friendships work. You don''t stab your friends in the back. How could they have known that something like this would happen, they had no reason to break our trust as they didn''t believe us to be in any real danger with Eydis accompanying us."
Their mother scoffed and the king spoke again, "It was still wrong what all of you did but you," - he looked at Eydis - "have my thanks for saving my careless children, I understand that you are not a direct subject of the kingdom, so I won''t blame you for what happened, rather I want to extend you my hand and invite you to become a citizen of my kingdom as a reward for saving my children. You will be protected by the laws and will be under the protection of its servants." He stood there with his hand extended to her. She looked at it for a while before she shook her head and began to sign with Michael translating.
"I am grateful for the offer, but I will remain a part of my clan, the only loyalty I feel is the one I chose, and I will not become one of your subjects. My loyalty belongs to Michael for now and as long as that is I will need no other ruler."
Michael could hear the nobles whisper and one even stepped forward, "That insolent savage!" The king raised his hand before he could say anything else though. "I understand your motivations and still give you, my thanks."
After that, he turned back to the kids and said, "Your punishment will be that you are under house arrest for a month, and you will miss the last day of the festivities."
This was the first time that Lord Rowan spoke up, "Johann, confining them to their chambers and banning them from the festivities wouldn''t be a punishment, at least for Michael. I have a way better idea." His smile hit Michael harder than the anger of the other adults before and he dreaded the upcoming punishment.
Chapter 30.
Michael
Michael was looking at the uniform lying on his bed with a frown, "I don''t understand this punishment. Is it supposed to humiliate us or what is the point?" They had been ordered to be servants for the rest of the day, serving food and drink to the nobles. Geron was standing in the room with him, he was unmoving and with an expression of stone.
"I guess, is to show you the importance of following orders. An event will fall flat completely if the servants don''t do as they are told, the same as in warfare," Geron said plainly.
Michael fidgeted nervously with his shirt and then asked with a heavy heart, ¡°Do you have any information on what happened on the plaza? We were dragged to the palace immediately, so I don¡¯t know.¡±
¡°Hundreds are dead, and it would have been more if Eydis hadn¡¯t killed the Shadow Crusher. The monsters never left the plaza with the overrun streets, but the city watch took long to get there. In the end, it was Lord Strom who quickly reached the plaza and slaughtered most of the monsters,¡± Geron explained, still holding on to his neutral tone.
¡°Unbelievable that there is still a party after something like this.¡± Michael shook his head in disbelief.
¡°Nobles are not prone to care about those that are under them.¡±
His tone didn''t get past Michael as he looked at his knight, "Look, I know that you are mad that I didn''t tell you that I was going out and I am sorry, but I didn''t want to put you in a difficult position."
The knight chuckled dryly, "With that, you failed spectacularly."
Michael scratched his head; he knew they screwed up, but it was not that bad, they had been just unlucky. "In the end, it is like my father said, I have to take the consequences and if anything had happened to me it would have been my problem," Michael said with slight annoyance, he knew that it was his fault, but he didn''t want to get reminded of it. After all his foresight with bringing Eydis had saved their lives.
Geron looked at him with a frown and walked over the short distance. "You really don''t get it, do you? For all that knowledge you have, you really are stupid sometimes." Michael stared at the knight in surprise, he had never talked to him like that.
"You are not some random city kid, you are a noble, your life doesn''t only belong to yourself. If something happened to you it wouldn''t only be your problem." Geron''s eyes were intense as he focused on Michael. "Have you ever thought about how strange it is that your father allowed Eydis to be free and your bodyguard? Have you ever thought about how everyone advised him against it, and everyone is expecting her to kill you as revenge for her family? Hells, even I thought she would. With that in mind, what do you think would happen to her if you died on her watch and I wasn''t there to tell if she let you die? They would assume that she did it to take revenge and not get blamed. She would be hanged immediately."
Michael continued to stare at him while his brain wrapped itself around what Geron was saying.
"And what about me? How do you think my life would continue after my ward died because I wasn''t there? I would be shamed and possibly thrown out of the knighthood." Geron seemed to get angrier the more he talked, and Michael got more devastated the more he did. "Solon has finally found a reason to settle down, I don''t know if he ever would again if you died."
He was nearly yelling by now, "Sola would be devastated! She loves you like family, and you go on dying in a place she refused to go to! She would blame herself! You are our lord, we are dependent on you, if you die who will take care of us? If you put yourself in danger, you put all of us in danger."
"I didn''t know this would happen," Michael said with a lump in his throat.
Geron sighed, rubbed his eyes, and said with a calmer voice, "You can''t predict everything, but it is exactly my job to be there and take care of things you can''t predict. Sure, Eydis does the same but as you saw a single person can have difficulty protecting multiple people, especially with a fighting style like hers that focuses on attacking."
"I am sorry," Michael said with a breaking voice.
"Just keep in mind what I said, and we will be fine," Geron said but he still looked upset.
- Some time later in the kitchens -
"You will follow every order I give you, exactly when I give it, and exactly how I give it to you," the chief servant said to them with a stern voice. "To be honest I don''t want you here, any of you. You are small, weak, and obviously unreliable. We have a tough crowd out there, nobles, merchants, and the royal family so no mistake will go unnoticed and unpunished. So, keep your head down and follow your colleague''s example. I don¡¯t want to hear any, and I mean any complaints about you, or you will be cleaning dishes for the rest of the evening.¡± Michael would have been amused by the lack of consideration for the royal children, but he was too distracted by the notion of having to clean hundreds of plates.
Michael, Zen, Mira, and Theodore were standing in a line in the kitchen, they were all dressed in the servant¡¯s uniforms. They all nodded as the chief servant inspected them with strict eyes. "Good, Jeremy," he spoke to another man, "Show them how it is done, I don''t want them to embarrass us just because they are being punished." He then turned around and walked away.
The man named Jeremy then showed them how to safely carry a tray with food and drinks on it, but it was quickly apparent that only Zen and Michael were able to carry a reasonable amount due to their mana strengthening.
"Why are you not strengthening, Theodore," Michael asked him with interest. The boy looked uncomfortable as he said, "My mana well is really small, I can''t use it longer than a minute and even that is only weak strengthening."
"Oh, that is why you fought without any augmenting," Michael replied, feeling bad for the boy, and he nodded affirming his conclusion.
"What about you," he asked Mira. She weirdly avoided eye contact and said, "I don''t have much mana either."
"Hmm, sorry about that," he said to both of them, but Theodore shook his head. "Don''t worry about it." Mira seemed weird about the topic, but Michael didn''t want to press the issue.
Zen looked at them with a pained face, "This is so ridiculous, having to serve as a punishment."
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Michael blinked at change of topic with an amused smile. "Oh, it''s not that bad. It is actually pretty good for a future ruler to understand how his subjects work, so you should just take it as a learning opportunity." He tried to sound comforting, but he really didn''t want to do it either.
"This is going to be so humiliating," Theodore said while making a face.
In the end, the servants decided to just let them carry around small snacks and bread baskets to avoid them dropping something expensive and heavy.
They mostly used the time until the feast started with practicing under the watchful eyes of Jeremy and after a couple of hours, they were finally ordered to make ready. They were placed at the entrance of the great hall and had the job of taking coats and greeting the guests for now until it was time for dinner.
It wasn¡¯t as bad as Michael had expected at first, the nobles were polite and let them do their jobs with dignity. They were probably afraid to make an enemy of the crown prince by laughing at his friends.
This was until Julius Wulfen arrived, with Harlov and Oska behind him. They were probably the three people he wanted to see the least and the twins knew it. They were grinning over both ears as they approached Michael, while Julius walked over to Zen and Mira on the other side of the large doorway.
Harlov looked over to Oska and said with a sneer, ¡°The quality of the staff seems to have taken quite a dip since the last time we were here.¡±
¡°Yeah, they must have been really desperate to employ the likes of him,¡± Oska returned with a derogatory gesture.
Michael said nothing and just ignored their remarks, which riled them up even more.
Harlov came close to Michael¡¯s face and whispered, ¡°I was sad to hear that that bear didn¡¯t rip you to pieces. Would have been quite the service to our country, and it would have been given a medal.¡±
Michael still stood silent, he had made enough mistakes today, and he wouldn¡¯t be baited so easily.
Harlov chuckled and took a step back. ¡°This is good, I like you quiet and subservient like this.¡±
Michael saw Zen stare over from the other side and start to make his way over, but Michael shook his head subtly and he stayed put but with an unhappy expression.
¡°Is there something else I can help you with,¡± Michael asked with a polite smile, his eyes sparkling with amusement, and Harlov recoiled.
¡°You arrogant bastard. You still think yourself better than us, don¡¯t you,¡± Harlov snapped at him when Julius came over and patted him on the shoulder. Harlov politely made way for the duke¡¯s son and stepped back.
¡°It seems you have gotten in some trouble, boy,¡± he said with a polite mask.
He got on Michael¡¯s nerves more with that polite smile than his brothers had with their remarks.
¡°Surviving monsters and saving royals, just a normal day, milord,¡± he tried to copy the expression the older boy had, it looked way less mocking than Julius¡¯s and he wanted to learn how to do that.
¡°Running from monsters you mean? If I heard correctly,¡± he corrected Michael with a raised eyebrow. Theodore was watching their exchange from a meter away with a worried gaze.
¡°Two skull monsters are not really my specialty but give me one or two more years and I might get there.¡±
¡°Dire wolves are only two skull because of their pack mentality as far as I know, and you were pursued by only one and not even an evolved specimen, right?¡± Michael really began to hate that guy.
Julius just continued on as he pointed to his wolf pelt, decorating the top of his coat. ¡°I killed an evolved dire wolf when I was ten, so you should have been able to handle one with your ¡ magical expertise.¡± Michael imagined a wolf being held down by multiple men and the teenager with a long spear.
Michael bit down on his teeth, trying to keep his tongue in check, that boy seemed like someone who would complain if he said anything, and he really didn¡¯t want to end up washing the dishes. So, he carefully said, ¡°Impressive I will try to live up to your example.¡±
¡°My example?¡± He made a hand gesture for Michael to continue.
¡°Milord,¡± he pressed out between his teeth.
Julius nodded and said with a satisfied smile, ¡°Good, it seems you have learned your place after all.¡± He walked away without so much as a further glance and the twins followed him like loyal dogs.
¡°What a prick,¡± Michael said under his breath, but Theodore was close enough to hear.
¡°Careful, his father is pretty powerful and not the forgiving type. That is what my father said at least,¡± Theodore said with a shrug.
Most of the guests had arrived by now so they could go back to the kitchen and make ready to serve the food. Zen and Mira came over to them and Zen said, ¡°You alright? You looked like you would claw his eyes out at any moment.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know. I never met such an arrogant person with a talent for being condescending in a simple conversation to that degree.¡±
Mira chuckled and Zen shook his head, ¡°Yeah, he is something else but Lord Wulfen is a pillar of the kingdom so there is little we can do about it.¡±
The rest of the evening wasn¡¯t much better. Even though no one confronted him directly, Michael could hear the whispers and laughing behind his back.
At least they managed to go through the evening without anyone complaining about them, so it was a fine event workwise.
Late into the night, they were sitting at the shore of the garden lake, their knights standing a few meters behind them. They were sitting in silence and just watched the reflections of the moon and stars on the water.
Theodore yawned and broke the others out of their thoughts. ¡°Tired,¡± Zen asked with an amused expression and Theodore laughed. ¡°It¡¯s fine, the festival is over so I can sleep as much as I want tomorrow. I am just sad that we missed the bonfire.¡±
They returned to silence until Zen spoke again with a serious tone, ¡°I couldn¡¯t sleep even if I wanted to. I tried to suppress it, but my mind always goes back to the monsters. We nearly died because of me. Hells, Michael would have died if he wasn¡¯t saved by that masked man.¡±
¡°It was not just your decision, we all made it for ourselves,¡± Mira said comforting him and placed her hand on his arm.
¡°That is not how it works, Mira. I am going to be a king and that is not how a king should behave.¡± He looked distraught and just stared at the water.
¡°What does it mean to be king,¡± Michael mused, he liked thought games like that. ¡°I don¡¯t think that you behaved unkinglike. They normally do what they want.¡± He smirked at the prince but saw that his joke didn¡¯t make him feel better, so he added.
¡°Okay, on a more serious note, to want to see things and learn stuff is not a bad thing. If your mother had not banned you from going out it wouldn¡¯t have happened either, our full escort would have slaughtered those monsters. That doesn¡¯t mean that wasn¡¯t our fault though, we did handle it wrong, and we need to learn from our mistakes. We were all there at your side out of our own volition so don¡¯t be so arrogant to think it was all you.¡± He nudged him and Zen finally broke his solemn expression and smiled back, ¡°But what makes a good king?¡±
Michael thought for a while until he said, ¡°I think one of the most important things for a king is to be a good judge of character. You can¡¯t know and do everything so you need good advisers whom you can trust and that have good intentions.¡±
¡°Well, you seem to have that covered,¡± Theodore said with a laugh, pointing to the group.
They bantered with each other for a while until Mira said, ¡°It is sad that we missed the feast today, I would have loved to dance a little bit after the stressful day.¡±
¡°Being nearly murdered by monsters counts as a stressful day? I don¡¯t want to know what a traumatic one is for you,¡± Theodore joked as a visible shiver went down his entire body.
They all had taken what happened pretty well, all things considered, maybe some were hiding the shock, but it seemed like they were all fine.
Michael got on his feet and held his hand out to Mira, ¡°If you want to dance, I will throw myself at your mercy.¡±
She took his hand with a smile, and he pulled her up.
¡°What is with us,¡± Theodore said with played offense in his voice.
Michael shook his head. ¡°I am not going to dance with you, you have two left feet. Dance with Zen or ask one of our bodyguards.¡±
They moved a couple of meters away and started circling each other, as last time Mira was more confident on her feet than Michael. Michael stumbled twice because of the uneven ground and bad lighting. ¡°Wait a minute,¡± he said as he let go of Mira and closed his eyes.
¡°Illuminate my surroundings, Hovering Light.¡± A small light formed in his hand and slowly rose above them.
Mira stared at it; the light being reflected in her blue eyes as she followed its path. ¡°It is beautiful,¡± she said quietly. Michael smiled and gently took her hands again, ¡°Shall we continue?¡±
They danced for a while longer under the slowly fading light of Michael¡¯s magic. Somehow Zen and Theodore had convinced Eydis to join them, and they were showing her how to dance like a noble. It was quite funny to watch as they couldn¡¯t understand her and just tried to guess what she was signing.
They stayed up deep into the night talking, dancing, and having fun, forgetting the horrors of the preceding morning. Later Michael would remember this evening as one of the happiest he had in the capital.
Chapter 31.
Michael
Michael dodged backward, the wooded sword only slightly missing his head. Theodore grinned at him as he followed him to keep the pressure on.
They were fighting without any mana and Michael was reeling from the physical disadvantage, but this was exactly what he wanted. He was forced to block the follow-up strike and his arms shook under the impact.
He let the sword slide of his own to the left and used the opening to aim at Theodore¡¯s neck, his strike was slowed by his exhaustion. The taller boy blocked it with visible difficulty but still grabbed his arm with his free hand - needing only one to block his strike - and tossed him over to the side.
Michael crashed onto the ground and immediately got up to defend himself, but he was too slow, and Theodore¡¯s sword found its way onto his torso, lightly tapping it.
¡°I win,¡± Theodore said while breathing heavily, ¡°Finally.¡± Michael nodded out of breath and put his hands on his hips while he also took deep breaths.
It had been two weeks since the incident with the monsters and House Rowan¡¯s stay in the capital was coming to an end today.
¡°I will never understand why boys want to spend their last day together with fighting,¡± Luciel said from the sidelines where she was sitting with Lira and Miranne. They had all become friends over the last weeks as Mira, Zen, and Theodore had spent most of their days with Michael where they met his sisters.
¡°I like watching them fight, they look so concentrated and excited,¡± Mira said with a smile.
¡°That was good,¡± Geron stepped closer to them, ¡°Theodore you used your advantages very well and Michael, you avoided him for a long time, but you need to find an opening earlier. You fought for too long and when you finally tried to exploit something you were already too tired to make it work.¡±
Both of them nodded at the knight. ¡°Let¡¯s take a break while you guys recuperate, and we can talk a little about risks in combat.¡±
Luciel and Mira came over to them with waterskins and they accepted them with gratitude. They had only a few hours left before they would embark, the servants were currently packing the carriages and it was planned that they would leave around noon.
That is why the boys had met here early to get a last practice session, and the girls had joined them a little later.
As the three of them sat there listening to Geron talk another figure entered the small training yard. It was Commander Gavin Strom, he was dressed in normal clothes and approached them.
Geron interrupted his explanation and greeted the older knight with much respect.
¡°My apologies that we have to do this on the last day, cramped into the morning but I still hope I can help a little bit,¡± he said with a smile to Michael.
Michael smiled back excitedly; he had been sad when he never heard anything from the Kingsguard commander but didn¡¯t want to be a bother.
¡°We can move over if you don¡¯t want to listen,¡± the commander said to the others, but they shook their heads. ¡°A lesson by Sir Gavin Strom? There is no way I am missing that,¡± Zen said, and Theodore agreed.
¡°Alright,¡± Sir Strom said, ¡°What do you want to know?¡±
"Well, I never met any augmenter with an affinity, and I wondered why that is?" Michael had thought about it the last couple of weeks and had come up with one or two theories, but he had neither proof nor experience to support any.
"Hmm," the knight replied and sat down cross-legged, Michael followed suit right after. "That comes down to two points I believe, first would be that there just aren''t many people that awaken an affinity, I don''t have any clear numbers but no more than let''s say one in a thousand. The second problem any awakened faces is the church. If he has a light affinity, then he is most likely shipped off to the holy mountain to either become a member of the order of purity or the temple knights and if he has a darkness affinity he is simply burned at the stake."
He shifted his weight into a more comfortable position and looked at Michael. "So that cuts out two out of every seven awakened. The real problem now is that once you have an affinity you can do magic, so the church will watch you. As you might imagine most choose to just keep their awakening secret and live their life like it never happened."
Michael scoffed, "They are afraid to be followed, framed, and burned, you mean." Commander Strom gave Michael a weird stare which prompted him to quickly add, "I-I am not implying that the church is wrong."
The knight suddenly laughed at Michael''s panicked expression, "Don''t worry kid, I won''t tell on you. You are not wrong when you think that the church is handling this badly but there is little, we can do about it."
"Couldn''t the king forbid the inquisition from hunting mages in the kingdom," Michael asked with a frown, looking over to Zen as well who looked troubled by the subject, Commander Strom simply shrugged. "He could but that would put him at odds with the church and that is just not worth it. Getting on the bad side of the church is already bad enough but the Inquisition is the most proficient in hunting the actually evil mages as well."
Michael made an unsatisfied expression, but he didn¡¯t have the time to have a lengthy discussion on the topic, there were more important things to learn right now.
¡°So, what is the difference between a normal augmenter and an affinity augmenter,¡± Michael changed the topic, this was what he originally wanted to learn.
¡°I guessed as much,¡± the older man said and thought for a moment. ¡°The main difference is that normal augmenters can enhance everything on the same efficiency, they need the same amount of mana to double their reaction speed as for example their strength. An augmenter with an affinity or an arcane mana type will have areas of the body that he will find easier or harder to strengthen. I will take myself as an example, I have a lightning affinity it is way easier for me to augment my reaction speed and overall speed of movement, but I have a very hard time strengthening my skin and bones to become hardier, this is not everything lightning does, but you get the point. Every type of mana has its advantages or disadvantages in augmenting.¡±
Michael nodded understanding but Theodore looked a little lost, it was not too surprising that he hadn¡¯t gotten much of an education in augmenting with his small mana well.
¡°So, what is the effect light mana has?¡±
The knight rubbed his neck and said, ¡°Let me see if I can get that, light augmenters are the most common as they are the most common overt affinity user in total. The light element doesn¡¯t change the augmenting too much, but it heightens the reaction speed and is good at resisting curses if you want to count that toward its effect on augmenting. For the negatives, it is bad at raising your toughness if I remember correctly.¡±
"What is a curse," Zen asked with interest.
"It is like artificing for people," Michael started to explain, "It is really difficult, and I have only learned a little in theory but basically it is a way of using magic to inscribe an effect on a person. There are two ways, a curse, and a blessing. The curse of course being forceful and harmful, and the blessings being supportive and beneficial."
"And what do they do? I thought magic was only controlling the elements," Theodore said while scratching his head in confusion. Michael nodded, "It basically is, but curses and blessings are just changing the point from where it starts, let me explain. What a curse does is give your mana an intent and forcefully place it on a person, the intent might be a spell, like having the person catch fire under certain circumstances, or it might be more like an augment, in that the mana weakens or blocks some part of your body, making them, for example, weaker or letting them go blind. With a blessing, those things would be reversed like a positive spell effect and boosting some part of their body."
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Michael then turned back to the knight and said, "But I don''t understand how my mana can make me resistant to curses."
"I am no expert, you would need to talk to your teacher about that but as far as I know when you place a curse, your mana needs to overwhelm the victim¡¯s mana and light mana seems to be strong at protecting you, the same as darkness mana being strong in afflicting people with curses."
"So, they are my exact opposite," Michael mumbled as he remembered his first lesson on magic with Sola. He made a mental note to ask her to teach him more about the specific different types of mana and what properties they have before he continued. "Isn''t it important to know if someone has an affinity and what it is when fighting them? For example, knowing you have a lightning affinity will tell me that you will probably focus on speed and are not as durable, right? So, everyone should try to hide it to have an advantage in a fight."
The man smiled and said, "You learn fast; that is indeed true, but it is not as easy to hide your mana affinity as you think. You might never have noticed because you are still small and don''t use that much mana to strengthen yourself, but using mana with an affinity on a high level will show."
Michael frowned and said, "Like with my mana sense or what do you mean with it will show?"
Suddenly the air got a weird feeling to it, it tickled and picked at him, and then small lightning bolts jumped from Commander Strom''s skin crackling in the air for a moment before dissipating a moment later. Michael was captured by the flashes of light and stared at them. "I am using a lot of mana right now to show an obvious effect so normally it won''t be this drastic." The lightning vanished and the feeling in the air dissipated with them.
"How are you wearing armor with that much lightning, I thought they are attracted by metal and would heat it up," Michael spluttered out recalling his lessons with Solon about the weather and lightning.
Commander Strom now looked really intrigued, "You are right, I wore leather armor my whole life and so do most lightning augmenters I have encountered. When I became the Commander of King Merland''s Kingsguard he ordered me to find someone to make me a plate armor that could withstand my lightning. He said I needed to look the part if I were to stand at his side all the time. So, I found a dwarven artificer that made me that armor." Michael nodded in awe and the commander continued.
"Lightning is one of the most overt in terms of an effect for augmenting, while light is the least overt. You will just glow and strengthen other light sources around you, but with your amount of mana you probably never really noticed. Every affinity mana has its own signs. A fire mage will make the air drier and might start smoking, while a water mage will make the air more humid and might start sweating more."
"What is darkness," Zen jumped in. Sir Strom stroked his chin as he answered, "Darkness is pretty overt as well, that''s the reason most of them get caught pretty fast. They will dim all lights around themselves and their shadows grow ever darker the more mana they use, it is quite obvious and frightening for normal people. The only way to not get caught as a darkness awakened is to never use more than a tiny bit of mana."
Michael frowned at the explanation as a memory appeared in his head. "I have an odd question, Commander Strom." The knight waved him off and said, "Sir Strom or just Gavin is enough for me."
"Okay, Sir Strom. Has there been a drought in the last ten years?" The knight looked at him strangely and replied, "Uhh, yes three years ago we had a big one and I think eight years ago there was a small one. Why do you ask?"
"You have known my father for a long time haven''t you," Michael asked, ignoring his question. The man nodded with a frown, "Yes, I do."
"How does he stand on mages, that are not of the light element?"
"Like everyone else I guess, if they are criminals, he hunts them and if not, he is wary of them. Where is this going, Michael?"
"I am sorry," Michael said as he jumped up, "There is something I have to take care of. I am very grateful for your insights and knowledge, but I have to go." Michael bowed to the knight and then turned around running into the palace. The others were just staring at him like he had suddenly gone mad, but Geron and Eydis quickly shook it off and followed him.
He made his way through the now familiar hallways looking for his father. He quickly found him in the courtyard, overseeing the loading of the carriages. There were dozens of crates being loaded on new carts that they had bought, filled with goods from the capital, that they couldn''t easily obtain in the South. Michael knew that under them was a crate belonging to him, filled with books and other things Michael had acquired in his stay here.
"Father," he said as he came to a halt next to him and the servant standing with his father took a step back looking slightly annoyed at being interrupted like this. The man looked over to his child and said with a raised eyebrow, "What can I help you with, Michael?"
"My apologies for interrupting," he said with an apologetic smile at the servant, who smiled back placated, and left them with a bow. Michael then signaled Geron and Eydis to leave them before he turned back to his father and said, "How is your position on mages that are neither light nor darkness affinity?"
"Is that what you came to ask for? Can''t this wait until later when we are on the road?" His father didn''t look annoyed, he was more interested in the reason for the question as he knew Michael had always some reason.
"It is important," Michael insisted but didn''t give more information. Lord Rowan sighed and relented, "They are just like everyone else, there are good ones and there are bad ones. I fought alongside some in my time as an adventurer and hunted down a number of them myself."
"Do you accept them in your land?"
"As long as they follow the laws I do not care."
"Would you allow me to employ one? And protect him from unreasonable persecution by the Inquisition," Michael pressed on.
"Who are you talking about?" His father looked at Michael with a suspicious gaze, but he stayed stalwart. "I won''t disclose an identity before I have the promise and he accepts. I don''t want the blood on my hands."
"Why do you need a mage? You have Sola as a teacher."
"I learned from Eydis and Geron that having teachers with different perspectives can be helpful, having someone that is not bound by the dogma of the church to teach me about something that the church generally condemns, can only be an advantage in my book." Michael held eye contact with his father as he thought about his argument. "Alright, I promise to protect him as long as he adheres to the law, and I want to meet him. We can do that in private."
Michael exhaled, the tension he hadn''t noticed, fell off his shoulders, then some of Geron''s words came to mind. "Father, why did you allow Eydis to be free and stay in your land? Even though my uncle killed her whole family, and she could seek revenge? Geron said it was strange and that everyone advised against it, so why did you?"
If the question surprised his father, then he didn''t show it, he just shrugged and said, "It would have been your mistake to make. I kept an eye on it for a while when she first got here and instructed Geron to keep you safe. I concluded a while ago that she would have at least tried to harm you or even escape but she didn''t. So, I wasn''t too concerned anymore, and I was confirmed in my opinion in the monster incident when she saved you when she could have easily let you and the crown prince die. There would have been little more revenge than that, that she could ever achieve."
Michael nodded slowly, it made sense, and he was right, but Michael couldn''t help but feel a flash of disappointment at the cold lack of concern his father showed, he couldn''t have been sure that Michael would be safe. He told himself that he had looked over him and made sure that Eydis wasn''t a danger but a small part of him didn''t believe it. He buried that part into a deep part of his consciousness and quickly changed the subject.
"I will need horses for Eydis, Geron, and me to get there and talk to him, and will continue back home from there if you allow it." Michael knew that they wouldn''t take the same way back as they had come because his father intended to visit Duke Wallsten, his direct liege on the way back home.
"I will have two horses prepared, you are too small to ride on your own for so long, so say your goodbyes and make ready. Duke Wallsten will be disappointed in not getting to meet you but that serves the old geezer right for pestering me about you," Lord Rowan said, with no hint of humor in his voice.
Michael didn''t want to take up more of his time as he got what he wanted and excused himself, returning to the training yard, he explained what they were going to do to his bodyguards on the way back. When they arrived at the training yard they found the others still there, Theodore and Zen dueling each other under the watchful eyes of Sir Strom.
They stopped the moment that Michael got back into the yard and looked at him with curious eyes, the girls also rose from their spot in the shadows and joined them.
"So, what was that about," Zen was the first to ask.
¡°Sorry about that, I had to discuss something with my father, and it seems our time together will end now,¡± Michael said with a sad smile.
¡°What are we leaving early,¡± Lira said confused, and folded her arms in front of her chest.
Michael shook his head and explained, ¡°I will not be traveling with you, I have something to take care of so we will see each other back at Reen.¡±
They all stood there in silence until Zen spoke, ¡°I am going to miss you. I know we have only met two weeks ago but I feel like we have known each other for years already.¡± Michael grabbed the hand that the prince was offering him with a wide smile. ¡°I know what you mean, you guys are my first friends who are not family or in my service, and I appreciate every one of you.¡±
Theodore gave him his hand as well, ¡°I am glad to have met you.¡±
¡°Me too, my friend.¡±
Mira was the last to step forward, she looked like she was about to cry as she looked at him. He smiled at her while saying, ¡°I will miss our dancing sessions.¡±
She moved forward and hugged him while speaking, ¡°You have to write many letters and come back soon, okay?¡± Michael returned the hug and said, ¡°I will write as often as possible and try to visit. I hope guys will visit me too, I would love to show you my home and introduce you to my other mentors and the rest of my family.¡±
Mira nodded with tears in her eyes as they separated. He proceeded to bid farewell to his siblings and Sir Strom before he went back to his room to change into more appropriate clothing for travel on horseback.
After he was ready, he made his way back to the courtyard where two saddled horses waited for them. Lord Rowan said they should go before his mother got here or he might not be able to get going before they did. Michael knew it wouldn¡¯t sit well with her, but he told his father to relay a message for him and left with Geron and Eydis.
It would be the first time for him to be out in the country without his family, but his thoughts were already on his destination and how he would convince the man to join him.
Chapter 32.
Michael
Travel on horseback was much more uncomfortable than the carriages had been, but Michael paid it no mind he was completely taken in by Eydis and Geron talking to him about skills that he needed to survive in the wild.
They often stopped so that they could show him certain things like footprints from animals and eatable plants. In the evenings they camped outside, they didn¡¯t have any tents, but Michael learned how to find good spots to make camp, build a campfire that would keep them warm but still be as covert as possible, and much more.
At noon on the third day, they finally arrived at the village they were looking for. When they rode into town they were greeted by curious stares from the villagers, and Michael could see one run away, probably getting the village elder. They waited until the village elder came and greeted them properly.
¡°You return, milord. What can we help you with on this day,¡± the old man said with a genuine smile.
¡°I am looking for a man that I met here when I visited last time, he is an older man, that came here ten years ago and was an adventurer. He has long white hair and a short beard.¡± The villagers looked at each other concerned so Michael added, ¡°I just want to talk to him, he is not in trouble.¡±
The village elder still looked concerned but he nodded nonetheless, ¡°You are probably talking about Kiran. I will bring you to his house at once.¡± He turned to the other villagers and said loudly, ¡°Go on, there is nothing to see here.¡± They dispersed and the elder led them through the village.
The village wasn¡¯t large, so they reached the house in a few minutes. The elder stopped in front of it and fidgeted with his clothing before turning around. ¡°He is a good man, milord.¡±
Michael smiled at the man, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I just want to talk to him.¡± The elder bowed and left them. Without further delay, Michael stepped toward the door and knocked.
After a few moments, the door swung open and Kiran stood in it, he was dressed in a similar linen shirt as he had worn the first time Michael had met him.
The old man first looked at Michael and then at Geron and Eydis. ¡°It seems I misunderstood something the last time,¡± he said with a stern voice.
¡°May we come in,¡± Michael asked with a polite smile. Kiran shrugged and turned around, walking into the small house. Michael sniffed the air, but he couldn¡¯t find a trace of what he was looking for as he and his retainers followed the old man in. Michael let his gaze travel through the single room, he had thought something was odd with it the last time he was here but now he knew what it was.
¡°You people want some tea,¡± Kiran asked and pointed at the table for them to sit. They followed his invitation and Michael said, ¡°Yes please, your tea has helped me a lot.¡± The old man snorted at that and dipped a teapot in a barrel in the corner before he put it over the fire. Michael looked at the large water barrel in the corner with suspicion and noticed that Kiran had not put the lid back on it.
After sitting down, he finally spoke again, ¡°So what can I help you with this time, boy.¡±
¡°I think proper introductions are in order as we seem to have forgotten these the last time we met. My name is Michael Rowan, son of Count Cedric Rowan of the County of Reen and Emall.¡±
¡°Huh, so you were a little lordling in the end. Well, my name is Kiran, son of Igrin, I am an ex-adventurer.¡±
¡°I wanted to thank you again for your help with my mental blockade, my magic saved my life a while ago,¡± Michael said while still smiling. He was actually happy to see the man again as he owed him quite a lot.
¡°That is not why you came here without your whole caravan though, you have taken a detour to come here I assume, so there must have been another reason,¡± Kiran concluded correctly and stared back.
¡°You are a mage and I want you to teach me,¡± Michael revealed his reason for coming, he had no reason to play games. Kiran didn¡¯t even flinch at the revelation, he just leaned back and said, ¡°You are wrong. I am no mage; I don¡¯t even have an affinity.¡±
Michael blinked at him with a raised eyebrow while he said, ¡°I assure you we mean you no harm. I am not here to make you trouble but rather offer you a job in an environment where you don¡¯t have to hide your gift.¡±
¡°I am still no mage. What makes you even think that?¡± Michael was confused, he was certain that he was a mage, why did he keep denying it after he had been found out?
¡°You know a lot about magic for starters. Yes, you said that you knew some in your time, but I still wonder why you should know how to become a better mage if you aren¡¯t one and why you would have such a poor opinion of the order of purity if you didn¡¯t feel superior,¡± Michael hastily explained.
Kiran laughed at that. ¡°I hope that is not the only thing you have because I thought you were actually quite smart before.¡±
¡°No of course not,¡± he was starting to get a grip of his confusion. He might want to see how I found out or just test me, Michael thought while he laid out his arguments in his head.
¡°Okay, the first clue I had was that you even found me. I was sitting on the side of your house and was whispering my incantations; I don¡¯t think you could have heard me so you must have sensed my mana. The problem with that is that you were in your house and there are no windows in that direction so you couldn¡¯t have seen my mana but must have sensed it through the wall. I can¡¯t do that, those two can¡¯t either,¡± he pointed at Geron and Eydis, ¡°but Sola can, by feeling around her with her mana.¡±
Kiran nodded along but didn¡¯t interrupt him, so he just continued.
¡°You also identified that I am a light mage, you claim to have heard my incantation, but it still made me suspicious. When we talked about my blockade you knew a lot of things you shouldn¡¯t care about if you aren¡¯t a mage as I already said.¡±
Kiran held up his hand and stopped Michael, and he hoped for a moment that he had proven himself enough, but Kiran just stood up from his chair and got the hot water from the fire. He poured it into a smaller pot with leaves in it and said, ¡°It will have to breathe for around five minutes.¡± He then signaled Michael to continue.
¡°Uhm, I talked with someone about augmenting, and he told me about what effect affinities have on augmenting. The day I met you behind your house I remember a breeze of humidity coming from you, it is weird that I still remember that, I know, but it was a dry day and it just burned into my memory. I think you are a water mage and I think that you are the reason that there hasn¡¯t been a drought in this village in the last ten years, since you moved here, even though there have been two in the kingdom in that time. And that is the reason you left the lid open on your barrel because if we were here to arrest you, you need that water to fight.¡±
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Michael looked at the man, waiting for his reaction. He sat there in silence thinking about what Michael had said. He then shook his head with a smile, ¡°I understand how you got that idea, but you are still wrong, I...¡±
Before he even fully ended his sentence Michael interrupted him, ¡°Your house is smaller on the inside than on the outside. Not by much but it still is. There is a small extrusion on the outside where I hid that is not in here.¡±
Kiran''s words got stuck in his throat as he stared at Michael. He didn''t say anything until a few seconds later Michael pointed at the shelf in the corner, "There was something odd about that shelf the first time I was here, but I couldn''t put my finger on it, some kind of feeling. But now that I noticed that your room is too small, I guess that there is something behind that shelf isn''t it."
"Damn, it seems I let my guard down because you are a child," Kiran said while shaking his head slightly. Michael shrugged with a smile. "You are not the first one. What is behind there anyway?"
They sat in silence for a moment until Kiran began to pour them tea. "So, you want me to teach you, what happens if I refuse." Kiran just ignored his question and Michael let it slide.
"Nothing. We will leave and never talk about you again."
Kiran didn''t look like he believed him but didn''t press the issue. "Why do you even want me to teach you, you have your priestess do you not?"
"You pointed out things Sola couldn''t, you have another perspective on magic and more experience I presume. I learned from Geron and Eydis here," he pointed at them, "that having two teachers that follow different paths can be an enriching experience for a student."
Kiran looked at his tea, he seemed very unhappy with the situation and Michael felt slightly guilty, but he would not be denied a good teacher if he could help it. "I am sorry, it is not safe for me to show myself in public."
Michael shook his head happily, "My father has promised to protect you as long as to adhere to the laws and prevent the Inquisition from framing you."
"You really have prepared an argument for everything haven''t you?" Michael chuckled at that and replied, "I fell on my nose once when I wasn''t prepared adequately, so now I try to be."
Kiran was lost in thought after that and Michael just sipped on his tea, he wanted to give the man time to think and just hoped he would warm up to the idea. After five minutes of silence, he finally spoke again with a dark facial expression, "It has been a long time since I had an apprentice. I had some in my days, but they were all killed, either by monsters, angry peasants, or by the Inquisition. I don''t know if I can do it again."
"I want to change things; I became a friend of the crown prince so maybe you can show him that mages are not all evil when he comes visiting and he can stop the hunt on mages in the kingdom once he is king. I think I am one of the safest students you can possibly have so let¡¯s change things together, if not in the kingdom, then in the county. We can try to convince my father and my oldest brother as well." Michael meant what he said, he wanted to stop the hunt, mages were human as well and Kiran has shown Michael the positive effect they can have on the land and the people.
"I don''t know," the man said and for the first time, he looked really old to Michael, all the weight of his past pressing on his shoulders he looked tired. Michael felt sorry for him, he had been living his life in fear of being unjustly imprisoned and burned because of something he had no control over.
"I will not pressure you to do anything. I would love to learn from you and help you live a good life without fear but in the end, it is your decision." Michael downed his cup of tea and stood up. "I know you have much to think about and I want you to take your time. We will leave now if you are interested, you can come with us; if you need more time, you can come to Reen later and meet me there. We can talk about your requirements and payment, now or in Reen.¡± Michael looked at the man who still showed no sign of even listening before he continued. ¡°We will give you some space, please inform us today if you need more time to think about it, we will leave in about three hours. Thank you for the tea, it was good."
Michael rose from his chair and Kiran stayed put staring at his cup, lost in thought. They left his house without further words and made their way to their horses, bound at the edge of the village.
"Do you think he will join us," Geron asked.
"I don''t know. I do hope so, I have a good feeling about him, it would be a shame to lose someone like him.¡±
¡°Do you really think he is worth the trouble? You don¡¯t even know if he is any good,¡± Geron argued, he had been unsure about this idea the whole way and Michael could understand his concern, but he hadn¡¯t experienced the aura of knowledge that this man had shown Michael.
¡°I just know and if I am wrong then I am wrong.¡± Geron nodded and said, ¡°Just wanted to make sure you are certain.¡± He probably still wasn¡¯t convinced but what more could he do but voice his concern?
They spend the time training, and after a short while an audience of children formed watching Michael go through the motions using a short sword that he had been given for his protection.
It didn¡¯t even take an hour before Kiran came walking toward them. Michael put his sword on his shoulder and looked at the approaching man.
Kiran stopped in front of him and looked Michael in the eyes with a serious expression. Michael returned it and waited for the man to talk, even though he was pretty sure what he was going to say.
¡°You meant what you said about trying to change this country? Or at least the lands of your family?¡±
¡°I mean it, mages are human as well, and we should stand together as Idas taught us, not hunt each other like it is some kind of game. It makes me sick.¡± Kiran looked at him weirdly at the mention of Idas, but Michael ignored it.
¡°Okay, then I want enough funds to do it correctly, I don¡¯t really care about being paid that much. I am old and this is the last time I can do something good for the world anyway, so we are going to do it right. We are going to need to build a room for magical experimentation and learning, but most importantly of all I won¡¯t accept your priestess to interfere in my lessons. She can teach you about how every spell is a grace from God all she wants but once it is my turn, I will do things my way. Promise me that or I will not come.¡±
¡°I promise, we will handle it the same way as with Geron and Eydis. For the funds, we will have to see, and I might have to go groveling to my father,¡± he laughed nervously, ¡°I might have gone a little overboard in buying things in the capital. But we have a large property, so we should find a lot of space to fit you and everything you need in. I don¡¯t know how far along the renovations are though.¡±
¡°Wait, you are not living in the castle?¡± Kiran looked surprised and rightfully so, it was weird to not live in the castle but in the town below for a son of the count after all.
¡°No, we needed more space for my education and the castle is always so noisy, so we moved into a large house in the town,¡± Michael explained with a smirk.
The old mage laughed at that and said, ¡°You take your education seriously it seems, maybe you really are worth my time.¡±
Michael cheered in his head but kept his composure on the outside, the moment the man came he was sure that he would join him. He looked undecided in his home, and he would have taken more time to think if he were to decline the probably last chance to do something different than live his remaining years in this village, always fearful of when an Inquisitor would knock on his door.
¡°So how long are you going to take to get your things together packed and your affairs sorted out?¡±
¡°I won¡¯t make it in two hours, so I would recommend you just go ahead, and I will find you in Reen.¡±
Michael grinned with a sneaky expression and replied, ¡°The three hours were not entirely truthful. We have all the time in the world. We will be happy to help you with packing.¡±
¡°Heh, you are devious that much is clear. You have to tell me how you have gotten like this; I never met a child like you before.¡± Kiran shook his head but kept his eyes on Michael, they were virtually gleaming with curiosity.
Michael knew he was odd, and he enjoyed using his oddity as a means to attract interesting people. So far, he was very happy with who he got.
¡°Alright, then come help me pack, I have an old horse and a cart that we can use. Most of the stuff I have can stay here anyway, I might even get some coin for them.¡±
They made their way back to his house and the mage began ordering them around, packing boxes, getting his horse out of the stable of a farmer, and other tasks. Many of the villagers came by out of curiosity and Kiran managed to haggle a lot of stuff he wouldn¡¯t need anymore.
Michael was smiling the whole time, bathing in his success.
Chapter 33.
Michael
It took a while to pack everything and then an even longer for Kiran to say his farewells to the people but now they were finally back on the street, Michael and Kiran sitting on the cart while Geron and Eydis were riding alongside it.
¡°So, what are you going to teach me first,¡± Michael asked excitedly. Kiran smirked at that, ¡°Don¡¯t you want to wait until we are back in Reen?¡±
Michael shook his head decisively, ¡°It has been weeks since I did anything else but martial training and self-study. I really miss my lessons, so I would like to start immediately if that is fine with you.¡±
¡°Alright, let me think for a moment,¡± Kiran answered while watching the passing landscape.
¡°I presume you have been taught that there are two different ways to cast a spell, right?¡±
Michael nodded, and quickly said, ¡°Instinctual casting and phrase casting.¡±
¡°As I thought, the church hasn¡¯t changed a single bit in the last ten years.¡± Kiran sighed before he continued with a sour expression, ¡°That is wrong. First of all, phrase casting is not one of the ways to cast, the true name is action casting of which phrase casting is a part.¡±
Michael looked at him in confusion, not understanding what he meant. Kiran brushed back his hair, ¡°It is going to be hard Michael, but the order of purity is not good at magic and that is why many of the things you have learned are either wrong or not the best way of doing things.¡±
¡°But why?¡±
¡°Much was lost in the purge following the great betrayal, mages killed, and books burned. The church forced its dogma onto their mages and eroded that old knowledge even more. The church of Idas was the worst thing that has happened to the magical community in the last one thousand years. They probably would have wiped them out if they didn¡¯t need them.¡±
Michael was confused but strangely he wasn¡¯t too surprised, his opinion of the church was falling farther and farther. He reminded himself that he needed to be careful in expressing it though, spouting heresy would be a good path into an early grave.
¡°Then please correct them in whatever they are wrong and teach me the right way of doing things,¡± Michael said with resolve, he would not let religious dogma stand in the way of his pursuit of knowledge.
¡°Okay. Phrase casting is not one of the three main ways to cast because you don¡¯t need to speak, you can bind a spell to finger signs for example, I even heard about people singing or dancing their spells, which is why it is correctly called action casting. The church just likes phrase casting because they can incorporate their faith into it with prayers.¡±
While he explained that he snapped and an orb of water appeared in his hand, sucking the humidity out of the air to form.
¡°Now the more important thing they are wrong about, or more likely the more important thing they are not teaching is the third way of casting. For humans it is called sigil casting, the dwarves call it rune casting for example but, in the end, it is the same.¡±
He held up his hand and in front of it letters began to appear in a concentric shape, the sigil looked like a plane disc with the ever-moving letters spinning around the center.
¡°With a sigil, you simply write down what you want the spell to do with mana, eliminating the need to keep every part of the spell in mind. It is more flexible than the other kinds of casts because you can make a spell as big and complicated as you want on the spot. You can technically cast spells that you never had any practice with if you want and can just cast them.¡±
He raised his hand over his head and closed his hand; the sigil lit up in dark blue light and activated. The water bubble he held in his other hand moved in front of the sigil before it shot into the sky, changing direction multiple times before the magic dissipated and the water bubble burst, raining down next to them.
¡°Wow,¡± Michael said as he stared at the mage with wide eyes, ¡°Why would anyone use something else if you can do cool stuff like that?¡±
Kiran chuckled and replied, ¡°Every type of technique has its advantages and disadvantages. Instinctual, is the fastest casting, it is unpredictable as the enemy has no indication of what you are doing, but it is simple in nature and hard on the mind. Action casting is the middle ground, it is fast and can cast more complicated spells, but it takes a lot of training and preparation to bind a spell to an action. Sigil casting is the slowest, writing instructions is simply slower than just saying a code phrase and most certainly slower than a thought but it is the most flexible, you can do anything with sigil casting, your imagination and ability to express your thoughts are your only limits. Well, except for your understanding of your element of course but that counts for every one of the casting types.¡±
¡°So, how do we start with sigil casting,¡± Michael asked excitedly.
¡°First you need to make up your own set of letters to use.¡±
Michael frowned at the old mage, ¡°Why can¡¯t I just use normal letters?¡±
¡°Think about it, you might get there yourself.¡± Michael leaned back and stared at the clouds while thinking about the problem he had been presented with. It took him a while before he finally, exclaimed, ¡°Because anyone could read them!¡±
Kiran nodded affirmatively, ¡°Correct, if the enemy knows every detail about your spell before it even activates you will have a bad time, especially if you are fighting an anti-mage. That is one of the problems of phrase casting, even though phrase casts are the easiest type for connecting spells they will give the enemy an idea of what you are about to do. Some have even developed their own languages to reduce that disadvantage but at that point, you will be better off just doing something else.¡±
¡°Anti-mages are mages that use affinity-less mana right,¡± Michael asked, he hadn¡¯t learned too much about the arcane mana types yet but of this one, he was pretty sure, and he wanted to show his new mentor his knowledge.
¡°Yes, anti-mages are a type of pure mana mages, they focus on disrupting enemy magic as the name suggests, and if they know how your spell works, they will have a field day with dismantling it.¡±
Michael wanted to ask more questions about the arcane mages, but he settled on sigil casting for the time being. ¡°So, I just make up my own letters?¡±
¡°Yes, and make sure they have as little in common with their real counterparts as possible because if your letters are deciphered you might be in big trouble.¡±
From this point on Michael spent the rest of the trip back making up letters, starting all over again multiple times, and internalizing the letters he was sure he wanted to keep.
- A couple of days later ¨C
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
¡°We are finally home,¡± Michael cheered from his spot on the cart as they rolled through the north gate of Reen. He had enjoyed his time in the capital and the trip back was also more interesting than the trip toward Lionsgate, but he was happy to be finally back in his hometown.
¡°Let¡¯s go to our new home first and see if Sola and Solon are there,¡± Michael decided as they moved through the busy streets. Some people recognized him and bowed while he passed them by, and he waved and nodded at them politely.
¡°It¡¯s a nice town you have here,¡± Kiran said while looking around.
¡°Yeah, it is the best,¡± Michael replied with a smile.
It took a little bit to reach the house, but Michael could barely hold back his excitement when they finally turned onto the street. The house looked not too much different from the outside than before. The sign was gone, and some parts had been repainted but all in all, it looked the same.
They turned into the alleyway connecting the street with the courtyard between the two buildings and Geron opened the gate into the yard. As the cart rolled in, the backdoor of the main building opened. Sola and Solon stepped through it and smiled at the new arrivals with huge grins.
¡°We are home,¡± Michael said with a similar grin and jumped off the wagon before it had even properly stopped.
¡°Welcome home,¡± Sola said with a warm smile and embraced Michael for a short hug. She then went over to Geron and greeted him as well.
¡°A dwarf huh, long time since I have seen one of your kind in these parts,¡± Kiran said as he climbed down the cart himself. Solon inspected the old mage with an interested gaze and introduced himself, as did Kiran, both handled each other with respect.
¡°It doesn¡¯t look like much has changed,¡± Michael noted as he looked around. He could see an archery target on a wall, a weapons rack at the wall of the house, and a target dummy. Aside from those things he couldn¡¯t see a difference.
¡°Most changes have been made inside, and we added a large gate to the warehouse,¡± he pointed at the building where the women were kept before, and Michael could see the gate that he hadn¡¯t noticed before. ¡°Let me give you a tour of your new home and then you can tell us what happened on your journey and who our new friend is.¡±
Michael was glad about that, he wanted to enjoy the happy atmosphere before he broke the news, that Sola was probably not going to be happy about her new coworker.
Solon, first guided them toward the large gate in the warehouse and explained, ¡°It is not quite done yet, a month wasn¡¯t enough time to do everything, but this building is going to be the workshop area.¡± Geron and Eydis pulled the gate open, and a large hall-like room came into view. Here Michael could see different workstations, from a fletcher table over a workbench for pottery to a small open space close to the gate where he could see some smithing equipment but neither an anvil nor a furnace. Many crafts were present here and Michael was sure he would spend a lot of exhausting hours in this hall.
¡°Some of the smithing equipment will follow later but I think we did good work,¡± Solon said with a proud expression as Michael took a look around.
¡°You are learning all this,¡± Kiran asked, sounding impressed. Michael turned around and nodded, ¡°I won¡¯t be able to master everything but having a basic idea of the crafts will help me advise in subjects that are connected to them later.¡±
¡°We also thought about converting a small part of this building into a stable, you need to learn riding anyway,¡± Solon continued his explanation. ¡°Come on I will show you the main building.¡±
They followed the dwarf as they made their way over to the building. Everything was different, it was as if they had torn it down and built it anew. They walked through a hallway and Solon pointed at the different doors.
¡°We put in a couple more walls to get more rooms on the ground floor. That one is a storage room, there is the kitchen - we left it as it was basically - and that is the new study room.¡± They entered the study room and Michael took a look around. The walls were covered in shelves, some books were already filled in but not too many. In the middle of the room stood a large table with multiple chairs, further back in the room was a sofa and two armchairs around a small table.
Solon walked over to a cabin and opened it. It was filled with paper and other writing utensils. ¡°This will be the main study room, we have the big table for lessons, and the seating area over there for reading and self-study. The shelves are a little empty right now, but I am sure we can fill them over time.¡± Solon looked satisfied as he explained.
¡°This is great,¡± Michael commented with a grin. Kiran walked over to the shelf where the only books they had were situated, skimming over the titles before saying, ¡°This will indeed do very nicely for theory lessons.¡±
Sola looked at Michael with a questioning look, but he just said, ¡°Later, let¡¯s see the rest of the house, first.¡±
They left the study room and made their way to what had been the large bar area. It had shrunk in size considerably but was still large. Instead of the many tables and long bar, there was a seating area in front of the fireplace and a large dining table to the left of the room.
¡°We went for a simpler look, there is enough space to host larger dinners but at the same time, it¡¯s not too large to use for day-to-day life. Because of that, we have some more space behind there,¡± and he pointed toward a door on the right side of the room, ¡°We put a wall there and left the room empty for future use, maybe you have an idea what you want in there.¡±
Michael and the others looked around a bit before they made their way upstairs. ¡°We combined a couple of rooms as they were small with just a bed having space. We have made enough room for seven bedrooms, we did put in basic furniture yours, because we didn¡¯t know how you would like it.¡± They looked into one of the bedrooms, there was enough space for a wardrobe, a table with chair, a bed, and then some.
¡°We also decided not to make your room bigger, Michael. I guessed you wouldn¡¯t care too much and not spend much time in there anyway, but we can knock down the wall to the neighboring room if you like,¡± Solon explained, but Michael shook his head. ¡°You have done a great job, thank you.¡±
Kiran looked around and said, ¡°How did you even get a house like this? Was this a tavern before, this is way too large for a normal family but also too simple for a rich merchant or noble.¡±
¡°It was a brothel,¡± Michael said as he walked past him into the hallway. Kiran turned around and said, ¡°A brothel? Huh, well that makes sense, I guess.¡±
Solon led them down to the old office of Fredrick. ¡°We left the office for you to use, it might not be of much use for you now but later it certainly will once the smithy gets going and we might even be able to expand the business. Next to your office was another bedroom that we didn¡¯t manage to combine so I allowed myself to take possession of it and make my own office if that is alright with you.¡±
¡°Yeah, that is okay.¡±
As Solon opened the door he kept explaining, ¡°We pulled out all of the pomp and sold it, replacing it with more modest elegance, I am sure you appreciate that.¡±
Michael did and stepped into the office. It wasn¡¯t recognizable, the trophies gone, luxurious furniture replaced by well-built wood, and the whole atmosphere was less needy for attention and more of an aura of work.
¡°We have some empty rooms here and there that we can assign if anyone needs more space but in essence this is it,¡± Solon concluded his tour.
¡°I am very impressed, you two have turned this into a home and you have done a mighty fine job of it,¡± Michael said, Geron and Eydis agreeing quickly.
They talked a little bit about changes and what else needed to be done until they made their way down into the common room and took their seats at the table.
Michael started telling them what happened in the capital. When he got to the part with the monster attack, he had to explain himself to a concerned Sola.
He finally got to the point of his return from the capital and his detour to the village and Kiran. Michael took a deep breath and finally said, ¡°Kiran here is a water mage, and I have decided to employ him as my second magic teacher, just like with Eydis and Geron.¡±
He tried to explain himself as quickly as possible to try to hamper the reaction before it happened. It didn¡¯t help much as Sola¡¯s head spun around and fixated on Kiran with open hostility, who looked back with a calm expression. Michael could feel the mana level rise around them and Geron grabbed Sola¡¯s arm, ¡°Calm down, Sola.¡±
¡°Calm down,¡± she growled at him, ¡°He is dangerous.¡±
¡°You are a mage as well, Sola,¡± Michael said carefully, he had expected this, and he needed to be careful.
¡°I am a follower of the light and not one of the betrayers.¡±
¡°He is not part of the betrayers. They are all dead, Sola. I know the church preaches they are all evil but being born with an affinity is not a crime.¡±
She kept staring at him, so Michael tried something else, ¡°Sola, look at me.¡±
Her eyes moved over to him, so he continued, ¡°I understand that this is how you were raised but I ask you to trust me on this. You can make your own picture of him while he is here.¡±
¡°How could you let this happen,¡± Sola angrily yelled at Geron.
¡°He didn¡¯t break any laws and the count agreed so there was no reason for me to do anything.¡±
¡°Oh, you know what, no one cares about my opinion anyway so why am I even voicing it?¡± Sola rose from her seat with those words and rushed up the stairs, followed by a slamming door.
Kiran looked around at the faces of the other inhabitants of the table and said, ¡°That went better than I expected.¡±
Chapter 34.
Geron
After Michael had concluded his stories, Geron left the group and went upstairs, promising to take care of Sola. He looked for the room with her name on it and knocked.
¡°Sola, are you okay?¡±
After a moment of silence, he could hear her voice from inside, she sounded shaky. ¡°No, I am not okay.¡±
¡°May I come in,¡± Geron asked through the door.
¡°Do what you want.¡±
He opened the door and took a look at her room, it didn¡¯t look too different from the other ones, and she hadn¡¯t added any kind of decoration, except an Idas sun standing next to the window. He found Sola lying on her bed, her face buried in her pillow. He had never seen her like this she was often dramatic but not like this.
He sighed and sat down on the edge of her bed. They stayed there in silence for a while, Geron thinking about what he could say.
¡°I know this is difficult for you,¡± he finally said. ¡°Kiran doesn¡¯t strike me as a bad person though and I have seen criminal mages before.¡±
¡°Oh, what do you know,¡± Sola spun around in her bed and stared at him. ¡°Mages are dangerous, everybody knows that so why does Michael always bring the most dangerous people into his service?¡±
¡°He doesn¡¯t seem dangerous. I know you have been taught differently but don¡¯t you ever think that the things you have been taught are not always correct?¡± Geron tried to be empathetic, but it wasn¡¯t his strong suit.
¡°What are you implying? That the church is wrong,¡± she snapped.
He sat there looking into her beautiful eyes, her anger not deterring him in the slightest. He kept completely calm; he knew that getting heated would not help but rather hurt the situation. Sola relaxed again after a moment of silence.
¡°I am sorry, I shouldn¡¯t snap at you. It is just I can¡¯t understand why Michael would need another magic teacher. Am I not good enough,¡± she looked away from him with shame.
So, this is what this is really about, Sola was never a superstitious person to the degree of unfounded hatred, Geron thought. ¡°I know what you mean. I felt similar when he allowed Eydis to take part in the training. I am still a little annoyed about it, to be honest, but I see the merit now. Since he started training with both of us, Michael has become more flexible in his movements and thoughts. Eydis has taught him things that I never could, and I respect her.¡±
Geron saw that it didn¡¯t convince her, so he pulled out his trump card, ¡°You know why Michael wants him to be here and teach him?¡±
She suddenly looked at him with a mix of interest and fear in her eyes as she shook her head.
¡°Kiran helped him through his casting blockade,¡± Geron said and let that sink in with the priestess. She immediately sat up and faced him, ¡°He can use phrase casting?¡± She sounded so excited and happy, that Geron couldn¡¯t help but smile.
¡°Yes, he wanted to show you later, so please act surprised once he does. I know I don¡¯t really need to tell you that but also please show him that you are proud, he has been excited to show you the whole way back.¡±
She smiled broadly but the smile slowly vanished from her face, and she turned to sit next to him, ¡°So he is better than me.¡±
Geron awkwardly laid an arm around her shoulder, she looked at him surprised for a moment before she scooted closer. ¡°That guy has like forty or fifty years of experience above you, and as far as I know he had many students before. I am sure once you are an old hag you will be better than him in all aspects.¡±
She gasped and hit him in the ribs, ¡°You asshole, I will never be an old hag.¡±
He laughed and she quickly joined in. They stayed like this until Sola spoke again, ¡°I missed you.¡± She was red as a tomato and avoided his gaze.
Geron looked at the embarrassed woman with a warm expression and answered, ¡°I missed you too, Sola.¡±
Eydis
The horse looked at Eydis as she took the saddle off its back. Eydis smiled while putting it away and began to groom the horse that had carried her all the way back here. She had volunteered to take care of the horses. It was peaceful working with animals; they didn''t talk and were more reasonable than people. Her peace and quiet was quickly disturbed when Solon left the house and walked over to her.
"Do you want company," he asked with a warm smile. She liked the dwarf, he reminded Eydis of the elders in her village.
She nodded at him, and he sat down next to the saddle and inspected it for damage. "How did you like the capital?"
She stopped her grooming and looked at the dwarf inquisitively. He just continued inspecting the saddle while looking up at her periodically to see if she wanted to sign anything which she did after a short while. "Are you here to keep me company or are you here to question me?"
"A little of both perhaps," he replied calmly; his eyes were focused on her though.
She thought about his question for a moment before she answered, "I would rather burn it to the ground than live there. No one cares for their neighbors, it is dirty. All the people do in that city is struggle and scheme. I felt more alone there than I ever had, even though there were thousands of people around me."
"You will have to deal with that frequently in the years to come, you know that right?"
Eydis nodded and Solon laid down the saddle to focus on her entirely. "So why did you come back?" She stared at the dwarf not understanding what he was talking about. "What is your goal? Your motivation? Why are you still here?"
"Are you accusing me of something," she signed at him, narrowing her eyes. Solon shook his head, his expression and image of neutrality; it looked like he was talking about the weather. "I am not accusing you of anything, but I want to know what is going on inside of you. I think you are a really good influence on Michael, but I can''t risk you putting him in jeopardy by having a hidden agenda."
"And what kind of agenda would that be?"
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"Maybe something like getting close to Lord Grim or his family to take revenge on them for everything that happened to you," Solon suggested.
"It was war, these things happen." Eydis couldn''t deny that she hadn''t thought about it.
"Your people raided the kingdom, and they raided back, so you conclude that they deserved what happened, but did you deserve what happened to you?"
She sucked in air sharply and stared at him menacingly. "Stop now."
"Did you deserve it?"
"Of course, I didn''t," she growled while signing. She had successfully pushed the memories down and didn''t appreciate them being forcefully dragged to the surface.
"So, when you are face to face with those that hurt you will you put your revenge first or your commitment to Michael?"
An image of the grinning men that had cut out her tongue appeared in front of her mind¡¯s eye and hatred filled her consciousness. She wanted to scream, rip their guts out, and grin down at their dying bodies.
The heat died down as fast as it had come as Eydis smiled at the dwarf. "Why lose another family for revenge? I will gladly rip those that have wronged me apart and I will do so with a smile if I ever get the chance, but I will not risk everything I have now. I will stand by his side until I die or until he is no longer worth it."
Solon smiled back and said, "That is everything I wanted to hear."
Kiran
Kiran sat on his new bed lost in thought. He wondered if he chose correctly in the village now that he was here in the open there would be no going back. He was concerned about the priestess, even though she didn''t try to murder or report him immediately, he didn''t trust her to not change her mind.
As if on cue a knock dragged him out of his thoughts. "Come in." The door opened and the priestess entered the room. Her expression was much calmer than it had been before, but he could still see a certain tension in her movements.
"How can I help you, sister?" He tried to stay polite, it would only make things harder for him if he let his animosity toward the church seep through to the woman.
"I wanted to thank you for helping Michael overcome his blockade. - ... - I also wanted to apologize for the outburst from before." Her voice sounded stiff, as if she had prepared every word, she was saying but Kiran could feel that she was honest.
"There is nothing to be sorry about. I don''t like the church because they hunt people like me, and you don''t like mages because that is what you are taught and because of what our ancestors did." Kiran tried to keep his emotions in check, but his answer sounded similarly rigid as her apology.
"I thought it would be proper to apologize anyway." She didn''t seem like she would back down from her apology, so he simply accepted it, even though he didn''t think it was necessary.
"I accept your apology." Kiran thought for a moment and then continued, "We will probably never be friends, sister. We both know that, but we follow a similar goal, to teach Michael. So, I hope we can push our differences by side at least when it comes to Michael."
"That is all I want. For him to be safe and as strong as possible." Her gaze betrayed that she thought of him as a danger to Michael''s safety.
He chuckled, "Then we have the same goal, priestess. Maybe we can even learn something from the other."
"Maybe," she said, clearly not convinced, and wished him goodbye before she left his room, leaving him to his thoughts.
Kiran smiled and said to himself, "You remind me of someone, maybe you are not that bad."
Michael
Michael had made his way to Reen Castle after recovering a little in his new home. Eydis and Michael walked through the hallways, on their way to his father¡¯s study. Michael expected his brother to be taking care of business from there.
The castle was mostly empty as they walked through it. When they crossed a hallway juncture, a squeaky voice sounded from the side. ¡°Michael!¡± He turned his head and could see younger brother Jona charging at him with open arms. His nanny was struggling to keep up.
¡°Hey there, little man,¡± Michael said with a smile and received the four-year-old in his arms. ¡°Wow, you have become so big. You will soon be as tall as Father if you keep growing like this.¡±
The small boy grinned as Michael looked at him from top to bottom.
¡°Do you want to play,¡± the boy asked Michael. he looked at him with puppy eyes and it was hard for Michael to refuse him. ¡°I am sorry, Jona. I don¡¯t have time right now, maybe another time.¡±
¡°You never have time to play anymore,¡± Jona pouts dramatically.
¡°I am sorry, but I have been really busy lately. I promise I will try to make time okay.¡± Michael smiled apologetically. This seemed to placate the small boy, he began to smile again. ¡°What are you doing now?¡±
¡°I have some business here; it is probably boring.¡±
¡°Oh, okay then see you later,¡± Jona said and ran away happily; the nanny groaned and followed him as quickly as she could.
Michael shook his head with a smile and kept going to his father¡¯s study. Once he arrived there, he found Sir Zeke Tomp in front of the door standing guard.
He looked at Michael and bowed respectfully, ¡°Milord, you have returned? We didn¡¯t get any notice that you would arrive so soon.¡±
¡°I separated from the family in the capital and came back alone,¡± Michael explained. Sir Zeke instantly tensed up and asked, ¡°Did anything happen, Milord?¡±
Michael tried to wave the misunderstanding away and quickly said, ¡°Oh no. I just had something to do. Everything is fine.¡±
Sir Zeke relaxed again, and Michael asked, ¡°My brother is inside?¡± The knight nodded and opened the door for him. Eydis waited outside while Michael entered.
Matthias was sitting on their father''s table; rubbing his eyes as he was surrounded by reports. He raised his head on the sound of Michael entering and his expression lightened up immediately. "You are back!"
Michael raised his hand and quickly clarified, "Only me, the rest of the family is visiting Duke Wallsten." Matthias looked disappointed at this information, so Michael followed it up, "What? You are not happy to have your brother back?"
"Of course, I am happy to have you back, but this administrative stuff is draining me of every ounce of energy," Matthias said with a weak smile. He did look exhausted, so much so that Michael was concerned. "Let me help then, I can tell you about my stay in the capital while we work."
Matthias chuckled and replied, "This is complicated stuff, I don''t know if you ...," he stopped mid-sentence before he tried again. "I forgot that you are not like the others. I would love your help."
Matthias got a chair for him, and they started to work. The table was filled with reports, complaints, and requests; the first thing Michael did was separate them into these categories for better organization. He then read over them and decided on their importance; giving the more important ones to Matthias to read and answer while laying the less important ones on the side for later processing.
They worked for hours like this, Michael spoke about the capital and his new friends he had found there while Matthias told him about what had happened in Reen while he was gone. It was quite idyllic, and the hours melted away, at least for Michael and soon the sky had darkened, and the night was upon them.
Matthias leaned back and stretched himself over his chair. "I will never understand how you have so much energy for stuff like this." Michael looked up from the letter he was currently reading, "Well, you most certainly don''t, this letter must have been laying here for at least a week."
"We made more progress in these couple of hours than I did in the past days," Matthias grumbled.
"Why didn''t you get someone to help you with this? Having someone skim over the papers first helps tremendously."
Matthias sighed and stood up. "I wanted to show that I don''t need any help doing my future tasks, I guess."
Michael put down the letter and walked next to his brother who was now standing in front of the window staring at the town below. "It is not your job to do everything alone as a lord. You just carry the responsibility to get things done. A lord that is good at delegating tasks to the right people will always be more successful than one that is good at doing everything himself. You just can''t be everywhere, Matthias."
He could see Matthias smile out of the corner of his eyes. "You know that I am the older brother, right? I am the one that is supposed to give you advice."
Michael simply chuckled and Matthias continued with a more somber tone, "Sometimes I do wonder who is the more mature of the both of us. Everything seems to come so easy to you and I struggle with most aspects of my duty." He didn''t sound accusatory, much more disappointed in himself and lost in thought.
"Matthias, you have qualities I do not. You are charismatic and loved by the people. I will be by your side the whole way and make sure to help you with everything I can so that you can be the best ruler you possibly can be." He turned toward his younger brother and looked him in his determined eyes.
Matthias smiled, "I am glad to have you by my side, Michael. I will make sure to better myself so that I can live up to your expectations."
"That is everything we can do; be the best version of ourselves."
They gazed at the town below them in companionable silence and Michael smiled.
One day we will stand here again side by side, but it won''t be as just brothers.
Chapter 35.
Michael
With a crack, Michael broke through the undergrowth. He ran along the ridge; sweat reflecting the dim light making its way through the treetops, only strengthened by the weak shine of Michael''s skin.
He glanced down the ridge to his right periodically, looking for his escaping prey. He could hear the squealing boar and the cracking of branches to his right.
Michael came to a slithering halt; the forest had opened up and he saw a clearing on the foot of the ridge. Michael grabbed an arrow and readied his bow; he wasn''t a good archer, and that was why he was in this situation in the first place. He had been hunting for two days already, tracking this boar, but when he had finally found it, Michael had missed his shot and only grazed the pig. He knew that Eydis was following him even though he had only seen her once today, she was not to interfere anyway, so Michael didn¡¯t waste a thought on her.
He was now waiting for his prey from his elevated position. He didn''t have to wait long as a boar broke out of the thicket with a loud squeak. Michael quickly drew back his arrow, aimed, and shot the arrow in one fluid motion as he had been taught.
He missed again, the arrow going short and landing between the boar¡¯s legs. Michael growled and charged down the ridge; strengthening his body and enhancing his sense of balance to keep on his feet. The boar was halfway across the clearing when Michael reached the foot of the ridge.
He grabbed another arrow and took it slow this time; he would only get one more chance. Breathing slowly, he drew back the string of his bow and waited. The boar jumped over a large rock and Michael let loose. The arrow hit the boar in the front leg right before it landed and it crashed into the ground, its wounded leg not strong enough to withstand its own weight. It got back to its feet but limped heavily when a second arrow hit the boar in its hind leg; it was easy to hit the limping boar now.
The pig squealed, as Michael approached it as fast as he could, and tried to get back on its feet but its legs didn''t obey anymore. Michael put his bow over his shoulder and drew his short sword. The boar tried to defend itself, but Michael was faster and sunk his short sword into its heart.
As the last breath of the boar escaped its maw, Michael raised his hand to his forehead and said, "Thank you for the gift of this hunt and let the soul of the hunted go into death''s warm embrace." It was a tradition Eydis had shown him, normally you would pray for the soul to go to the Father, but Michael changed it for himself.
Eydis came out onto the clearing right as Michael pulled out his short sword. She made her way over to him and signed, "Good job." She moved over next to the boar and inspected it.
¡°I guess I have to practice more with the bow,¡± Michael said with a shrug.
¡°Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, even you,¡± she smiled at him empathetically. ¡°So, let¡¯s get your catch back to camp; I would say you have a good chance with this.¡±
Eydis bound the boar''s legs and just heaved it on her shoulders, doubtlessly burning a good amount of mana. Michael had grown a lot in the past years but was still too small to carry it with Eydis.
Michael''s thoughts wandered as they made their way back. It had been over two years already since his time in the capital and Michael had become ten years old a couple of weeks back.
He had spent most of the last years focusing on his studies but also getting out into the world more and learning more practical skills like hunting.
The time has really melted away, hasn''t it, he thought.
It was a struggle to carry the heavy boar through the forest and it took them over four hours to make their way back to the camp, so Michael had much time to think.
The camp was filled with nobles and knights, they were all here for the hunt and the competitions. The boar had been part of his own competition with his older brothers, they all were out for three days, alone with only one guard to protect them but not interfere.
Many stared at the huge boar that Eydis and Michael were dragging behind them. Some were looking impressed, and others were disappointed that he managed to catch something large. Even though years had passed there were still many that resented Michael, but they weren¡¯t overwhelming anymore.
When they had made it halfway through the camp, Michael could see Geron close to their tent; he spotted them and hurried over, taking the load of Eydis who gladly handed it off.
Sola joined them from the tent and carefully inspected Michael, ¡°Are you alright? That is a big one.
¡°Yes, yes. I am fine.¡± Michael smiled at the compliment. Michael shook his head and kept going; they had to bring the boar to the main tent to let Father judge them and determine a winner.
Geron carried the catch as Sola and Michael walked in front of him chatting. Solon and Kiran had preferred to stay in Reen, rather than be surrounded by nobles who didn''t want them there. Eydis wasn''t liked too much either, but Michael wasn''t sure if she could care even less.
They reached the main tent shortly after; it was a large open one, filled with richly decked tables. Michael could spot his father and Uncle Duncan talking with some of the nobles. Michael gave Eydis a glance when he saw his uncle, but she chose to ignore the count. Michael had never understood how she could just live with the man that killed her clan being so close but still unreachable, but he was happy about it.
He could also see Tara on the other side, but she was mid-conversation, so he didn¡¯t try to gain her attention.
Matthias was already back; Michael saw him standing in front of a huge stag that was currently in the process of getting strung up.
"Damn," Michael said with an impressed tone as he saw it and Sola''s eyes followed his. "Well, you are not getting first place." Michael shook his head with a laugh, and they continued to Michaels¡¯s stop where a couple of guards started to string up the boar on its legs.
Michael looked over to the twin¡¯s spots, but it looked like none of them had returned yet.
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After a minute Matthias appeared next to Michael and inspected his catch. "That is a big one."
"Yours is bigger but thanks," Michael replied with a genuine smile. Matthias waved him off and said, ?Who cares, first or second everything that counts is to be better than the twins.¡±
Michael smiled back cheekily, ?Still wish that I had your talent for hunting and archery.¡±
Matthias laughed at that and put his hand on Michael¡¯s shoulder, ?We can swap if you want to.¡±
?Nono, it¡¯s fine,¡± Michael dramatically said, and they laughed together.
As they did, they could see Oska stroll in the direction of his spot with a pitiful-looking deer.
?He is not winning any prizes at least,¡± Michael joked and nodded in Oska¡¯s direction. He noticed them looking and made an annoyed face at them before he turned away and walked over to the wooded pole where his catch was to be strung up at.
Jona and Michael¡¯s youngest brother Sieg came running while Michael and Matthias were still watching Oska.
¡°That is a big pig,¡± Jona exclaimed as he came to a halt in front of it and Sieg added, ?Big piggy!¡±
¡°Of course, it looks big from your standpoint,¡± Matthias teased his little brother. ?I am much bigger now,¡± Jona pouted and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Sieg was just looking back and forth between them, not getting what they were talking about. It was this aura of na?vet¨¦ that made him so adorable in Michael¡¯s eyes.
¡°One day I will be bigger than all of you,¡± Jona declared triumphantly.
¡°I am sure you will,¡± Matthias said, and Michael added, ?No doubt about it.¡±
They stayed there talking for a while longer until the sun neared the horizon. With a gaze over the clearing in the middle of the camp, Michael asked, ?Do you think Harlov will make it in time?¡±
¡°No idea, he might not have found a worthwhile target,¡± Matthias said trying to sound nonchalant, but he was keeping a watchful eye on the entrances.
¡°He might have found something so big that it takes a while to bring here,¡± Michael suggested. Matthias shrugged but didn¡¯t reply further.
They waited in silence until the sun had nearly completely set and the servants were lighting the torches when Matthias patted Michael on the shoulder and said with a sorry voice, ?Maybe next time.¡± Michael followed his gaze and saw Harlov strutting in like he owned the place and a large boar being dragged behind him by two men. Michael could instantly see that the boar was bigger than his even from the distance, but he wasn¡¯t sure if Matthias¡¯s stag was bigger. It was hard to judge with two different animals.
¡°Where do you people even find those monsters, they could easily be mistaken for mana beasts,¡± Michael said with light-hearted laughter, he didn¡¯t have high expectations anyway. He was happy with his catch, he hadn¡¯t expected to get something this big, and at least he won¡¯t be last.
¡°You gotta look a little better the next time,¡± Matthias softly punched Michael¡¯s shoulder.
¡°What do you think, is yours bigger?¡±
He shook his head softly and said, ?I have no idea, Father will have to judge.¡± This whole event was to celebrate Lord Rowan¡¯s birthday so he would be the sole judge.
Harlov gave them a nasty smile as he passed them and walked over to his wooden pole where the men began to pull the boar up. ?At least he is confident,¡± Matthias said and turned around walking back to his spot.
It took a while longer until Lord Rowan finally rose from his place at the table and walked into the open area. The conversations ended immediately, and everyone turned toward the count.
¡°This hunt has now concluded. I am glad to see that all of my sons that participated are able to sustain themselves if the need ever arises, but we are not here to see if they can hunt, we are here to see who can bring in the biggest prey.¡±
He first walked over to Michael¡¯s boar and inspected it; the nobles following behind him and watching. After a short while he nodded and continued on to Oska¡¯s. He looked at his son and said, ?At least you caught something,¡° before he continued. Oska got red in his face but managed to contain his temper for once.
Lord Rowan inspected Matthias¡¯s and Harlov¡¯s prey next and he took the longest time with them. After over fifteen minutes he finally turned around and walked into the center of the clearing where his four sons were waiting for him in a line. He waited for the nobles to settle down before he raised his voice again.
¡°This decision has been difficult. You both have done very well, Matthias and Harlov, but there can be only one winner.¡± The whole camp was dead silent as everyone waited for the count¡¯s next words.
¡°The winner is Matthias,¡± Lord Rowan declared, and applause erupted in the audience. Harlov cursed under his breath but mostly kept his decorum. Matthias thanked his father and had to deal with a whole horde of nobles wanting to congratulate him next. Michael quickly made his way out of the crowd and suddenly stood face-to-face with Father Albion.
¡°Greetings, Father,¡± he said politely, the man stared at him, the hate and fear had not dissipated in the slightest over the years. Michael shook his head and simply brushed past him; he had learned that there was no merit in trying to talk to the man. He made his way to the large table and sat down on his spot, waiting for the celebration to end and the feast to begin, he was starving.
The feast began shortly after, Michael devoured his meal with as much vigor as he could afford without being embarrassing. The food consisted of the prey of the last couple of days of the hunt, today was the last and they would return to Reen tomorrow.
Michael was glad that they had nearly reached the end, he had little love for hunting but at least the nobles were less stuck up out here.
The feast was loud and happy, nobles were singing, laughing, and enjoying themselves. This was the kind of gathering of nobles Michael liked the most; there was no scheming, no polite small talk, only people having fun. The sight made Michael smile and he suddenly remembered the feasts in the capital for the Festival of Light.
He met his friends only once in the last two years, at the wedding of some important lord, but they were in quite active contact via letters. Michael remembered the last letter he had received; the king had gotten ill, what kind of illness Zen didn¡¯t know but Michael had sensed the worry from his words, which was mirrored in Mira¡¯s letter.
Michael decided that he had enough and rose from his chair.
"Where are you going," his cousin Tara asked him, curious.
"Just want some peace and quiet," he replied with a smile.
He walked away from the festivities, having to dodge drunk nobles left and right but he finally made it out.
Michael breathed in the fresh air as he wandered the outskirts of the camp, aware that Eydis was shadowing him from a little distance. She had a good sense when Michael just wanted to be alone and respected it.
Michael greeted the guards he saw on the way but then cut right into the forest. He conjured a small light, which was a lot more strain on his mana in the dark; moonlight being the only source he could draw on.
He wandered for a while, subconsciously following a trail of familiar mana when he suddenly heard voices he recognized.
"This is so beautiful," Sola said.
Michael followed the voice and found Geron and Sola sitting on a large stone in the middle of a clearing. They were watching the stars above them.
¡°I would have thought that you would prefer a sunrise over this,¡± Geron said with a chuckle.
Michael could virtually hear Sola roll her eyes as she said, ¡°Me being a light mage doesn¡¯t define my whole personality, you know?¡± Geron only laughed.
Sola''s head turned toward Michael when she felt his mana and she smiled. Michael waved and then turned around, giving them their privacy. Michael knew about their relationship but not many others did. It was frowned upon that members of the church marry even though it was technically allowed, as they would split their time between their duty as a husband or wife and their god, and it was even more frowned upon to have a relationship before marriage, so they just kept it quiet.
Living outside of the castle has been very helpful for that and they were both very professional about it most of the time.
He continued walking, letting the sound of the birds and the chirping of insects fill his mind. I will have to marry one day too, he thought. That day was still far away though, so he didn¡¯t waste any time on it.
The forest opened up in front of him and he stepped into a small grove. An old oak stood tall and the open space in front of it was filled with moos-covered rocks. Michael walked into the middle of it and the fireflies circled around.
He took in the spectacle of the little points of light in the old grove. He grinned as he watched the light show and added his own to it, drawing in the insects. He loved the quiet beauty.
Chapter 36.
Michael
¡°Michael, I need the Kendon root now,¡± Kiran said as he stirred in the large pot. Michael cut the last slice into small cubes before he brought Kiran the root. He threw it into the pot and explained, ¡°You need to stir it quite carefully now or it will be ruined.¡±
Michael took his master¡¯s spot and tried to match the speed the old man had shown him while he wandered over to the smaller fireplace and inspected the progress there.
¡°It is nearly done,¡± the old man said with excitement, ¡°And it might become one of my best works.¡±
Kiran began to frantically run around and gather the different ingredients before he placed them onto a plate and happily proclaimed, ¡°And that is how you make a perfect Kendon Steak.¡±
Michael gazed at the delicious-looking meal, a large boar steak with potato, carrot slices, and a thick Kendon root sauce. Kiran dragged him out of his thoughts with his typically commanding tone, ¡°Come on, we have to get this done and out before it gets cold.¡±
A couple of minutes later, Michael walked out of the kitchen with a plate in hand and placed it in front of Lira. Michael had invited his family to his home for the family dinner and his father had accepted. So, they were now all sitting in the large common room, and everyone seemed to enjoy the meal to Michael¡¯s satisfaction. Even the twins were keeping their mouths shut, Michael guessed that they had a stern talking-to before they came here.
¡°This is very good, Michael. My compliments to the chef,¡± Lord Rowan said, and Michael lowered his head respectfully.
As the meal progressed, they started reporting on their activities in the last couple of weeks.
¡°Matthias, won¡¯t you reconsider? Another bride would serve you better in terms of prestige and strengthening our position into the future,¡± Lady Rowan said with a nearly pleading tone to the heir of the house.
Matthias had decided to ask Viscount Telp for permission to marry his second daughter.
¡°I like her. I don¡¯t want a political marriage and you should be glad that I am not marrying a commoner,¡± Matthias replied with an annoyed eye roll; this discussion had been going on for weeks now and Michael was just happy that he was normally far out of the way.
Lady Rowan frowned and looked at her husband who simply shrugged uninterested, ¡°The heart falls where it falls and I can testify that both a commoner and noble woman can make a good wife, it just depends on whom you pick.¡±
¡°Your ''I don¡¯t care'' attitude toward family decisions will one day cost us dearly, my love. We have good offers from other counts and even Duke Wallsten implied that he would marry his lone daughter into our family,¡± Lady Rowan seemingly gave up after this last effort didn¡¯t get much of a reaction.
They continued on with Luciel talking about a new seamstress in town she would like to learn from and Harlov talking about the trip into the countryside he went on.
Then it was Michael¡¯s turn. ¡°Everything is going well; I am making good headway in my studies and am still holding my high victory rate when sparing the younger squires and other recruits. The smithy is also running strong; we plan to expand it once we are done with the order from the town watch. I also closed the deal on a carpentry workshop not far from the smithy that I want to build up to work together with my smithy. Buying most of our wooden parts is a great expenditure that I hope we can reduce like this.¡±
¡°Sounds like your business venture is going rather well,¡± Lord Rowan said while listening intently.
¡°I have also thought about building an alchemist shop if you permit it, Kiran said he would be interested as it would also help him teach me alchemy better in a dedicated laboratory, I would like to ask for an investment as building a laboratory that is able to commercially sell alchemical products, it would need more space and equipment than I can¡¯t currently afford, for apprentices or workers. I think it would greatly benefit the town though and the investment would be paid back with interest.¡±
¡°Alchemy?¡± Lady Rowan looked at Michael with wide eyes, ¡°Enough is enough! You are already tip-toeing the line between learning and heresy; I will not permit you to dabble in witchcraft.¡±
¡°Mother, it is not witchcraft, it is the same as cooking. You use specific ingredients and process them in a certain way to get a certain result,¡± Michael explained with a frown.
¡°I don¡¯t care, that is not what it will look like. How long until the Inquisition knocks at your door? Right now, you are doing most of these strange things behind closed doors but once you start selling them it will be impossible to hide.¡± His mother looked distressed, and Michael knew that she was just worried about him, but he wouldn¡¯t let that stop him.
¡°Mother, it is my choice. I don¡¯t care what some people will think of me, an alchemist shop will benefit the whole town. Reducing sickness, helping with work through potions, and opening up new possibilities in a multitude of professions. Alchemy is not witchcraft; it is an old craft connected to mages, which is why it is frowned upon.¡±
It was bad enough that a mage was permitted to live in town and teach the son of the count, about which the clergy most certainly complained all the time, but it was something else entirely if that mage sold his witchcraft to the general population, that could indeed lead to problems. That is why Michael asked his father for a contribution because no one would dare to make a move against the shop if it was financed by the lord of the town.
¡°You are just a child, and I am your mother, I don¡¯t want you to deal in these things.¡±
Michael sighed; it was so troublesome to argue with people who didn¡¯t understand him, even more with those who had even a sliver of authority over him, imagined or real. Michael looked at his father for help; Michael couldn¡¯t argue with his mother without hurting her feelings but maybe Lord Rowan would understand.
¡°We can talk about the alchemist shop another day, I will have to discuss that with my council and the bishop, but I would be interested to invest if I believe it to do more good than the church¡¯s annoyance will cause problems.¡±
¡°Cedric! You can¡¯t be serious, are you so eager to have our son be branded a heretic?¡± Lady Rowan screeched a little.
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Oska raised his head from his plate, having barely touched his food. ¡°That would be a good first step.¡±
¡°Stay out of this,¡± Lady Rowan snapped at him.
¡°Why? Michael will get his way anyway, as always,¡± Oska said while rolling his eyes, ¡°Michael has gotten more attention, money, and support than any of us, even Matthias. He can do so many things that would be considered heretical or criminal but you both always cover for him.¡±
¡°Oska, I only support worthwhile developments, as I do with all of you,¡± Lord Rowan said calmly between bites.
Oska scoffed, ¡°We all know that Michael is your favorite so why don¡¯t you declare him your heir and be done with it.¡±
It was suddenly dead silent in the room, everyone either stared at Oska with disbelief or at Lord Rowan for his reaction. The atmosphere was a little tense before but now it felt like the air was made from honey as the patriarch slowly turned his head toward Oska.
¡°Everything Michael has received was due to his own work and dedication because he requested it with good arguments and put the effort in to prove himself reliable and his word to be trustworthy. I have never covered for him; he didn¡¯t ever do anything unlawful or heretical in any sense of the law of this kingdom.¡± Lord Rowan stared at his rebellious son who stared back. Michael shook his head and thought, is this really the hill you want to die on Oska?
¡°Why do you prefer this demon spawn over us Father,¡± Oska spat out with a snarl, ¡°Do you think he is so much better than us?¡± Michael could feel the insecurity hidden under the anger and remembered the words of old Tom.
Lord Rowan slammed both his hands on the table with a loud bang and rose from his chair. ¡°I can¡¯t hear it anymore, Oska,¡± he yelled, the last time Michael had seen his father this angry was on the day that Geron had pledged himself to Michael. It was a cold fury that threatened to consume the whole room, but Oska was not backing down. Some would call it bravery others stupidity, but Michael couldn¡¯t help but be impressed by the teenager''s ability to withstand his father¡¯s gaze.
¡°Do you think he is better than us, Father,¡± Oska repeated, an eagerness on his round face that Michael had never seen. No one dared to interject, not even Harlov tried to calm his brother down.
¡°Of course, he is better than you!¡± Oska looked at his father with open horror on his face and even Michael stared at his father in utter disbelief.
¡°When was the last time you did anything worthwhile with your time, Oska? Everything you do is strut around, blowing your allowance on your so-called friends, and do nothing! You half-ass your training, you can barely read or write and still, you think you can put yourself on the same level as any of your brothers? You still ride on this stupid rumor because the only way you can even compete would be if one of your brothers was indeed a traitor and heretic! You are an absolute embarrassment to the family! If you are this damned jealous, then go out there and do something with your life!¡±
Lord Rowan stood there for a moment staring Oska right in the eyes when Lady Rowan put her hand on his arm and said with a strict voice, ¡°Dear, that is enough!¡±
He sat down but her intervention was too little and too late, the damage had already been inflicted. Oska jumped up and ran for the door.
¡°Oska,¡± Lord Rowan said with a commanding voice and the boy stopped and turned around, frustration and tears on his face but a glint of hope behind the surface. ¡°I hope this will be a turning point,¡± Lord Rowan said, and the glint vanished. ¡°CEDRIC,¡± Lady Rowan exclaimed.
Oska gritted his teeth and ran out.
¡°That was plainly cruel, he is only a child,¡± Lady Rowan said to her husband. He simply sat down and continued his meal. ¡°He is old enough and he provoked it on purpose. He has to live with the consequences of his choices and if he can¡¯t get over behavior like this, he won¡¯t make it far in the world out there.¡±
Any trace of his anger had vanished, and Michael wasn¡¯t sure if he should be impressed or scared at his father¡¯s ability to change his mood at a moment''s notice. He also didn¡¯t know how he felt about what just happened; on one hand, Oska has always been a pain in his ass and even wanted to kill him once, but he was still his brother and what happened was just soul-crushing. In the end, he decided that it wasn¡¯t his problem and Oska did deserve it.
The evening continued under the oppressive veil of what happened until it was Lord Rowan¡¯s turn to talk again. ¡°I have received reports from merchants coming from Emall about increasing brigand activity. I haven¡¯t heard anything from the local nobility about it though and decided to go there myself and investigate. I will take Michael and Matthias with me; I think it will be a great opportunity to gain some experience and we will depart in two days. Prepare everything you need until then and we meet at dawn at the castle gate. Harlov, you will be responsible for taking care of affairs in the meantime, as a learning experience, but Viscount Telp will have the last word.¡± He seemed completely unfazed at what had happened just a couple of minutes prior.
All three nodded without many words, and Harlov avoided his father¡¯s gaze. The evening ended shortly after and once everyone had left Kiran entered the room, ¡°Well that was interesting.¡±
¡°You listened in,¡± Michael asked while he collected the plates and began stacking them.
The old mage shrugged as Sola, and Solon came down the steps and Geron entered through the front door, ¡°At that volume, it would have been hard to find a spot in the house to not hear it.¡±
¡°What the hells did Oska say to provoke that, we even heard it outside,¡± Geron asked as he also began cleaning the table.
¡°I guess something dumb again,¡± Sola added while taking the pile of plates off the table.
¡°He started his whole thing about me being a demon child again and that I get unreasonable amounts of support for my studies,¡± Michael explained shortly.
¡°Hmm, strange,¡± Solon said while he stroked his beard, ¡°I wonder if something is going on with Cedric.¡±
¡°Do you really think there is something?¡±
¡°I am not sure, normally Cedric is quite hands-off concerning how his children behave toward each other, as far as I could see in the last years.¡±
¡°Oh right, Oska said that Father can simply declare me his heir and be done with it, as I am obviously his favorite child,¡± Michael remembered. Once he said that Geron stopped what he was doing and chuckled, ¡°That was direct critique at the lord, and he most certainly doesn¡¯t like those.¡±
¡°Yes, that is probably it,¡± Solon agreed.
¡°He brought it upon himself,¡± Michael simply shrugged and changed the subject. ¡°Father has also informed me that we will be leaving the day after tomorrow for brigand hunting in Emall. Geron, please tell Eydis when you see her before me. Anyone else who wants to come?¡±
Kiran looked at Sola and said, ¡°I might tag along, we can¡¯t keep having skips in your training and Sola went along to the hunting event, so I guess it is my turn.¡±
Sola agreed with him; they were getting along much better by now, they were still cold toward each other but at least they got along without having a constant expression of distrust or hatred.
¡°Alright, it will be Geron, Eydis, Kiran, and me then,¡± Michael concluded.
Oska
"Damn, all of this," Oska walked angrily through the castle''s hallways, trying to calm down. He just didn''t get it, Michael was obviously evil, even Father Albion thought so and he was the most devout man Oska had ever met. He was tricking them all. Oska regretting not dropping him from the wall when he had the chance and many different ways of getting rid of him went through his head.
"Screw them all, I don''t care anymore, you can all die for all I am concerned," he grumbled when Father Albion came around a corner spotting the ill-tempered boy.
"What is going on, Oska? I thought you were at your family dinner?"
"I couldn''t deal with their bullshit anymore, so I left," Oska replied, getting angrier again when he thought about the dinner.
"Language," Albion said strictly but then his expression softened, "Come, let¡¯s go to my room and you can tell me what happened."
They did that and Oska ranted for a good ten minutes about his family.
"Why should I even care anymore? They obviously don''t! So why am I even still here if I am such a disappointment? Father even said I should go out and do something with my life! He wants to get rid of me!" He stopped to take some deep breaths after his rant.
"I have the feeling that you aren''t appreciated here, my child." He tapped his finger on the desk while in thought. "There is something I have thought about for a while already, but I am not sure if you would want to walk this path, you would have to leave home."
"What is it? As long as it takes me far away from here, I don''t care!"
Albion leaned back with a smile, "Okay then listen closely."
Chapter 37.
Michael
They started their journey two days later with about ten knights, Lord Rowan, Matthias, Michael, and his retainers. The time on the road was uneventful; Michael mostly scouted ahead with Eydis or trained with Kiran. He got many interested gazes as he formed the swirling sigils, most of the knights had never seen them with Michael not living in the castle and sigil casting being rare even among the mages that existed.
Matthias was also helpful in passing the time, he had always been talkative and now he told Michael about these kinds of missions he had been on already. The last years had passed so fast that Michael still saw his brother as a teenager, but he was almost an adult already, having his eighteenth birthday later this year.
After a mere one and a half days of fast travel, they reached Emall; Lord Rowan didn¡¯t want to waste any time, so they didn¡¯t stop at any city. They continued on toward the last place the brigand had attacked with a guard from the area, that they had enlisted to lead them.
Emall was even less populated than Reen County and vast parts of it were covered in forests, as far as Michael was told by the locals only little of it was actually used. There were towns, villages, and farms but most of the wealth of the county came from hunting and woodworking.
The villages they came through looked sad nonetheless, with hunting rights belonging mostly to the nobility and the difficulty of raising farms while tiptoeing around the noble¡¯s hunting grounds, these lands were poor.
¡°This is just sad. So much unused potential,¡± Michael said lost in thought as they rode through a forest path.
¡°What would you do,¡± Matthias asked him; Michael had completely forgotten that his brother was riding right next to him and nearly jumped off the horse from the sudden interjection.
¡°This land is mostly an enjoyment place for nobles right now, most of the valuable forest patches that could be used to build are owned by the nobles and just used for hunting games,¡± Michael started to explain after regaining his balance, ¡°To improve this county you need to either take the parts of the forest that are most valuable for forestry or farming away from the nobles or convince them to start those kinds of projects themselves. You would also need to improve the infrastructure; you can¡¯t have a large woodworking industry when half the roads are not even traversable by cart.¡± As if to prove his point, his horse stumbled over a root at that exact moment and Michael bit himself on the tongue.
¡°Oh, hells.¡±
¡°You alright,¡± Matthias asked while chuckling.
¡°Yeah yeah,¡± Michael let his tongue slide over his teeth trying to get rid of the pain but at least he wasn¡¯t bleeding.
¡°I get your point. The nobles enjoy themselves but do nothing to improve the land. Maybe you should talk to Viscount Telp about it,¡± Matthias suggested after Michael had assured him of his well-being.
Michael shook his head at this, ¡°I do respect the viscount, but he has much less influence in Emall than his position would suggest. His lands are not much larger than other nobles here and so he has to placate them for their help, a problem that is amplified by him being in Reen most of the time.¡±
¡°That¡¯s true. It must be hard to influence things from one county over, or even to know what is going on for that matter. It seems like a weird decision to give the de facto rule over a county to someone and then have him be away from that exact land for a long time,¡± Matthias nodded.
¡°That is how life is. It is the same on every level of our society with Duke Wulfen being in Lionsgate as the king''s chancellor for example.¡±
¡°Then we should try to talk with Father. He has more influence even if he isn¡¯t present all the time,¡± Matthias suggested but Michael shook his head. ¡°Have you ever known Father to care about improving anything in his lands but security and the military? He doesn¡¯t really care about it and delegates these jobs to other people.¡±
¡°So, how would you handle this situation if you were me,¡± Matthias asked with a raised eyebrow.
¡°You can either wait until you are in charge or ask Father for the authority to take care of it yourself,¡± Michael shrugged.
¡°Like you did in Reen with the criminals?¡±
¡°Something like that, yes.¡± Michael could see Matthias thinking; he was not cut out for work like this, to be honest, Michael was seeing evermore gaps and flaws in his father¡¯s and brother¡¯s administrative abilities, but he was determined to make it work.
¡°We do what we must, right?¡± Matthias chuckled and played with his reins.
Michael inspected his brother as he looked down at his hands. ¡°You don¡¯t want to marry Lord Telp¡¯s daughter, do you?¡± Michael had heard Lira and Luciel talk about it and even though he had no experience in the whole love thing, he had concluded that their arguments were reasonable.
¡°What are you talking about of course I do, I like her. And her name is Janna, and you know that.¡± Matthias looked back at him with an amused expression, but Michael knew him better than that.
¡°What about Sally?¡±
This time he looked more surprised, ¡°What about her?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t you like her as well?¡±
¡°Oh, come on, Michael. You are too young to understand such things. You might be a smart one but that is not your forte.¡± He was right but Michael had heard it from someone that most certainly understood things like this.
¡°I heard it from Luciel, are you going to argue that she doesn¡¯t understand those things?¡± Michael smiled at him, and he shook his head.
¡°That is the whole listening to advisers when you have no clue thing, right? Fine, yes, I like Sally, I like her a lot. The thing is though I am a noble and she is not. You heard Mother at the table she is not even happy that I want to marry ¡®under my station¡¯,¡± he made air quotes. ¡°I talked with Janna about it, and she also doesn¡¯t want to be married off to some stranger for political favor. So, we made a deal for me to propose, there is no way that Lord Telp refuses, and we marry. We can both stand each other even if we might not have any romantic love for one another but this is the best, we are both gonna get and who knows maybe we will fall in love later.¡±
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¡°Don¡¯t you think you should just marry who you want to or for politics? Why are you doing something in between, if you don¡¯t want to marry for politics then marry Sally, I am sure Father would let you. If you want to do what is best for the county allow Mother to find you a suitable wife.¡± Michael didn¡¯t understand what the problem was, Matthias was making himself unhappy and didn¡¯t help the county by much, this was a weird half-measure.
Matthias laughed loudly. ¡°You might understand me when you are a little bit older, little brother.¡± He smiled into himself, but his eyes looked sad. ¡°Love is a weird thing and maybe one day you will understand that sometimes you have to make sacrifices for it.¡±
Michael could see his father out of the corner of his eye watching them, a flash of pain came over the count¡¯s face, one that Michael had never seen as he turned back, away from his sons.
After this Michael concluded that love was painful. Everyone seemed to be looking for it but only trouble followed; his brother was in pain, his father hid his, but it was there, and even Sola and Geron were struggling with hiding their relationship.
They traveled for another hour until they finally came to a village; it was in shambles, the houses burned and corpses lining the road.
Michael could see guards walking in between the corpses, dragging them onto a pile, preparing to bury them. His stomach began to turn as he saw the dead, but he forced himself to keep looking, these wouldn¡¯t be the last he would see in his life after all.
In the center of the town were the survivors, by the look of it nearly half the village had been slaughtered mostly the men, this was nothing like what Father had told them. The brigands had robbed until now and only killed those who resisted. What had changed here?
They rode into the village square and instantly found the one in charge, a man in a coat of arms with a yellow tree on brown ground. He was a member of the baron¡¯s family of these parts but not the baron himself; the baron was nearly sixty as far as Michael remembered and this man was in his late twenties at best.
Lord Rowan stopped his horse in front of the noble and a guardsman quickly moved to hold the horse while he dismounted, the rest following his example.
¡°Report,¡± Lord Rowan addressed the noble without open emotions, but Michael knew that he had to be upset at his people being slaughtered.
The noble quickly bowed and started talking as Michael and Matthias joined their father. ¡°Milord, my name is Ulric, son of Baron Trebon. Your visit is quite a surprise. We have been hunting the brigands for some time already, but they keep skipping over borders into other baronies, and that makes it difficult to pursue them. Not everyone seems to take them too seriously, but I am sure that we will have them pinned down soon, this is nothing you need to concern yourself with.¡± He finished his short explanation with another bow and Michael could see the stress in his movements.
It was a short and precise explanation of why they were not at fault for their continuing failure to capture or report the brigands and Michael made an annoyed face at the waste of time. Lord Rowan seemed to share Michael¡¯s opinion and said, ¡°Does his burning village look like something irrelevant to you, Sir? Does this mountain of corpses give you so much confidence that you want to refuse help?¡± Ulric quickly shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s what I thought. So, I don¡¯t need excuses, I need a report, now.¡± His voice cut through Ulric, and he stood straighter.
¡°The brigands attacked this village yesterday, Milord. The survivors said that they tried to defend their homes and didn¡¯t want to give up their livestock. This is a wild area so they are used to fighting small monsters and brigands, but this was more than they could take. The brigands killed everyone that resisted and set their homes alight as punishment for resisting and then vanished.¡±
¡°How many are there?¡±
¡°Around twenty, some said more some less but that seems to be about right from what we knew already.¡± Lord Rowan frowned, and Matthias joined in, ¡°That is less than I thought, how come you haven¡¯t hunted them down yet, and don¡¯t tell me barony borders, twenty bandits should be easy picking for even a small group of knights, and they have been robbing and murdering for weeks.¡±
¡°It is not that easy,¡± Ulric tried his hardest to not let his hurt pride show, but Michael could see that he was a bellicose man. ¡°They have augmenters and mages.¡±
¡°WHAT,¡± Lord Rowan bellowed, ¡°They have augmenters AND mages, and you didn¡¯t report any of it? You haven¡¯t even called the Inquisition?¡±
¡°We were sure we could take care of it once we got a hold of them and we still are, Milord. There was no reason to trouble your lordship or the most holy Inquisition with such a matter,¡± Ulric tried to defend himself, but excuses would never have any effect on the stoic Lord Rowan.
¡°I will have a chat about this with your father and all those involved later,¡± Lord Rowan growled, and Michael could feel the pressure rising, he had only learned recently how difficult it was to do that outside of a room and that his father was one of four people in the kingdom who had this strong control over his mana.
¡°What can you tell me about the bandits?¡±
¡°T-the leader is a man called Oak; we have no real name. He is at least a mana-sword-level augmenter. There are a couple of weaker augmenters as well, but we have no exact information on them. There are two mages one with wind and one with fire affinity. That is all we know.¡±
Lord Rowan let his fingers drum on his arm as he thought. ¡°Fire is dangerous, especially in this wooded area.¡± He turned around, ¡°Kiran!¡±
The mage walked forward and nodded respectfully, ¡°What can I help you with?¡±
¡°Are you participating in this fight or are you just here to teach Michael?¡±
¡°Oh, I will fight, these damn rogue mages are really bad for the reputation of us law-abiding mages.¡± Kiran looked excited at the prospect of fighting and Michael couldn¡¯t fault him for it, few other things in his life were as exciting as crossing blades with someone skilled, even though he never had a magical duel to judge.
¡°Good, I would ask you to control the fire mage then, we can¡¯t have him burn down the whole forest with us still in it.¡±
Kiran nodded, ¡°I will focus on the fire mage, but I will probably be able to deal with both mages; mages don¡¯t live long enough to become powerful if they join brigand groups after all.¡±
¡°Good. Eydis, you are a good tracker?¡± Eydis looked at the count for a moment before she nodded with confidence. ¡°I would like you to join me and Matthias in tracking them down.¡±
She looked at Michael and he shrugged, ¡°Your decision.¡± He hoped she would agree, it would show her in a positive light in front of the knights and nobility, the same as Kiran.
She turned back to Lord Rowan and nodded.
¡°Okay, Ulric you are going to come with us, and we will leave in ten minutes.¡±
¡°I will mobilize my men,¡± Ulric said but was quickly stopped.
¡°No, we are enough for this task,¡± Lord Rowan said, it was obvious that the Lord didn¡¯t trust them to stand at the side of his knights.
¡°Aren¡¯t greater numbers advantageous in a battle, milord,¡± Ulric argued. Michael suspected that he didn¡¯t want to lose face by just riding along with his liege¡¯s party after they had failed to capture the brigands.
¡°This is not a battle, this is a hunt and quality goes over quantity in such situations, don¡¯t worry you will get to fight at the front line with us,¡± Lord Rowan ended the discussion and turned around.
The noble bowed enthusiastically even though the count couldn¡¯t see it anymore. At least he is not a coward, Michael thought and turned to his retainers.
¡°The first fight then,¡± he said into the group.
¡°You are not going to fight, milord,¡± Geron said with an amused expression.
¡°Yeah, I know but still.¡± Michael was excited for his first fight. He had heard so many stories and he would finally be able to tell his own.
Geron looked at Kiran with concern and said, ¡°Michael, I have told you before, fighting with your life on the line is not fun. Many get traumatized on the spot, I thought you would get that after your run-in with the monsters in the capital.¡±
¡°That was only because I wasn¡¯t strong enough,¡± Michael argued; he knew that it was dangerous, but the thrill of battle was still there.
Geron got down on a knee in front of Michael and looked him in the eyes, ¡°Promise me that you won¡¯t do anything stupid, you will stay out of the fight and just observe and do anything we tell you to.¡±
¡°I promise and I understand your concern; this is dangerous, but I am certain that you will protect me.¡±
¡°With my life, milord,¡± Geron said with a smile.
¡°This is all very heartwarming, but I have to relieve myself, and I would recommend you guys do the same before we leave,¡± Kiran said and walked away, destroying the moment.
Chapter 38.
Michael
It took a while to find the brigands; according to Kiran they had used wind magic to hide their tracks but with three great trackers they managed to follow them without footprints. It took them half a day nonetheless, even though the bandits weren¡¯t actually camped that far away in the first place, probably overconfident with their past success and magical support.
They had found them shortly before nightfall and Lord Rowan had decided to wait till dark. Lord Rowan would then attack the camp first and after they had gained the attention of the brigands a second group led by Sir Godfrey would attack from the other side with a smaller group and devastate them.
¡°Repeat again what you are going to do,¡± Matthias ordered Michael with a strict expression. Michael made an annoyed face; he had repeated his orders two times already.
¡°I will move up with the rest of you, once we reach the border of the camp I will stay there and watch the fight. Geron and Kiran will join the offensive and Eydis will stay with me to protect me from anyone who manages to wiggle through. I will not intervene unless absolutely necessary and I will fall back and report to the next larger town should the attack go sideways.¡±
Matthias studied him for a moment longer and then nodded, ¡°Good.¡± He then smiled and patted Michael¡¯s shoulder, ¡°Stay safe, and don¡¯t do anything I wouldn¡¯t do.¡±
Michael smiled back, ¡°You stay safe too, and good luck.¡± Matthias turned around after a focused nod and sneaked forward to his father¡¯s side.
It wouldn¡¯t be long now; it had been dark for a couple of hours already and the noise from the brigand camp had died down. Michael was wondering how they stayed hidden so long with the ruckus they had made.
Michael breathed slowly, the custom chain vest he wore was uncomfortable while kneeling. His sword was still in its sheath and his small wooden shield was strapped to his left arm. All bore the insignia of House Rowan and Michael was proud beyond comprehension to stand beside his idols while wearing it. In this situation, it was more like behind them, but it counted, at least in Michael¡¯s mind.
Lord Rowan raised his hand and signaled his men to advance, and they began to move toward the camp as silently as possible. It was not easy for the knights but at least they had wrapped their armor in cloth to reduce accidental noises.
Michael kept close to the man in front of him, and now the moment was starting to get a hold of him, and his heart started beating faster. He tried to take deep breaths but the clump in his throat didn¡¯t help.
He wanted to push some mana into his body, it made him uncomfortable to have no mana circulating, but they weren¡¯t allowed to, if their mages were any good and awake, they would notice the change in mana immediately and know they were coming.
They were close to the camp when the guards spotted them, ¡°ATTACK, ENEMY ATTACK!¡±
Michael let his mana flare up at the same moment and the knights dashed forward. Lord Rowan was the first to reach the lookout and rammed his sword into the surprised man.
The second guard was similarly quickly killed as the first when a torrent of water blew his head off.
The knights were right behind their leader and broke into the camp. This fight would be a short one, they had the element of surprise and were already there while the enemy was still scrabbling to get up.
As Michael reached the corpses of the first guards a shiver went down his spine and suddenly a flood of black rolled over the camp.
Surprised calls began to echo in the darkness as Michael came to a sliding halt, ¡°DARK MAGE!¡±; he was blind and confused. It reminded him of the shadow crusher in the capital, but this darkness was deeper, it was night, and there was no residual light left in the forest to weaken the dark. Michael instinctively tried to conjure a light but failed, he couldn¡¯t gather enough light.
Panic set in as the screaming intensified and his heartbeat was so loud that he thought he would go deaf.
Bum Bum Bum Bum Bum
The darkness began to push in on Michael as if it had physical weight. I have no light. They are fighting in the dark. What am I going to do? Why am I panicking like this?
A hand touched him on the shoulder, and he nearly had a heart attack; he jumped away and wanted to slash at the person, but his mind was faster and told him that it was Eydis, which was supported by the whistling noise that she always made to catch his attention.
¡°We need to help them,¡± Michael whispered to her, not knowing why he was whispering. He couldn¡¯t see her, but he felt her close to him. She pulled him back, away from where the camp would be, but he dug in his heels and ripped free. ¡°No! We need to help!¡±
There was no way to see what she was signing, so he just turned around and thought. Her sudden interruption had cleared his mind somewhat, he felt her hand brush against him again as she tried to find him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry I won¡¯t run in, but I need to do something against these shadows.¡±
He raised his hands and concentrated. I need to gather some light, just a little bit from outside of the darkness. His mana spread out and grasped at every little part of light he could grasp. A small light began to materialize in his hand but the amount of mana he had to spend on even illuminating his own hand was great.
He kept concentrating but he couldn¡¯t find enough light, and the screaming grew louder. ¡°STAY TOGETHER, LISTEN TO YOUR SENSES, PROTECT YOUR BACKS!¡± That was his father¡¯s voice.
Michael gritted his teeth and focused harder when suddenly a small spark appeared a couple of meters in front of him and vanished a moment later.
Michael knew what that was and put his hands together and waited. The spark reappeared a moment later, but this time Michael was ready. He dragged as much light as he could from the spark and bound it in front of his constructing sigil. It was a simple spell he was creating, just a single line of symbols formed in a circle before his hands.
He needed one more spark, so he waited for another spark two seconds later, he dragged all the light he could from it and added it to his spell.
¡°You screwed up,¡± Michael said with a grin and activated his spell. The circle began to spin and glow, not really giving off any light.
After spinning up to its maximum speed the sigil vanished and four large light orbs appeared; they shot forward into the camp, each of them illuminating a small area around them.
The orbs broke the darkness a little, it was not much but Michael could at least see the knights only four meters away.
It had only been a couple of seconds since the lights went out, but three knights had already gone down, the rest were fighting off the brigands; they seemed way more comfortable fighting in the dark.
Just as the light illuminated the battlefield another fireball formed in the hands of a man in the back. The moment it did, a torrent of water enveloped it, extinguishing it on the spot.
Michael could see Kiran weaving a sigil in each hand and Michael was in awe for a moment how that man could concentrate on multiple spells at once. The right-hand one was a ball of water directed at the fire mage. A stream of water was connected to the other sigil and spanned over the ranks of knights and brigands, moving like a living creature while being bombarded by an invisible force. It was a continuous spell that was still being controlled after casting and raised Michael''s respect even further for the wielder.
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The fighting parties stopped for a split-second as they were bathed in the sudden light; Lord Rowan was again the first to react, barreling down on the man in front of him but to Michael''s surprise he blocked the attack. "IDAS IS WITH US, HIS LIGHT SURROUNDS US, PRESS FORWARD!" The knights pushed with renewed vigor and the brigands began to fall, robbed of their advantage.
Michael ripped his gaze from the bloody melee and tried to find the dark mage; his lights wouldn''t last for long, but he doubted that the enemy could hold up his darkness for long either, even with such favorable conditions. While he was still scanning the camp the darkness suddenly vanished as the second part of the attack approached, with Sir Godfrey at their helm dragging a struggling man at the throat behind him. His five accompanying knights charged past him into the fight. Their approach had been masked by the yelling and clashing of steel, so they took the bandits by complete surprise.
The fire mage died a moment later, he got distracted by the sudden flanking attack and paid for it with a blast of water crushing his chest. After defeating one, Kiran was able to concentrate more on his fight with the air mage and pressed his attack. Michael couldn''t make out the other mage from behind the front as he was way less flashy than the fire mage but when the water stream crashed down to a short scream, he was sure that Kiran got him.
Most of the bandits threw down their weapons after losing their magical support. The only one still standing was a burly man, an untended forest for a beard and fire in his eyes. The knights formed a ring around him and Lord Rowan, while others bound the prisoners and Michael stepped closer to see the fight.
"I will not live to see the noose, you noble scum," he yelled and charged Lord Rowan.
"If you want to die right here and now," he replied and raised his sword over his head.
The brigand slashed before he reached Lord Rowan and a bright silver mana blade detached from his sword.
Lord Rowan''s sword began to glow as he let it crash down, right through the mana blade and at the same time shoot his own at the brigand. The man blocked it in the last moment with gritted teeth, but Lord Rowan was right behind his attack and with a swift but powerful strike chopped the brigand leader''s head off.
It hit the ground before his body did and the knights cheered in victory.
"Take care of the wounded, bind the captives, and gather the stolen goods," Lord Rowan ordered, not missing a beat.
Michael walked through the battlefield trying not to throw up from the guts and corpses but still trying to get used to them. He got nods of thanks from multiple knights he came across.
"Michael," he turned around and saw a bloodied Matthias walk his way with a smile, "Good job with the lights, I thought I was a goner there."
"Are you hurt," Michael asked him concerned, and tried to see through the blood.
Matthias waved him off with a smile, "Nothing serious."
Michael relaxed a little more as he also saw Geron help an injured knight up.
"The light seemed a little useless after Sir Godfrey grabbed the dark mage right after," Michael said with a shrug.
"Oh, don''t be like that," Matthias punched his shoulder. "One guy nearly took my eye out, sneaky fucker, but I saw it coming at the last moment because of your light."
"Is that right?" Michael''s voice got higher as he looked at his brother with renewed concern.
"Ehhh no. That was actually later but it might have come in clutch for one of the others," Matthias laughed at Michael''s annoyed expression.
Michael sat his brother down and inspected his wounds like Sola had shown him; they were not too much trouble just a bruise and a shallow cut on the arm.
"You should have seen the other one," Matthias joked, "Oh wait you can, it¡¯s that guy over there without a shirt on." He pointed at a corpse with a gaping split in his torso and Michael had to breathe deeply not to hurl. "Oh sorry, forgot this is your first time. You are handling it well; I had a mental breakdown even though I didn¡¯t even fight."
Michael looked up from his work when he heard horses approach; they had left them behind at the edge of the forest to not give them away and they shouldn''t be here already. With the horses were two men - they had only left one behind - and one of them approached Lord Rowan, Michael knew him, he was a knight of their house who had stayed behind in Reen.
He bowed and gave him two letters. They exchanged some words while the lord read, and Michael watched intently. After a while, Lord Rowan turned around and spoke with Godfrey for a moment before he called, "Michael, come over here."
Michael looked at Matthias surprised and then just walked over while the other knights gathered as well, intrigued about what was going on.
"What is the matter, Father?"
The count said nothing and so they waited in silence until Sir Godfrey returned with a prisoner in tow. Michael recognized him to be the dark mage; he was easy to tell apart with his pale skin, contrasting black hair, and skeletal figure. His hands and feet were bound, and he looked miserable.
Godfrey threw him on the ground in front of Michael and he looked at his father with confusion.
"Kill him," Lord Rowan simply said, his expression was made of stone.
Michael blinked, looked at the man on the ground, and then blinked again. "Pardon me?"
"I said kill him," his father repeated with not a hint of emotion in his voice.
The silence in the camp was giving this situation a near dream-like atmosphere as everyone just looked at Michael or his father in confusion.
"I, ..., he is a prisoner," Michael stammered; his father was serious, and he knew it.
"I am the lord of these lands, I sentence him to death for murder, waylaying, and a dozen other things. Now, kill him."
"Father, what are you doing," Matthias protested.
"No one will interfere," Lord Rowan growled and a small shock wave pushed against the onlookers.
Michael stared at the man lying in front of him. His heart pounded, his hands got sweaty, and his mind raced. What is Father thinking? Is this a test? What should I do? I can''t simply kill someone!
"What are you waiting for?" The calm voice ran down Michael''s spine and he looked up at his father in shock. "What is the problem? You don''t want to kill a bound man? Is it that?"
He drew his sword and cut the man¡¯s bindings. "Stand up!" The man did so, and their audience shifted uncomfortably.
"Why, Father?"
"You need to learn to kill. Kill him."
Michael stared at the man as the seconds passed, he didn''t know what to do; this man would die anyway but something inside of him told him not to kill him.
"I don''t have time for this," Lord Rowan said and pulled out a knife, throwing it in front of the dark mage, "Kill him and you will be free."
"What?!" Matthias yelled and Eydis moved forward but was stopped by the hulking Sir Godfrey. Geron just stood there in shock and Kiran inspected the knights around him, who in turn looked at the mage with concern, remembering the spectacle in battle. "What the hells are you doing, Father?!" Matthias was livid but he was also stopped by a knight from going forward.
¡°Are you for real,¡± the dark mage asked, even more, confused than anyone else present.
¡°I am.¡±
¡°Hells, even if you are not, I am gonna murder that light brat,¡± the man picked up the dagger with a smile.
¡°No magic, darkling,¡± Lord Rowan warned him and then stepped back. ¡°Defend yourself, Michael, or die.¡±
What is going on? Michael¡¯s mind was overloading, out of the corners of his mind, voices began to echo, too quiet to understand.
He drew his sword with a shaky hand and lowered into a fighting position. He breathed heavily even though he had not done anything yet. His head drummed in the tact of his heart.
Then the thug attacked, he was clumsy, and definitely not used to fighting. Michael could have easily struck him down where he stood but he hesitated and had to block the strike with his shield. He slid back from the impact and noticed with a curse that he had lost his grip on his mana.
¡°STOP THIS,¡± Matthias yelled but Michael couldn¡¯t hear him as the voices in his head began to get louder and louder.
¡°Kill him, defend yourself!¡± ¡°No, there are other ways!¡± ¡°Kill and survive, protect your loved ones!¡± ¡°You need to be better!¡±
The thug swiped at Michael again, distracted by the voices, and without his mana he was slower than he had ever been, the dagger chipped his nose, and he tumbled back with a scream.
¡°FATHER!¡±
Michael was tumbling back, the pain numbed by the voices yelling to drown out the other.
¡°FIGHT! SURVIVE! PROTECT!¡± ¡°THIS IS NOT YOU, MICHAEL!¡± ¡°YOU CAN¡¯T CHANGE ANYTHING IF YOU DIE HERE!¡± ¡°HOW CAN WE CHANGE THINGS IF WE ARE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!¡±
The dark mage¡¯s face came into Michael¡¯s view, drawn out of shape by a devilish grin, Michael saw the knife blink in the dark, it was coming for his throat, but he couldn¡¯t move. Every time he told his arm to block, he told it to attack at the same time; every time he told his legs to move back, he told it to advance.
Either would have worked but in his panic, he did the one thing that meant death, he simply did nothing.
¡°NOOOOO!¡±
The thug was pushed back by an invisible force. Michael fell on his backside still in trance.
¡°I won¡¯t have enough mana to save you again, defend yourself, or perish,¡± his father¡¯s voice cut into Michael¡¯s brain.
¡°YOU TOLD ME TO KILL HIM AND NOW YOU INTERVENE,¡± the brigand screamed like a madman.
¡°I never said I wouldn¡¯t but as I said I don¡¯t have enough mana to do that again.¡± His cold voice was barely hearable with the sounds of struggle from Eydis and Matthias who gave it their all to get past their respective obstacles. ¡°MICHAEL, PLEASE FIGHT! HE IS NOT GOING TO STOP.¡±
Why? Why? Why? Stop, please. STOP, TALKING! He wanted to scream but no sound left his mouth, he wanted to grab his head, but his arms didn¡¯t move.
¡°YOU WILL DIE!¡± ¡°YOU WILL HATE YOURSELF IF YOU DO THIS! ¡°WHAT IS A LIFE WORTH IF YOU DON¡¯T DEFEND IT!¡± ¡°PLEASE, WE CAN¡¯T, WE CAAAAN¡¯T!¡±
¡°FIIIIGHTT!!!¡± ¡°NOOOOOO!!!¡±
Michael¡¯s eyes focused, the thug had made it halfway toward him already. Michael¡¯s mana flared up high and he was on his feet in an instant.
It took him two steps to close in on the man, whose face was a mask of surprise. He raised his dagger to defend himself, but he was too slow, and a dagger not suited to protect him.
Michael pushed himself off the ground and body-slammed into the man with his sword pointed straight at his heart.
The man just stared Michael in the eyes as his life faded and what he saw were eyes filled with tears. As the man dropped so did the salty drops from Michael¡¯s face. He just stood there his mind cold, a feeling of pride and disappointment ringing in it.
Chapter 39.
Michael
Blood dripped off his hands as he stood in front of his human kill. He felt numb and lost.
"Get out of my fucking way," Matthias yelled as he pushed a knight to the side and ran to his brother. He put himself between Michael and the dark mage and grabbed his shoulders.
"You alright?" Michael didn''t answer, his eyes focused on the corpse even though his brother was blocking sight of it. "Michael, talk to me."
He took a deep breath and said, "I am alright."
"Sure," Matthias said and carefully wiped the blood off his nose, inspecting his wound. "It is not that bad but might leave a mark."
He turned around as Kiran got to them, pushing Matthias away to take care of Michael''s wound, and marched over to his father. "What is wrong with you? You force a ten-year-old to fight a thug in a life-and-death fight? Are you insane?!"
"He had to learn it one day and I would say it is better to deal with hesitation and doubt when in a controlled environment like this," Lord Rowan replied calmly, ignoring the blatant disrespect.
"He is TEN, I didn''t kill anyone until I was sixteen! He was lucky not to get seriously hurt!"
"Michael is different from you and the situation is different." He held up the piece of paper that the knight had brought him and said, "The king is dying, and I don''t know how much time I will have to take care of you anymore, so I took the opportunity to take care of this at least. He might need to defend himself soon and I don''t want to see him die because it was his first time."
Michael''s head spun around at the mention of the king''s imminent death, much to the dismay of Kiran. Matthias was also stopped in his tracks, "What does this mean?"
"It means that the kingdom might have difficult times ahead and I might not be home a lot so you will need to be able to defend yourselves."
Matthias thought for a moment and then said, "This was still not the best way to handle something like this. ... Are we going to head for the capital?"
Lord Rowan nodded, "Yes, we will, if we are fast enough, we might get there before he passes."
"Okay," Matthias said with a sigh.
Lord Rowan walked past him and toward Michael. "Good work, son." Michael looked at him with a blank stare, no words he wanted to share came to mind so he stayed silent.
The count turned around and left, barking orders at his knights to make ready to leave and splitting the group into those taking in the bandits and those accompanying him.
Michael followed him with his eyes for a while until Geron came walking over. Eydis blocked his path and pushed the knight, angrily signing at him, "What kind of a protector are you? Just standing around while your ward is fighting for his life?"
"I had my orders," Geron tried to defend himself, but Eydis was having none of it. "Screw your orders, you swore to protect him from all dangers."
"I also swore to follow my liege''s orders, but you wouldn''t understand that," Geron spat back infuriated.
Eydis looked like she would take a shot at the knight, so Michael said loudly. "Oh, knock it off, you two." They looked at him. "I really can''t deal with your squabbling right now, so stop it or do it somewhere else," his eyes piercing them until they looked at him surprised by the sudden harsh tone.
"Make ready to leave, we are heading for the capital."
"Are you alright, Michael," Kiran asked him.
"No, I am not but I will deal with it."
"You should talk about it," he started again carefully but Michael shut him down. "I said I will deal with it," he repeated and stomped off.
His retainers looked at each other with concerned looks but did as they were told.
It took them only a couple of minutes to get everyone ready to go and to get back on the street if you could call it that. Michael was lost in thought for a long time until Matthias came up next to him.
¡°Those mages were pretty scary huh,¡± Matthias said and looked at Michael.
¡°What,¡± Michael didn¡¯t entirely listen.
¡°The battle between Kiran and those mages, I thought it was pretty scary, with the fireballs and stuff,¡± Matthias repeated himself.
Michael knew what he was doing but refused to engage in it, ¡°I believe that it showed the potential of mages. If Kiran wasn¡¯t there, we would have suffered many more casualties.¡±
¡°That is true, you always know what to say,¡± Matthias said while nodding to himself.
¡°I don¡¯t want to talk about it. I fought for my life and now someone is dead, end of story. We have much more pressing matters to worry about.¡±
Matthias nodded overdramatically, ¡°Right, right, we have to make sure that we don¡¯t fall off our horses on the way to the capital and of course worrying over the king and what might happen will help the situation tremendously.¡±
Michael gritted his teeth and looked over at his brother, ¡°Alright, I killed a man even though my mind was screaming at me to not do it and now I feel numb and hollow. The best part is though that my own Father send me against a murderous brigand dark mage which makes me wonder if he even cares about my wellbeing at all.¡± Michael stared at his older brother for a moment and then added, ¡°Wow, I feel absolutely great now, thanks for the talk.¡±
They rode next to each other in silence for a minute or two until Matthias spoke again, ¡°I had to kill the first time on patrol, the bandits came out of nowhere and attacked us, probably not understanding what they were up against. I had no time to think, I had to defend myself and killed one of them. I thought I was fine because I had no choice and went on with my life. The next time I was in a fight I saw the face of the man I had cut down and I hesitated. I nearly died because of it; Sir Zeke saved my life. You can ask him; I am not making this up. That is why I am trying to talk to you about it, you need to have dealt with it until your next fight and you won¡¯t by burying it.¡±
Michael kept staring at the road before him and stayed silent.
¡°You don¡¯t have to talk to me about it but find someone, doesn¡¯t matter who. You will feel better afterward. Concerning our father, I can only say that he wants the best for us in his rough and rigid way. I might not agree with everything, but I don¡¯t believe that he would have let the brigand hurt you, well seriously I mean.¡± He slowed down and let Michael gain some distance. He was left with his thoughts again and they circled around what Matthias had said.
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It wasn¡¯t him killing someone that disturbed him the most, he had killed animals and small monsters before, and humans were not that far of a leap. What really haunted him were the voices in his head. He had felt them before, whispering to him but he had always put them off as his subconsciousness, but this was different.
There were two of them, and they had been screaming, nearly breaking his mind. Michael sat on his horse, wholly cut from reality as he thought about it.
Maybe the twins were right, and I have a demon talking to me, Michael thought. He would never tell anyone about this, he decided. He would do what he thought was best and not get manipulated by the voices; maybe they were benevolent, but he wouldn¡¯t risk it.
The journey was a quiet one; they began moving double time once they left the forest and reached better roads. Michael didn¡¯t talk very much in the breaks they took and was content with listening to the conversations of others.
They weren¡¯t alone on the road instead had met a lot of similarly hurrying nobles, but Lord Rowan hadn¡¯t stopped to make conversation. With his stoic demeanor, they reached the capital in record time.
When they reached the main gate, Michael finally understood the catastrophe that was about to happen. It was completely swamped with people, carriages, and horses trying to get into the city. People were screaming at each other, swinging their family crests around, and here and there some even threw hands.
¡°What shall we do, milord? There is no fast way to get through this,¡± Godfrey addressed his liege with a calm expression.
¡°We should try another gate,¡± Matthias suggested but Lord Rowan shook his head. ¡°It will be the same at every gate. There is not one noble in the kingdom who won¡¯t try to be here to make a good impression with the soon-to-be new, young, and influenceable king.¡±
¡°So, what are we going to do then,¡± Matthias asked.
His father turned his horse to the side and started riding away along the wall. ¡°Follow me, I know a way inside.¡±
They followed the walls until they reached a large tower approximately a kilometer from the next gate. Michael looked at the building but couldn¡¯t see an entrance anywhere nearby.
¡°My name is Cedric Rowan, Count of Reen and Emall. I have been called by the king! open the gate!¡±
For a moment nothing happened until a head poked out from the top of the tower. ¡°There is no gate here! Move along!¡±
The count stayed calm as he replied, ¡°I have entered through this gate in the time of the rebellion, I know it is here. Open up or I will personally tear it down.¡±
Cedric
Cedric hurried through the hallways of the palace; the servant who was supposed to guide him struggling to keep up with the count. He turned around a corner and finally reached the chambers of the king. Two of the silver Kingsguard knights flanked the large door, both donning their lion-shaped helmets. The right one - armed with a great sword - opened the door as he saw the Count of Reen approach and the left one - armed with a tall shield and a sword hanging from his hip - said, "The king is expecting you, Lord Rowan."
Cedric brushed past them with a nod and continued through the elaborate quarters of his friend. Johann had always been like this; his private rooms were large enough to house three families in luxury and were decorated rich enough to rival the whole worth of a town. Cedric didn''t care for any of it and moved on until he reached the king''s bed chambers.
Gavin Strom stopped him in front of it and they grabbed each other''s wrists. "It is good that you have come, Cedric," the commander said, his expression was dark, and his eyes filled with sadness. Cedric knew how he felt; losing someone against a foe that one could not even try to fight was the worst thing to happen to a warrior.
"How is he doing, Gavin?"
The man shook his head while he spoke, "He is weak, the priest healer says he has a day or two at most. A lot of mana has gathered in him, and his body is too weak to survive the shock of releasing it."
Cedric clenched his hands to fists. "Will you let me in?"
"Of course, just remember, don''t release even a speck of mana or you might take what little time he has left."
Cedric knew this but he didn''t take the reminder as an insult, rather as the concern it truly was. He nodded and the silver knight let him pass.
The room was filled with people; he could see the queen and her children at the king''s side, and all of them looked devastated. In the corner he noticed a robed Idas priest with a silver sun pendant, marking him as an anti-mage of the order of purity; he was constantly mumbling incantations, Cedric guessed that he was draining mana from the room. In addition to the mage, he could see three more priests in the room, two of them praying for Idas''s salvation and the last one being the archpriest of the kingdom. Finally, there were a couple of nobles present, Duke Wallsten and Duke Wulfen being the most important ones.
Most turned toward the new arrival as he entered and in doing so opened the view upon the sick king. He looked drained, his cheeks and eyes had fallen in, his hair had mostly fallen out and he had lost a lot of weight. The most visible sign of the sickness though were his arteries; they were supremely visible and gave off a silvery light, giving the man''s body a spider-webbed look.
"Cedric," a weak voice sounded from the bed, it had hints of the strong voice that he remembered but still sounded so foreign that Cedric couldn''t believe it came from his old friend for a moment. "Everyone, leave us alone."
No one voiced any objections to this command, Cedric could see a variety of emotions though, from anger to sadness. Once even the anti-mage had left, Cedric walked over slowly to the side of his king and sat down on the chair the queen had used before.
They stayed silent as Cedric stared at the ground and Johann watched him while breathing slowly.
"It is good to see you, old friend," Johann finally said, "One final time."
"I am glad you are still alive," Cedric replied with a dry laugh.
"Barely," the sick man joined in with a burst of pained laughter.
They fell back silent until Johann began again. "You never gave me an answer."
Cedric couldn''t help but sigh, he had hoped that he would have to deal with this now but what other time was there? "I have my own children to take care of, Johann. If I move here, then they will be left without a father."
A violent cough interrupted him, and he gave Johann a cup of water. "Thank you. - ... - I made mistakes, Cedric. I thought I would have ample time to take care of them before my son would have to take over as king. I tried to take care of them in the last two years but doing that while keeping my sickness a secret and leaving a stable kingdom for my son was impossible."
He took another sip of his water before he continued while staring holes into Cedric. "I let people into my court, knowing fully well their ambitions because I could handle them, and they would be beneficial with a strong hand. My son is too young to handle this, and I need you to stay and keep them in check, Cedric. This kingdom will suffer otherwise and that would endanger not only my legacy but everyone in this realm."
"You mean Duke Wulfen," Cedric guessed; he had mostly kept out of the court''s affairs but even he knew of the ambitious duke and his schemes.
"He is one of them. He already is my chancellor, and he is doing a good job of it, my steward Lord Gretten is a pawn of his, so he already has control over two seats. The archpriest tries to become the next head priest of the church and will do anything to curry favor with the other archpriests so there is another selfish seat in my son''s future council. I need you to join it; no one can argue your qualifications and you can be a voice of reason that my son can listen to when the others try to push their own agendas."
"I have no experience in politics, and you know it. All I can do is command and kill," Cedric argued but Johann was having none of it. "You will be there as the voice of reason, my friend. Not to sugarcoat everything and you won''t be alone. I have already appointed Duke Greeich as Zenial''s mentor, he will take care of the politics and you will take care of telling him hard truths and protecting him. The next years will be unstable, I need to know there is someone on my son''s side who can handle it."
Cedric thought about his words; he knew there was no better option, the only other person who could fill this role without being challenged was Duke Torras, but that man was a born second in command, not someone who could take care of everything himself.
He didn''t want to do it, he had to take care of his children. He had already forced a faster development on Michael in anticipation of this situation, even though it was a strange coincidence how everything aligned. He wasn''t sure if it was the best idea now, he had banked on the emotional maturity of Michael and that he would manage but the boy had been distant and quiet on the whole way here. It was not usual that Cedric doubted himself, but he was still human.
He was ripped out of his spiraling thoughts by the king''s words. "This is my dying wish, Cedric. I won''t order you, but I hope you will honor me with your service this last time."
Chapter 40.
Michael
The king died the same day they had arrived. It was as if he had held on for them to arrive and after talking to Michael''s father nothing was left to make him fight.
The funeral was held the next day, they had been preparing for weeks. With the nature of the frontier county of Reen and the delayed arrival of the message due to them being on hunt, most of the important people had already arrived.
The funeral was a pompous event like anything the late king had participated in. They had brought the king outside of the city just to drive him back to the palace in a golden open carriage carrying his casket. As if he had died gloriously in battle.
The carriage was flanked by the members of the Kingsguard in their silver glory, as a sign of grief they had bound a black cloth over the lion eyes of their helmets. A lion doesn''t cry.
The carriage was followed by the royal family in grieving attire. Michael hadn''t been able to talk to either Zen or Mira yet, but he hoped he would be able to later at the funeral feast.
Behind the royal family followed every noble that meant anything. There were hundreds but in the front was not Duke Wulfen nor any other duke but House Rowan and House Grim on special command of the late king.
"I want to be followed by my friends and family first and not by the leeches that would spare me no second look if I wasn''t the king", he had said according to Lord Rowan.
Michael had seen Lord Wulfen''s dissatisfied look and it had given him a pang of joy in his dark thoughts.
The streets were utterly swamped. Michael had never thought that even more people could fit in the streets as he had seen on the final day of the festival, but he was proven wrong in a breathtaking spectacle of pressed bodies and wailing people.
The first stop was at the church where they had a three-hour-long sermon of the archpriest. He talked about salvation but also about enemies, mages, monsters, and heretics. Michael sat through it and tried to maintain a neutral expression, sitting in the front row sadly didn''t give him the anonymity of the crowd to show his true feelings.
The next step was in the palace graveyard where the king was placed in a large crypt, it was filled with the Merland family from the time when they were merely dukes.
It was a silent affair as no one would disturb the rest of the dead, only the gathered priests murmured the ritualistic incantations of the final rest. It was heartbreaking seeing Mira and Zen trying to hold back their emotions and having no way of helping them.
The last destination was the great hall. This time it wasn''t decorated in shining gold and silver but in dark colors, the lights had been dimmed and the windows hung with barely translucent drapes. There were no tables in the room, as there would never have been enough space for everyone.
The queen stood alone on the podium, her long black veil covering her face. Everyone was quietly waiting for her to speak, as it was her right to be the first to voice what she wanted to say about her husband.
It took a while until she started talking but when she did her voice was strong. "Today we lay to rest my husband, a great man and great king. We all grieve the loss of one of the best of us. We will face difficult days, but we will overcome them through the foundations built by Johann. I ask all of you to grieve with me and remember the values and goals we all pursued with our late king. I will miss him dearly; it was just too early, but fate is a cruel mistress and now it is our duty to keep his memory and his life''s work alive." Her voice cracked a little and Michael could hear the emotion even if he couldn''t see her face.
"I thank you all for coming. I-I have no words to describe what I am feeling and what he meant to me so I will not lose more words that would not do him justice and just listen to you. I hope you will have an easier time expressing what is in your hearts than me," she said and moved down the podium.
Lord Rowan was the next person to rise to the podium; the young children of the king were not expected to talk here, they had enough to deal with already.
"King Merland was my best friend for many years. We were the most unlikely friends one could imagine, an angry adventurer runt that would have loved nothing more than to beat anyone with more privilege than him to a pulp and a snobby heir to a dukedom. We couldn''t have been more different, but we made each other better men and I will be glad for the rest of my life to have met him. To protect his dreams, legacy, and most importantly his heir I have accepted his call to the position of Master of War, this is an oath and a warning that even though we have lost one great king, we still have another to replace him, and we are not weak." Lord Rowan''s gaze moved over the crowd, encouraging, and threatening at the same time.
Michael couldn¡¯t help but stare at his father and he could sense Matthias tense up beside him; he had not shared this decision with them but they both knew what it meant. He would leave home and not come back anytime soon. In this time of uncertainty, instability, outside and inside aggression that comes with a young and new ruler, he would have a lot of work to do.
Both of them stayed silent even though they had much on their mind, not wanting to air out in the middle of the funeral service.
It continued with the important people losing a couple of words, Michael''s uncle, the dukes, and some important figures of the kingdom but everyone kept it short, in reference to the queen''s speech. It still took over an hour.
After all the speeches were over, they moved into the gardens that had been prepared with an absurd number of tables for the guests. With this, the formal part of the funeral was over, and Michael walked over to the royal family to express his condolences and talk with his friends. It was quite hard to get close to them as nobles swarmed around but the Kingsguard managed to keep it civil and the space around the royal family reasonably clear. Most people were trying to talk with the queen or Zen anyway, so Michael slipped past them toward Mira.
She was dressed in a plain black dress as customary. She was standing next to her brother and smiled dutifully with her underlying sadness. Michael poked his head around the line of nobles and caught her gaze.
She said something to Zen and then came over to Michael who had stepped to the side a little and crashed into him with more power than he would expect from a girl of her age. She wrapped her arms around him, and he held her.
"I am sorry, Mira. This is just not fair," he said softly, and she grabbed him tighter. They stood there for a while before she separated herself from him and smiled with tears in her eyes.
"Sorry, that wasn''t proper," she said and wiped her tears away.
"It is your father''s funeral. Screw proper," Michael answered and glanced over to Zen, who was trying to get out of a conversation with an old count.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Mira laughed a little, "That is easy for you to say." She then gazed into the crowd before she quickly looked back to Michael. "I am happy that you are here, you need to defend me from annoying people, I don''t want to deal with them right now." Michael frowned, he wanted to ask her more about it, but it wasn''t the moment.
Zen had finally broken free of the endless conversations and joined them. "Michael, it is good to see you." He looked tired, the rings under his eyes deep, like he hadn''t slept in days, which was probably true. Michael took his extended hand and gave him his condolences.
"It is sad that we need to have such a sad event to get back together," Zen said with a forced smile.
"Where is Theodore? I haven''t seen him yet," Michael asked, wishing to see his friend as well.
Zen looked around and said, "He should be around here somewhere, probably with his father. He has been dragging the poor boy around everywhere he goes to teach him the trade but that mostly means following Duke Wulfen around or sitting in a dusty room. I am sure he will come around soon."
Michael nodded and then patted Zen on his shoulder, "Come on you two, time to get something to eat."
"Oh, I am not really hungry," Zen deflected with a smile but Michael was persistent. "You haven''t eaten anything since morning, it can be hard, but you will eat at least something little."
They were hassled the whole way by nobles who saw their chance to get a couple of words in with the future king.
After a particularly insistent man, Mira was visibly annoyed. "Can''t they leave us alone for one minute," she grumbled, which gained her a judgmental gaze from her older brother.
"These are the people that will either support or hinder my rule, Mira. So please be nice."
Mira rolled her eyes, but her expression changed to the neutral smile of royalty.
"Speaking of rule, do you have a date for the coronation planned," Michael asked.
"I wanted to wait but my mother insisted that we do it tomorrow to not seem leaderless."
"Tomorrow already," Michael replied surprised, "I guess there are precedents but are we this threatened? And what about the lords wouldn''t they need to vote first?"
"The vote will be tomorrow at dawn; I already have the support of all dukes and most counts. My father was prepared after all." The prince gave a sad smile when they finally reached the buffet.
They weren''t bothered as much while they were eating and began sharing their stories of the time since they last met. Michael purposefully left out his brush with the brigands; they had enough to worry about already.
"And then he yelled don''t you know who I am without knowing that Mira was the princess," Zen laughed wholeheartedly and Mira chuckled.
A hand impacted on Michael''s shoulder, and he spun around instinctively, grabbing onto it, ready to defend himself.
In front of him stood a reasonably confused Theodore. He had grown a lot and was more than a head taller than Michael, but his face still looked as soft as before.
Michael let go of his hand, "Theodore."
"Hey Michael, sorry for startling you," the boy said with a laugh, but Michael waved his apology away. "I shouldn''t be this jumpy on a funeral."
The happiness instantly vanished from Zen''s and Mira''s faces. Michael pressed his lips together noticing his mistake. What the hells is wrong with me, he thought.
They continued their conversations until Zen and Mira had to get back to their duties and only Theodore and Michael remained.
They stayed silent for a while until Theodore asked, "What is wrong?"
Michael looked over to his friend and wanted to laugh the question off and say nothing but the serious expression on his face gave him pause.
The words of his brother flew back into his mind, "You should talk to someone, it doesn''t have to be me but talk to someone."
This is my problem; I should deal with it myself. This thought felt wrong somehow, he couldn''t say why but he disagreed with it.
He sighed and let his defenses down, "I killed someone."
"Go on," Theodore said with a frown and so Michael told him the story of how they went to Emall to hunt down brigands, about the fight, and how his father forced him to fight and kill the dark mage. He left out the part with the voices in his head though.
"My father was ready to let me swim or drown basically," Michael finished his story.
Theodore stayed silent for a moment and then said, ¡°I think in a strange way he was looking out for you. Killing someone, especially a lowlife like this is something you will have to get used to.¡±
Michael frowned, ¡°But there had to be a better way for this than to send me into a life- and death-battle.¡±
¡°First of all, I don¡¯t think he would have actually let the bandit harm you; he just needed you to think it so you would fight with everything you had for your life ¨C the same what you would do in a normal fight - but I could be wrong about that. Secondly, he didn¡¯t have the time, you heard him he is now the Master of War, he will move here and guessing from his head over heels attempt to teach you something I am guessing you are not coming with him.¡± Theodore looked at Michael empathetically and Michael noticed how much the boy had matured in only two years. ¡°He did do it the moment he got the letter, that is what you said, right?¡±
He was right, everything he said made sense, but even though Michael didn¡¯t like the situation. He would have to talk to his father later anyway so he would just try to clear it up then.
¡°You are right, I just can¡¯t get the face of the man out of my head.¡± This was not the whole truth; he wasn¡¯t as haunted by the man he killed but by the voices he heard. He was constantly thinking back to the time when he first learned about being accused of being a demon child and now, he wasn¡¯t so sure himself anymore.
Theodore gave him an encouraging nudge, ¡°You did what you had to, most nobles would brag about their first kill, especially at your age.¡±
Michael smiled, talking to his friend had indeed helped even if nothing the boy had said actually solved any of his problems, just being back with his friends was soothing to Michael¡¯s soul.
A couple hours later Michael, Matthias, and their father were sitting around the table in their common room. They were all sitting silently, Lord Rowan inspecting and waiting for his sons to speak, Matthias fidgeting on his seat, and Michael just staring straight at his father.
They were alone, and Michael was glad about it. Lord Rowan didn¡¯t appreciate being questioned in front of anyone but in privacy he might allow Michael to blow up a little, at least he hoped that because he would do it either way.
¡°So, you are staying here,¡± Michael said with a cold tone, which garnered the attention of his father.
¡°I will, for now.¡±
¡°And I guess Matthias will take over for you at home then or is he also staying here?¡± A slight smile appeared on Lord Rowan¡¯s face which Michael couldn¡¯t place. ¡°He will be the acting count in my absence, he is old enough after all.¡±
¡°Good to know, would have been nicer to know earlier though. Does Mother even know? Did anyone know beforehand?¡± Michael had kept his temper under control the whole day, no, for a couple of days already and he was losing the fight.
¡°Your mother was aware of the possibility, and I don¡¯t have to discuss my plans with you,¡± Lord Rowan still smiled genuinely, which began to concern Michael, but he was too angry to stop.
¡°Great, I guess we will wing it, right Matthias, who needs preparations,¡± Michael said sarcastically and looked over to his brother who looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
¡°We follow your every whim, like governing the lands without previous notice. Fighting a life-or-death fight without ever having done anything like that. Is there maybe something else you don¡¯t want to tell us,¡± Michael stared at his father, expecting him to rebuke him or get angry but he didn¡¯t.
¡°I am proud of you. Both of you. I know I can be a difficult father and I know it might look cruel to let my ten-year-old fight a criminal, but this is the way I chose to raise you, to become strong, and I think it worked out well. I could say you were never in any kind of danger or that I had everything under control and that would be the truth but that is not what you want to hear.¡± The adult leaned back, still the smile on his face.
¡°You did good, and I can live with it if you hate me for this, but I stand by my decision and won¡¯t apologize for it. And yes, I kept things from you, and I will continue to keep things from you, but you will understand one day why.¡±
Michael¡¯s anger had evaporated, he had been so ready for a screaming match, to try and resist his father¡¯s pressure and stand his ground but his father had disarmed him in an instant. Michael didn¡¯t know how to deal with his calm father and Matthias still stayed quiet.
¡°I know my sons; I know their strengths and weaknesses, so I ask you Michael to support your brother in his rule while I am gone. Matthias, this doesn¡¯t mean that I don¡¯t trust you, but I think you know that.¡±
Matthias nodded and broke his silence, ¡°Yes Father, I would have asked him myself, I am not blind to my own abilities.¡±
The count nodded satisfied and then his smile faded a little. ¡°There is another thing I haven¡¯t told you. With the message of the king¡¯s sickness came another. Your brother Oska has vanished and left a letter stating that he went away to find his own way.¡±
Chapter 41.
Michael
With a stroke of his quill, Michael finished the page; he looked at it with an inquisitive gaze and then nodded when it passed his quality check. A cold breeze blew into the office where Michael was sitting, and he rose to peer through the large windows. He looked down on Reen with a smile, the winter had been rather mild, and the spring was taking hold again. Before he could lose himself in the sight a knock pulled him from his thoughts.
The door opened before he could answer and Geron entered followed by Sola. "Milord, everyone is starting to line up for your father''s arrival, you need to hurry," the knight said, he had already reminded him three times.
"Yes, I am done now let''s get going," he answered but was stopped in his tracks.
"Not like this, you aren''t," Sola said and looked down at his clothes.
"What do you mean," Michael asked and also took a look at himself; his clothes were wrinkled from the sitting and shifting in his seat and also stained with ink. "Oh, yeah I should change and probably wash up a little."
Sola smiled and clapped. Two handmaidens entered the room, one with a bowl of hot water and the other with a pile of clothes.
Michael came to a halt next to Matthias a couple of minutes later. The man looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "You made it, ¡, barely. And what happened to your hands?" They had gotten all red and so Michael said with a grin, "Turns out getting ink off your hands is not that easy if you let it dry too much." Matthias simply chuckled and turned back toward the gate.
It has been over half a year since the king had died and King Zenial had risen to the throne. Michael and Matthias hadn''t stayed long in the capital, only attending the coronation, and then leaving for Reen. His older brother had ruled with Michael''s support and had proven himself a competent leader with a good sense of what he could and could not do. Now their father was returning for Matthias''s imminent wedding.
Michael was looking forward to seeing his parents and sisters again; his mother had left for the capital shortly after they returned to aid her husband in the politics of the capital and had taken Michael''s sisters with her. She said it was to train them in the art of politics, but Matthias had guessed it was to show them off to the powerful houses.
A wordless signal went through the courtyard as the guards and knights stood at attention and the nobles followed shortly after. The first rider crossed the gate only a moment later, it was Lord Rowan himself on his large black steed. He looked tired, something Michael had rarely if ever seen. After him followed a small attachment of knights and then a richly decorated carriage. The nobles, knights, and guards got down on one knee while, Michael and his brothers lowered their heads.
Lord Rowan came to a stop in front of his sons and got off his horse. "Rise," he said to the other present and then stepped over to them.
"Welcome back, Father," Matthias said respectfully. His father simply nodded with a hint of a smile, "Sadly I won''t be able to stay long."
Their conversation had little time to develop any further when Lady Rowan joined them dotting about her sons whom she hadn''t seen in over half a year.
- Some time later in Lord Rowan''s study ¨C
Lord Rowan fell into his chair that he had not occupied in a long time, "So, how are my counties doing?"
Matthias and Michael took a seat on the other side of the table. Matthias cleared his throat and began, "The winter was very mild, which has led to a calm population. Everything is as usual, but we do experience a higher rate of beastmen raids from the east. This is not unexpected; the beasts have probably learned a while ago of your departure, but we are keeping them in check for now." He handed his father a statistic of the attacks.
After studying it for a while the count frowned, "I see boars, bears, foxes, but I don''t see wolves anywhere."
Michael nodded, "We noticed that too. It is quite strange that the clan that occupies the largest part of our border doesn''t seem to raid us. We assumed they took heavy losses in a tribal conflict or some sort of sickness and don''t want to provoke retaliation."
"They could also be watching what the other tribe''s raids accomplish and how we react and prepare a large incursion," Lord Rowan suggested.
Matthias frowned at that and scratched his head, "That could also be a reason. We should increase our border patrols and maybe place a couple more of the knights close to the border for a while to show strength."
"I agree. I will also talk to the king to prepare for the eventuality of an incursion, to be ready to lend swift aid."
"That also connects to some other things we would like to discuss with you, Father," Michael said and grabbed a stack of papers from the table. "You said we were not allowed to make big changes without your approval, so we have compiled a couple of things that we would like to show you."
He handed his father the first packet which he looked at with interest while Matthias explained. "The raids that cause the most damage are the ones that enter the land without being noticed. So, we propose to tighten our borders by expanding the already placed fortifications with smaller guard towers placed between them. They should be fortified enough that they can withstand a coordinated attack for a short while to light a signal fire and alert the next fort and reduce the time they can move unchallenged and even hold out until reinforcements come."
Lord Rowan studied the papers for a moment longer and then raised his head, "This is well put together and there have been suggestions like this before, but we cannot afford it."
Michael nodded, "Yes, we also found that it would be too expensive that is why we worked on this." He gave his father the next two stacks of paper. "The first one is a proposed reform of our tax system, taking the burden of tax collection away from the nobility and placing it in the hand of a new tax collectors¡¯ institution. We would have to invest a little bit of money to raise taxation forts to organize and protect our taxes. It would increase our tax revenue and reduce population unrest at the same time. If we have a dedicated tax institution their job would be to keep track of whom they taxed already and who they didn''t and make the collection process more efficient while at the same time prevent the over taxation of select communities."
"This wouldn''t go very well with the nobility," Lord Rowan interjected, "Can we just incorporate this institution under the command of the local nobility?"
Michael shook his head, "The nobility is the problem in this. I spent months collecting documents, population estimates, and the levels of trade and I estimate that we lose at least 30% of tax revenue to incompetence, lack of effort, and corruption on the side of the nobility. You can find that on pages eight through twelve."
Lord Rowan drummed his fingers on the table, he then laid the stack of papers down and looked at the second, "And what is this?" Michael knew that he didn''t like the idea of taking privileges away from the nobility, they tend to not take things like this lying down.
"Those are the foundations of a development plan for Emall that we have been working on, mostly infrastructure and surveying basics with cost estimates and a projected path that the development could take. There is much business to be had in Emall that is not being used and by increasing it we would in turn increase our tax income and general economic strength."
Lord Rowan shook his head slightly, "This is all very expensive, where will we take the money from?"
"We do have reserves to start these projects which are larger than projected because of the mild winter and we can lend more. They would pay for themselves rather quickly, by preventing damages of raids and increasing tax revenue," Michael explained, he had a couple more projects in mind, but he didn''t want to lead his father to the conclusion that he was overreaching by burying him in plans.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
"What do you have to say for this, Matthias? You would be the one to reap the benefits of these plans one day or the bloom of their failures." Matthias stayed silent while thinking of a good way to express his thoughts. "I don''t understand every calculation or even every reason for some things to happen that Michael stated but I can say that I understand the foundations and the problems that led to these plans. I can assure you they are real, the raids affect us, parts of the nobility are corrupt, and the economic power of Emall is just sad. I believe that these plans that we have drawn up are the best way to go forward."
"Where do you take these ideas from by the way," Lord Rowan looked at Michael inquisitively.
"It''s just things that I learned from Solon, Kiran, and Eydis. Different cultures and races have made advances that we haven''t and many of our own have been lost. I am just trying to reset the board to what it should be." Of course, this was not the whole truth, he had many more ideas that were more drastic than this and some of them came out of dreams he had been having more often lately and some came from the weird part of his mind that he couldn''t place.
"Alright then, I will look through these and discuss them with Lord Telp as well when we are in Emall for Janna''s birthday and the wedding," Lord Rowan said, "Once you follow us there later, we will talk again."
Michael nodded; his family except for him and the two youngest - because they were sick - would leave tomorrow for Janna¡¯s birthday, she was turning eighteen, and Michael would follow them two weeks later with the younger boys if they were better then. Someone had to rule after all when the whole family was gone.
Lord Rowan rose from his chair, "I will now spend the rest of the day listening to complaints about you two if you would excuse me." He smiled a little, but Michael knew that it was probably true. They weren''t allowed to make big changes but that hadn''t stopped them from making small ones and not all of them had been received well by everyone.
- The next day in the courtyard -
"We just got back and now we are leaving again," Lira groaned.
"Oh buhu, you can go to a party while Michael has to stay here and work," Matthias commented with a chuckle, "Have you had so many of those in the capital that you have grown sick of them already?"
"Oh, believe me, the capital is boooring, all you do is have tea parties and gossip," Lira rolled her eyes and Luciel interjected, "I actually like it, there are so many interesting things happening, and the fashion there is miles better than here."
"Who would have thought that you would like it," Lira said with more sarcasm than most people could handle.
"Oh, come on Lira, you could swap places with Michael," Luciel replied with a smile, not affected by her half-sister''s remark. "Hey, don''t punish me for her transgressions," Michael exclaimed to the amusement of his siblings. It was true he had volunteered to stay behind even though he would attend the wedding itself.
"We could ask for Harlov to stay behind, I don''t think he would mind," Matthias suggested again, he would rather have Michael there than Harlov.
Michael shook his head, "You know that is not gonna work. He just hasn''t been the same since Oska left, he has been introverted and quiet. I still can''t believe that he didn''t even utter a bad word about me for months."
"Losing your second half without warning can do that to you," Lady Rowan''s voice suddenly appeared behind them, "He took it hard, so I expect you kids to be nice to him." Ever trying to be a saint, Michael thought with a smile. She continued on to a group of servants tying down the chests.
"I really can''t feel sorry for him," Michael said a little guilty.
Luciel shook her head at that, "Don''t be, you got the worst of them and Oska chose his own way. I think it is better this way." Michael felt better with the assurance of his older sister, and they made a little chitchat.
"Make ready," Lord Rowan''s voice sounded from the front of the column and Michael could see the figure of his father lifting himself into the saddle.
"Take care of our home, we will see you in two weeks, dear brother," Matthias said with a smile. After a couple of short farewells, Michael watched his family leave.
- Two days later in the audience hall ¨C
"Milord, he defiled my daughter, how will she find a husband now that she is not pure anymore!" The man talking was a thin lesser noble; his daughter had slept with the son of a baron. "I demand that he marries her or at least pay restitution.¡±
Michael let his gaze fall onto the parties, the baron was also present with his son and looked just as angry as the father of the girl.
"Did you sleep with her," Michael asked the son of the baron.
"He did, milord," the baron answered for his son, "But he did not take her purity, it was lost already to several other men."
"Thank you for your insight, Baron, but I would appreciate it if the person I am talking to answers my questions." The baron apologized and stepped back.
Michael had been dealing with these cases the whole day already, some were easy where a large landowner claimed that the neighbor had moved the marking stones, but others were more complicated like this one.
"Is that true, milady? Has your purity already been lost beforehand?" Michael had already learned the basics of sexual acts after having a case like this and not really knowing what the thing was and Sola had shared the spiritual meaning of purity with him. He really didn''t get the significance of it, but the law was clear.
The father of the girl wanted to answer but Michael stopped him with a stern gaze. "Remember that lying in this court is a punishable offense." The woman avoided his eye contact and Michael knew the truth before she spoke.
"It is true, milord," she mumbled nearly too quiet to hear. Her father looked at her with disappointment and Michael sighed. "There is nothing for me to do then. The law is clear, I can neither compel this young man to marry you nor can I ask him to buy himself out of this responsibility. You would have to search out the man who was first."
"Milord, I beg of you, what will she become like this," the father begged.
"I am truly sorry, but this is the law."
An hour later Michael was in the office again, slugging through reports and working on his projects. He was still working on a written suggestion for his alchemy shop, he had never gotten the approval of his father before he stayed in the capital and Michael had decided to put it at a low priority as it was a personal request.
Solon entered with a knock, "Michael, could I have a word with you?"
"Uh, yeah sure, come in," Michael said while finishing a letter.
The dwarf walked inside and sat down. "I wanted to talk to you about the ruling you made today about the noble boy and girl."
Michael knew what case he meant, he put down what he was doing and focused on his teacher, "Yes that was a sad affair."
"Do you think it was right," Solon inquired.
Michael nodded, "It was the correct ruling in the eyes of the law."
"No, I mean do you think it was right?"
"Hm, I think it was the only choice to make. I couldn''t force the man to marry her, that would have been unlawful," Michael said after a short thought.
"How did you feel when you made that choice," Solon kept pressing. Michael wasn''t sure what his teacher was trying to get at, so he simply shrugged. "What is there to feel, it was a clear-cut decision that everyone could have made."
"Come with me," the dwarf said with a sigh and rose from his chair. Michael tried to protest that he had much work to do but his teacher just walked out.
Michael found himself in the gardens a couple of minutes later, sitting at a table with a set of Choice of Kings in front of him. "Why are we here playing, I really have many reports to go through," Michael protested again.
Solon looked at him calmly, "You are spending a lot of time with work, and I am gonna give you a lesson."
They played in silence; Michael was getting agitated because he couldn''t figure out what Solon wanted from him.
"As always you choose to be aggressive," Solon said and traded a pawn. Michael didn''t answer and put his queen next to Solon''s, if the dwarf took it, he would then be able to pin the queen and also get a knight, if he didn''t then Michael was pressuring his king''s side and had a good position.
"How do you feel about this move, Michael?" Solon looked at him and Michael was just confused. "It is a good move." Solon nodded, "Maybe even the best one from your perspective, but how do you feel about sacrificing your queen."
Michael frowned, "It is just a piece, this is the most sensical move, everyone would make it."
"It is but you are sacrificing something, you could have also moved your priest here and been in a good position without sacrificing your piece."
"But it would have been a worse move," Michael argued.
"True but what if that queen was your mother, what if that knight that you traded two moves ago was Geron? Those were all the correct moves from your point of view but what if the pieces weren''t just pieces but people." There was no accusation in the tone of the dwarf, but Michael was on the defense now. "I would do things differently if those were people."
"Like you did earlier," Solon asked, "You made the correct move, but did you stop to think about what it meant for this girl and her family? She will probably not be able to get married, she will get shunned and maybe even cast out of her family."
"What was I supposed to do? Force the man to marry her?" Michael now understood what Solon wanted to talk about and returned to his calmer self, interested in the thought experiment that the dwarf was proposing.
"It doesn''t matter what you should have done, what matters is, did you ever stop and think about what you could have done?" Michael paused, no he hadn''t. "I want you to think about it, this time it was one life, and she was partially at fault herself, she was not forced after all, but what if you lead an army." He pointed at the game board, "Will you also sacrifice everything to the best plan you can think of at the moment, or will you pause and think about better alternatives that might not be as fast but preserve your strength and the people that rely on you?"
Michael sat in silence thinking about it, would he make a decision like this when people he cared about were at stake? Would he sacrifice hundreds of soldiers he didn''t know to achieve a goal he could achieve in other harder ways?
Solon got up from his seat and moved his priest out of a corner attacking the king. Michael stared at the board noticing that he missed this move and that he would lose.
"Let''s call it a draw," Solon said with a smile and left Michael.
Chapter 42.
Michael
Screams filled Michael''s dreams, screams he knew but couldn¡¯t place. The clashing of steel and whistling of arrows, followed by the smell of blood.
Michael stood in a river of blood, faces that he couldn''t see passed by him. He tried to move but his feet were stuck in the riverbed. "What is happening," he tried to ask but his mouth didn''t obey his commands.
"They are coming," a dark and rumbling voice sounded around him causing ripples in the river.
"Who is coming," Michael asked in his mind but the voice didn''t answer.
"They are coming," it repeated, and Michael frowned.
"THEY ARE COMING, MICHAEL," the voice growled louder than Michael had ever heard, his ears felt like they would burst but he didn''t awaken. Michael could see a large creature move in the mist beyond his vision, but he couldn''t make out any details.
"WAKE UP MICHAEL! YOU! NEED! TO! WAKE! UP!"
Michael''s eyes sprang open, and he was face to face with a bearded man leaning over him. He recoiled in surprise for a moment and Michael saw the flash of a sword in his hand. The assasin raised it a moment later but his surprise at Michael''s awakening had bought the boy enough time.
He let his hand surge up and a flash of brilliant light exploded in the room fueled by the light of the full moon falling through the window, it wasn''t much but with a considerable amount of mana, it was enough to blind. The man yelled in pain as he staggered back his hands clawing at his eyes.
"What the fuck," another voice came from the direction of the door. Michael swung his head around and saw a second figure turning toward him. He jumped out of bed and charged the other attacker. His body fueled with mana as it never had been before Michael crashed into the second assassin causing him to stagger back and exhale heavily.
Michael pivoted to the side and ran past the man toward the door, but the assassin reacted faster than Michael expected and grabbed him from behind, throwing him back against the bed.
"Nasty fucker," the man said, and Michael got a glimpse at his face; he had a long scar over his whole face and was bald. He had no time to study it though as the bald man swung his sword at his legs; why he wasn''t aiming for his body he had no idea and no time to ponder about.
He jumped up on the bed avoiding the strike and then jumped at the still-blinded man with his knee first. It impacted the man''s face, and he went down between curses.
Michael spun around to the other man rounding his bed and growling, "Fast little rat, aren''t you."
"Who are you," Michael replied, he tried to buy time by getting the assassin into a conversation, but the man wasn''t biting. He charged Michael and Michael retreated and raised his hand; his room was very small so he didn''t have time to move so he just blasted the man with all the light he could gather.
It wasn''t enough the man had simply closed his eyes, but that was what Michael expected, it had happened multiple times to him before after all. The moment he unleashed his spell he was already on the move again jumping over the bed again and heading for the door.
He reached it and slammed against it with his whole weight while slamming his hand down on the handle. The handle moved but the door didn''t, it was locked, and Michael crashed to the ground.
The bald man was behind him, jumping at the opportunity, and grabbed Michael, pinning his hands down over his head. "Got you," he grinned a disgusting grin and pulled out a knife from his belt, Michael had no idea where his sword went.
In a desperate attempt to save his own life, Michael kicked up with all the strength he and his mana could manage, and the kick found its mark. The bald man groaned, and a metallic rattle told Michael that he had dropped the knife. Michael crawled out under him when the man released his arms to hold his groin, but his victory was short-lived when the second man grabbed his hair and pulled him up. He was still blinking but apparently could see again.
"Fuck it, just kill him already," the bald man groaned behind Michael. He could see the flash of a sword and struggled with everything he had, he kicked and punched but it wasn''t enough, his limbs were just too short to reach the man. He tried another flash of light, but the man didn''t fall for the same trick again.
The blade raised and Michael wanted to close his eyes, to just give up, but he couldn''t he had to keep fighting. His struggle wouldn''t save him though, the blade came down, but the pain never followed. A scream echoed in the room and the man released Michael.
He landed on his feet and instantly jumped to the side, not thinking about what had saved him just reacting. Another scream followed and Michael noticed that he wasn''t followed. He stopped and looked at the room.
The man he had kicked in the groin was struggling to get back to his feet and the bearded man was lying on the ground whimpering, two knives sticking out of his back. Michael looked to the window where the knives must have come from and the first thing, he saw was a grey lynx mask, followed by a grey cloak and a shimmering knife. The man had saved him once again and Michael didn''t even know if he even was a man.
The lynx jumped over the bed and threw another knife at the bald man hitting him in the chest and causing him to fall back with a wail. Michael''s savior landed on the bearded man and whirled a knife in his hand before ramming it down into the man''s head.
He then dashed at the other man in a fluid motion and kicked against the knife he had planted in his chest before, driving it in and causing the man to gurgle for a moment and then die.
Michael stood there and stared at his savior. The masked man turned to the window and wanted to leave but Michael quickly said, "I know you are not human, but I don''t care, please stay!"
The man stopped and looked at Michael. "I don''t know what you are, but you saved me three times already, and you were the one that brought me the accounting book from Fredrick right?"
The masked man just stood there in silence. Suddenly Michael noticed the screams, he had been nearly deaf from the blood rushing in his ears but now he heard the screams and clashing of steel. "What is happening," he asked the lynx with wide eyes.
"The castle is under attack," the lynx said with a voice so cold and inhuman that a cold shower went down Michael''s spine. His head was spinning, the castle under attack? How could this happen? What should I do?
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The door was swung open with a crash as it collided with the outside wall, the lynx drew another dagger and Michael''s head turned toward the door. Geron jumped inside, he was bare-chested, and his body was covered in blood. His eyes instantly took in the whole scene, and he dashed at the masked man.
"STOP," Michael yelled and Geron came to a halt. "He saved me now and back in the capital he is on our side." Michael then instantly turned to the Lynx, "Do you know where the room of my brothers is?" The masked man nodded. "Okay, you seem to be able to traverse the outside so go to my brothers and protect them." He could see the hesitation in the movements of the lynx so he added, "Please, Geron will protect me, so if you are truly on my side go and protect my brothers. The man nodded slowly and then turned to the window, leaping out of it.
Michael spun back to Geron, "What the hells is happening?"
"We have a whole lot of intruders, I have to get you out of here right now," Geron wanted to drag Michael away, but he grabbed one of the short swords that his assailants had dropped first.
As they left the room Michael could see four more corpses on the ground in front of his room. Geron led him through the hallways that were filled with screams and clashing metals, they met enemies two more times, but Geron killed them in a flash.
When they reached the servant quarters Geron hammered his hand against a door and said, "It¡¯s Geron, I have Lord Michael." Michael could hear the door lock click and then the door swung open. Sola jumped at Michael and pulled him into a hug, "You are alright, thank Idas, you are alright."
Eydis followed through the door behind Sola and her expression was dark, she gave Geron a glance and then she took point at the entrance of the corridor.
"There is open fighting in the whole castle, I have no idea who they are and how they got in here," Geron told Sola and Solon who had also exited the room. "What should we do," the priestess asked, and Michael quickly said, "I am not going to flee, I was left in charge here and I will defend my home."
"I don¡¯t expect you to," Sola answered with determination in her face. ¡°We will protect our home and I can support you from behind and patch you up.¡±
"I will also fight, just need to find a weapon first," Solon said with a stern expression.
"Alright let''s head to the guardhouse first, we need to rally our men," Michael said and began running down the corridor. Eydis took the vanguard followed by Michael, and Solon, and behind them Sola, Geron covered the rear.
The first enemies they found were two men, dragging a screaming woman in between them. Michael could barely react before Eydis was between them, what followed was more butchery than fighting as Eydis hacked them apart in a rage Michael had only seen on her in the first days of her arrival.
Michael helped the woman up, "Find a room and barricade yourself." She nodded and quickly went the way they came from.
They reached the guardhouse shortly after and found the door barricaded and guarded by five men in dark clothing. Michael could hear banging against the door, but the door didn''t budge.
Eydis was again the first to engage, jumping right at the surprised enemies but this time they didn''t go down this easily. Michael could feel the mana in the air as the enemy began to burn a noticeable amount. Geron was past Michael in a heartbeat, joining the melee and crashing into a smaller man. Michael stopped and could see Solon move in between the fighters, he was small, so some didn''t even notice him as he slashed their thighs, with the sword he had picked up from the earlier intruders.
"Michael, pulsing lights, distract them," Sola said as she began intoning a blessing. Michael saw his allies get just a little bit faster as he built his sigil, it activated a moment later and a bright randomly pulsing light appeared. It was in the other''s backs so the only people seeing the flashing lights directly were the enemies.
The fight took only a couple of seconds, the enemies were augmenters that much was clear, but they were definitively worse than Michael''s party.
"Open the door quickly," Michael ordered but Geron and Eydis were already pulling back furniture and ripping out planks that had been nailed in. The doors opened and twelve guards poured out.
"We are under attack; we have dozens of enemies on the loose in the castle. Follow me," Michael said and the guards fell in behind him with a yelled, "Yes, milord." The next stop was the training square, as that was where the knightly quarters were, Michael would have liked to get there first but the guardhouse was just that much closer. They didn''t encounter any more enemies on the way, which made Michael more wary as he still heard a lot of fighting noise. They found dozens of corpses though, servants, and guards; Michael even recognized the corpse of a noble in passing.
He learned the answer to the deserted hallways when they reached the training square and found it had become a battlefield between knights, squires, guards, and intruders. Just as Michael came through the door, he saw an unlucky squire get his head carved in by a large rock thrown by an enemy earth mage. Where is Kiran when you need him, Michael thought with a growl, but he already knew the answer, the nobles had not been comfortable with a mage being in the castle, so Kiran had stayed in the house.
"FOR REEN," Michael yelled and his little army joined in his battle cry as they charged into the melee. Michael refused to stay out of it this time, the corpses in the corridors, the rage at his near-death experience, and most importantly his hate for those who had dared to invade his home overtaking him.
Eydis, Geron, and the guards were the first to impact on the enemy, many of them hadn''t even noticed the reinforcements and got a spear in the back for their lack of awareness. Michael and Solon followed behind; Michael followed Solon''s example and kept low, slashing at legs, and moving on the moment an enemy noticed him.
He felt a sudden warmth in his body, as a small amount of Sola''s mana flowed into him, his muscles ached a little less and his limbs moved with just a little more purpose. He could hear Geron call for him, but he was not listening. His mind was blank the moment he entered combat, cut, cut, dodge, change target, cut, dodge, stab. He felt like his subconscious was talking with him again but even if he heard the voices, he didn''t register them.
Michael ducked under a swing not meant for him and rammed his sword up into the stomach of a man, he was already on the move before the stab had stopped and just pulled his sword with him, enlarging the wound. He suddenly saw a light in front of him and a fireball exploded in between the combatants. Michael was thrown back and landed heavily on his back, his head slamming into the ground.
"FORM RANKS," Geron''s voice broke through the noise, "GET IN FORMATION! EYDIS GET THAT FIRE MAGE!"
Michael got back up, his world was spinning so he shook his head and pushed more mana. His trance was broken, and he got back on his feet. In front of him, he saw Eydis dashing through the gap left by the explosion straight at a man in the back, she was covered in blood from head to toe and Michael could see the panic on the face of the fire mage as he conjured another fireball.
The gap closed a moment later and Michael lost vision of the fight. Suddenly someone grabbed his arm and pulled him up, Michael whirled around his sword at the ready, and came face to face with Lance. He stared at his former guardian knight with wide eyes, he was covered in cuts and blood, and it was a testament to the resilience of an augmenter that he was still standing.
"Get yourself together, milord. There is still a fight to be had," he yelled and put Michael firmly on his feet.
The knights and guards around Michael began to organize in a battle line, using the shields that they could find to weather the magical assaults, and began pushing the invaders back. "THEY ARE JUST THUGS; WE ARE THE FIST OF HOUSE ROWAN!"
Michael looked for the source of Geron''s voice and found him at the edge of the yard jumping over a stone spike at a robed figure. The man slammed his hands on the ground and the earth moved to shield him from Geron''s strike, grabbing onto the sword. Geron let go of it and pivoted around the earth pillar slamming his elbow into the earth mage''s face. The man went down and Geron finished him with a stomp on his throat.
The fight was now completely turning in their favor as the soldiers of Reen pressed forward against the assassins. Michael jumped up onto a crate to get a better view of the fight, he didn''t want to disrupt his men''s formation by trying to get through their legs so he could only watch and support them with magic.
He began to prepare the same spell he had used earlier now that his allies had formed a line and were mostly looking away from him, but he saw something that made him stop.
A group of seven people emerged from the hallways leading to the noble quarters, some were dressed in night garments others had mail thrown over and an older man was even wearing a helmet. They stopped when they left the hallway and took in the scene for a second before the old man with the helmet bellowed, "FOR LORD ROWAN!"
They charged with two mana blades shooting from them into the backs of the intruders.
The melee was short and brutal. Most enemies threw down their weapons after it became apparent that no victory was to be won that night.
Chapter 43.
Michael
Michael walked through the battlefield. The surviving intruders were currently bound by the uninjured while Sola ran in between the injured.
"Everyone who is still able to fight gather up," Michael yelled to get everyone''s attention.
Michael had to order some to sit back down as they still wanted to fight even with missing limbs and other gruesome wounds. In the end, twenty-six men in fighting shape had gathered. Other than Geron and a smoking Eydis only two other knights were there; there hadn''t been many left in the castle with some having accompanied Lord Rowan and some more being redeployed to the eastern border. Michael was still concerned about the number as there should have been six, five if Michael took out the injured Lance who had collapsed right after the fight was concluded.
So many losses, Michael thought with anger flaring in his chest. He tried to shake it off and focused on the here and now.
"Geron, organize our forces into hunting parties and scour the castle of enemies. I want a unit to go to my brother''s quarters and secure them, make sure to tell them about the lynx mask and that he is an ally and not to be bothered. I want another party to secure the gate and send someone to call Kiran, he might make it in time to be useful."
Michael then turned to the old man with the helmet as Geron began barking orders. "Sir Kilev, right?"
The man raised his helmet off his head and revealed his grizzled face. It was indeed Sir Kilev, an old noble knight of House Ragar, a baron in the northern Reen. "Yes, milord. I am glad to see you have survived this scuffle." He looked down at Michael''s bloodied shirt and sword with a satisfied gaze.
"How are things in the noble quarters, Sir?"
"Most nobles have locked themselves in their rooms with their guards. Me and Lord Ragar" - he pointed at a blond boy, maybe sixteen years old - "rallied who we could but as you see the bounty was rather underwhelming. We killed what we could on our way here but there are still many left there looting. We couldn''t take them alone, so we came here to lend our aid."
"You have done well, all of you,¡± Michael nodded, ¡°Geron?"
The knight looked over and then said, "I split into three groups of five led by me, Sir Pluke, and Sir Gellan. One going to the gate, one to your brother''s quarters, I will start hunting the enemy down in the hallways. The rest will go with Sir Kilev and clear out the noble quarters or stay here to take care of the prisoners and wounded."
"Me and Eydis will join the push into the noble quarters," Michael said.
Geron nodded, knowing fully well that he couldn''t talk his ward out of it anyway, and this way he was with the biggest group. Solon walked into the group at this point, "Sola and I will stay here and take care of the wounded."
The soldiers grabbed any gear they could get their hands on quickly, mostly chain mail and helmets. Shortly after Michael left with his contingent back the way Sir Kilev''s group had come from.
"Sir Kilev, you have the most experience here, you are in command," Michael said while running in between the jogging guards. The greyed knight took his promotion with a silent nod, and they moved on.
It didn''t take long for them to reach the noble quarters and find absolute chaos. Doors were broken in, people screaming and dozens of intruders running around with gold and chests in their hands.
"NO STEP BACK," Sir Kilev roared and led the charge into the hallways. They were outnumbered again but things were different now, they were armored, in formation, and the enemy was filled with greed. Some fought, others tried to run, and others again just gave up on the spot.
What followed couldn''t really be called a battle, their enemies weren''t trained soldiers but thugs, the few augmenters here and there couldn''t turn the tide and there seemed to be few mages present in the whole castle, the one mage that they met was rummaging through a chest when a guardsman surprised him, he tried to blast him with fire but a well-placed punch to the face ended that attempt before it started.
It took them an hour to clear out every hallway and broken-in room of the noble wing. Michael stood in the dining hall of the wing, looking at the corpse of the girl that he had judged only a day earlier when multiple nobles entered the room.
Michael had ordered most of the guards that had accompanied him to join the clearing effort but some he had ordered to gather the nobles that had locked themselves in.
"Lord Michael, how is it possible that something like this happens under your watch? This is a scandal, we are under your protection, and you fail to ...," a heavy man named Lord Uger began to rant.
Michael turned around and glared at the man with all the anger and hatred that he felt at this very moment. He was a child, but his wrath must have been so strong that even the fully grown nobles recoiled in fear.
"Do you have no shame, Baron Uger," Michael snapped at him, "I know for a fact that you came here with four guards because we had to clear out extra housing for them near to your room and you dare to even speak after you barricade yourself in your room with four men that could fight. You are pathetic."
"Milord, we didn''t know of the situation out in the castle. It was more reasonable to defend ourselves until reinforcements came," another lord spoke up, Michael couldn''t remember his name.
"How many did you kill while you defended yourself," he stared at the man, he tried to find words, but Michael interrupted him again. "As many as the sixteen-year-old Lord Ragar? How many did you kill Lord Ragar just so that we can see if any of these ''men'' can compare."
The boy looked not happy with the attention and quietly said, "I landed the finishing blow on five, milord."
"Five! Has anyone here done the same? Can anyone here say they have contributed the same amount as a sixteen-year-old," his voice had become yelling as he berated the nobles. "I directly killed two men today and injured many more! And I am FUCKING TEN YEARS OLD!" He had felt the disappointment from the back of his mind, but his feelings had overwhelmed it easily.
No one spoke up they all looked like children who were currently scolded. Michael shook his head, "Congratulations, you all lived because others put themselves at risk. Be proud of yourself and if you want to maybe redeem even the slightest bit of your honor go out there and help with the clean-up."
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Michael whirled around and stomped away, he had said what he wanted to say and didn''t want to subject himself to their excuses. He knew that his father would get an ear full of complaints from them, but he didn''t care.
Michael decided to make his way to his brother''s room next. They were reasonably close, and he felt like the situation had been brought under control and he wanted to make sure they were alright.
They didn''t meet any resistance as Michael and his escort of Eydis and guards moved through the hallways. He could hear some screams and clashing of metal here and there, but the castle had calmed down a lot.
Michael reached the room of his brothers shortly after, they still shared a room as they were still young, and the same nanny took care of them. Multiple corpses of the assassins lay in the corridor and a bad feeling began to sink in. Michael walked up to the door where he was met by Sir Gellan, his expression was dark, and Michael''s gut turned the moment he saw him.
"I am sorry, milord," the brown-haired knight said, his arms were covered in blood, even more so than the rest of his body. "We came too late."
Michael wanted to push past him, but the knight stopped him, "I don''t think that you should see this, milord."
"Let me through," Michael growled and the knight lowered his hand with a sad expression. He stepped to the side and Michael brushed past him.
The moment he entered the room his senses were overloaded, the scent of blood, the two children''s corpses on their beds covered in wounds. Two more corpses were in the room, one man lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood a knife in his throat and another one stapled to the wall by multiple knives. The man on the wall was a gruesome sight and Michael turned away his gaze before he could take in too many details.
His mouth trembled open as he slowly tumbled over to Jona''s bed, his face was corrupted by pain, and his mouth open in a voiceless scream. Michael''s head turned to Sieg''s bed and found a similar scene.
He fell to his knees, tears rolling down Michael''s cheeks but for the first time in this horrific night, he felt numb. There was no anger, no pain, no hatred, just this numbness pulsating to the tune of his heartbeat.
"I failed you," the voice of the lynx-masked man appeared out of nowhere, followed instantly by the sound of weapons drawn.
Michael looked up and as if through a haze he saw that the man stood next to him. "They were dead when I got here. The only thing I could do was to punish those who have done this." He didn''t seem to be fazed at all by the weapons pointed at him.
Michael looked at him in the holes of his mask, "You did what you could," his voice was trembling and barely audible, "None of this is your fault. Without you, I would be dea ..."
At this moment his emotions finally broke like a dam, his voice failed and became a whimper. He turned his head back to his brothers and raised his voice stronger than he ever had. A scream that told the whole story of the night ripped itself from his throat. Fueled by his pain, frustration, and to a good part flaring mana, the scream could be heard throughout the hallways of the castle.
It took two more hours to search the whole castle and bring in the last of the intruders. Michael had spent most of this time in his brother¡¯s room, going from emotional outbursts to lethargic staring and back over and over again.
After a while, his anger finally overcame his desperation and he rose from his place between his brothers.
The guards instantly snapped to attention and Eydis and Lynx looked at Michael.
¡°Put my brothers on your shields, we will bring them to the training yard,¡± Michael said with a hoarse voice.
No one questioned his orders, and the men carefully prepared an honor march for the youngest of House Rowan, covering them in clean blankets they grabbed from the cabinet.
The castle had fully awoken by now and was filled with soldiers of the castle and also town watchmen who had probably arrived a little while ago.
Everyone stopped what they were doing the moment Michael and his small honor guard came into view. He could see the shock on the faces of the watchmen and absolute grief and rage on the faces of the guardsmen that they passed. Many even joined the group and marched in silence with them.
When they reached the training yard their group had grown considerably, and many faces turned toward them as they entered.
No one said a word as Michael walked to a free spot in the middle of the yard and signaled his men to put down his brothers. It was as if time had stopped for anyone but them as Michael saw frozen faces and wide eyes.
He could see Sola with tears on her face sitting next to an injured servant, too weak to get on her feet. Solon was plucking at his beard with an unsatisfied look.
He could see the shame on the faces of many nobles who hadn¡¯t initially participated in the fight.
Geron at the side of Kiran entered the training yard with a couple of prisoners just as Michael began to speak.
¡°We failed tonight,¡± he started with a tone that fits the situation. ¡°Enemies entered our home and ravaged it. My brothers are dead. Killed by those that nearly took my life as well.¡±
He could hear someone say, ¡°These damn devils. It must have been magic.¡±
He breathed in, this was not the time to lecture his men. His gaze stuck to Geron, who looked heartbroken as he stared at the corpses of Sieg and Jona.
¡°We have killed or captured most of the intruders, but we have failed. I don¡¯t even know what to say. How can I talk about it if I have no idea how or why this happened? I want answers!¡±
He looked at Geron with a piercing gaze, ¡°Geron, bring me answers. I don¡¯t care how.¡± He could see the hate that flowed in himself rising in his knight''s eyes.
After that Geron started interrogating the intruders, trying to find the leader. Some were dragged into adjacent rooms and Michael didn¡¯t care to think about what was happening to them there but not just one corpse was dragged out of them after.
Michael¡¯s head pulsed, it was a blanket of sadness, hate, and disgust coming from so many different parts of his mind that he thought he was going crazy.
¡°Michael, sit down,¡± Sola grabbed his arm and forced him to take a seat on a small stool. He had no strength left to resist and more or less fell onto it only staying upright with Sola¡¯s support.
She began cleaning him up as multiple nobles, guards and other people came by to express their condolences and respect, but Michael¡¯s mind was not able to comprehend much anymore.
"He is in shock," he heard Solon say after Michael hadn''t reacted to multiple questions.
"I might be in shock, but I am not deaf," he said weirdly calm. A ruckus erupted before anyone could reply. Michael turned his head and saw four guardsmen being dragged in front of him and forced onto their knees.
"We found the path the enemy took in while chasing some intruders, milord. They came through the small servant gate and these four traitors were just snoozing around on their posts," one of the guards said, his voice filled with disdain.
Michael inspected the guardsmen on their knees and even through his dazed state of mind he could see that they were completely beside themself. One even said, "What happened? Where am I?"
Michael cut off the guardsmen who wanted to answer violently. "The castle was attacked, and the enemy entered through your gate. Tell me what happened before you fell asleep."
The man blinked a couple of times before the realization set in and panic began to slowly settle on his face.
"I-I ehm I..." He didn''t manage to get a clear word out. "Concentrate soldier," Michael roared but his anger was quickly subdued by the numb blanket that was his mind.
"I-it was all as normal. We kept guard. Everything was quiet and then M-Miranda came by to bring us some drinks. After that, I can''t remember clearly," the guard explained with visible strain on his face.
"Who is Miranda?"
"One of the servants, milord."
"It must be magic," another man said and grasped his sun pendant.
"Don''t be ridiculous," Kiran interjected, "The servant has put a sleeping powder in their drinks." Solon nodded in agreement.
"How could you have been so dumb to accept something like that while on duty," the angry guard yelled, "We should have strung you up right then and there."
"How could we know? Miranda has worked here for years already! She was here even before I started and I have been in service for five years already," the guard defended himself and his mates.
Silence fell on the group as dark thoughts invaded their minds. Has this been planned for years already? Or was Miranda just a turncoat?
"Put them into house arrest until they have been thoroughly questioned. And find this Miranda," Michael said with little force in his voice. This was just too much for him and the thought that they were after him didn''t let go of his mind.
Were my brothers just collateral damage?
Chapter 44.
Michael
The council hall was in chaos. Michael watched the nobles argue with each other with a distant gaze; they were yelling, ranting, and throwing their family names around. Michael just wanted to share what they knew and talk about what to do but while waiting on Geron, the present men had taken it into their own hands to discuss matters.
"This must be a plot from the beastmen of the east," one lord said and slammed his hand on the table.
"Right, you were hiding that well that you didn''t notice that the intruders were human," another retorted with a laugh.
"I say that this was a ploy of the neighboring kingdoms to destabilize us!"
"It must have been demon worshipers!"
"Someone is trying to usurp the county!"
Some of these theories had merit, while others were complete nonsense. Why would anyone attack the castle to usurp the count with such an insufficient force and the count away and able to just come back and retake it? Michael just listened and thought about the absurdity of them squabbling in a situation like this.
Geron finally entered the room, accompanied by Kiran and the nobles surprisingly fell silent in an instant and turned to him to hear what he had to say.
"Milord, I regret to inform, that we haven''t been able to locate this servant named Miranda and the captured assassins are not talking even under torture and threats. Most are happy to tell us everything else they can think of but the moment we turn to the attack, or anything related they just go silent and refuse to speak," Geron said with a slightly disturbed expression.
"It must be magic," the lord that had accused the beastmen before exclaimed. The room erupted in chatter again and Geron just stood there with an unsatisfied expression.
Michael took a deep breath and gave Geron a signal, who barked a single word, "Silence!"
"Thank you," Michael said, his voice quiet and void of emotion. "Kiran, what do you say to that theory?"
"I couldn''t find any trace of a curse or foreign mana at all," the mage replied. Michael saw multiple nobles roll their eyes or scoff at the mage.
¡°Of course, the mage won¡¯t tattle on the mages. Mages are the reason we are in this mess in the first place!¡±
¡°Stop,¡± Michael said and rubbed his head. ¡°You seem to not have noticed it yet. The problem was not that there were mages present. The problem was that we had none on our side. We can¡¯t change the fact that there are mages in the world and that some of them will be our enemies so we will have to adapt.¡± He looked at the assembled faces and saw only confusion and doubt, but no one spoke up. Michael rolled his eyes; these people were so stuck in their ways, and he was completely out of sympathy. That he had to deal with this again at a time when he just wanted to crawl into bed and cry for weeks rubbed him the wrong way, but he was still the acting count right now.
¡°If there was an earth mage in the guard house then they wouldn¡¯t have been stuck. If there was a water mage in the training yard, then the fire mage wouldn¡¯t have been able to wreak so much havoc. Let¡¯s think bigger, if there were mages in the guard then they might even have noticed the intruders and raised the alarm.¡±
¡°Are you suggesting employing mages into our service,¡± a tall noble asked with disbelief in his voice.
¡°That is exactly what I am saying,¡± Michael said, and hectic chatter started in the room. Michael let them talk for a while and watched their reactions. As he had anticipated they were not happy - none of them ¨C but it was good to see who opposed the idea more than others.
¡°This is bordering heresy, milord. Idas would curse us if we did this, not to think of the reaction of the church,¡± Lord Uger said but he was much more timid than the last time and sounded more concerned than accusatory. All of them were when they addressed Michael, they were careful with their words and tried to stay comforting. Michael had been very surprised when he noticed the first time that the nobles would behave like this rather than trying to capitalize on his weakened mental state but maybe they weren¡¯t as bad as Michael thought sometimes.
¡°I am just saying what I think. I might be grasping straws to find a reason for all of this or something we could have done better,¡± Michael relented, he knew that his father would not agree to employ mages, so this opinion had little merit but to antagonize people. He saw multiple nods and compassion on the faces of the men that were gathered.
¡°It won¡¯t help anyway right now. We will continue our investigation for now and wait for my father¡¯s return.¡± Michael grabbed a letter from in front of him and presented it to Geron. ¡°We have already sent a messenger to Emall but send another one with this letter and all information you could gather since then. It¡¯s a good thing to keep my father posted so we won¡¯t have to waste time on briefing him.¡± Geron gave a small bow and received the letter.
¡°Now I know you all have different opinions about what this attack could mean and who it came from. We will now gather these opinions and see if we must take action on any of them. We need to send out messengers to request status updates from our borders and larger cities. This might be an outside attack, or an inside uprising and we need to know what it is.¡±
Michael then began calling on each man one after another and gathered their theories. After that, they discussed possible goals and countermeasures that could be taken to prevent more damage if this threat was actually the real one.
They stayed on that topic for over two hours and in the end, sent out a little army of messengers into the different parts of the counties and also toward Duke Wallsten, after it was decided that it was important for their liege to also have all information.
Michael made his way to his father¡¯s study after the meeting, he wanted to start working through the reports of the attacks be they in writing or oral.
He walked around a corner and saw Sola hurry in his direction. ¡°Michael, I have been looking for you.¡±
¡°What is it? Did something happen?¡± He was instantly tense, but the priestess quickly shook her head. ¡°I just wanted to see how you are doing.¡±
¡°If there is nothing more, I will get back to work,¡± Michael answered, totally ignoring the question.
¡°Work? You need to recover and rest,¡± Sola said with a frown and moved in front of him, stopping him from walking away.
¡°There is too much to do, and I want to keep focused, I can rest once Father is back,¡± Michael said and moved past her.
¡°Michael, this is not healthy,¡± she called after him, but he didn¡¯t stop.
The hours flowed away as he worked through the flow of incoming witness- and interrogation reports. It was an entangled mess of half-truths and speculation with some snippets of truth hidden here and there.
¡°We caught him following the tip of a farmer, he was hiding in his barn and tried to bribe the man to keep him hidden with spoils taken from the noble quarters,¡± a town watchmen sergeant reported. ¡°The farmer was smart enough to accept and then call the watchmen, returning the bribe and telling on the intruder.¡±
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
¡°Good, he is situated with the others,¡± Michael asked, and the sergeant nodded. The report was over, and a knock sealed the end of the conversation. The man exited and, in his place, Geron entered with a man that Michael didn¡¯t know, the knight and the man both looked grim and tired but everyone Michael had seen in the last hours had the same expression, so he wasn¡¯t too concerned anymore. He could also hear the voices of at least Sola and Kiran outside arguing.
¡°Is there any news of the interrogation,¡± Michael said, not wanting to handle whatever the priestess and the mage were fighting about. ¡°I really hope we can get something out of them before the end of the day.¡±
Geron frowned and said, ¡°It is already dark again, milord, and that for a while already.¡± He also frowned and turned to the window. The knight was right, the moon was already high and throwing light through the windows. Michael also hadn¡¯t noticed that someone had lit the candles in the room.
How can it be night again, he wondered, I was so engrossed in work that I didn¡¯t notice that the whole day had gone by?
¡°Well, I guess my hope is unfounded then,¡± he forced a smile to overshadow the concerned expression of his knight. ¡°And who are you?¡±
The man fidgeted with his pouch and said with a shaking voice, ¡°I am a messenger from Viscount Telp for Lord Michael Rowan.¡±
¡°That was fast,¡± Michael said surprised, even with a fast horse and rider the journey takes a little under a day one way if the rider doesn¡¯t make any pause.
¡°I come bearing horrible news, milord,¡± the man said with a shaking voice and Geron just stared at him with piercing eyes. ¡°There has been an attack on the estate of Viscount Telp.¡± Michael looked the man in the eyes as the messenger swallowed heavily. ¡°The estate was attacked by augmenters and mages.¡± Michael subconsciously began shaking his head as the man talked.
¡°The casualties were high and ¡ the entirety of House Rowan was murdered.¡± The man took a slight step back as he uttered the last word as if he expected to be hit by divine retribution for saying them out loud.
¡°This is a joke, right?¡± Michael said and looked at Geron, he now noticed for the first time the clenched fists of the knight and looked back to the messenger. ¡°This is a joke, right?¡±
The man tried to formulate words but couldn¡¯t manage and simply shook his head.
¡°Everyone,¡± Michael asked with a weirdly emotionless voice.
¡°I am very sorry, milord,¡± the man said and fell to his knees, tears running down his face. ¡°We failed your family, and we failed our lord.¡±
Michael sat there for a moment; his mind was moving as if through honey. He then stood up and walked out of the office.
Outside he found his whole retinue as Geron followed him.
Sola made a step toward him, ¡°Michael.¡± She wanted to reach for him, but he waved her hand away and simply walked past them.
His face was a mask of indifference as he walked the hallways. Michael heard the others follow him through the castle, but he paid their words no mind.
He couldn¡¯t see anything but the path before him until he finally reached his room. The corpses had been dragged out and the bloody carpet removed. He entered the room and closed the door in the faces of his mentors.
- Two days later in the courtyard -
The mood had been horrible in the past day. No one could have expected that it could have gotten worse after the attack but after the news of the assassination of most of House Rowan reached the castle the impossible was made possible.
Now everyone was gathering in the courtyard to receive Viscount Telp and the remains of House Rowan in uncomfortable silence.
¡°This is horrible. Who is gonna lead the affairs when the lord is hiding in his room,¡± a noble that only arrived a few hours earlier mumbled.
He received many disapproving looks for his comment and even some annoyed comments until Baron Uger spoke up. ¡°Lord Michael is handling affairs well enough.¡±
The first noble ¨C a little timider now - asked, ¡°How that?¡±
¡°He gets all reports in writing and then sends out instructions.¡±
¡°He hasn¡¯t left his room for two days,¡± a third man interjected, ¡°Is anyone checking on him at all?¡±
Lord Uger simply shrugged before he said, ¡°I heard that the servants are leaving his food with Sir Geron or that barbarian he employs, and no one has seen him since the message arrived.¡±
Michael finally stepped through the large doorway before they could speculate more, and all gazes turned toward him. He looked sick, his skin pale, his eyes deep and surrounded by nearly black eye rings. He hadn¡¯t had a moment of rest for days now and it was showing.
He walked through the crowd his feet barely leaving the ground. If he wasn¡¯t constantly using mana, he would have collapsed already from lack of sleep, but he couldn¡¯t rest. Every time he had tried the last days he was haunted by nightmares of the dead faces of his family.
He didn¡¯t believe the messenger; he didn¡¯t want to believe but today he would find out the truth whatever that might be.
The nobles gave him space and bowed respectfully as the ragged young lord moved through their midst. He could hear quiet conversations between them, but he paid them no mind. There was only the path to the front and the only focus he had was on the gate of the castle.
He came to a halt at the front of the procession with Geron and Eydis flanking him and the rest of his retinue behind him.
His mind was spinning tales of what could have happened that the messenger misunderstood the message he was supposed to give or that he was in on it, trying to sow confusion and paralyze the county. He had been doing this a lot for the past few days, but he never found a sufficiently reasonable explanation to get his mind to rest.
It didn¡¯t take long for the caravan to arrive after Michael had entered the courtyard. His irrational hope to see his father at the head of it on top of his black horse was shattered when he saw a horrible-looking Viscount Telp riding in first. He had a similar exterior as Michael and the truth of the situation began to sink into Michael¡¯s core.
The caravan moved into the courtyard more and more and with every line of horses Michael¡¯s hope sank even further. When a large carriage with multiple coffins entered the yard flanked by three Knights of Rowan who looked like they could barely keep on their horses, he wasn¡¯t able to deny it anymore.
Michael¡¯s eyes met those of the Knight Commander Godfrey Pyke, it was still the same unmoving expression he always had but a deep pain echoed in his eyes. Michael''s gaze moved down to the white cloth that was bound around the right elbow of the man where his arm should continue but it was missing.
Lord Telp was off his horse before the caravan had completely arrived and fell to his knees. ¡°I am sorry, milord. I failed your family, I failed my lord, and I failed you.¡±
Michael was utterly fed up with these words and ignored them. ¡°It is true?¡±
The broken viscount nodded, and Michael asked with a lump in his throat, ¡°How?¡±
The noble knew what Michael meant; how could a band of thugs and rogue mages that were beaten back by the weakened defenses of the castle after getting the jump on them defeat and kill one of the strongest knights in the kingdom?
¡°He was out in the gardens with Lady Rowan,¡± Lord Telp said his voice shaking with anger, ¡°He didn¡¯t take any bodyguards, who would even dare to go against him. We found him after we repelled the attack. Our theory is that he was surprised and hit by multiple arrows before the fight even began. Weakened by that and trying to protect your mother he was overwhelmed with numbers and magic. We found the corpses of thirteen attackers around him but there must have been many more.¡±
It was true, an augmenter that wasn¡¯t circulating mana was just a normal person, ambushes were a good way to beat them when you couldn¡¯t head-on.
¡°And my siblings?¡± Michael¡¯s voice was steadfast but behind this facade, he was drowning.
¡°Killed in their sleep.¡±
Michael nodded slowly his eyes wandering toward the coffins. He wanted to see them, to make sure that this was real but at the same time, he didn¡¯t know if he could take it. The picture of his little brothers - burned into his mind - resurfaced and tormented him.
¡°Send out a notice to the nobles of Reen and Emall; the count is dead, and we need to choose a new one. Also sent out notice to the rest of the kingdom, to Lord Wallsten, to the capital, and to every friend my family had for the funeral. Bring my family into the chapel for funeral preparation.¡±
Michael could see Father Albion walk into view - he had accompanied House Rowan to Emall ¨C the priest was giving Michael a weird stare but complied with his orders.
Michael then turned around to return to his room.
¡°Milord,¡± Viscount Telp called after him with a pleading voice, but he ignored it.
Geron
Michael closed his door carefully again and Geron took his place in front of it, barring entrance for the rest of the retinue.
¡°We need to do something; he is completely lethargic. He didn¡¯t even react out there,¡± Sola said with a hushed voice to the others.
¡°There is not much we can do but be there for him if he wants us to. I have seen this before and the only one that can get him through this is he himself,¡± Kiran replied with a somber tone, the mage had never much to do with the House Rowan like the rest of them, but he could understand, and feel the pain of those that he had lived with for the last years.
¡°I think you are misunderstanding Michael, Sola,¡± Solon said, ¡°He is not lethargic he is holding it in.¡±
As if on cue a scream could be heard, and something crashed into the door.
¡°Another attack,¡± Sola exclaimed and moved forward but Geron put his hand on her shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s not an attack.¡±
Light began to flicker through the keyhole and at the door''s edges. Geron could see the realization dawn on Sola¡¯s face, but he explained nonetheless, ¡°He held it in but at some point, it will break out.¡±
Another crash was audible as Michael demolished his room in a fit of rage, pain, and desperation.
Chapter 45.
Mira
Mira hurried through the palace, a letter in her hand. She was breathing heavily, but she kept going as fast as possible. How could this have happened, she thought and cut around a corner. She reached her brother¡¯s study and Sir Strom¡¯s gaze met hers.
The older knight had an expression of contained dread on his face as she approached. He knew the news already which meant that Zen also did.
¡°The king is currently in a meeting, your Highness. He doesn¡¯t want to be disturbed,¡± the silver knight said but made no effort to physically stop her.
¡°I don¡¯t care,¡± Mira said and brushed past him.
¡°Your Highness, please,¡± Sir Strom said with little force in his voice, but Mira ignored him.
She pushed open the door and stormed into the room. She was greeted by her brother¡¯s unsurprised expression and Duke Wulfen and Duke Greeich turning toward her to see who was disturbing their meeting.
¡°Mira why are you disturbing us,¡± Zen asked her with a sigh.
¡°You know exactly why I am here,¡± she snapped and held up the letter.
Zen sighed again and thought for a moment before he spoke again, ¡°Can we talk about this later?¡±
¡°No, we are gonna talk now,¡± Mira insisted and held her brother¡¯s gaze.
Zen shook his head and turned to the two dukes, ¡°Would you please give us a moment?¡±
The two men rose from their seats and bowed to the young king before leaving the room. Lord Greeich gave Mira a comforting smile as he walked past her; he was a warm man, and his white hair and mustache gave him the feeling of a caring grandfather which mirrored his personality rather well.
Duke Wulfen didn¡¯t seem to care much about the situation, at least he didn¡¯t show any emotion as he bowed in Mira¡¯s direction before exiting the room.
She didn¡¯t like the man, but she had other things to think about than the duke. ¡°Why are we not making ready to leave for Reen, Zen?¡±
¡°Because we can¡¯t, Mira. We have things to do here and the Ambassador of the Perios Kingdom will arrive next week,¡± Zen answered with a calm and collected voice.
¡°Who cares? Michael needs us!¡±
¡°What we need to do right now is take care of the kingdom and not insult our largest ally.¡±
Mira stared at her brother in disbelief; how could he be like this in a situation this horrible?
¡°What the hells is wrong with you? Michael¡¯s whole family is dead! And you sit here talking about not upsetting some ambassador? Michael came running the moment he heard about our father, and you sit here sipping tea like you don¡¯t care at all!¡±
Zen frowned, anger forming on his face. ¡°I would love nothing more than to drop everything and ride through the night until my horse collapses and then keep running until I reach Reen! I would love nothing more than to take my friend into my arms, comfort him, and be there for him until every sorrow is a memory long past! But I can¡¯t!¡±
¡°Great to see your priorities, brother,¡± Mira sneered, not hampered in the slightest by her brother''s anger or remarks. ¡°I for my part will leave immediately, you may join me if you find it in your heart to be there for a friend as he has been for you.¡±
¡°Mira, do you have any idea what kind of situation we are sliding into right now? Lord Rowan¡¯s death will have far more consequences than Michael¡¯s and our grief. Our neighbors have been watching for the last months since Father died, calculating and weighing their chances. What do you think they will do now that our Master of War and greatest commander is dead?¡±
His eyes were focused on hers, his face red from anger and pain, she didn¡¯t relent and stared back in defiance.
He continued when she didn¡¯t answer, ¡°Keeping this alliance with the Perios Kingdoms is what will keep the other kingdom''s calculations negative and will keep our people and those we love safe! We can¡¯t insult them because we need them to stand with us. This alliance was because of the friendship and respect between our father and their king and now it is not as solid as it once was.¡±
¡°Alright, then you stay, and I will leave alone,¡± Mira relented, she was not that emotional to throw reason into the wind when it was presented clearly to her.
¡°I am sorry Mira, but you should stay as well,¡± Zen said with a pained expression his anger having died down considerably.
¡°What? You can¡¯t expect this from me!¡±
¡°We need to show them the proper respect and the ambassador has clearly stated that he wants to meet you as well. If you just leave right before he arrives, it could be seen as insulting.¡±
¡°Zen, we can¡¯t just leave Michael all alone,¡± Mira said, her strength having faded and tears running down her face.
The young king gritted his teeth, but Mira could see tears forming in his eyes as well. ¡°I asked Theodore to go and bring him our love and you can leave as soon as the ambassador had ample time to meet you. This is everything we can do.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t want to, Zen,¡± she whimpered.
Zen pulled her into his arms and stroked her hair, ¡°I know. I hate it too and I will not force you to stay if you don¡¯t want to but we both know this is what Michael would want.¡±
She knew he was right. Michael was the epitome of his house''s words and would want them to do what is best for the kingdom. She hated herself nonetheless for what she had to do or rather what she wouldn¡¯t do.
Michael
Michael sat in his barely lit room, scribbling instructions on a piece of paper. He was surrounded by the chaos of his rage. His bed frame was smashed in a corner. His table had lost three of its legs and was toppled over and his wardrobe had its doors smashed in and laid on its side. A few meters to his right were the bend-out-of-shape remains of the sword that had served him as a tool of his destruction until even it couldn¡¯t hold up anymore.
It was day five of him not sleeping. The only thing keeping him awake anymore was his constant use of mana which he had to ration more and more to last after his rampage.
He was a pitiful sight; dirty, with rings around his eyes, and wooden splinters covering his arms and legs.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
No one had entered this room for the same amount of time, and he hadn¡¯t spoken to anyone. He just worked with the reports he was given to distract himself from the pain he felt every time he allowed his mind to wander.
¡°Is this what we are gonna be now?¡± The voice didn¡¯t startle Michael, his mind even took a moment to recognize that someone had spoken to him. He raised his head and looked around in the dark room, the shadows from the fading moon and his candles throwing strange shadows.
He nearly missed the eyes that stared at him from a dark corner of his room. He didn¡¯t move, he knew the voice and he knew that he was in no danger.
¡°Hallucinations now, great,¡± he said and looked back to the stack of paper on his legs.
¡°Hallucinations? No, we are not going crazy yet,¡± the voice sounded again.
Michael rolled his eyes; the voice was an ethereal sound with a hint of age in it. He had heard it multiple times before but most importantly it was the voice that had told him to not kill the dark mage in the brigand camp over half a year ago.
He had successfully avoided thinking about this part of his life for months after it had happened, with enough to distract him but his mind had gone back to it repeatedly for the last days. He had wondered if he would be still alive if his father hadn¡¯t forced him to face this part of life then and there. Then he normally thought about his father and broke down.
¡°What do you want?¡±
¡°I was just wondering if the rest of my existence will be watching you bury yourself into work in hopes of an early grave?¡± The voice didn¡¯t sound accusatory, and a heavy tone of compassion rang behind the confrontational words.
Michael shrugged, ¡°Why do you care? If it was up to you, I would have died half a year ago in that forest.¡±
¡°Well,¡± the uncomfortable tone of the voice made Michael chuckle dryly before it continued. ¡°I admit that my values don¡¯t seem to work well in this environment, but I assure you I never wanted you to suffer or even die.¡±
¡°Overwhelming my mind and contending with another part of it was definitely a strange way of protecting me.¡±
The voice was silent for a few moments; Michael raised his head and saw the eye look out of the window into the night. ¡°I apologize. I ¡ I am not used to violence, and I had hoped you wouldn¡¯t need it.¡±
¡°Of course, you aren¡¯t. We are the same person, I am talking to myself for Idas¡¯s sake,¡± Michael shook his head at the absurdity of the situation.
After another moment of awkward silence, the voice spoke up again. ¡°You haven¡¯t answered my question yet.¡±
Michael huffed annoyed into the darkness. ¡°What is left to make me keep on going? What is my purpose anymore?¡±
¡°You think there is nothing left anymore?¡±
¡°My family is dead,¡± he yelled at the eyes, he could hear a knock and Geron''s voice but ignored it. ¡°My father is dead, my mother is dead, my sisters are dead, most of my brothers are dead. Oh right, Oska is still alive, where is he though? That reunion will be great. ¡®Hey Oska, you have bullied me my entire life and also tried to kill me. By the way, our whole family is dead, and you are the next in line let me help you. He will finish what he started four years ago! There is nothing, NOTHING LEFT OF MY HOUSE TO CARE ABOUT!¡±
¡°I thought you learned that lesson already,¡± the voice spoke, still calm and collected. ¡°Hasn¡¯t Sola taken care of you like her own child? Hasn¡¯t Geron protected you with his life because he wanted to? Didn¡¯t Solon teach you the values of everything? Hasn¡¯t Kiran opened your eyes to a world beyond the normal? Wasn¡¯t Eydis there for you when you needed her most? What about Zen, Mira, Theodore, Uncle Duncan, Aunt Helena, and Tara? What about the knights, the guards, the citizens of these lands? Is there really nothing you can think of that would be worth living for?¡±
Michael stayed quiet, of course, he had thought about all that but why should he go on just to lose them as well someday?
The voice picked up this thought and continued, ¡°You have two choices here Michael: Either you drown in your grief and that will be the end of the short-lived House Rowan; your brother will not carry it on, and you know this. Or you can grieve - as you should - but in an appropriate amount and use this grief as motivation to build something that can prevent something like this from happening ever again. You can build something that can protect those you care about.¡±
Michael still stayed silent, his mind trying to wrap itself around what the voice had said but the long time without sleep was taking a toll on him.
¡°Think about what I have told you, Michael.¡± The voice was weakening. ¡°I will make you a gift now. Rest and decide once you wake up.¡±
¡°Wait, what?¡± Before Michael could react, a weight laid down onto his thoughts and disrupted them, he lost control over his mana, and it died down. The moment it did the weight of his emotions and exhaustion crashed down on him and everything faded to black.
Michael awoke from the midday sun falling on his face. His body ached and he still felt terrible even though it was better than the last couple of days. He sat up and noticed that he had been lying on his mattress. His eyes wandered to the door, but it was still locked as far as he could tell. He smiled a little and looked out of the window. ¡°Still taking care of me huh?¡±
He took a look around his destroyed room and thought about what had happened the night before. That was really strange, who is this voice? Is it just a part of my mind or is it something else? Well, maybe I am just going crazy, and my mind makes that voice up in stressful situations.
Real or not, what it had said was true. He was at a turning point in his life, and he needed to decide what he would do. The haze on his mind had lifted substantially from his long rest and he could look clearer on the events of the past days. Tears came to his eyes, but he gritted his teeth and punched the wall, pain from the punch and the wooden splinters in his arm shot through his body.
I should be ashamed of myself. Is this what my parents wanted me to become? Huh, don¡¯t be ridiculous. This is still salvageable, if I get up now, I can still make my family proud.
He put his hands on the mattress and pushed himself up. His arms were straining, he used no mana to reduce the pain. He needed to overcome this himself, with his own strength. With a deep growl, he pushed himself onto his legs. It was more of a mental blockade to overcome than a physical one as he took one step after another toward the door. Pictures of his family paining him with every step, thoughts of doubt trying to get him back into a corner hassling him, but each step was stronger.
¡°I will do what I must,¡± he said to himself, shook away his thoughts, and unlocked the door.
He pushed the door open and was greeted by the surprised expressions of Geron, Eydis, and four guardsmen. ¡°Milord,¡± Geron exclaimed but didn¡¯t manage to articulate any more words.
Their gazes made Michael insecure again, but he pushed that feeling to the side. Be like your father would want you to be!
¡°You there,¡± Michael said and pointed at one of the guardsmen, who instantly stood straighter. ¡°Tell the servants to prepare me a bath and fresh clothing.¡± The man bowed and hurried away. Michael turned to the next. ¡°You, get Sola to come to the bath as well to fix me up. And you,¡± ¨C pointing at the third ¨C ¡°get someone to clear out my room and refurnish it as soon as possible.¡±
The last guard stood in attention waiting for his order, Michael thought for a moment. ¡°Gather the nobles in an hour in the great hall.¡±
¡°They are already there, milord,¡± Geron interjected, his face was that of a professional, but Michael could see a happy glint in his eyes. ¡°Your Uncle arrived late last night, he came visiting this morning with your aunt and cousin, but you didn¡¯t react. Now he has gathered the nobles in the great hall to discuss matters of succession and the funeral.
¡°I was sleeping,¡± Michael said, ¡°Well, then get the servants to get me something proper to eat, I am starving.¡± The guard bowed deep and hurried after his colleagues. Michael hadn¡¯t touched much of the food he had received in the past days and his stomach felt like it was about to absorb itself.
Michael made his way to his washing room with Geron and Eydis on his heels. He could basically feel them eyeing each other with hope. ¡°How are you feeling, milord,¡± Geron carefully started the conversation.
¡°I am better. I am not good yet, but I am better,¡± Michael said and gave the knight a smile that nearly made him stumble.
¡°That is good. If I may ask, was there a reason? Did someone visit you last night, I heard your voice, but no one answered.¡± He was careful but Michael guessed that he had been pretty concerned about the mental state of his lord.
¡°I had a hallucination. I was talking to myself because of the lack of sleep. Got a kick in my ass from me and now I am better,¡± Michael answered truthfully, this would be the only time he would ever admit to the voices as he had a reasonable excuse for having them.
¡°Yeah, lack of sleep can do that. I am happy that you are better, truly.¡± Michael stopped and turned around to the knight. ¡°Thank you,¡± he looked at Eydis as well, ¡°Thank you both of you for everything.¡±
They smiled and Eydis ruffled his hair. ¡°You look gross by the way,¡± she signed, and they laughed as Geron shook his head.
They arrived at the washroom and shortly after a flurry of servants fell upon it, bringing water, clothing, and food. The door opened a few minutes later, and Sola, Solon, and Kiran entered the room.
¡°Didn¡¯t expect all of you to want to watch me bathe,¡± Michael said with a tired smile. He was still sitting on a stool waiting to be patched up by Sola.
He got happy reactions to his bad joke and the priestess sat down in front of him. ¡°You look absolutely horrible.
¡°It¡¯s good to see you too,¡± Michael replied with a warm expression.
Chapter 46.
Michael
After being cleaned and bandaged up Michael made his way to the great hall in front of the doors waited his red-haired cousin and looked at him with widened eyes.
¡°Michael, oh my god,¡± she squealed and threw herself at him. ¡°I am so sorry. We came as fast as we could. I wish I could make everything better. I am here for you.¡± She just continued babbling until Michael carefully pushed her away.
¡°Calm down, Tara. Breathe.¡±
She did and looked at him with sad eyes.
¡°Everyone in there,¡± Michael asked to which she nodded. ¡°Okay, I will come to talk with you after this, okay?¡± She nodded and he continued on.
The guards pushed open the doors of the great hall when they saw Michael approach. He looked better after his bath, but the remnants of his days-long neglect still showed.
The nobles turned when they heard the doors open and Michael could see a mixture of emotions emanating from them. Anger, relief, concern, and hate were the most prevalent.
Their numbers had grown considerably in the last couple of days as many had arrived for the succession debates and the funeral.
Lord Duncan Grim was sitting in Michael¡¯s father¡¯s chair at the end of the hall with Viscount Telp to his right and the rest of the council to his left. He looked surprised when Michael entered, and a smile came on his face, but he badly hid the pain behind the mask.
The nobles bowed to Michael as he made his way to the end of the hall. Lord Grim rose from his seat as Michael got closer and put his hand on his shoulder once he had reached him.
¡°I am happy to see you, Michael. I am glad that you are here and so sorry for your loss,¡± his uncle said, and Michael nodded returning the platitudes. His connection with his uncle had never been that strong but he was happy to have any family at all present.
¡°So, what is happening here,¡± Michael asked, already knowing the answer.
¡°We started discussing the succession of Lord Rowan¡¯s lands,¡± Viscount Telp answered, he was focused on Michael.
¡°It is good that you are here,¡± Lord Grim said, ¡°This does concern you after all.¡±
¡°And you have taken the chair for this matter,¡± Michael continued the line of questioning.
¡°I am the oldest member of the family after all even if I am not part of your house directly and no member of your house was present.¡± It was true, Uncle Duncan was part of the succession, technically after Oska and Michael but still part of the line.
Michael nodded, it was customary that an elder of the house that has little to no chance or willingness to succeed to head the succession proceedings.
Lord Grim patted him on the shoulder again and then turned back to the Lord¡¯s Seat. A servant quickly brought a chair for Michael, and he sat down next to his uncle as it was customary for potential heirs.
¡°Alright, if Oska doesn¡¯t happen to show up unannounced too then we should be all here. We will continue our discussion now. Until now we have clarified that the three possible heirs are the sons of the late Lord Rowan - Oska and Michael Rowan ¨C and me, the brother of Lord Rowan ¨C Count Duncan Grim.¡± He had turned to Michael while catching him up on the proceedings. ¡°Do you have any objections or additions to this, Michael?¡±
Michael shook his head and Lord Grim continued, ¡°Good, per the tradition of the oldest son succeeding the obvious choice would be Lord Oska. Does anyone have anything to say about this?¡±
¡°Yes of course,¡± the young Lord Ragar spoke up he seemed more confident than the last time Michael had seen the young lord, ¡°Where is Lord Oska? Is he even alive?¡±
Father Albion stepped forward, ¡°To my best knowledge the young lord is indeed alive. He left half a year ago for the holy mountain to enter the brotherhood of the temple knights and should be there. I propose to immediately send a messenger to call him back here.¡±
The hall erupted in chatter upon this revelation because no one knew where the young lord had vanished to before.
¡°And then what? We are supposed to wait for months for any word? The holy mountain is far away, Father Albion, and how do we know that Lord Oska hasn¡¯t taken any vows of the church yet? I don¡¯t need to remind you that those include abandoning all previous family and claims.¡± That was Lord Uger objecting loudly. ¡°I say we have a perfectly good candidate right here in Lord Michael and we shouldn¡¯t wait for someone that abandoned his home without a word.¡±
Michael was surprised at the lord''s support, but it seemed that Michael had either shamed him into it or he actually thought highly of Michael for standing up against him. There was also the possibility that he had a separate goal here.
Father Albion winced at the suggestion of Michael succeeding the title and spoke up again, ¡°We can¡¯t just throw tradition into the wind, milords, just because it is difficult. I believe that you are very capable of ruling the lands until Lord Oska returns. It is his birthright after all.¡±
Voices of support rose from the crowd until Viscount Telp stepped forward. His face was filled with determination, and everyone felt silent. His gaze went over the crowd as he appeared to think about his words, but still, no one uttered a word.
¡°I have known Lord Cedric Rowan for a long time. I didn¡¯t like him when we met each other, he was an upstart count, and I was from a long noble line but still had to serve him. I learned from Lord Rowan that the manner of your birth does not always define what you should or shouldn¡¯t be. I have also known Lord Oska and Lord Michael for a long time, since their births to be exact. And while Lord Oska has grown to be a bully, an arrogant noble, sitting on his family name and not doing anything for his house or people, I have had the privilege to witness Lord Michael¡¯s growth.¡±
Voices of protest began to rise but Lord Grim¡¯s sharp gaze quickly brought silence to the hall again.
¡°I have witnessed Lord Michael survive the constant harassment of Lord Harlov and Lord Oska, I have witnessed him fighting back and winning, I have witnessed him studying and learning like no one I have ever seen to become the best he could be. Not to try to usurp his brother¡¯s birthright, no he did it to help his brother, to serve his lord and his people. I have seen him risk much to clear out corruption and crime in the town, I have seen him work with his brother to rule these lands. And even though I haven¡¯t seen that personally. I can ask many in this room if they have seen him covering in fear when the castle got attacked at night or if they have seen him stand with his men, rally them, and push back the intruders with steel and courage.¡±
Many of the nobles nodded at the viscount''s words, most prominently was the young Lord Ragar.
¡°So, I ask you, who would you rather lay the reigns in hands? A choleric boy who knows nothing? Or the lord that has ruled here before, that has fought for us, and that has prepared better than anyone could ever expect even from someone who knew he would be next in line. I for one know who Lord Cedric Rowan would have wanted to rule!¡±
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¡°You can¡¯t be serious,¡± Albion shouted, losing grip of his expression. ¡°Don¡¯t you see what is happening here?¡± The nobles turned toward him, eager to hear the opinion of the clergy.
¡°Don¡¯t you think that this is a little bit too perfect? A boy that has trained for this his whole life even though he was fourth in line and as if by accident everyone that could be considered a threat to him succeeding is murdered, except for the one he didn¡¯t know where he was? Don¡¯t you think it is weird that a child survives an attack that killed our lord, one of the strongest warriors in the kingdom?¡±
¡°Are you accusing me of something,¡± Michael growled and rose from his chair.
¡°I know what you are,¡± the priest spat at him, ¡°I have known for a long time already. And I say that your demon patron has orchestrated this to give you the power to do his dark bidding!¡±
¡°Again, with the demon child thing,¡± Viscount Telp threw his hands up, ¡°Not even your own superiors support you on this!¡±
Michael held up his hand and prevented anyone else from jumping in. ¡°You think I planned all this? I planned to kill my whole family? Not only my father and brothers but also my mother, my sisters, and even my younger brothers. You really must think of me as a monster. But I guess seeing monsters where there are none is what you do isn¡¯t it, ¡®Father¡¯.¡±
Michael stared at the man; his own hatred mirrored in the priest''s eyes. ¡°I ask for him to be removed from this council. He has no lands in either Emall or Reen, he has no right to be here, and I request the courtesy of inviting him to be revoked.¡±
Chaos erupted in the hall as men shouted and argued. Albion tried to get over the noise as he yelled, ¡°Can¡¯t you see what he is doing? He is trying to get rid of me as the voice of reason.¡±
The chaos continued until Lord Grim slammed his fist down on the arm of the chair and yelled, ¡°SILENCE!¡± The mana-infused voice bounced off the walls and a couple of people even held their ears as it echoed through the room.
¡°Lord Michael is well within his rights to ask of this as indeed Father Albion is here as a courtesy. Everyone in favor of removing Father Albion from this hall says ¡®Aye¡¯.¡±
They did and it was clear as day that it was at least a two-thirds majority if not more.
¡°Everyone against says ¡®Nay¡¯.¡±
A quieter response followed and Lord Grim leaned back in his chair, ¡°The result seems clear, so we won¡¯t have to do a count. Does anyone object to this?¡±
¡°I object to this vote,¡± Father Albion protested, ¡°I am part of the council and have a right to be here.¡±
¡°The council of the previous count has no such right,¡± Lord Grim replied calmly, ¡°I will respectfully ask you to leave now, or you will be escorted out by the guards.¡±
¡°You will bring ruin upon us all if you choose this thing as the successor,¡± Albion yelled but made his way toward the door. The audience parted for him, and soon after the door fell shut.
¡°Good, now that that has been dealt with. Will anyone say some words in favor of Lord Oska as Lord Telp has already spoken for Lord Michael and he is not here to speak for himself.¡±
No one spoke up, the vote to bar Father Albion from the hall had been a clear indicator of how the next vote would go and no one wanted to be on the bad side of the new count by advocating for another hated brother. Michael was sure that some of the votes for Father Albion had also been only in favor of the church. That¡¯s at least what the nobles would say.
¡°No one,¡± Lord Grim asked again and after a few moments turned to Michael, ¡°Then you can say a couple of words before we vote if you want to.¡±
Michael turned to the lords, he hadn¡¯t thought about this before and felt like the day he had failed at convincing his father to hire him a mentor.
A couple of seconds passed while Michael sorted his thoughts before he spoke. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be in this situation. I would give anything to not be in this situation. But this is what fate had in store for us and I will take up the mantle of my father if you deem me fit for it, not because I want it but because I have to, for my house and for my people. I will do what I must.¡±
He could have said more, talked about his experience even in his young age, his abilities, or what his father would have wanted but what he had said was the only thing that mattered to him.
The vote was short and unanimous, again no one wanted to get on the bad side of the new count, but Michael knew there were many that were against him.
¡°Good, the ceremony of fealty will be held tomorrow at noon. Now we come to the point of a guardian for Lord Michael,¡± Lord Grim said. Michael blinked surprised, it had completely slipped his mind that he was still a child and would get a guardian according to tradition.
¡°I don¡¯t need a guardian,¡± Michael blurted out, ¡°I am mature enough to take on the responsibility right now.¡±
His uncle smiled slightly at that but shook his head, ¡°You are way too young to take on this kind of responsibility. What about you Lord Telp?¡± Michael stared at his uncle as he brushed his objection by side. He knew that once a guardian was chosen by the gathered nobles here then he would be bound by law to him, and the guardian would have de facto control over the counties until Michael was eighteen. Something in Michael¡¯s stomach turned at that thought, and he repulsed from the idea.
Viscount Telp shook his head, ¡°I would prefer not to be chosen for this position as I am not confident that I could do it justice, but I will do it if no one more competent presents himself. How about you Lord Grim, you are family and have both experience and a connection.¡±
Lord Grim nodded slowly as Michael still stood there stunned. ¡°Hmm, yes that sounds like a good idea.¡±
Agreeing voices rose in the audience and Lord Uger raised his voice out of the chorus, ¡°Will you take Lord Michael with you to the County of Grent?¡±
Lord Grim nodded, ¡°That would be the case. I would put someone in place to rule here and come visit with Michael occasionally.¡±
This can¡¯t be happening, I need to do something, Michael thought. He felt small as the adults made choices for him without involving him. Panic began to build up and he was frantically looking for a solution when he suddenly blurted out. ¡°Could we take a break?¡±
All eyes turned on him and his uncle tilted his head. ¡°Let¡¯s finish up this topic first. It shouldn¡¯t take too long.¡±
Michael couldn¡¯t let that happen he needed time to think. ¡°Please, the past days have been difficult, and I just need a short breather. We can also use that time to think about possible options for the guardian position.¡±
Lord Grim held his gaze for a moment and then rose from his seat. ¡°As you wish. We will take a half-hour break.¡±
Michael hurried out of the great hall followed by his retainers.
¡°What is the matter, Michael,¡± Sola asked concerned.
¡°I forgot about the guardian. I can¡¯t do anything with a guardian. He would be the de facto ruler of my land until I come of age,¡± Michael panicked, he couldn¡¯t think of a way out, his uncle would win the election.
¡°He is your uncle, he will still let you decide things with your advanced education, or am I wrong,¡± Kiran said.
¡°No, he won¡¯t,¡± Michael said and turned to the mage. ¡°He is much more stubborn than my father was and hates not being in control. He is much less tolerant than my father as well, which would be a problem for you and Eydis.¡± The barbarian girl was standing a little bit further back, but Michael could see her brain working.
¡°So, what can we do,¡± Geron joined the conversation with a concerned expression.
Michael began pacing as he spoke, ¡°I don¡¯t know. My uncle is a respected count. He will win the election and carry me off to Grent.¡±
¡°Maybe you can convince Lord Telp to try to become your guardian. You would have much more freedom under him,¡± Sola suggested.
Michael thought about it for a moment, but it was Solon who answered, ¡°He won¡¯t win. The other nobles will want to limit his power and increase their own and the best way for that would be to ship of Michael somewhere else and rule in his stead.¡±
¡°Dammit, I wish we could have gotten this done before Lord Grim arrived,¡± Kiran cursed.
Michael suddenly stopped when the feeling of the dreams fell on him and a thought began to spread in his mind, as his retainers continued bouncing ideas off each other about what to do.
¡°I need a map,¡± Michael suddenly said to the surprise of the others. ¡°A map of the duchy.¡±
It didn¡¯t take long to find one as Lord Rowan loved maps. Geron spread it out on a table in private as Michael studied it. Tension started to fill his body as he hunted the suggestion the strange feeling had given him.
¡°Geron, what would it take to defeat my father,¡± he asked with clenched fists.
The knight frowned. ¡°He could take down hundreds of non-augmenters without much difficulty. Even augmenters were no match for him most of the time. You would need at least fifty or more normal augmenters to even try a head-on attack on him. Magic support would of course help.¡±
¡°And an ambush?¡±
¡°That would make it easier, but most injuries would not slow him down that much. It would be enough to tip the scales if they had someone on a similar level though.¡±
Michael turned around and hurried away from the table.
He found who he was looking for quickly. ¡°Tara, can you come with me for a moment?¡±
¡°Sure,¡± she said a little confused.
They went to a deserted spot and Michael turned back to her with a haunted expression. ¡°When did you leave for Reen?¡±
¡°Uhh, we left for Emall six days ago. Father rode ahead and then came back with the bad news a day later,¡± she said. ¡°What is this all about, Michael.¡±
¡°I am sorry I can¡¯t tell you right now.¡± With these words he walked away, the half-hour was nearly over anyway.
Chapter 47.
Michael
Most of the noble had already returned to the great hall as Michael entered. He was tense and cold fury was boiling under his skin.
¡°Uncle,¡± Michael said with force, and everyone turned toward him with surprise written all over their faces.
¡°What is it, Michael,¡± he answered with a raised eyebrow, he was already sitting on the lord¡¯s chair again.
¡°How are you here, uncle?¡±
¡°What are you talking about,¡± confusion spread over his uncle''s face and the nobles looked at each other with similar expressions.
¡°It has been five days since the attack in Reen and Emall. How are you here already?¡± Michael gritted his teeth and clenched his fist as the realization settled deeper into his brain.
Lord Grim simply stared at his nephew with a slightly open mouth as the nobles began to whisper.
¡°Right, isn¡¯t Grent four to five days travel with carriages from here,¡± Michael heard out of the crowd as he continued to watch for any reaction on his uncle¡¯s face.
¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous. We were already on the way to Emall, and the messenger reached us on the way. That is why we were here earlier,¡± Lord Grim brushed him off with a smile.
¡°Oh, is that it? And why would you have done that? You would have been over a week too early for the wedding but still too late for the birthday! WHY ARE YOU HERE ALREADY?¡±
¡°I told you, we were already on our way,¡± his uncle stared back but Michael didn¡¯t buy it.
¡°You hate to be gone a long time from your lands. You never stayed long here and are always itching to get back and now you want to tell us that you just casually would have been in Emall over a week too early?¡±
Voices got louder when the nobles realized what Michael was getting at, but he spat it out anyway. ¡°How did you leave the day of the attack? A day before the messenger could even arrive if Lord Telp had immediately sent one? And why did you ride ahead alone?¡±
¡°I had a bad feeling, okay? I had a feeling that something would happen and that is why we left early!¡±
¡°You knew about the attack,¡± Michael said with a fading voice, tears coming to his eyes, ¡°You always wanted to beat my father.¡±
Lord Telp and the rest of the council stepped back from Lord Grim with horror on their face and Michael could feel Eydis and Geron come closer. Lord Grim¡¯s guards also wanted to come closer, but they were stopped by a grim-looking one-armed Sir Pyke.
¡°What are you accusing me of, boy,¡± Lord Grim pressed out through gritted teeth.
¡°You knew of the attack before it happened. There is only one way you would know.¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t order this,¡± he spat back, his face getting red from anger.
¡°Then how are you here already. Did you just know about it and kept it secret? Let others take care of your brother and his heirs so you can inherit everything. What would you have done to me? Would I have had a hunting accident?¡±
¡°I would never harm my family.¡±
¡°THEN HOW!¡± Michael screamed as he stepped closer to the podium.
¡°A SHAMAN TOLD ME!¡± The room was suddenly silent as everyone stared at the normally steadfast lord who had just jumped out of his seat. ¡°A shaman told me that my brother¡¯s family would be drowned in blood the day that it happened! I sent a messenger, but he vanished and instantly left on my fastest horse. I heard about what happened when I was nearly there, but I couldn¡¯t let anyone know where I got this information from, so I returned to the caravan. I was too slow to save them.¡±
¡°That¡¯s how they killed my father isn¡¯t it,¡± Michael growled with a low tone. ¡°You always wanted to beat him, and you were on your way to Emall. You killed him.¡±
¡°WHAT? DIDN¡¯T YOU HEAR A WORD I JUST SAID,¡± Lord Grim yelled.
¡°Some random brigands killing my father, I think not but wounded by arrows and faced with you, that would work.¡±
¡°I WASN¡¯T THERE!¡±
¡°Sure, first you just wanted to be there early, then you had a feeling, and now you heard it from a shaman, send a messenger that never arrived and went there alone but turned around before getting there. Who would believe that,¡± Lord Uger shouted angrily, Lord Telp fell on a chair and held his head, and Lord Grim looked around at the increasing amount of hostile faces of the nobles. ¡°That is what happened, believe me!¡±
¡°Seize him,¡± Michael said with an expression of stone. Swords were drawn by the respective guards but Lord Grim just looked at his nephew with a pleading expression on his face.
¡°That is enough,¡± A new voice appeared in the room, and everyone turned around. A tall man was standing at the entrance of the room, he had gone completely unnoticed in the previous argument. He was bald with a well-groomed white beard. A walking stick sounded on the floor as the man - who was on the heavier side ¨C had to support his scarred leg. Eight knights followed behind him, the knights wore the heraldry of the Duchy of Praanen. A white quill on a blue field surrounded by four golden towers.
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No one dared to speak as Duke Wallsten forced an opening in the present nobles only through his aura of authority.
¡°This will stop right now,¡± the old duke said as he reached the end of the hall. The guards still had their weapons out, so he turned to them and said, ¡°Put away your metal, enough blood has been spilled needlessly in these halls already.¡±
Everyone but Eydis quickly followed the order, the barbarian girl looked confused at the rest and then quickly followed suit, probably sensing that something was going on here.
¡°He is responsible for my family''s death,¡± Michael roared.
¡°Oh, and you have proof of that, yes?¡±
¡°He is here way earlier than ¡,¡± Michael started but was cut off by the old man. ¡°Yes, I have heard everything.¡±
¡°Then you already know it is true!¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t hear anything that could even remotely be considered proof. I admit that it is quite suspicious but nowhere near enough for a reasonable arrest, don¡¯t you think?¡± He put his weight on his cane and looked to Lord Grim. ¡°Duncan, I think it would be best for you to leave back home now.¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t do this,¡± he replied, and the duke shook his head. ¡°You won¡¯t convince the people here and I don¡¯t want a fight between my vassals, so I request that you leave immediately and head back to Grent.¡±
¡°The funeral ¡,¡± Lord Grim started again with a weak tone but Duke Wallsten stomped his cane on the floor slightly before saying in a stricter tone, ¡°Immediately, Duncan.¡±
The count clenched his fist but then stormed out of the room. The nobles eyed him with hostility and disgust but didn¡¯t do anything to stop him.
¡°Milord, I know he did it,¡± Michael said, furious that the duke let him walk out like this.
¡°You are a smart boy, Michael. Would you condemn anyone on this weak case if it wasn¡¯t concerning you?¡± The duke smiled sadly but then turned to the rest of the room.
¡°Has a new count been chosen?¡±
¡°Yes, milord. Lord Michael has been chosen as the new Count of Reen and Emall,¡± Lord Uger replied after Viscount Telp stayed silent.
¡°Has a guardian been appointed?¡±
The nobles eyed each other awkwardly and the duke continued, ¡°I see. Then I will take the guardianship myself.¡± Michael¡¯s heart sank before the duke continued, ¡°But judging by Michael¡¯s maturity, I will not take him with me but let him stay here and rule himself, but I will require you,¡± ¨C he looked at Michael with a strict gaze ¨C ¡°To send reports and come visit me for in-depth discussions about your decisions regularly. I count on your council to handle the rest. This is what your dear father would have wanted, I am sure.¡± His eyes stayed focused on the young new count until he nodded.
The vote went over the same way the last one had and with that, the decision had been made but Michael was not glad to have gained the title or retained his independence, he was seething at the revelation he had got to and that he was denied his justice.
After the vote had concluded, Michael stormed out of the hall just to be greeted by Tara.
¡°What in the hells are you thinking? Accusing my father of murdering your family,¡± she yelled and began weakly beating on Michael¡¯s chest.
¡°Tara, stop,¡± he said with soft force and grabbed onto her arms.
¡°You are wrong!¡±
¡°Think about it. Why did you leave so early? Why did your father leave alone? How would they defeat my father otherwise? Who profits from the end of my house most?¡±
He held her gaze and he saw the doubt in her eyes.
¡°No, there has to be an explanation. He loves your father, he loves your siblings, and he loves you. He would never have done this.¡±
¡°What is it? And don¡¯t tell me that story about the shaman, I don¡¯t buy that your father, the man that hates the ¡®barbarians¡¯ more than anyone would get advice from a shaman.¡±
She took a step back and shook her head, ¡°I don¡¯t know, Michael, but we are family we have to stick together and trust each other.¡±
¡°No, Tara. I can¡¯t do that, and I know that you will realize the truth as well.¡± Michael didn¡¯t like having to pit a daughter against her father but in this case, his anger overshadowed his reluctance.
Tears in her eyes Tara smiled weakly, ¡°Goodbye, Michael. I hope you will realize the truth someday.¡± With these words she turned around and walked away, leaving Michael with his thoughts.
Michael sat in his father¡¯s office brooding over what had happened and what he could do. Duke Wallsten sat on the other side of the table, lightly tapping his cane against his forehead.
¡°This past year was truly a continuous string of nightmarish news wasn¡¯t it,¡± the old man finally said. ¡°I understand that you are looking for reason in these times, you always struck me as someone ruled by reason from your father¡¯s letters and the few times we have met. This is not the way though; we need to stand together in these times of chaos and not fight each other.¡±
¡°I know he did it, I can feel it in my core,¡± Michael said; the fire in him had mostly died down to a nasty burning sensation.
¡°Well, maybe I was wrong, and you are much more driven by feeling than I ever imagined.¡±
A moment of silence fell again before the duke restarted the conversation. ¡°I can¡¯t imagine that your uncle had anything to do with these attacks. I have known both of them for a long time. They fought, of course, as brothers do, but they genuinely loved each other like you rarely see.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t care. There is no other explanation for what happened.¡±
Lord Wallsten sighed at that. ¡°How about the one your uncle gave? Maybe he is being set up to destabilize the region?¡±
¡°The one that changed three times in as many minutes,¡± Michael asked sarcastically. He picked up a quill and began rolling it between his fingers, he needed to do something, but he couldn¡¯t think of what.
¡°Do you think that it is more realistic that your uncle murdered your whole family or that he was ashamed to admit that he got advice from a shaman?¡± Michael could never read this man; he was shrewd but liked to hide it, ambitious but everyone thought of him as content. The only thing that everyone knew was that he cared about the people he was in charge of.
¡°Well, I want you to keep yourself from doing anything rash. Investigate what happened and if you find any actual proof that your uncle had his hand in what happened, then I will personally take care of his punishment. Until then I expect you to steer clear of him if you can¡¯t trust yourself to remain civil. Can you do that?¡±
Michael knew nothing good would come from picking a fight with his uncle, especially if he violated a direct order of his liege to do it. It would go directly against the realization of this morning that his parents would want him to create a land where his people could be safe. There also was no one in the county left that could match the count with Lord Rowan dead and Sir Pyke crippled.
¡°I will, milord. As long as he stays away from me.¡± Michael would find the proof and he would have justice, if not today then on another day.
¡°Reasonable in the end. So, let¡¯s talk about what kind of reports I expect,¡± the duke changed his serious expression with a playful one.
Chapter 48.
Michael
¡°As the representative of the King of Telios, I ask you - Michael of the House Rowan ¨C do you swear fealty to King Zenial Merland, in times of certainty and in times of doubt, with your body and soul? Do you swear this oath in front of the God of Light Idas ¨C the one that remained?¡± The words came effortlessly over the lips of the old duke, he had probably spoken them dozens of times in his life already.
Michael was kneeling in the great hall before the duke. The hall was filled with the nobles and knights of the realm and even more had arrived since yesterday, even though many of the new arrivals weren¡¯t vassals of Reen or Emall but people arriving for the funeral.
¡°I swear upon my soul and under the light of the one that remained that I will serve King Zenial Merland and his descendants until the day I die,¡± Michael spoke the words. It was a simple pledge but vowing on one¡¯s soul was nothing anyone did lightly.
¡°Then by the power bestowed upon me by our king, I name you Count Michael Rowan, head of House Rowan and Count of Reen and Emall and all holdings associated with these titles. May you rule long and prosperous. May your loyalty be eternal. And may your life be one worth to be remembered.¡±
The last sentence wasn¡¯t part of the traditional ceremony and Michael looked up with surprise on his face, but the duke only winked at him and continued by placing the sword of the late Lord Cedric Rowan upon his head before pulling it back.
¡°Rise, Count Michael Rowan!¡±
The crowd cheered as their new lord rose to his feet. Duke Wallsten handed the sword to Sir Pyke, as it would be too large and heavy for Michael.
¡°You shall repeat this vow the next time you are in the presence of our king,¡± the duke said and took his cane from another knight.
¡°I swear.¡±
The duke nodded and retreated from the position in front of the Lord¡¯s Seat. Michael stepped forward and let his gaze fall upon the simple wooden construction. It looked like a tree stump that had been carved to accommodate a person, the only decoration was a simple cushion on it and the symbol of the house.
Michael had to quench his anger when he saw the twin swords of their sigil as it symbolized the brotherhood between his father and uncle, but he didn¡¯t want to make a scene.
He took his seat on the chair and the nobles approached to swear allegiance to him. The first one was Viscount Sygnus Telp, his rank giving him this privilege.
He swore his oath in a dignified manner, but he looked happier than Michael had seen him for days and finished his vows with a special remark. ¡°I will never let you down again, milord.¡±
What followed was an unending flow of nobles, falling to their knees and swearing undying loyalty. Some he believed like Lord Ragar or Viscount Telp, others he doubted like Baron Uger, and again others he flat out mistrusted like Baron Redric Plon, the father of Harlov¡¯s guardian knight who had survived the attack.
Finally, Sir Godfrey Pyke stepped before Michael. His hulking statue was not diminished in the slightest by his missing right arm.
¡°I request to be released from my bond to your family, milord,¡± he said plainly with his deep voice.
Michael wasn¡¯t surprised, he had heard from Geron that multiple knights had talked about their own failings in protecting the house and that they should resign.
¡°Can I ask for a reason, Sir?¡±
¡°I failed, milord. Lord Cedric died under my watch and with my right arm gone, I cannot serve you as well as I once could. I don¡¯t deserve to be the commander of the knights of House Rowan anymore.¡± The man had preferably fought with a two-handed weapon for most of his life and now he wouldn¡¯t be able to anymore, but Michael knew that he could still beat most if not all knights under his command even with one hand.
¡°You have served my family well and long. There are few knights in the service of House Rowan that have not learned the craft from you, and they are still some of the best in the lands. I don¡¯t want to lose you from my service but if you don¡¯t feel adequate to continue your duty as Commander of the Knights then I want to offer you a new position as weapons master. You will be directly responsible for the training and upbringing of new knights into our service.¡± Michael couldn¡¯t say that he had prepared much for his succession, but he had prepared things to keep each and every capable individual who could try to jump ship.
¡°This is a task traditionally reserved to the commander,¡± Sir Godfrey answered carefully.
¡°It is but there is no one to rival your experience and skill in training and preparing the knights for what is to come. My rule will start under the same premise that I want to continue, changing things necessary to make us safer and make us prosper. House Rowan will never suffer again just because we don¡¯t adapt.¡±
He could see the uneasiness on the faces of a couple of nobles who understood that they might become part of these changes.
¡°If the new commander agrees to this then I will accept this calling and continue serving to the best of my abilities,¡± the knight answered stoically but Michael thought that he had seen a glint of happiness in the man''s eyes. It was gone so fast that he might have imagined it too.
After Sir Pyke came the knights, some resigned because of injuries or imagined or real transgressions against their oaths. Michael tried to keep any of them that could still be of use as knights or in any other capability and often succeeded. The number of knights in his service still dwindled dangerously.
Michael nearly teared up when he saw Lance move toward him, propped up on two crutches and covered in bandages, and proclaim his loyalty. The man looked sincere, and Michael took it as a testament to how far he had gotten since the day of his awakening.
Finally in the end Sola, Geron, Solon, Eydis, and Kiran stepped before him.
¡°I don¡¯t require an oath of allegiance from any of you,¡± Michael said. ¡°You have served me for a long time and have taught me everything I know. I don¡¯t want to bind any of you to me, I would rather have you stay and work with me out of your own volition.¡±
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They exchanged looks with each other and Geron then stepped forward and knelt. ¡°I swear upon my soul and before Idas, the lord of light, that I will serve you and obey your commands until the day I die, or you release me from this oath.¡±
Sola was next. ¡°I swear upon my soul and in front of my patron, Idas, that I will serve you and follow your commands only second to Idas himself until the day I die or either of my lords release me from this oath.
Solon followed. ¡°I swear my oath allegiance to you, Lord Michael Rowan, in front of Haspa the goddess of trade and loyalty. I vow to serve you with my knowledge and skills until the day I die, or you release me from this oath.¡±
To Michael¡¯s surprise, even Kiran got on one knee. ¡°I never wanted to swear my loyalty to anyone, but you are a mage and a ruler that I want to support. I pledge my loyalty to you; I do this only in front of myself and the present. I will serve you with my magic and my knowledge until the day I die, or you deviate from the path you have set.¡±
Finally, Eydis stepped up. She didn¡¯t kneel, rather she took off the twin amulet of the Father and Mother and placed the symbol of the Mother in her hand. Michael took the symbol of the father and placed it in his, which caused the audience to murmur uncomfortably.
She began to sign with her other hand, which made it harder to understand but, in her culture, what really counted was the intention someone expressed with the words and not the specific words themselves.
¡°I swear to stay at your side for the rest of our lives, to protect you and serve you to the best of my abilities until the day I die, or you fail to meet your obligations as my oath brother.¡±
Michael placed his hand on her cheek and smiled as he mouthed, ¡°I swear to protect you till the day I die, no matter what.¡± He didn¡¯t want everyone to hear this vow, but Eydis understood.
- Later at night in Michael¡¯s room ¨C
They had done a fine job fixing Michael¡¯s room in only one day and it had returned mostly to its former interior. Not that there had been much in here anyway that was difficult to replace.
Michael sat at the table lost in thought, he knew he needed to sleep as he needed the rest, but his mind wouldn¡¯t settle.
¡°Michael,¡± the cold inhuman voice of the lynx-masked stranger appeared out of nowhere and Michael jumped up.
¡°Oh, it is you.¡±
¡°My apologies, I don¡¯t really know how to announce myself without startling you,¡± he said with a hint of amusement.
¡°It¡¯s alright.¡± He studied the being for a moment before he asked, ¡°Where have you been the last couple of days?¡±
¡°Investigating. Trying to find out what happened.¡±
¡°And did you find something?¡±
He shook his head and somehow, he looked embarrassed even though Michael couldn¡¯t see his face. ¡°They have been infuriatingly thorough in erasing their tracks. It is strange when you compare it to the lack of organization of the attack.¡±
Michael frowned; he was right it was strange but thinking about it right now didn¡¯t help.
¡°So, what has brought you to me at this late hour?¡±
¡°Today has been the day of allegiance, so here I am to swear mine.¡± Michael blinked surprised he had no idea who or even what the masked being was, and he wanted to swear allegiance?
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Because in the darkness you are the light. A light like I have never seen before,¡± his voice sounded neutral, but Michael felt a sudden vibration in the air.
¡°A light,¡± Michael asked confused. Does he mean my magic?
¡°Normal mortals shine like a candle or might even shine as bright as a torch but you ¡ your soul burns like a pyre ¡ as if it has been fed too much and now it can¡¯t contain all that power.¡±
Michael swallowed, ¡°What are you?¡± What was it that I could see his soul?
The visitor tilted his head to the side, ¡°My people are called the faceless. Have you heard of us?¡±
¡°Faceless? Yes, I have read of you but those were fairytales of old times. Your people are magical beings. You live at the fringes of society and normally don¡¯t interact much with humans.¡±
The faceless nodded but didn¡¯t say more, he probably thought of Michael¡¯s question as answered.
¡°How can you exist here? The mana levels should be way too low for something like you to sustain itself.¡± That was the difference between ¡®mortal¡¯ races and magical beings, mortals could exist without mana, but magical beings depended on it. Different kinds of magical beings needed different amounts of mana, but they all vanished after the Great Cataclysm when the mana levels hit nearly zero.
¡°It is hard to sustain myself, but my kind is not as dependent on mana as others. I am slower, weaker, and get tired more quickly and I can¡¯t use any of my powers but the most basic, but I can exist. And the mana levels are rising, I feel myself get stronger with each year that passes.¡±
¡°Can I trust your vow?¡± Michael trusted the faceless for now, he had saved him multiple times already after all, but he still couldn¡¯t grasp its agenda.
¡°You can. Our vows are sacred to us, as they are to your people.¡±
¡°Good, ¡, now that I think of it you never told me your name.¡±
¡°You couldn¡¯t understand or pronounce it,¡± the faceless said and then followed it up by a set of noises that sounded like blowing wind.
¡°Yeah, that is not gonna work, but I don¡¯t want to call you faceless so I will call you Lynx.¡± He noticed that he had done that in his thoughts anyway.
¡°Lynx. That is a good name. Then I will take it as the symbol of my loyalty to you,¡± Lynx said and placed his wrapped hand against the forehead of his mask.
¡°Good, and I already have a job for you.¡±
- At night -
The sound of pickaxes on stone sounded through the dark, the air was stifling, but something glittered in the darkness.
Michael had this dream before but this time it was far clearer. He could see the wooden supports at the walls and his feet brought him deeper into the mine. Or did they take him outside? He didn¡¯t know.
The walls were shining in the strangest colors as the light of his torch reflected on the rare materials embedded in the stone. Silver, copper, iron, he had learned about so many different minerals that he could identify most of them Michael let his hand brush over the cold rock; he didn¡¯t know where he was or how he got there.
Suddenly a light, brighter than all the others, appeared in the distance and Michael dropped the torch and began running.
Nothing stopped him as the light got brighter and brighter. Only a couple more steps and he was free. The mine opened up to the side of a mountain. People whose faces he couldn¡¯t see unloaded wagons with tools, while others stored away the riches from beneath on other carts. He was in a mining camp but what really caught his attention was the view.
He could look down the entire mountainside where the forest was alive with work. Roads being carved in the ground and houses constructed. The forest began to retreat when faced with the industrious humans and civilization took hold.
Michael glanced to the left and right and saw that the mountain was not alone. There was a whole mountain range to his sides all similarly being worked on.
His vision narrowed as he could see farther and farther until a familiar structure came into sight. It was a large construction made mostly out of wood. The walls and banners were so familiar, but Michael¡¯s mind couldn¡¯t place them. ¡°Come, claim my riches,¡± a rumbling voice came from behind Michael, and he awoke in an instant.
He leaned up in his bed, he was breathing heavily, his mind working at understanding what he had seen. His eyes darted toward the window, but he knew that he couldn¡¯t see what he was looking for.
He jumped out of bed and put his boots on. Without dressing himself further he ran out of his room. He could hear the clicking noise of a surprised Eydis, but he didn¡¯t stop and soon he also heard her steps behind him.
The young count hurried through the castle. The sun was coming up and the estate was waking but the hallways were still mostly empty. Michael quickly greeted everyone that they met in passing but didn¡¯t stop until he reached the south-facing wall.
He jumped up on the battlements to see and gazed at the huge mountain range that had always been at their back.
Ideas began to form, and information he had learned flooded his mind mixing with his own thoughts and getting evermore grandiose. He didn¡¯t need to explain anything anymore, he was the count now, and he didn¡¯t need to make plans that would sound reasonable to others.
A clicking noise dragged his attention back to the here and now as Eydis stepped next to him and put her furs over his shoulders.
¡°What are we looking at,¡± she signed and watched him with interest.
¡°Our future,¡± Michael answered with an eager smile.
Book 2. Chapter 49.
Michael
Everything was quiet. The only sounds came from the wind and Michael''s boots on the gravel path.
He was standing in front of a multitude of new gravestones. They were rather simple when one considered who they belonged to, but the late Lord Rowan despised needless luxury and Michael had inherited that sentiment.
Michael laid his hand on his parents'' tombstone, he didn''t say anything not to disturb the rest of the dead, but his heart was pounding and dying to voice his thoughts.
He smiled as his gaze landed on the gravestone of his father''s first wife. His mother would have hated that Michael chose to lay his father to rest between her and his first wife, but this is what his father would have wanted.
The sound of steps approaching him ripped him from his thoughts and he turned around to see Theodore approach him. His friend had arrived a week earlier much to Michael''s appreciation. He was sad that neither Mira nor Zen could make it to the funeral, but he understood the reasoning that Theodore had brought from the capital and the letters had helped him through the last days.
In the last two weeks since he had become count, he had mostly prepared for the funeral and met with a never-ending wave of people wanting an audience with him. He was glad that this was beginning to die down and most of the guests had already left or would in the next day or two.
He gave the graves of his family a last glance and then followed his friend out of the cemetery.
¡°So how are you holding up,¡± Theodore asked after they crossed the small gate.
¡°Well, the pain is only like a gut punch rather than being flayed,¡± Michael replied sarcastically.
¡°Well, that is something. So, what will you do now that you are done with all this?¡±
¡°Gonna start with reform work and get a move on my projects. It is about time that these holdings get up to their potential,¡± Michael said with a slight smile. He had used the little free time he had had in the last days to prepare his new project which would determine the future of him and his people.
¡°I still think that some of these are more trouble than they are worth,¡± Theodore said with a raised eyebrow.
¡°You lack vision, my friend. Just lean back and watch.¡±
They made their way back into the castle where Michael had called a large meeting to announce and plan the new project.
Normality had begun to return to the castle, but you could still see the tension in the staff and also many new faces among servants and guards.
Michael and Theodore chatted about the happenings in the kingdom and some of their ideas on the way. Theodore had shown himself to be adept at economic theory and was interested in reforms but not to the extent that Michael was.
¡°You can''t cut out the nobility from change. They are the pillars on which the kingdom stands and should be included in all change,¡± the tall teenager said.
¡°I have no problem including the nobility in my reforms but a large portion of them is only in their positions because of their births and not because they are any good at it. Merit should mean more than who your parents are,¡± Michael argued.
¡°That may be true, but you can''t change that without abolishing the nobility,¡± Theodore replied with a chuckle.
¡°You are probably right.¡± They changed the subject to the actual reforms and discussed tax law until they reached the council chamber. It was a strange sight seeing two ¡®children¡¯ talk about taxes like others would about games.
The room was filled with people. Michael let his gaze glance over the crowd. There were traders, artisans, nobles, knights, and the leader of the local adventurer¡¯s guild Thore Xyran.
He was a smaller man but with the body of a fighter. His brown eyes and black beard gave him a stoic appearance, but Michael knew that he was a gregarious man. One needed to be when managing a small army of rambunctious drunks who were on the verge of starving because of the lack of money half the time. The more troubling part was that these drunks were stronger than most and violent.
Another important attendee was the merchant Grur Parak. He was the wealthiest merchant who worked in these parts of the land. He was tall and his dark skin clearly showed that he wasn¡¯t from these parts. The story was that his mother was brought here as a slave and Grur worked himself up until his merchant master passed on everything he had to him when he died. His heritage might be how he got so wealthy by ignoring the cultural norms and system.
He would need both of them in the months to come, either for monetary or military aid.
Michael continued into the room greeting people as he went and took his place at the head of the long table. Everyone followed suit and silence fell upon it as they waited for him to talk.
He had thought a lot about what he should say and the many eyes on him made him nervous. Michael pinched himself in the leg and thought, this is nothing. I need to extrude confidence in these times. After another moment of deliberation, Michael rose from his chair and began to talk.
¡°Three weeks ago, this land was turned on its head. The seat of power attacked, the count and his family murdered, and allies betrayed us. We have suffered and we have grieved but we have also survived.¡± His voice was strong, he had worked on this speech with Solon for a while and was confident in it, much more than he was in himself.
¡°The time for grief is over. It is now time to stop focusing on the past and start focusing on the future. We must all work together to stop a tragedy like this from ever befalling us again.¡±
He looked at the faces of the listeners, there was support or doubt on most of them.
¡°Not every one of you knows me. Some of you have just seen me in passing or at some kind of event; all some of you have seen of me is a ten-year-old child. I ask you to give me a chance to prove myself as a worthy successor, just give me a chance to change your mind. The footsteps I am trying to fill are those of a giant, but I am confident that I will do my father justice.¡±
A polite applause followed his little speech and Michael hoped that he could sway a couple of the doubtful attendees.
After the room had quieted down Michael spoke up again, ¡°There are many things to get through so we will keep things short. I will begin with assigning some of my council positions.¡±
The tension rose in the room, this was always an important moment in a new lord''s ascension, it would decide the power situation between the nobles and also the merchants.
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¡°Firstly, I would like to appoint Viscount Telp as my chancellor,¡± he declared. Surprise rippled through the room and the viscount asked with a frown, ¡°Still after my failings?¡±
Michael tapped his finger on the table. ¡°I want to make something clear; I will decide who failed and if there should be punishment. I don''t see a failing in you Lord Telp, at least none that has any bearing on retaining your position as chancellor. You have the experience and the knowledge to serve me well.¡±
The viscount bowed his head while saying, ¡°I will humbly accept this position, milord.¡±
Michael nodded and continued, ¡°For the position of the court cleric I will recommend Sister Sola to the holy mountain and until we get word she will act on this position.¡± This wasn''t a surprise for anyone.
¡°Lord Eckbert Oligan, you will also retain your position as steward.¡± The man accepted his calling without much emotion.
¡°Sir Geron will take up the mantle of the Knight Commander in Sir Pyke''s stead and will also take over the position of the Marshall. Sir Pyke will retain the duties of recruiting and training the squires and knights.¡± Both knights bowed in agreement and accepted their roles.
Uneasiness spread among the present nobles and Lord Uger was the first to speak up. ¡°Milord, with all due respect to Sir Geron but there are more veteran knights that should not be so easily overlooked. They are more experienced and have the needed authority.¡± Most nobles seemed to be in agreement.
¡°You mean others that are nobles,¡± Michael smiled, this would be the first but not the last decision he would make that would anger the nobility.
¡°It is a concern, milord. Your father liked to take in very talented lowborn but knights are traditionally of noble blood and to have a commoner command them could lead to problems for his command. I say this with the utmost respect of course.¡±
¡°Of course, Lord Uger. But my decision is final. I would have retained Sir Pyke''s rank but in this situation, I trust Sir Geron the most to do the job. He also doesn''t have any of the opinions that you just voiced which will help him open up the knighthood to all levels of society.¡±
¡°You want to allow anyone to become a knight,¡± Lord Plon exclaimed and looked at Michael with a horrified expression.
Michael nodded as the lord''s expression began to be mirrored in the faces of many nobles. ¡°My father already inducted a couple of commoners into the knighthood, and they have proven to be a success. The knights are supposed to be the best fighters that we can have, and we will no longer gather these gems from a severely limited pool.¡±
¡°Knighthood was a privilege of the nobility since before the Great Cataclysm,¡± Baron Plon argued and looked to his fellow nobles for support.
¡°Do you want us to be strong or weak, Lord Plon,¡± Michael simply asked.
¡°I am just trying to preserve our tradition.¡±
¡°Maybe some of our traditions are wrong. My father wasn''t of noble blood, but he was one of the greatest knights in the kingdom. Sir Geron isn''t of noble blood, and he is the strongest knight of his peers. There are strong warriors to be had from any station and I will not deny my people the protection they can bring just to preserve a little bit of tradition and pride.¡±
Michael heard many grumbles, and he knew they wouldn''t be satisfied with this change, but he didn''t care. In his eyes, the majority of the nobility were standing in the way of the progress he envisioned anyway.
¡°In this meeting, I will just tell you what is going to happen. You can bring your grievances about my decisions to me at a later date,¡± Michael tried to pacify them, he knew that he couldn''t antagonize them too much.
¡°Commander Irem Stanes you will retain your position as commander of the town watch and take over the responsibilities as the Constable of law enforcement in all holdings.¡± The tall man had taken over for the previous commander shortly after the raid on Red Fredrick. He was more suited to the job and was a hard-faced man.
¡°Solon Gremson will serve as the Master of Knowledge. This position will be as my mentor and also to bring different viewpoints into discussions and offer suggestions on how other races and nations handle things.¡±
Having a non-human in the council was probably rubbing people the wrong way as well but they kept their mouths shut heading his previous declaration.
¡°Further positions will be assigned at a later date when needed,¡± Michael concluded. His new council members took their seats at his sides, and he nodded with a smile.
¡°Now we come to the second part of this meeting. We have several problems that need attending. The population is uneasy with my father''s passing. Our neighbors will see us as weak - especially the beastmen raids have already increased - now that he is not only gone but dead. And most importantly the counties are poor so we can''t afford to solve these problems long term and still grow at a satisfying pace.¡±
He looked around the room if anyone wanted to add something, but they stayed silent.
¡°There is one thing we need to solve all these problems,¡± he held up a silver ruan piece, ¡°We need more money.¡±
¡°Do you want to raise the taxes,¡± Lord Oligan raised his eyebrow, ¡°That would worsen the civil unrest.¡±
Michael quickly shook his head to prevent more speculation. ¡°No, we will have to increase our economic strength and through that our income without raising taxes. Increasing taxes would be a short-term solution to a long-term problem.¡±
¡°Such developments take a lot of time and money, milord, and the benefits are generally reaped only years later,¡± Lord Telp said while pondering about it.
¡°It will indeed take a lot of money to get it done but I have an idea to reap the benefits in just a couple of months and after that with the money we earn start the slower projects,¡± Michael said and looked over to the merchants.
¡°I suppose that is the reason why we are here, milord? Do you wish to ask for a loan,¡± Grur Parak said with a polite smile, but Michael saw the spark of opportunity in his eyes.
¡°That is one reason but not for right now. We do have adequate reserves to start the project and I have already secured some additional funds from Duke Wallsten. The main thing that I need you here for is for your expertise in economic matters.¡± The merchant looked intrigued but still unsure what this was about.
¡°Well, this is all very nice and stuff but why exactly am I here,¡± the leader of the adventurer¡¯s guild Thore Xyran asked with a smile.
¡°Well, we are going to clear out the Ereic Mountains to the south and claim the natural riches. Who would be better to support our effort in destroying the monster dens than the adventurer¡¯s guild,¡± Michael smiled back as the face of Thore lit up.
He was the only one though as the merchants frowned and the nobles and knights stared at Michael.
¡°Milord, the mountains are infested by monsters. Clearing them out would take hundreds of men and tens of thousands ruan in equipment. How would we ever make back that investment from there,¡± Lord Uger asked carefully after no one else stepped forward.
¡°Yes, it will but don''t forget the dwarven kingdom of Garekha is in the same mountain range and they are rich from the mineral wealth of the mountains. I believe there will be a similar kind of wealth in our part of the mountains and with those we can easily finance the clearing and many more projects in the future.¡± Michael looked at the faces of the present with excitement and some of them seemed to turn around to his idea but not everyone.
¡°This will be a huge gamble, milord,¡± Lord Oligan said with a pained expression that Michael already knew from every time he had asked for money. ¡°If we don''t find substantial riches or Idas preserve us fail in clearing the mountains, we will go bankrupt and will probably be invaded.¡±
¡°I understand your point, but we can''t just sit here and wait. We are too weak, and we need to do something drastic to change this fast so that we don''t drown. I am certain that this is the path that we need to take so we will go there. Now don''t tell me that we should not do this and rather begin telling me what we can do for it to succeed.¡±
He hadn''t convinced them yet but at least now they were thinking about how to do it and not about how stupid they think this idea is. Michael would have doubted it himself were the situation different but with the added factor of his dream he was certain that this would pay.
¡°Well, you would need a large number of workhorses for supply carts and to clear out paths,¡± one merchant started slowly.
¡°We would need to keep the number of soldiers and knights low so that we don''t threaten our border security,¡± another man added.
Slowly but steadily, everyone started discussing the different things they would need and what strategy would be best for dealing with the monsters.
After a while, Michael knocked on the table to regain the attention. ¡°Sir Geron will take point in planning the cleansing of the mountains, I would like you, Mr. Xyran, to lend your expertise.¡± He looked at the leader of the adventurer¡¯s guild.
¡°And you expect me to do this for free,¡± he didn¡¯t sound offended or accusatory, it was more amusement in his voice.
¡°This operation will generate a lot of work for the adventurers and inadvertently will pay well for the adventurer¡¯s guild.¡±
The small man nodded with a grin. ¡°Alright then, who am I to ignore the call of duty.¡±
Michael gave the man a nod of appreciation and then turned back to everyone else. ¡°I would like everyone but Grur Parak and my council to leave. You can move the discussion to the great hall if you want.¡±
Chapter 50.
Michael
Michael watched as the room emptied and pretended to not notice the inquisitive stare of the merchant who stayed behind. After everyone but the man and the council had left, the dark-skinned man spoke up.
¡°How can I be of service, milord,¡± he said with the same polite smile he had worn the whole time.
¡°You are quite the unique sight in these lands,¡± Michael said and tried to mirror the smile of the merchant, but he didn¡¯t quite manage it.
¡°We have that in common from what I have been told,¡± Grur replied.
Michael inspected the man for a moment longer. ¡°I have a question for you. What do you think would a trade route with the Dwarven Kingdom Garekha be worth.¡±
Surprise fell on the merchant''s face, and he looked at the ceiling while thinking about it.
¡°The dwarfs make remarkable goods that are being sold at high prices all over the kingdom due to their quality and more prevalently their rarity. The dwarfs don¡¯t trust us humans so only few are even permitted to enter their kingdom and even if they would let us in then you still had to navigate a caravan through beastmen clan territory.¡±
He paused for a moment while pondering about his next words, but Michael stayed silent, feeling that the man wasn¡¯t done with his explanation.
Grur resolved himself a moment later and said with determination, ¡°A safe trade route with the dwarves would be invaluable. Having access to their markets would give unimaginable wealth to anyone who could reliably bring their goods here. If there was a place that allowed for this, I would probably move most of my business there.¡±
¡°I see.¡±
¡°Are you perhaps planning on establishing such a trade route,¡± the interest in Grur¡¯s voice was unmistakable as him smelling opportunity.
¡°I am playing with the thought, but what could we even offer them,¡± Michael said.
¡°High-quality wood, animal and agricultural products are hard to come by in the mountains and have a much higher price associated with them in Garekha than here,¡± Solon interjected.
¡°That still leaves the problem with the clan territory between us and the dwarven kingdom,¡± Geron added.
¡°We still have no news about any raids or attacks from the wolf clan right,¡± Michael asked to which Geron shook his head. ¡°Something is going on with them and we might be able to leverage that to strike a deal for free passage and a formal peace.¡±
¡°You plan to make deals with the beasts,¡± Commander Stanes said with a deep frown.
¡°Solon, could we trust a deal with the beastmen?¡±
¡°I have traveled through the clan territory multiple times already, so I have some experience with the different clans. The wolves are hunters and fighters, they have a strong sense of honor, and I don¡¯t believe that they would break a deal but they are also very cunning so we need to be careful how to word the deal or they might use a loophole against us.¡±
Michael nodded to the explanation of his Master of Knowledge and asked his Constable, ¡°Is that enough for you?¡±
¡°Yes, milord. Lord Cedric always spoke highly of your wisdom, Solon, so I shall trust your word,¡± the man answered. Michael smiled; he liked the pragmatism of the commander.
¡°I will go myself,¡± Michael said. ¡°I will go to the Kingdom of Garekha and try to negotiate with them to open up trade to us. I will also try to negotiate free passage through the clan territory.¡±
¡°Milord, you can¡¯t actually plan to do this. You would be gone for weeks maybe even months. It would make us look leaderless,¡± Eckbert said concerned.
¡°Not to mention that this is way too dangerous for you to travel through clan territory,¡± Sola added.
¡°First of all, I am a child, so our neighbors will be more careful in dealing with us if there is an experienced leader like Viscount Telp in charge. Secondly, I won¡¯t be much needed here in the next couple of weeks as Geron will prepare the cleansing of the Ereic Mountains, and we don¡¯t have the means to afford much else anyway. And thirdly, I will of course travel with a sufficient guard.¡± Michael looked at the different council members, none of them but Solon seemed convinced.
¡°As you said, I will be organizing the raid. So, I won¡¯t be able to protect you, as your guardian knight I can¡¯t accept this,¡± Geron said and looked determined to stand his ground.
Michael smiled weakly, he didn¡¯t want to do this now, but it seemed he had no choice. ¡°Geron, I wanted to talk about this with you. You won¡¯t be able to always be by my side when you are acting as the commander of the knights and even though you will always be my knight, I have decided to form a personal guard whose charge it will be to protect me.¡±
Geron looked hurt as he argued, ¡°It worked with Sir Pyke and your father.¡±
¡°There is a big difference between my father and me, Geron. Everything that my father couldn¡¯t handle wouldn¡¯t have been helped much by a guard. I am not as strong and you saw in the raid that even two people can¡¯t guard me the whole day, much less when one of them has another assignment that can fill a whole day''s work.¡± He didn¡¯t want to hurt Geron, but he knew that he would understand, and he did.
Geron clenched his fists and slowly nodded, ¡°You are right. I apologize for my selfishness; I should put your safety above my own pride. Who will oversee this guard?¡±
Michael was sure that Geron already knew the answer, but he said it anyway, ¡°Eydis will. The selected knights will have to learn sign language though, so I will also take Sir Zeke Tomp as an interim leader.¡±
¡°We still have another problem at hand though. Will the dwarves even let you pass to negotiate or take you seriously,¡± Lord Telp noted. ¡°Not even every noble in your service understands that you are not to be regarded as a child so how will the dwarves react?¡±
¡°The Kingdom of Garekha is my home so we will be able to enter without much difficulty,¡± Solon explained, ¡°I also have some connections in the kingdom that will be able to get us an audience at least with the council if not even with the king himself. I believe that my testimony will be able to convince them to treat us with due respect in our negotiations and if not then they will quickly learn themselves while negotiating with our lord.¡±
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¡°If you allow, milord, I would like to accompany you. I think I can offer valuable insights into the realm¡¯s trade and help with my experience in negotiating trade deals,¡± Grur Parak suddenly spoke up; multiple council members had apparently forgotten that he was still there and jumped a little.
This was what Michael had hoped for and was the prime reason he had let the man stay for the discussion. He planned to use the merchant¡¯s expertise and at the same time evaluate the man.
¡°I would be happy to have you tag along.¡±
- A day later in the courtyard ¨C
It had taken a whole day to prepare for the venture into the beastwoods; Michael would have appreciated leaving as early as possible to avoid all the arguing and annoyance from the nobility he had to endure the whole time. Grur had insisted on gathering goods that could be used as gifts and samples of what the counties could offer, and Michael couldn¡¯t argue against that logic so here they were.
¡°If we delay by a week I could get more and better goods prepared,¡± Grur said while standing next to Michael. ¡°These are only what I already had in my warehouse and what I could organize in the short time that I had.¡±
Michael shook his head at this. ¡°We can¡¯t delay much longer. The journey will take us over a week one trip, and I don¡¯t want to be away from my lands this long. The cleansing of the mountains also can¡¯t proceed without the knights I am taking with me, so we need to make this a short affair.¡±
¡°We mustn¡¯t rush things though,¡± Solon interjected at this point, ¡°Dwarves like to take things slow, which probably stems from our longer lifespan, so give it time.¡±
¡°Yes, we won''t,¡± Michael replied and looked at his little caravan. It consisted of a carriage, two horse-pulled carts, and a detachment of four knights, twenty guards on horse, and ten more guards that Grur had hired. Additionally, Kiran and Eydis were also present and increased their combat capability by a lot. It was massive overkill for a normal venture but for this one, it was the bare minimum.
As Michael stood there, Sir Zeke Tomp approached him, he looked nervous, and Michael could guess why. He had been the guardian knight of his brother Matthias and was one of the few knights of Rowan that had survived the attack on the house in Emall. ¡°Milord, preparations are complete. We are ready to head out on your command.¡±
Michael could feel the uneasiness in the mannerisms of the normally stoic knight. He probably didn¡¯t agree with being granted the honor of being part of the lord¡¯s bodyguard much less the interim leader but was too strict with himself to voice his objections to the command.
¡°Good,¡± Michael said and turned to his council which had assembled with many others in the courtyard. ¡°Lord Telp, I hereby leave my lands in your care. Geron, continue the preparations, I want everything to be ready once I return.¡±
Lord Telp bowed to his liege, ¡°We wish you good fortune on your mission and safe travels.¡±
Michael turned around, ignoring the glances of Sola, and climbed into the carriage together with Solon, Kiran, and Grur.
Geron
¡°Let''s finish for today,¡± Geron said and rose from the table. The knights followed his example and began filtering out of the room. They had been brainstorming different tactics for the expedition into the mountains for hours now and Geron was burned out.
He could feel resentment and anger from many of the knights who didn''t support his appointment to knight commander, and it was draining to work with them.
¡°Sir Pyke, a word,¡± he said to the former commander. The hulking man stopped and turned to him, his thoughts veiled behind his hard expression.
¡°What can I help you with, commander?¡±
¡°Do you have any advice on how to deal with the knights or just in total for the position of knight commander,¡± Geron asked the veteran, he was determined to get a grip on his new charge because if he couldn''t then Michael would have problems.
Sir Pyke looked at him for a few seconds, his eyes focused on Geron''s as if he was trying to peer into his mind. He then sighed and raised his hand holding up three fingers.
¡°There are three things you need in your position. First: Respect, giving it and receiving it. There is nothing worse than a knight who feels he is being disrespected and a commander who isn¡¯t respected by his men. Second: Strength, you don''t need to be the strongest knight in the house - even though that would help - but you need to be strong enough to appear deserving of your position. And lastly: confidence, the knights will doubt you, they will talk behind your back, and they might even openly challenge you but if you show that you are unsure of your own decisions, you will lose their confidence.¡±
¡°Not sure if I have their confidence,¡± Geron said with a dry chuckle.
¡°Of course, you don''t. You are a lowborn, you are young, and you haven''t proven yourself in any larger conflict,¡± the older knight said with his typical harsh tone. ¡°Lord Rowan put you in a difficult position and you won''t be able to afford any mistakes, or you will never recover as knight commander. This cleansing of the mountains will be your branding, if you succeed you will have taken the first step toward the respect you need and if you fail then you will never reach it.¡±
¡°Great,¡± Geron said and then saw the raised eyebrow of the former commander.
¡°Self-pity won''t help you, Geron. Lord Cedric saw something in you; he saw himself in you. So, stop lamenting that the other knights are mean to you and get to work,¡± the last words nearly had a humorous tone as the knight grabbed Geron''s shoulder with his remaining hand for a moment before also leaving the chamber.
- A while later in Geron''s chambers -
Geron sat at his table struggling with the written reports of supplies and soldiers from different towns.
¡°I wish I could have gone with Michael. I don''t want to start having to do sermons in the castle and be the moral support for everyone,¡± Sola groaned while lying on his bed.
¡°You know that priests of Idas are not welcome in many non-human countries,¡± Geron remarked absent-mindedly. ¡°Your presence would definitely harm his negotiations with the beastmen and might also upset the dwarves.¡±
¡°Yeah, I know. I would still prefer to be out of here,¡± she said while playing with her Idas sun.
¡°Yeah.¡±
She then sat up and looked over to him. ¡°What are you doing?¡±
¡°Going through reports. I gotta know how much manpower and supplies we can gather from the surrounding area and what we need to buy,¡± his voice sounded a little more agitated than he would have liked, a fact that Sola instantly caught up on.
She stood up and wrapped her arms around his neck from behind and asked gently, ¡°What''s wrong?¡±
¡°It is nothing,¡± he answered and faked a smile.
¡°Geron, we won''t start lying to each other, got it,¡± her voice was strict all the sudden and Geron relented. ¡°I am bad at reading and writing, okay?¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°I am slow and often make mistakes, which isn''t helpful if I am being buried in paper and have to search for relevant information in a pile of garbage,¡± he growled and threw the piece of paper he was holding onto the pile.
¡°I didn''t know that you had problems with that,¡± Sola said, back to her softer tone.
¡°Yeah, I don''t tend to run around flaunting my weaknesses. I didn''t need to be fast before, I could take my time reading the rare written order or something of a news board but now I waste so much time that could be used better.¡± He was annoyed at his own flaws and especially hated to show them to Sola.
She let go of him and a cold shudder went down his spine for a moment until she pulled a stool closer and sat down beside him.
¡°Oh darling, there is no shame in admitting that you are not good at something and definitely no shame in asking for help.¡±
He avoided her gaze until she lightly punched him in the side. He turned toward her, and their eyes met. He lost himself in her shining blue eyes for a moment until she leaned forward and gave him a small kiss.
¡°Okay, I am gonna help you with these reports and also help you train reading and writing,¡± she said and picked up the piece of paper he had thrown down.
Geron watched her as she quickly skimmed over the paper and put it to the side. ¡°Nothing important in this one.¡± She then picked up the next but before she started reading, she looked at Geron. ¡°I am not gonna do all your work for you. Repetition makes proficient, so chop chop,¡± her voice had a playful tone in it that forced him to smile.
¡°Thank you, Sola,¡± he said which she only answered with a cheeky wink.
Chapter 51.
Michael
The landscape flew by as Michael¡¯s caravan passed through the land. His interest in the outside rose the closer they came to the border; he had never traveled this close to it.
He peered out of the window, watched the large river that marked the end of his lands, and looked over it at the forest that stretched as far as his eyes could see. He of course had heard many stories about the beastwoods. About the treacherous landscape, dangerous wildlife, and the savage inhabitants.
He had never seen a living beastman though, the only ones he had seen were heads on pikes or other forms of corpses. Michael wondered if they were as different and savage as the stories told; tales and traditions had proven unreliable.
¡°How are the beastmen,¡± he asked Solon as he fell back into the carriage.
¡°It really depends on which clan you meet. The wolf clan is honorable and cunning as I said before. The bear clan is strong and loves solitude. The stag clan is proud and rather peaceful. There are many more but all of them hate to be called beastmen,¡± the dwarf answered with a smile.
Michael thought about it momentarily and then nodded, ¡°Being called a beast version of a human is understandably insulting.¡±
¡°Exactly, they much prefer to be called animal kin in your language, but each type of animal kin has its own name.¡±
¡°What is it for the wolf clan? They might appreciate if I call them by their name.¡±
¡°They call themselves Vargr-Sl?kt.¡± It was a strange word and Michael had to try multiple times to master the pronunciation.
¡°Well done,¡± Solon praised him after he had managed it.
Grur watched the exchange with interest and Michael could see him silently move his own lips trying to copy the word.
¡°So how did it come to it that a slave became such a successful merchant,¡± Michael asked the man.
Grur regarded him with an unreadable expression before he smiled, ¡°It is not as interesting of a tale as one might think, milord.¡±
¡°Indulge me, please.¡±
¡°Very well. I was born a little more than thirty years ago far to the south of here. In my homeland, only the strong rule and the weak are their property. The desert is unforgiving so the people there need to be too. My parents were weak and followed the wrong man, so they got killed and I became a slave at the young age of five.¡±
He didn¡¯t look angry about it, rather he had an aura of acceptance while talking about his fate as if his past was how it was always meant to be.
¡°I was passed from master to master, my price falling every time. I was not a strong boy; physical work was never my specialty. This was until I was bought by a wandering trader, who bought me for a goat.¡±
¡°You were bought for a mere goat?¡± Michael frowned and thought, how can you sell a person like livestock?
¡°It was a good price for such a seemingly useless boy,¡± the trader calmly replied before continuing his story.
¡°The wandering trader hoped to make a good profit by bringing us ¡®exotics¡¯ north beyond the sea and mountains and into the world of the pale men. The journey was perilous, but we did make it, at least most of us. The merchant was right, he did make a good profit and I was bought by my last master. Rickert was a good man and a religious man. He noticed my potential and after a couple of years told me that if I converted to the faith of Idas, he would set me free. Faith had always been a strange concept for me, so I accepted. Rickert never had children. Why, I cannot say. After years of being his right-hand man, he adopted me and when he died a few more years later I inherited his business.¡±
Michael was quiet while thinking about what he had just heard. ¡°Greatness can be found wherever you search for it,¡± Michael mumbled to himself, but the tall, dark-skinned man had heard him. He simply smiled and left Michael with his thoughts.
---
¡°This is where we are gonna cross the river, milord. We need to leave the carriage here, if they are as receptive to our entry as I think they will then we will need to leave quickly,¡± Sir Tomp said while standing at the door of the carriage.
Michael stepped out of the carriage and took a look around. They were next to a small walled border fort that overlooked a small wooden ferry. Calling it that was probably an overstatement as it was basically a wooden plane that was connected with ropes to the other side of the river.
There were multiple men already working to secure the first cart on the ferry and some guards of the fort had also joined them.
¡°It will take three rounds to get everything to the other side. You will go on the last one for maximum security,¡± the knight informed him.
The four knights and Eydis had formed a loose ring around him the moment he had stepped out of the safety of the carriage, and he was sure that they had done the same on the whole journey till now. He could understand their protectiveness though, the loss of most of House Rowan still weighed heavily on them and this was a dangerous endeavor, but Michael would be lying if he said he liked this treatment.
Michael watched as the workers from the fort did their job when a man in a chain vest approached him. Michael¡¯s guard eyed him with suspicion and Sir Tomp stopped the man.
¡°I am Ufric Tales, commander of this border fort. I would like to talk with Lord Rowan,¡± the man said.
Michael waved him closer and Sir Tomp stepped to the side. Ufric was a grizzled man, his wild beard and unkempt hair gave him a savage appearance which was only strengthened by his multiple facial scars.
He fell on one knee in front of Michael. ¡°Rise,¡± Michael quickly said, and the man did so. ¡°What can I do for you, commander?¡±
¡°I wanted to see this with my own eyes, milord. Going into the beastwoods to negotiate with these animals is a folly,¡± Ufric spat out without regard for Michael¡¯s station.
¡°You dare ¡,¡± Sir Tomp growled and made a step closer before being stopped by Michael¡¯s raised hand.
¡°A folly, you say?¡±
¡°Damn right, you can¡¯t talk with those beasts. They are little more than animals.¡± The hate and rage radiating from the man was barely contained.
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¡°Did you ever try,¡± Michael calmly asked. Ufric looked at him confused and shook his head. ¡°And the wolf clan hasn¡¯t attacked us in how long now?¡±
¡°A year maybe, but that doesn¡¯t mean that they are not planning to. They are probably just waiting for the right time.¡±
Michael continued to smile at the man which made him recoil a little. ¡°And you think that the last weeks weren¡¯t the right time? The lord that they feared is dead, his child son is now the ruler, and the king still getting settled in his new position. Or are you saying they haven¡¯t noticed?¡±
¡°Milord, with all due respect, you don¡¯t know them like I do. I have seen countless men being torn apart by the beastmen; they will not give you a chance to talk.¡± He had calmed down but still tried to show the urgency of his words.
Michael tapped a finger against his lower lip as he had started doing lately when in thought.
¡°I am sorry, commander. I don¡¯t believe it. My teacher has traveled through the beastwoods, treated with the animal kin, and broken bread with them. Diplomacy is possible and I will stop this senseless bloodshed. We can live peacefully next to each other, no more men have to be torn apart, and no more children left as orphans.¡±
He saw that he wasn¡¯t getting through to the man, his own experiences acting like a shield to the young count¡¯s words.
¡°You might not see it this way right now, but you will, one day,¡± Michael held the gaze of the grizzled veteran until he shook his head, turned around, and walked away without so much as a word.
Michael watched him for a while and then turned back to the ferry which was currently being pulled to the other side of the river.
¡°You shouldn¡¯t let such disrespect stand, milord,¡± Sir Tomp said disgruntled.
Before Michael could reply, Sir Lance spoke up, ¡°Respect is earned and not demanded. They don¡¯t know any better, but they will soon enough.¡±
Michael inspected the young knight. He had been happy when Lance requested to join his personal guard, it was as if a circle had finally closed.
¡°Do you think my plan is a folly,¡± Michael asked his knights.
¡°It is not ours to question, milord,¡± Tomp answered with his rigid demeanor. Michael smirked and shook his head at this.
It took a while longer until everyone got to the other side of the river but soon after they were getting going again.
---
The journey was eventless for the next two days. They had some difficulty getting the carts through the rough terrain which slowed them down but that was the peak of their problems.
Michael pushed himself up from his saddle to get some relief from the constant rocking and his sore thighs.
¡°You will get used to it,¡± Lance¡¯s voice appeared next to him.
¡°Really,¡± Michael asked with a doubtful expression and the young knight laughed. ¡°Yes, but only so much.¡±
They rode next to each other in silence for a few minutes until Michael said, ¡°I am sorry how I treated you, Sir Lance. You were only trying to do your duty and I made it hard for you.¡±
¡°Apology accepted, milord. Not all the blame is on you though, I was also still young back then. Well, I am still young but that¡¯s not the point. I should have voiced my problems and not run away from them because I thought that I was being wronged,¡± the sincerity in the knight''s voice made Michael smile.
¡°Let¡¯s just say we have both grown up.¡±
Lance smiled back, ¡°Indeed.¡±
A clicking noise pulled Michael¡¯s attention to Eydis who had turned her horse around from her vanguard position and moved it to Michael.
¡°What is it?¡±
She was on high alert and Michael could guess what the reason was as she signed, ¡°We are being tracked.¡±
They had followed the river as far south as they had been able to but had to turn east yesterday to cut through the lightly forested south of the wolf clan territory toward the kingdom of Garekha. The trees had obscured them well enough to stay hidden for most of the journey till now but apparently that was over.
¡°Alright, tell everyone to stop. Let¡¯s make contact with our new friends,¡± Michael said, he was nervous about upcoming the conversation.
They all stopped, and the guards formed a protective circle around the wagons with the knights in the center.
¡°Solon, would you be so kind as to translate,¡± Michael asked while making himself as tall as possible on his horse.
¡°My dagranan is a little rusty but it should still work,¡± the dwarf answered and nodded at Michael to begin.
¡°Greetings, Vargr-Sl?kt. My name is Michael Rowan, new count of Reen and Emall. I wish to speak with you, so come out, you are in no danger,¡± Michael said, and Solon loudly translated.
Loud laughter echoed from the trees and a throaty voice answered in choppy remurian, ¡°You are the one in danger whelp. How typically arrogant of one of your kind to come into our land and promise us safety.¡±
¡°The promise of safety seems reasonable to give after I have trespassed on your land with a group of soldiers,¡± Michael loudly replied with a mana-infused voice. He had been told that the wolves would respect strength, so he tried to seem unconcerned and forceful but stay polite.
He used a large amount of mana to sharpen his senses, but he still couldn¡¯t make out any of their hunters, he did hear what he guessed was a female voice though. It was way darker than most human women would have but just a little lighter than the first one. ¡°Oh, I like the little runt, he has some energy in him, can I keep him?¡±
¡°I am nobody''s property,¡± Michael replied forcefully but still polite. ¡°Come out and we can talk face to face.¡±
¡°Says the one hiding behind a wall of warriors,¡± came the first voice again with an undertone of humor.
Michael took a deep breath and dismounted from his horse. ¡°Milord,¡± came the questioning question as he made his way forward. ¡°This is not a good idea,¡± Sir Tomp said quietly but Michael ignored his warning.
¡°Make way,¡± he ordered the rank of guards who hesitated for a moment and then parted. Pushing his uneasiness down he stepped forward with his knights staying a meter behind him and stopped five meters in front of the wall of guards.
¡°Here I am. I am not afraid; can you say the same?¡±
He could hear the unease from his knights as their armor made small noises as they shifted their heads looking around.
With the sound of laughter returning a huge, dark figure split from the undergrowth and stepped out of the shadows.
The first thing Michael noticed were two yellow eyes that seemed to glow in the shadow of the trees. They were followed by a row of long and sharp teeth, warped to a huge grin. Lastly came the hulking mass of a nearly two-meter-tall wolf-kin. His fur was a dark shade of brown that nearly looked black, at some spots light caught exposed parts of his scale vest reflected off the metal but most was wrapped in cloth. Two long javelins were strapped to his back and a large two-handed axe rested in his hands. A large scar went around his upper, jaw and looked like a half ring on it.
¡°What are you, runt? Brave or foolish,¡± the beast said as it stepped closer and closer.
Michael stopped his guards with a raised hand. ¡°I wish to negotiate with your leader, call that what you want.¡±
¡°I am in charge here,¡± the wolf-kin said and finally stopped three meters away from Michael.
¡°I mean you chief. I have a proposition to make to him that would benefit both our people.¡±
¡°Sure,¡± the wolf said and grinned again, ¡°Come with me to our camp and we can talk.¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°No? I think I will have to insist.¡± The wolf growled and made a step closer, but Michael wasn¡¯t focusing on him anymore.
He ignored the implied threat and continued looking around. ¡°I see four more,¡± he said and looked back to his guards.
¡°I have six,¡± Sir Tomp replied, and the other knights nodded.
Eydis snapped her fingers and pointed to the left at a tree and Sir Tomp quickly corrected, ¡°Seven.¡±
Michael turned back to the Vargr-Sl?kt, the wolf was growling lowly and gritted his teeth. ¡°You are in no position to threaten us right now. I don¡¯t want a fight, just that you deliver a message to your chief.¡±
Michael gave a signal to two guards who carried a crate forward and placed it next to their lord. ¡°This is a gift from me to him. Tell him I would like to talk about making peace and opening trade between our people. It has not gone unnoticed that you haven¡¯t raided us in over a year, and we would like to see if we can¡¯t work together.¡±
¡°Make peace? With you? You must be joking,¡± the huge wolf laughed.
¡°Will you convey this message and deliver the gift,¡± Michael insisted, he knew once the wolf-kin promised it he would be honor-bound to keep his word.
¡°Hehe, it will be your funeral, little human. Yes, I will deliver your message and your gift.¡±
¡°Good, tell your chief that I am going to the dwarven kingdom and will come back through here in one or two weeks and would like to talk then,¡± Michael said while bowing his head slightly to the warrior.
The wolf chuckled a little, ¡°We will be waiting for you, one way or another.¡± He then grabbed the handle of the crate, turned around, and vanished back into the forest.
Michael stood there a while longer until Sir Tomp said, ¡°They are gone.¡± Michael then deflated and breathed in heavily a couple of times. His heart was pounding like crazy, and he hoped that the wolf didn¡¯t hear it. He felt like he hid his nervousness well enough, but we couldn¡¯t know.
¡°Well, now we won¡¯t have another choice. They will be waiting for us at the border and will bring enough manpower to contest us,¡± Lance said and took off his helmet.
¡°Yes, let¡¯s just hope that we haven¡¯t interpreted their behavior wrongly,¡± Michael concluded and returned to his horse.
Chapter 52.
Michael
A small ball of light flew through the air and impacted on a small wooden target dummy, maybe 20 centimeters in diameter. The light dispersed the moment it hit solid material and Michael cursed again.
¡°Dammit, why can¡¯t I get anything to work.¡± He looked out of his tent into the barely illuminated night and listened to the falling rain. Since yesterday, they were forced to trudge through the bog from the continuous downpour. In addition to the frustration of being cold and wet all day long, Michael was trying to advance his magic, which didn¡¯t help the situation in the slightest.
He was trying to find some way to make his magic more suitable for combat, apart from trying to blind people. As he watched the falling drops appear from the darkness, he thought back to the conversation that had sparked this particular pursuit.
- Three weeks ago ¨C
¡°Multiple times already I have nearly been killed because my magic can¡¯t even hurt a mouse. There must be a way to use it in combat,¡± Michael questioned his teacher.
¡°I don¡¯t know what to tell you, that is how your element is. I can start teaching you how to do blessings if you want but that is a lot more complicated than normal magic,¡± Kiran answered with an apologetic look.
¡°This can¡¯t be all my element can do. Yes, Geron even said that the Grandmaster of the Order of Purity would burn him alive, so there must be something else,¡± Michael argued.
Kiran laughed, ¡°Kid, you are talking about the strongest light mage of humanity. Sure, he can conjure beams of light so strong that they cook a knight in his armor in a second or sear the flesh of one¡¯s bones, but he is the pinnacle.¡±
¡°You said that the priests were not good at magic so I should be able to reach that point faster, right?¡± Michael had already determined that this was his path but having affirmation from his teacher would help.
¡°That Gradel Thule and the other high members of the order are somewhat of a different thing. They have access to forbidden knowledge and artifacts of the old times. You won¡¯t reach anywhere close to their power for decades if you even manage it at all.¡±
Kiran probably didn¡¯t mean it like that, but his words stung anyway, Michael¡¯s talent in magic was nothing special. Sure, he had a mana well that could rival many adults already but the talent he was showing in so many things didn¡¯t extend to magic. He was still doing basic things like light explosions and other kinds of forms. He lacked the on-the-fly creative energy that a mage needed.
This wasn¡¯t even unusual; mages just took a long time to develop their powers and Michael was progressing fine, but this kind of progression was not the explosive advancements he was used to.
Kiran noticed his suddenly worsened mood and said, ¡°You can still be a strong mage, you just have to work around the limitations of your element.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t believe it. So much knowledge has been lost, there must be something I can do. I won¡¯t accept it.¡± He had to find something, he refused to be held back by something that was part of him and he had no influence over.
- The present day ¨C
Michael was still watching the rain. It was the middle of the night, and the camp was quiet, he pitied the people who had to stand watch in this downpour.
¡°Why did I have to be born with this element that can¡¯t do anything,¡± Michael mumbled to himself. He half expected to be struck down by Idas for complaining about his divine element but the only thing that answered was the continuous drumming of rain on his tent.
He put his hand out into the rain and caught the water droplets. ¡°Why can¡¯t light be like water? It is in many things, at least I think so but why does water get hard when thrown strong enough, but light doesn¡¯t?¡± Watching water had helped him tremendously in his understanding of light but the two of them were very different.
He looked at his hand and watched the water splatter in his palm. That looks a little bit like the light does when hitting something, he thought. Why does this one splatter, but when I punched Kiran¡¯s wall of water it felt like hitting a wall of iron?
He created an orb of light in his hand, sucking the light from a candle in his tent, and looked at it. Maybe I can make it solid by condensing it, he pondered. He tried to push it in, and the orb got brighter and smaller but when he touched it his finger still went through it as if it were just air. He had tried this before multiple times and didn¡¯t know why he expected something different.
Frustrated at his lack of any progress he closed his hand around the orb, extinguishing it.
¡°This is getting me nowhere,¡± he said to himself. ¡°Light is not like water; it has no mass to it. It is like filling a jar with fog and then putting your hand in, it will just move out of the way.¡± He stopped for a moment, that thought was something new for him and he wasn¡¯t sure how he had gotten that idea.
Maybe light has mass but I am filling a vessel with loose parts of it. It is like chainmail where the links are not interlocked. He rose from the place he was sitting and hurried over to his armor, fearing that the idea would escape him if he waited too long.
He let his fingers feel the material and followed each link until the next. His eyes were closed as he projected the armor before his inner eye. A familiar feeling began to spread in his mind as the subconscious presence began to intermix with his own thoughts.
Points of light began to appear in front of his inner eye in ever greater numbers. His finger began to follow a single link again and again. His eyes - even though they were closed - also followed its path and began to move in circles.
The imaginary points of light began to rotate around the armor, grouping up slowly and forming a line after a few moments. Michael continued this movement until they were moving in a single line. They had formed a ring but were still as fragile and easy to disrupt as they had always been.
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He didn¡¯t know how to forge them into a solid ring until an ethereal strand of light entered the picture. Michael hadn¡¯t inserted it into the imagined scene, it had just appeared as if inserted by someone else. Even though he hadn¡¯t created it, he understood the intention.
He began to connect one little dot of light after another with the strand of what he knew represented mana, and then the ring was complete. The parts couldn¡¯t avoid contact anymore because now they were connected to one another and unable to freely move anymore.
The little ring of light, Michael had created, lowered itself down to the chainmail he imagined and the moment it overlapped with one of the rings, the whole chainmail exploded and became a light version of the mail.
As if hit, Michael awoke from his trance. He took a deep breath; his lungs were burning as if he hadn¡¯t breathed for a while. He sat there for a few moments more, gasping for air as he stared at the armor.
What the hells was that, he thought. The whole experience was still vividly present in his mind and the idea he had gathered from it was imprinted in him.
¡°This is not normal,¡± he said to himself with a mixture of concern and excitement. He had not been normal for years, but this was a new high for him.
Michael had told himself that the voices were his subconsciousness, but he knew that he was lying to himself. The knowledge they were imparting to him and the support they gave him couldn¡¯t come from his own mind. Someone or multiple someones were influencing him and what scared him was that he didn¡¯t know why and with what goal.
¡°Whoever you are, I will take the knowledge and become strong enough that I can stand against you if you have evil intentions. Don¡¯t think I can be used this easily,¡± he lowly growled.
He wasn¡¯t sure if he imagined it or not, but he felt a whiff of amusement and pride.
---
¡°We are closing in on the border, Michael. After this hill, we should be able to see the wall,¡± Solon said and looked longingly at the mountains behind the hill.
¡°The wall? You mean the border, right,¡± Lance asked with a raised eyebrow.
¡°You will see,¡± the dwarf replied with a smile.
Michael sat up in his saddle as the caravan climbed up the little hill. As he reached its peak, the full glory of the dwarven border came into view.
A fifteen-meter-tall wall made out of dark grey solid rock rose out of fields of grass, spanning as far as the eye can see to both sides. A rectangular tower split the wall every kilometer and oversaw portions of it. Behind it, Michael could see swaths of agricultural fields that dominated the landscape as far as he could see.
Michael stopped his horse and just admired the view. The others were doing the same and Sir Tomp whistled impressed. ¡°This makes Lionsgate look like a leisure project.,¡± he said, and Michael nodded absentminded.
¡°It is even more impressive from close up,¡± Solon said with a proud expression.
¡°Then what are we waiting for,¡± Michael replied and ordered his horse forward.
Solon stayed next to Michael; both their horses were on the small side to accommodate their body. ¡°Once we are at the gate, leave the talking to me,¡± the dwarf said.
¡°Will there be problems?¡±
¡°There shouldn¡¯t be.¡±
Michael nodded and they continued on toward the large gate in the distance.
Solon was right, the wall was more impressive close-up. Now that he could see the details with his enhanced vision, he could see the runes and decorations on the walls. Each angle looked planned, and every stone phased over into the next one so seamlessly that he could barely tell them apart.
He also felt a strange pulling sensation on his body which he had never felt before but before he could ask what it was about Kiran spoke up.
¡°Astonishing, the wall is covered in artificer enchantments. That is the pull you feel if you wondered. The enchantments devour such a huge amount of mana that they even strip the air of it and your mana is not used to the pressure difference yet. It will calm down in a few minutes.¡± Michael had never seen the mage this excited.
¡°You mean the whole wall is an artifact? I didn¡¯t even know you could enchant buildings,¡± Michael exclaimed in amazement.
Kiran ripped his gaze from the magical marvel in front of him and looked at Michael. ¡°Where is the difference between an object and a building? You can enchant everything,¡± he paused for a moment like he was pondering saying something else but then he shook his head and stayed silent. Michael was too enamored by the wall to think about it though.
The doors of the gate were similarly covered in runes and looked more like granite than wood.
Michael inspected the two huge ten-meter-tall statues that flanked the gate and felt like their eyes were following him as his group ventured closer and closer. They were shaped like dwarves but looked vastly different. The left one was bare-chested and armed with a large two-handed axe which rested on the ground and the right one was depicted with full plate armor with a shield and a hammer.
¡°What is it with these statues,¡± Michael asked but couldn¡¯t avert his gaze.
¡°They are the founders of this kingdom, Thorm and Yoren, the fire and the steel. It is said that they still watch over us through their statues,¡± Solon explained and put two fingers to his forehead.
A loud voice shouted in dwarfish at them from a window in the gate as they approached it, ¡°Halt! What is your business in Garekha?¡± Michael had learned a little bit of dwarfish, but he was far from proficient.
¡°I am Solon Gremson, I am returning home, and this is Michael Rowan, Count of Reen and Emall, and his retinue, they are coming to establish trade,¡± Solon shouted back up the gate.
¡°You may approach to identify yourself, but keep your hands away from your weapons,¡± the voice answered this time in remurian after a few moments of silence.
Solon and Michael unmounted from their horses and walked to a small window next to the gate reinforced by metal bars.
Behind the bars was a just wall and Michael looked at Solon confused until a part of it was suddenly pulled aside and the face of a dwarf appeared. He was much younger than Solon and looked annoyed at something.
¡°Identification please,¡± he said, and a small metal box opened up in the wall beneath the window.
Solon took off a metal plate that he wore around his neck and dropped it into the box, which quickly retracted back into the wall.
¡°Mister Gremson, it has been a while it seems,¡± the guard said while cross-referencing the metal plate with a book.
¡°Six years,¡± Solon answered with a melancholic smile.
They waited in silence for three minutes until the dwarf looked up from the book. ¡°Seems to check out, welcome home, Mister Gremson.¡±
The box came out again and Solon took his identification plate back while Michael watched the whole interaction with interest.
Then the dwarven guard turned to Michael, ¡°Identification and caravan permit, please.¡±
Michael looked at Solon confused, and the dwarf stepped forward. ¡°They don¡¯t have that yet, but we are on our way to have a meeting with Minister Valmick Uthson.¡±
The guard narrowed his eyes and inspected Solon. ¡°Do you have an invitation or any other proof of this? If you had a meeting, you should have gotten interim identification.¡±
¡°I have this.¡± Solon pulled out a small palm-sized circular plate. Michael couldn¡¯t get a good look at it, but he at least saw a hammer and shield.
The box opened again, and Solon carefully placed the plate into it. ¡°The minister is my brother-in-law and would certainly be displeased if you turn us away after our perilous journey through the beastwoods.¡±
Michael looked at Solon surprised; he had never mentioned that he was related to a minister in the kingdom. Michael now noticed that he didn¡¯t really know much about his family situation in total.
Michael could see that the dwarven guard had become much more nervous all of a sudden and quickly began skimming through his book until he found what Michael guessed was the page with this token.
Michael had to smile a little bit when he thought about their ¡®perilous journey¡¯.
¡°Yes, sir. Everything seems to be in order with this. Ehm, again welcome home, sir.¡± Michael could barely contain his amusement, it seemed he wasn¡¯t the only one who could pull out a ¡®I am important card¡¯.
¡°Open the gate,¡± the guard yelled.
Michael and Solon turned around after receiving the token back and began walking back to their horses. ¡°So, you have family in a ruling position,¡± Michael asked.
¡°Nothing I go flaunting around with normally, but it does have its advantages.¡±
¡°So, who is he,¡± Michael pressed the dwarf.
¡°Valmick is the Minister of Coin, something like the steward you humans appoint,¡± Solon replied, but didn¡¯t seem too enthusiastic to talk about him so Michael dropped it.
After reaching their horses, Grur spoke up, ¡°They are just going to let us in? Interesting, I was wondering if having a dwarf with the caravan would be enough.¡±
Michael glanced over to Solon and then said, ¡°We all have our ways.¡±
The gate began to slowly swing open, and the view of the agricultural districts opened up. Michael was the first to enter the dwarven kingdom and behind him, he could hear Kiran say, ¡°At least we won¡¯t have to sleep with one eye open anymore.¡±
Chapter 53.
Michael
Michael¡¯s head swung from left to right, watching the fields as they rode toward the closest mountain. He couldn¡¯t see much else but fields and a couple of farmhouses. The dwarves working on the fields gave them curious looks as they rode past, but Michael could also see hostility from some but mostly curiosity.
¡°Why are there so many farms everywhere? Every meter is used,¡± he asked Solon.
¡°Well, most of the dwarven kingdom is underground in the mountains. The surface estates have been ravaged by the last cataclysm and a sentiment of isolationism has grasped the heart of most of my people, so they don¡¯t tend to leave the land they have once claimed. That also means though that the space for agricultural work is limited. That is why wood and agricultural products are much more expensive in Garekha,¡± Solon explained. ¡°I never really cared for the sedentary lifestyle of my people.¡±
¡°That is probably good for us because if the dwarves can make stuff like this wall, we would stand no chance,¡± Michael said with a dry chuckle.
¡°You humans aren¡¯t the only ones that have devolved since the cataclysm.¡±
Michael looked at his mentor but saw that the subject was souring his mood, so he stayed silent.
As they traveled further, they came closer to the mountain and suddenly Michael noticed that the mountainside was a straight vertical wall with some parts being moved a little bit inward. He didn''t know how he didn''t notice before but a good part of what was ahead of him was one large gatehouse with three walls stacked on the wall like a staircase for giants. In the middle was an open ginormous gate, at least thirty meters tall.
Michael''s jaw dropped and he stared at it. He had never seen something this large. He didn''t even think that it was possible to build something like this.
¡°We need dwarven builders,¡± Kiran said with a dreamlike tone and Michael nodded weakly. ¡°This reminds me of the stories of the great magic academies and wizards towers of old. Towers of marble that scraped the clouds and wonders beyond comprehension. Now only rubble and dust.¡±
¡°Maybe you can meet with some dwarven mages, they are probably better off than the ones in the kingdom,¡± Michael suggested but Solon shot him down quickly. ¡°Unlikely, the rune mages are even more seclusive than most other dwarves.¡±
Michael frowned and grumbled, ¡°This is going to be a fun visit, isn''t it.¡±
They had to show identification at the gate again which was quickly solved by the minister''s token, after riding through a tunnel for a while they entered the city.
What waited for them was a gigantic cavern filled with stone. The streets were carved from stone, all buildings were built out of rock, and even the lantern posts were stone pillars. Michael looked around and could see no building that was not made out of stone.
I guess when you build a city underground you will have nothing if not stone, Michael thought as he inspected the different buildings. This whole day had been a string of amazing sights and the wonder had grabbed everyone.
¡°Amazing, to be able to see the great halls of Garekha,¡± Grur mumbled and looked at the stalls that lined the streets. Michael followed his example and saw mostly small run-down street vendors selling junk. Further down the alleys, he could also see a large number of beggars.
¡°Humans or dwarfs some things remain the same,¡± he commented, and the trader nodded in agreement.
¡°Come on, we can explore the city later, we should first get to our destination and get your identifications in order,¡± Solon said strictly.
So, they made their way through the city. It was at least twice as large as Lionsgate and Michael was especially impressed by its leveled design. He stopped multiple times looking down a bridge to see a whole different level of the city or peered up to see bridges crossing each other on different elevations. Huge pillars were everywhere and even passed through buildings as if they had been there first.
The citizens looked at them like humans would at a group of dwarves that suddenly wandered through their city, it was interesting to be on the opposing side for once, but Michael didn¡¯t especially like the feeling.
¡°What city is this by the way? I think you never told me the name,¡± Michael asked Solon while still looking around.
¡°This is the capital, Oranthos. The second largest city in the underground kingdom and seat of the twin monarchs.¡±
Michael remembered from his lessons that two rulers of different clans ruled Garekha, and they had to work together to rule effectively.
¡°This is not the largest city?¡±
¡°No, that is Kerath, it is built far underground and designed to be a last shelter for our people and to harbor as many as possible in the most dire of times, it is a vast city, but Oranthos is large nonetheless,¡± Solon explained.
¡°And why is Kerath not the capital if it is bigger and the last line of defense?¡±
¡°The logistics would be difficult as it is deep underground and even though it is larger it does have a much smaller population than Oranthos, mostly to maintain it and for mining. If the court would move there then it would be much more expensive to supply them and everyone who follows so deep down. If our people, go down there for shelter then expenses are irrelevant and most of our supply is cut anyway, they would have to make do with what they can carry.¡±
¡°Hm, I understand but with walls like these and sheltered in the mountains I can''t imagine anyone threatening you anyway,¡± Michael said.
¡°It might seem so but digging deep has its own dangers and being stuck with those dangers in a box of stone is not a nice way to die,¡± the dwarf said while still looking into the distance.
¡°That is a dramatic way to describe it, friend, but what kind of dangers are you talking about,¡± Grur inquired obviously interested in the conversation.
¡°Mana comes from the earth,¡± Kiran explained, ¡°The concentrations are higher the lower you go underground, generally speaking of course, for example in the Ereic Mountains to the south of Reen it is inverted with the more dangerous beasts being found further up the mountain for some unexplained reason. That means that you can find more dangerous monsters down there. Also, many magical races fled underground when the mana plummeted at the end of the cataclysm and randomly stumbling upon a hibernating major fire spirit in an enclosed space, well, I think you can guess the rest.¡±
They traversed the rest of their way with only light conversations and pointing at interesting things. They pathed through one district after another, having to stop at every gate to identify themselves all over again until they ended in the fanciest district that Michael had seen until now. The manors that were built here would probably serve a king in their luxury and size and there were dozens of them here.
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They had stopped at one of the impressive estates and Solon demounted to talk with the guards. They were talking in dwarfish, and it was too fast for Michael to understand but it sounded quite hectic as one of the guards hurried away with the token that had brought them this far. The gate opened and they were signaled in by the guard with whom Solon had spoken, he looked very displeased.
¡°Is there a problem,¡± Michael asked but Solon just shrugged and followed the guard.
Michael frowned and followed him into the courtyard which was easily large enough for all their horses and the wagons. The courtyard was one large plaza surrounded by water channels filled with fish and glowing stones embedded into the channel bed. There were also statues of different animals scattered in the channels and on the little stone islands between them.
The building they stopped in front of was similarly impressive with large glass windows, gargoyle statues, and other decorations covering the entire front. It was a little much for Michael¡¯s taste but impressive, nonetheless.
Only a few moments later the door swung open, and a man who looked to be around Solon¡¯s age and with an ice-cold expression appeared together with the guard that had hurried off earlier. He wore a black tunic with gold details which fitted perfectly to his graying black hair and the golden jewelry in his beard.
He stopped only a meter out of the door and took in the whole scenery; looking at the humans and carts that now inhabited his courtyard and then fixated on Solon with any emotions suppressed from his face.
¡°Solon,¡± he said while still holding eye contact with the other dwarf.
¡°Valmick. Good to see you,¡± Solon answered in remurian and held eye contact.
The minister pointed vaguely in the direction of the humans and said, ¡°This is not what I meant when I asked you to come back. You used my name and sigil to get a group of humans into the heart of the kingdom. Do you have any idea how this looks?¡± His voice was steady and even though he was criticizing Solon¡¯s decisions his face was neutral as if it was struck straight from granite.
¡°I won¡¯t apologize for it. You gave me the sigil to help me in my travel and so I used it,¡± Solon retorted similarly controlled. ¡°This is my ward, Michael Rowan; he is the count of Reen and Emall and Cedric¡¯s son.¡±
For the first time, Valmick¡¯s expression changed when a frown came over it, ¡°Cedric is dead? Hm, I am sorry for your loss but that doesn¡¯t explain why you brought a group of humans to my doorstep.¡±
¡°If you would let us in, we could have this conversation like civilized people,¡± Solon said with a smirk which seemed to agitate the other dwarf more than everything else.
¡°Alright,¡± he then quickly said a couple of sentences in dwarfish and Michael could pick out the meaning that he was ordering his guards to take care of the horses and show everyone else to the servant quarters.
¡°You and your ward may enter and explain yourself; the rest will be shown to their quarters for now,¡± he then said in remurian again.
Eydis began signing at Michael, but he shut her down, ¡°We are safe here and guests so we will follow their rules. I will be fine.¡±
Michael noticed that Valmick was inspecting him with eyes that were filled with experience, but he tried to ignore it. He followed Solon up the stairs and into the lobby of the mansion.
The lobby was as luxurious as the whole building and Michael was starting to get whiplash from all the gold and other riches wasted on such extravagance. In front of him was a wide staircase that led into the second level and down came a female dwarf.
He would guess that she was younger than Solon because her hair still had a strong hazelnut color but he had never seen a dwarven woman before today so he couldn¡¯t know. He tried not to stare too much but he still was interested. He had heard stories that even the women had beards in the dwarven race, but that rumor appeared to be false. She had a stronger build than human women and a round face, but Michael would still describe her as beautiful.
¡°Brother you are home,¡± she exclaimed and quickly rushed down the stairs and hurried to Solon who embraced her and put his forehead against hers.
¡°Hello, Sigrid,¡± Solon answered with love in his voice.
¡°We didn¡¯t know you were coming. How long are you going to stay?¡±
Valmick cut in here, ¡°That is still to be determined, my gem. I am sorry to cut the reunion short, but Solon and I have some things to discuss.¡±
¡°Come on Solon, you know that he hates it when you just barge in here without notice,¡± Sigrid reprimanded her brother with a wide smile. Her eyes then met Michael¡¯s and it seemed like she just noticed that he wasn¡¯t a dwarf. ¡°Oh, hello there. Who might you be?¡±
Michael had only caught glimpses of the conversation before, but the last question was switched into perfect remurian. Can every dwarf speak remurian, he wondered before he replied.
¡°My name is Count Michael Rowan of the Kingdom of Telios and Solon¡¯s student. It is an honor to meet you.¡± Michael bowed respectfully and that brought a huge smile on the woman¡¯s face.
¡°You took a student again, brother. That is so nice. And it even is a noble from the human kingdoms.¡±
¡°My gem,¡± Valmick interjected again and took her hand, ¡°Could we please postpone the introductions and conversations for later?¡±
¡°Oh yes, I am sorry, dear. I got carried away a little bit and it isn¡¯t proper to let our guests stand around here after a long journey. I will talk to the servants to get a nice dinner set up and you can have your discussion but don¡¯t take too long or I will have to grab a ladle from the kitchen.¡± The threat was obviously playful, and a tiny smile came onto the stern expression of Valmick as his wife gave him a kiss and then hurried away.
¡°Follow me, please,¡± he then said and led them into a small office. Michael was surprised at the lack of decoration in this room in comparison to the rest of the house he had seen. The room was efficiently built with bookshelves covering the walls and an intricately carved but not overly decorated wooden desk. A simple single-colored carpet covered the floor and a small, closed metal oven stood in the corner of the room.
As if he had guessed Michael¡¯s thoughts, Valmick explained, ¡°Most of the house is to keep up appearances but this room is for work.¡±
¡°How did you know that I thought that?¡±
¡°When you are in politics and trade as long as I have you learn to read people, and you humans tend to be an open book,¡± the dwarf replied and sat down behind the table; Michael and Solon took the seats in front of it.
¡°Now let me introduce myself properly for now,¡± Valmick started. ¡°I am Valmick Uthson of Clan Foulder, Minister of Coin for the dual crown and right-hand man of King Prezzim Thromson of Clan Foulder. It is a pleasure meeting you, I didn¡¯t know your father very well, but he was a good man.¡± Michael nodded respectfully and introduced himself as well.
¡°Now can you explain to me why you brought a good three dozen humans into the kingdom without any notice or permission,¡± Valmick looked at Solon.
Solon smiled at his brother-in-law while replying, ¡°Well, it is rather difficult to get a message through the beastwoods and so I decided to just come myself. Lord Michael would like to establish a trade route to the mountain kingdom, so I brought him along.¡±
¡°You know fully well that the kings will never agree to a trade route. They want nothing to do with the humans,¡± Valmick as with a deep frown.
¡°Valmick you of all people must know that this won¡¯t work anymore. Have you seen the prices that wood and bread go by in the market? We just traveled through the city and a loaf of bread is more expensive than feeding a whole family for a week on mushroom stew. This table we are sitting at is more expensive than a family home. I saw the beggars in the lower city, if I didn¡¯t know any better, I would say you''re close to a famine with one bad harvest in the mushroom caves. Something must change and a trade route would be the first step to get the people out of the isolationist mindset and have a way to recover if anything happens.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t act like you care, Solon,¡± the other dwarf growled visibly upset. ¡°I asked you multiple times to come home and work with me, but you would rather run away and see the world, leaving your family and people behind.¡±
¡°You know why I left. I couldn¡¯t be imprisoned here. I can¡¯t be stuck in a city where everyone just thinks of themselves. I did what I thought was right and now I have found something that can help if you let me.¡±
The room was silent for a while as Solon and Valmick stared at each other, and Michael kept out of it.
¡°What do you expect me to do? The court is bickering about what angle the sword of a statue should have and you want to drop a fundamental change in trade politics in there? If you want to grind the proceedings of the government to a halt, then that would be a good way to do it.¡± Michael could see that Valmick wasn¡¯t strictly against the idea, Solon wouldn¡¯t have come to him for help otherwise but he still seemed unconvinced.
¡°And this is exactly why I didn¡¯t come back. Those who want to keep things as they are will dig in their heels when you even suggest a change of course and those who would support it are too afraid to rock the cart. How long are you going to wait to push the changes you are always talking about? I am presenting you with an opportunity on the silver plate. Are you going to take it or not?¡±
Valmick leaned back and looked at the ceiling. ¡°We are not young dwarves anymore, Solon. I have grown up over the years.¡±
Solon leaned forward and put his thick hands on the table. ¡°Have you been this poisoned by the greed and complacency that curses our people? Are we not Clan Foulder? Are we not the descendants of the wild king of fire, Thorm? Are you giving up the fight before you have even fought it?¡±
Valmick stared at Solon with narrow eyes and then relaxed. Then a sound came out of his mouth that Michael hadn¡¯t expected, a low chuckle. ¡°Well, I can at least listen to your plan, I presume.¡±
Chapter 54.
Michael
¡°You have to try the Otcha juice, you will never want to drink anything else,¡± Sigrid said while signaling one of the servants to pour some for Michael.
They had been called to dinner a short time into their discussion and now they were in a richly decorated dining room that mirrored the rest of the residence. Solon had suggested inviting the rest of Michael¡¯s close retainers in and so the table was populated by Solon, Michael, Kiran, Grur, and Eydis. The last one looked out of place to a hilarious degree.
On the other side of the table were the members of the Uthson family with Valmick and his wife Sigrid and their two adult daughters, Sera and Runeia. Both were mirror images of their mother in Michael¡¯s eyes.
¡°I hope I can get some of that for home then if I am going to be addicted,¡± Michael replied with a friendly laugh which resulted in a similar happy reaction from the matron and her daughters.
¡°Oh, you are such a sweet boy. I can¡¯t believe that my dear brother hid you from us for so long.¡± Solon looked up from his meal with a raised eyebrow at this comment.
¡°It is not like there is a huge forest with war-like inhabitants between Reen and here. I got nearly eaten there once by the boar clan and that is an experience I don¡¯t need to relive again.¡±
¡°Let¡¯s not talk about such things at the dinner table. Lord Rowan how are things in Telios, we rarely get news from that side of the beastwoods,¡± Valmick interjected before Solon could go into detail.
Michael thought about the question for a moment. He wasn¡¯t sure if telling them about the weakened state of the kingdom was a good idea when he was to convince them to enter a trade agreement with him.
He finally decided to focus on the positives, ¡°Much has changed in the last year. We have a new king, and many things are beginning to change. In my lands, for example, we are preparing to clear out our part of the Ereic Mountains to claim their treasures for our continuing advancements.¡±
¡°I see, your country seems to have settled down nicely after the rebellion and it is stable, I presume?¡± Michael never liked politics, but he had still learned enough about it to hear the underlying motives of the question.
¡°The kingdom is strong, and made to last, Minister. The last years have been good to us, at least economically; our agricultural produce for example far exceeds our own needs currently, and with the reforms and development that we have planned it should only rise.¡± Michael held the minister¡¯s gaze until he nodded and continued eating.
¡°It seems like it is not only your economic situation that is changing though. Doesn¡¯t the Church of Idas still look down upon mages, but you have one in your retinue.¡± The dwarf gave Kiran an inquisitive gaze but didn¡¯t keep it up for long, rather focusing back on his food.
¡°I don¡¯t adhere to fairytales and superstition. I see the value that magic could have for my subjects and am inclined to use any advantage I can gain to improve their lives. I have also seen many things here already that could help in that regard,¡± Michael said calmly but with a firm voice.
Most other conversations had died down at the table as the heads of both sides poked at each other.
¡°You will have to come up with better arguments than that if you are addressing the court of clans.¡±
¡°How about that we can deliver food, wood, and other surface products for a much-reduced price point and higher volumes than you can provide yourself.¡± Michael smiled back politely.
¡°Undercutting our own products would put dwarven suppliers in peril and reduce the profit for dwarves in favor of humans. Why should we do that?¡± Valmick looked like he was talking about the weather as he picked through his food and not about a political economic debate.
¡°It would also open up a huge market for your merchants which would easily overcome the losses that your economy would have because of the foreign products. Not to mention that maybe some of your less fortunate citizens could get to taste bread without having to resort to crime.¡±
¡°You are suggesting that a trade route might reduce crime,¡± Valmick asked with a raised eyebrow. ¡°You should try putting that logic to use in your own crime-ridden race before trying to solve more advanced races'' problems. I will be damned if we work together with you animals that are closer to pigs than to us.¡± His tone had suddenly gotten sharp, and his family looked at him surprised.
¡°Valmick, what ¡,¡± his wife began objecting but Michael assured her that it was alright and then turned back to the minister.
¡°Humans have problems, animal kin have problems, dwarves have problems. We all do. And what do we do? We fight each other, multiplying our problems just so that we have someone to blame. I am not gonna do that. I am trying to fix my lands and if you don¡¯t want to fix yours and continue looking down and blaming others then maybe I don¡¯t even want to trade with you, because what kind of country would yours be if you would refuse a deal that would better the life of your people just because of your pride or hate against other races.¡±
Michael stared at the dwarf with all the fire in his heart and he simply stared back with a blank expression.
¡°Alright then Lord Rowan. You will have to endure much more hate and much more ludicrous arguments if you face the court of clans. There are many grudges in the hearts of the dwarves, some of them nearly one thousand years old. Dwarves forget slowly and forgive even slower.¡±
The tension in the room vanished as even the last person realized that this was merely a test, but the matron looked upset anyway.
¡°Darling,¡± she said with a sharp tone, ¡°Could you refrain from hassling our guests with your politics like this at the dinner table?¡±
¡°My apologies but I just had to see if even thinking about this was worth it,¡± Valmick replied with an apologetic tone. ¡°My apologies to you too, Lord Rowan.¡±
Michael waved it off, ¡°I am a child, I am being challenged on everything I say anyway.¡±
¡°That doesn¡¯t mean that we can¡¯t enjoy a nice dinner,¡± Runeia said and gave her father an accusatory glance.
The meal continued from that point without any political subjects because no one wanted to be subject to the wrath of the matron.
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Solon
Solon sat on the balcony and looked over the familiar sight that he hadn¡¯t seen in years.
¡°Why this kid, Solon? Why are you pulling him into this mess,¡± Valmick asked while pulling on his pipe. ¡°He seems smart, but this is much too big for him.¡±
¡°Smart? You don¡¯t know the half of it,¡± Solon coughed from his pipe. ¡°This ¡®kid¡¯ is the smartest person I have ever met, and he is not like other smart ones who that think because they are smart, they can get away with doing squat. He would work the whole day and night if you let him.¡±
¡°That might be, but you are still bringing a child into a conflict that has been searing for hundreds of years already.¡± Valmick sighed and rubbed his eyes. ¡°This is going to get ugly, and I can¡¯t guarantee your safety the moment you leave these walls.¡±
Solon smiled sadly, ¡°You know, Michael survived a full-on attack on his castle, two assassins that tried to murder him in his sleep, and then led the counterattack. I don¡¯t think the clans know what they are up against if they try to murder him.¡±
Valmick stared down from the balcony with a sad expression. ¡°He seems rather well adjusted for everything that has happened to him.¡±
¡°He nearly broke but through sheer willpower, he pulled himself together again and that kind of strength can¡¯t be taught.¡±
¡°You think this is worth the risk? If we try this now in earnest and fail, we will embolden our opposition and probably won¡¯t be able to try again for ten to twenty years. I don¡¯t think that King Jearn will make it that long. I hate to say it but with the stubborn fossil, we at least have some chance. Once his damn son takes over then all chances of reforms will be out of the window until he kicks the bucket.¡±
¡°That is how you talk about the esteemed Clan Ignar,¡± Solon chuckled which gave him an annoyed huff from his old friend.
¡°Clan Ignar,¡± he scoffed, ¡°When did the unmoving shield of the realm become the stubborn fearmonger?¡±
¡°You can try to wait for a better moment, but I say the time has come and you should take this chance. It is the best one you are gonna get and with Michael, you have the best candidate possible to show these stone sniffers that the outside is not as fear-inducing as they say it is.¡±
¡°Stone sniffers,¡± Valmick asked with an amused tone and Solon simply shrugged. Valmick turned toward him and raised his pipe to him. ¡°I guess we are doing this then, if we fail, we can bury ourselves together at least or I might come to live with you in the human country.¡±
They both laughed and sat in the light of the dimming light of the capital.
¡°We can¡¯t stay here long, Valmick. Michael can¡¯t be gone long from Reen, or the nobles will get ideas.¡±
¡°And you are telling me this after I agreed? You know how the court is, things like these take time.¡± Valmick looked at Solon who smiled guiltily, sighed, and rubbed his eyes, ¡°I will try to make it happen. I have some favors I can call in and maybe push around some time slots, but this will make it more difficult than it already is. The clans won¡¯t like seeing a proposal by a human getting preferential treatment.¡±
Michael
Michael sat down with a big yawn at the breakfast table. Even in his tired state, he was impressed by the senseless fact that this mansion had a room for every kind of meal.
¡°Had a long night again,¡± Kiran asked him with a similar expression.
¡°Yeah, gotta keep up with my studies.¡±
¡°Heh, you are the weirdest kid I ever met,¡± he said and shook his head.
¡°Yeah. You look like you didn¡¯t do that much better though,¡± Michael noted, and Kiran looked miserable. ¡°I am too tall for dwarven beds, but the carpet was actually surprisingly comfortable.¡±
Eydis entered at this point and sat down next to Michael. ¡°How did you sleep,¡± he asked her.
She looked well rested and quickly signed, ¡°It was warm and had a roof,¡± before starting to grab different things off the table onto her plate. Michael smiled as he watched her indulge in the luxurious food.
Grur was the next person to enter and also looked like he had no trouble sleeping, shortly after followed Solon and Valmick.
¡°Good morning, I hope you all had a good night''s rest?¡± He looked at his guests and after seeing Kiran¡¯s state added, ¡°We will prepare some more adequate sleeping arrangements for the rest of your stay.¡±
He then sat down and began talking, ¡°I will be out with Solon for the whole day, I hope I can arrange an audience with the court of clans in a couple of days. I would request that your men stay in the mansion for now, it would be detrimental to our plans if there was any trouble with them.¡±
He then looked at Michael and Grur, ¡°Solon has informed me about your other plans, and I probably can¡¯t convince you otherwise so I would like to request that you go about your business with only my guards as guides and protection.¡±
Eydis let her hand fall on the table and looked up from her food right at the minister.
¡°Alright, with her and my guards,¡± he amended his statement and Eydis returned to her food.
¡°That is very kind of you to offer, we do not want to complicate things but if we are waiting around anyway then we can at least get some work done,¡± Michael said and nodded respectfully to the minister.
¡°Very well, my guards will wait outside and will guide you through the city. My daughter Sera has offered to give you a tour of the merchant district, Mister Grur. She takes care of much in my trading business and can adequately explain the intricacies of the dwarven market.¡± Michael tried to find any disapproval in the dwarf¡¯s mannerisms, but he found him very hard to read.
¡°We thank you for your hospitality,¡± Grur answered, and Michael followed suit.
An hour later Michael was standing in front of a carriage together with Eydis - Grur had already left in his - and asked Kiran, ¡°You are sure that you don¡¯t want to come?¡±
¡°Nah, I¡¯m fine. They have an exceptionally nice library here though, so I am probably going to dig into that and maybe take a nap on one of the sofas if I can find a large one,¡± the old mage said with badly concealed excitement.
¡°I will join you later, so make a list of interesting books,¡± Michael replied, he was easily infected by the mage¡¯s excitement, but he had other things to do today.
After waving his magic mentor goodbye he climbed into the carriage together with Eydis. Of course, the dwarven carriage was way more comfortable than their human counterparts.
¡°We need some dwarven artisans,¡± he repeated Kiran¡¯s words from the day before and Eydis nodded in agreement while lying down on the opposite bank of the carriage.
¡°What are we doing anyway,¡± she then signed while upside down on the bench.
¡°We are gonna try to get some expertise for our home. Miners, smiths, artificers, masons, whatever we can get our hands on,¡± Michael answered with a smirk.
¡°I don¡¯t think that we can drag people out of here without getting caught,¡± she replied, and Michael laughed. ¡°We are not trying to steal them we are trying to convince them to come work for us.¡±
She smiled cheekily. ¡°And here I was thinking about how many dwarves I could fit in my saddle bags.¡±
¡°You are impossible sometimes.¡± Michael shook his head and looked out of the window. The marvel of constantly illuminating an entire city he felt quickly faded and he said, ¡°I don¡¯t know if it is because I have a light affinity, but I miss the sun already. I couldn¡¯t imagine living down here my whole life.¡±
He turned back to Eydis who looked at him with sympathy. ¡°Now you know how I feel about the cities.¡±
¡°And you still put up with it for us?¡±
¡°For you and maybe Solon. The others are nice enough, but you are my family,¡± she signed still lying on the bench. Michael smiled at her warmly and made the sign for ¡®family¡¯.
Michael¡¯s good mood was quickly crushed as he got a proverbial door slammed in his face multiple times when trying to recruit any artisan. It was always the same, ¡®I have work here¡¯, ¡®It is too risky for me¡¯, or ¡®My ancestors built this workshop¡¯.
After the seventh refusal ended in a smith laughing at him and Eydis nearly beating him up for it, Michael paused to rethink his approach.
¡°Okay I might have to try to approach some less fortunate craftsmen that have more of an incentive to join me,¡± Michael thought loudly. ¡°Maybe we should go to worse districts.¡±
¡°That won¡¯t help you,¡± the leader of the guards said, his name was Thobrin if Michael remembered correctly. He turned to the man and asked him to elaborate.
¡°Struggling craftsmen are that for a reason and those are not the kinds of men that you need,¡± he explained.
¡°Well, they could be struggling for other reasons. Like health problems or a gambling problem,¡± Michael suggested.
¡°Right and if that is the case then they will ask for some sort of advanced pay for supplies or something and then just split.¡±
Michael hadn¡¯t thought about it like that. It wasn¡¯t the same as in Reen where he could have an eye on the smithy and check that they were doing their work.
¡°So, what do you suggest? I seem to be a little bit out of my depth concerning dwarven craftsmen.¡±
Thobrin didn¡¯t have to think long about it, ¡°Clan roaches are what you need.¡±
¡°What in Idas¡¯s name is a clan roach,¡± Michael asked with a raised eyebrow.
Chapter 55.
Michael
Michael stepped out of the carriage and inspected his surroundings. The foundry in front of him was huge, with dozens of ovens and smelters. He could see hundreds of dwarves working around here, carrying coal, and moving raw and refined metals.
¡°Come on, move it you roaches,¡± a dwarf with a dragon head on a spike stitched on his heavy leather tunic.
The dwarven society was divided into clans that owned most of the business in the kingdom. Most dwarves were part of a clan because without one you would have a very hard time finding work and membership in a clan was hereditary.
The problem was when a clan was declining and finally vanished. The dwarves that were part of that clan were screwed when that happened, and their only choice was to join other clans. Because of the hereditary system of membership, they would start all over again at the bottom of the food chain in their new clan and would be called clan roaches because they survived the fall of a clan and now scuttle to other clans.
It could take multiple generations for them to regain their former status, which also meant that they were unhappy and mistreated in the first couple of generations but normally had no other choice.
Michael followed Thobrin as he led him through the forge. ¡°I must warn you; they are a little bit special, but they are good craftsmen.¡±
¡°What clan does this foundry belong to,¡± Michael asked.
¡°Clan Grapper,¡± Thobrin answered with a frown. ¡°They assimilated the whole clan to pay off their debts.¡±
¡°Will they be happy if I poach some of their workers,¡± Michael asked, he didn¡¯t want to turn a clan against him before stepping in front of the court.
¡°They will hate you either way. They are devoted followers of the belief that everyone who isn¡¯t a dwarf is worthless.¡±
Thobrin exchanged a couple of words and coins with the overseer of the foundry and then said, ¡°Follow me.¡±
Michael began to breathe heavier as they began moving deeper into the foundry with the hot air making things difficult for him. He pushed more mana into his system and the feeling subsided a bit, but he could see that Eydis wasn¡¯t comfortable either.
They moved through the foundry, having to dodge working dwarves with sour expressions every couple of meters until they reached a pair of dwarves who were currently pouring molten iron into ingots.
Both were dressed in the same heavy leather aprons and gloves that Michael had seen throughout the whole place, but one had fire-red hair while the other¡¯s was black as night.
¡°Hey, Waren, Farel,¡± Thobrin shouted to get their attention.
They both looked up and closed the valve of the smelting pod. The red-haired one was the first to speak up. ¡°Hey Thobrin. The fuck are you doing down here in the gutter?¡± His voice was loud and easily overcame the noise in the foundry.
¡°And who are the humans you have dragged along with you,¡± the other added in a much darker voice.
¡°Good to see you too. Can we go somewhere to talk?¡±
The two dwarves looked at each other and then the red-haired one shrugged, ¡°Sure the Grapper cunts don¡¯t check on us anyway.¡±
They led them a little bit further through the foundry to a small hole in the wall. After entering Michael realized that this was their home. A small space with one table, a small chest, two slaps of rock with mattresses on them, and a small fireplace in the corner.
¡°You live here,¡± Michael asked with shock and looked around.
¡°The life of a roach,¡± the black-haired dwarf replied and sat down on his bed. ¡°So, what is this about Thobrin?¡±
The guard ignored the question and turned to Michael, ¡°This is Lord Rowan, a count from the human kingdom of Telios. May I introduce, Waren and Farel Karnson, the young prodigies of the ruined Clan Ferrum.¡± He pointed at them identifying Waren as the black-haired dwarf who was missing his left eye, which Michael noticed just now, and the red-haired one as Farel who looked more confused than anything else.
Michael nodded politely and the dwarves looked back to Thobrin, ¡°What you are doing a sightseeing tour and showing him the absolute bottom?¡± Waren looked not very happy.
Farel was on his feet before anyone else could say something and inspected Michael from head to toe, ¡°I thought for a second that you are some kind of hairless dwarf.¡±
Michael raised an eyebrow with amusement and then began explaining, surprising them with his dwarfish even though it was rocky, ¡°I am not here for sightseeing, my visit is strictly business. I am in need of talented craftsmen for my holdings, specifically smiths, miners, masons, and builders. Thobrin here has recommended you two, so now I am here to see if his recommendation is something I should consider.¡±
They looked at each other and then Waren asked, ¡°You want to hire us? To come with you to your human kingdom and work there?¡± He made it sound like Michael was trying to prank them.
¡°Not only work for me but build up an entirely new economic pillar of my counties. We are clearing the Ereic Mountains to our south from monsters soon and will start a mining operation, but I fear that we lack the expertise to do it properly. Our metal works are on a pitiful level as well with only local smiths and I wish to build foundries and large forges like you have here to properly use the riches of the mountains.¡± Michael wasn''t sure what was going on in the heads of the dwarves as they looked at each other again.
¡°Wait, so you want to hire us to build you a foundry and a forge on a large scale,¡± Farel asked, and he began to sound excited.
¡°Or run it. Thobrin hasn¡¯t exactly told me what your profession is, but I will have to recruit people who can train and lead my people in these things. Who would be better to recruit for the subject of metal works than dwarves? It is much better than to try and figure it out ourselves, that much is sure.¡±
¡°I am sorry, eh, Lord. We can¡¯t just pack up our things and leave our homes to go on a merry adventure into the human realm to build you a forge,¡± Waren said with his arms crossed in front of his chest.
¡°Why not,¡± Farel objected and looked at his brother. ¡°I would much rather build a forge somewhere than be stuck doing roach work for the rest of my life.¡±
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Waren grabbed his brother¡¯s arm and pulled him close. He began whispering but Michael could still hear him with his enhanced hearing. Michael was glad that the dwarves were talking clearly and not too fast so he managed to understand most of it and could guess the rest.
¡°We have no idea who he is and what is waiting for us there. They could just make us slaves and have us make weapons for them,¡± Waren said with a low growl.
¡°Are we anything different here? At least we would make something and not do the work of apprentices,¡± Farel replied less quietly, his voice booming even when he tried to whisper.
¡°Here we are with our kin and have some rights at least,¡± Waren shot back. ¡°Here we can at least anticipate what is going to happen.¡±
¡°Are you satisfied with this?¡± Farel frowned and wasn¡¯t even trying to be quiet anymore. ¡°This is a chance for us, don¡¯t you see it? I always felt like I didn¡¯t belong here and now we can leave and do something worthy of our talents.¡±
¡°If I may,¡± Michael interjected. ¡°I understand that you don¡¯t trust my word alone but if you want, I can arrange a meeting with one of my mentors and council members, Solon Gremson. He is a dwarf and the brother-in-law of Minister Valmick Uthson. He has been living in my town for over three years already and will surely vouch for it.¡±
The brothers stared at Michael silently as if he had just said something completely outlandish and then looked over to Thobrin, who they knew was a guard for the Uthson family. He nodded and said, ¡°What he is telling you is true, Mister Solon has brought Lord Rowan into the city and vouched for his intentions and character.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll be damned,¡± Farel said and then grinned at his brother. ¡°What do you have to say to that, huh? Not much to argue about now.¡± He then laughed loudly.
¡°Of course, there is still a lot to argue about,¡± Waren hit his brother against the shoulder. ¡°How are we going to pay for our portion of the clan debt, for example, rock brain?¡±
¡°I have brought some wares from my home which we were going to sell so I could probably cover that if the amount is not too high,¡± Michael offered. ¡°It would be nice if you pay me back though if possible, depending on the amount.¡±
¡°You might be able to acquire a loan as well from Clan Foulder with Mister Solon¡¯s membership,¡± Thobrin added.
¡°See all problems vanish before us,¡± Farel boasted, ¡°This is fate, brother.¡±
¡°Hold on now, Farel. There is still a lot to discuss before we should make a decision.¡±
¡°Ah, what are you talking about? Let¡¯s just do it, sometimes you have to take a couple of risks. If our clan had done that then we wouldn¡¯t be in this shit altogether.¡±
¡°I would be very happy to answer all your questions to the best of my ability, but I would first like to know what it even is that you are trained in,¡± Michael said with an amused smile at the siblings'' bickering. It reminded him of his own and a pang of pain drove through his heart.
¡°I am the best smith in the whole city,¡± Farel boasted to which Thobrin added, ¡°You have the biggest ego in the city at least. He is very good, lord, but not that good.¡±
¡°I am a rune tinkerer,¡± Waren said, and after seeing Michael¡¯s confused expression he elaborated, ¡°I imbue objects with mana and write instructions to make them magical.¡±
After Thobrin had translated a couple of words that Michael didn¡¯t know, his expression lit up and he exclaimed, ¡°You are an Artificer!¡±
¡°If that is what you humans call it, I guess,¡± Waren answered with pride at Michael¡¯s excitement.
¡°Okay, eh, what do you need to know,¡± Michael asked after he had managed to push down his excitement.
From this point on it was a negotiation between Waren and Michael with Faren throwing in more or less helpful points in from time to time.
They talked about pay, requirements, the scale of the work, funds, work hours, autonomy, housing, and everything else that Waren could think of. It took nearly two hours until they had finally run out of things to discuss.
Michael rose from his seat and Eydis yawned and blinked like she had fallen asleep which was probably not far from the truth.
¡°I think that settles it then,¡± Michael said, ¡°I will leave it to you to gather more artisans who are willing to join us in the discussed parameters. Eh, should we meet here again in a couple of days to finalize the contract with everyone?¡±
¡°That would be a bad idea, lord,¡± Thobrin spoke up for the first time in a while. ¡°If Clan Grapper gets wind of this then they might try to stop it. If those who want to join you just appear with the money to pay their debt then they can¡¯t do anything about it, especially if it comes from a Clan Foulder loan, so I would suggest that you try to keep this as quiet as possible.¡±
¡°So how should we do it?¡±
¡°We can meet at my house,¡± Thobrin offered, ¡°No one will be suspicious of them visiting me and we can smuggle you in easily.¡±
Michael nodded and Waren took Thobrin¡¯s hand, ¡°Thank you, Thobrin.¡±
They left after completing their goodbyes and arranging the next meeting.
As they walked out of the foundry Michael asked the guard, ¡°Do you think they will find everyone I have asked for?¡±
Thobrin nodded, ¡°Very likely. Clan Ferrum was a large clan focusing on every step of the metallurgy professions. If you can find what you are looking for then it will be in the remains of that clan.¡±
Michael inspected the dwarf and then asked, ¡°Why are you going this far to help them?¡±
¡°What do you mean? I am just following Lord Valmick¡¯s orders to assist you.¡± Michael didn¡¯t buy it one bit.
¡°You don¡¯t have to tell me if you don¡¯t want to, but you seem very invested in this, and I find it strange that a guard of clan knows the craftsmen of another this well to vouch for their abilities and you are offering your own home just to get this deal done.¡±
The expression of the dwarf showed clearly that there was something he wasn¡¯t telling Michael. Thobrin pondered a while before he spoke, ¡°I was part of Clan Ferrum. Our leaders didn¡¯t want to admit how bad the situation was, but I found out and got out of there before the clan''s weakness became public knowledge. Most didn¡¯t get out and I blame myself for not doing more to get people out, but I told myself that they might be able to turn it around and if everyone starts to leave then I would doom the clan. I guess this is my way of doing at least some good.¡±
¡°I see, then I will do my best to give them a good home,¡± Michael replied, and the dwarf gave him a deep bow.
Solon
Solon smiled politely as the head of Clan Morican and her husband walked by.
He then focused on Valmick talking with another clan head. ¡°I thank you for your kindness. We will of course allow your miners to take the shortcut through our mining shaft.¡±
The old dwarf looked satisfied and left after another minute of polite conversation.
¡°I hope this works or I will have just given one of my biggest competitors a leg up for no reason,¡± Valmick said with a trained neutral tone.
¡°We got the timeslot and a lot of support already, I would say that the day was a resounding success,¡± Solon replied but made sure to not show his relief on his face.
¡°It is still far from enough. We won¡¯t be able to gather enough support to make this a sure thing and we will still have to convince King Jearn, or all of this is completely irrelevant.¡± You couldn¡¯t hear it from his voice or see it on his face, but Solon noticed the small mannerisms that showed that Valmick was nervous. He doubted that anyone who didn¡¯t know him as well as Solon did would pick up on it though.
¡°We will have to put our all into the presentation then.¡±
¡°Your ward will have to overcome a sheer mountain of prejudices.¡±
¡°He will manage, I am sure of it.¡± Solon looked around while he said that and tensed up upon seeing who was approaching them.
It was a tall blond dwarf with luxurious jewelry that put even Valmick to shame and a self-serving smile.
¡°Prince Gahrek Yorenson, it is good to see you,¡± Valmick said with a slight respectful bow.
¡°I heard you are pushing the timeslots around to get a human¡¯s business to the front of the agenda. You really must be desperate,¡± he said all that with a perpetual smirk on his face.
¡°I am not sure what you are trying to say, your Highness. Lord Rowan has only a limited timeframe for his visit and because I think that it is a more important subject than discussing mining rights for areas that will still take years to reach, I have pushed it forward with the approval of the court arbiter,¡± Valmick replied and even though his words sounded polite everyone knew that this action was a declaration of war.
¡°It is quite brave to put all your faith in a deal with humans. I won¡¯t complain, I thought I would have to wait till I was king to wipe away these annoying factions that want to break our traditions, but it seems I will get that done ahead of time.¡± He didn¡¯t even wait for an answer and just walked away.
¡°He really is one of a kind, isn¡¯t he,¡± Solon commented as he watched the prince walk over to another group of court members.
¡°You don¡¯t know the half of it. It is becoming worse with every time King Jearn is feeling worse.¡±
¡°We are going to manage,¡± Solon placed his hand on his friend''s shoulder.
¡°We don¡¯t really have a choice now that the war is declared,¡± Valmick replied with an expression of stone.
Chapter 56.
Michael
Michael shifted in his seat uncomfortably, it wasn¡¯t the chair that was the problem more what he was waiting for. Three days had passed since he had entered the capital of the dwarven kingdom and now he was sitting in the waiting room for their ruling council.
He was alone in here, so he had no problem with showing his nervosity. He had been surprised when Valmick and Solon came back to the mansion and announced that they managed to get an appointment only two days later. Michael had expected it to take much longer and now he felt unprepared.
He had remained in the mansion the last two days to minimize the chance of attracting any negative attention and had worked his way through the library of the estate to the best of his abilities. From his estimations, it would take at least a few months to read everything in there if he tried, but he still had fun skimming through books that looked interesting and that he could read.
A quiet knock pulled him from his thoughts and Solon entered.
¡°They are nearly done with this debate so we will be up next. How are you feeling?¡± The sympathizing expression didn¡¯t help Michael much.
¡°Good, good,¡± he lied, and Solon knew it. ¡°Tell me again how our chances are.¡±
¡°We already have the support of the clans Foulder, Morican, Tolend, and Patkar, and some of the smaller clans. Against us stand the clans Ignar, Grapper, and Olcek and all their followers. King Prezzim will support us as well. The swinging votes of the clans Kar, Xantos, and Zeilver will be the deciding factor. Xantos and Zeilver will follow the decision of King Jearn so everything will stand and fall with the question if we can convince King Jearn Yorenson to support us.¡±
¡°Wouldn¡¯t clan Ignar follow their leader if King Jearn supports our cause,¡± Michael asked.
¡°The king is old, many of his supporters are gone already and his son has the de facto leadership of the clan,¡± Solon explained.
¡°Okay,¡± Michael said but before he could ask the next question another knock stopped him, and a servant opened the door. ¡°They are ready for you now, Lord Rowan.¡±
Michael rose from his seat and Solon gave him an encouraging tap on the back. ¡°Good luck and remember to be respectful and charming.¡± Michael nodded and then followed the servant out of the door, he would have to do this alone.
The council hall was large, larger even than the ball hall in Lionsgate. To the sides sat the audience, mostly comprised of high-ranking members of clans. The ranks were made from white marble and built like stairs to give everyone a good view of the round center stage. At the other end of the hall was a large podium with two thrones on it. One was made out of red and the other one out of silvery grey rock.
On the grey one sat a dwarf that looked older than any dwarf Michael had ever seen. His hair was white, his skin tattered and his eyes had fallen in. This must be King Jearn Yorenson, Michael thought and let his gaze wander to the other king.
King Prezzim was younger by a lot; he was probably even younger than Solon but had an aura of authority around himself on his red throne. His black hair and stern expression gave him the appearance of an experienced warrior.
The major clan leaders were seated to the left and right of the kings and the minor clan leaders had their seats on the stands next to them.
As Michael entered the court, he could hear the audible turning of all those present toward him. Panic began to well up in him, but he pressed it down to the best of his abilities, and to his surprise he felt the calming presence of the other entity in his mind.
He stepped onto the platform with confidence and inspected the lectern in the middle. It was masterly crafted out of marble but lacked the extra decoration that most dwarven architecture seemed to have in high society.
Michael could hear the whispers from everywhere as he climbed the stairs to the lectern.
¡°Count Michael Rowan, of the Kingdom of Telios,¡± a guardian in full plate armor announced loudly and slammed the heft of his axe onto the ground.
Michael could see servants kneeling next to their masters everywhere and he knew that they were translators. Michael was glad that he didn¡¯t have to try to make his case in dwarfish, but he had sadly been denied having Solon up here with him. Michael watched with interest though that no translators came to translate for the kings.
Michael centered himself with a couple of deep breaths and started talking after the guardian who had spoken before gave him the go-ahead.
¡°I greet the esteemed kings of Garekha, it is an honor to be allowed to talk in these holy halls.¡± He bowed in their direction and then turned to the clan leaders, ¡°I also greet the honorable clan leaders and thank them for making it possible for me to be here.¡±
He then turned back to the front and closed his eyes for a moment.
¡°I come before you today not because of selfishness. I am here to propose a mutually beneficial trade agreement between the county of Reen and the Kingdom of Garekha. Both of our homes have products that the other needs and that would lead to a betterment of the living conditions of not only us but also those that live beneath us. We can offer quality wood, agricultural products, and also pelts and livestock.¡±
It was at this moment that Michael noticed that many of the clan leaders weren¡¯t paying him any attention and were talking with their neighbors and laughing. He saw a translator being waved off as he tried to do his job and that caused Michael¡¯s words to stumble a little bit.
It doesn¡¯t matter, you have to convince the kings and not the clans, he told himself, trying to regain his composure.
¡°Ehm, this trading route would open up a whole new market for dwarven products and would increase the profit for your merchants by several margins,¡± he stumbled a little bit but got back into it.
¡°If we build a road betw¡,¡± Michael stopped and stared at King Jearn in disbelief. He could see the few clan leaders who were actually listening turn their heads. Valmick lost control of his expression for a moment and frowned deeply. The old king was slumped in his seat and fully asleep.
It is over, Michael thought, how can I convince him if he is sleeping?
His mind was racing, should he try to speak louder to wake the king, or should he ask for someone to wake him? Most had not even noticed that he had stopped talking and anger began to rise in Michael¡¯s chest.
He gritted his teeth and then locked eyes with a blond dwarf who smiled at him with a gleeful expression. From descriptions, he knew that this was Prince Gahrek and the amusement on his face was like kindling on the flames of anger.
Keep calm, just get through it. You may be able to convince some of them if you show dignity to this disrespect, he thought and wanted to start again when a loud snore cut through the chamber.
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Everyone turned to the sleeping monarch and laughter began to slowly echo from the onlookers, some even pointed covertly at Michael.
He took a step back and continued to stare at the old king. Embarrassment, anger, and frustration came over him. Was he being ignored again because he was a child or because he was a human?
He bit down hard on his teeth and thought, take me serious! With that thought he raised his hand and a large light ball appeared at a moment''s notice. ¡°MICHAEL, NO,¡± came the shout from the audience ranks. He could see the guardian move the moment he had raised his hand, but light magic was too fast for him. The light ball erupted in a gleaming explosion and screams echoed from all directions.
It was over in a split second. Michael stood with his arm still raised, the guardian standing between him and the podium of the kings. He and the guardian inspected each other but both stood as still as statues. Five seconds went past until a loud yawn broke the silence.
¡°Oh my, this is more action than I had in fifty years,¡± came an old voice from the grey throne. Michael stood completely still, only his eyes moving to the king who looked awake and lucid all of a sudden.
¡°Is this how you treat all of your guests in this court? Ignoring them and sleeping. Is this how things are handled in your court, your Majesty,¡± Michael asked while trying to move as little as possible to not provoke the guardian who could probably split him in two with ease.
The people simply stared at him and the king to see his reaction. Even King Prezzim simply observed the situation.
¡°That depends on the guest mostly. Now I have a question for you. Are you suicidal to be casting a spell in here,¡± the king asked with an amused look.
¡°We should ¡,¡± Prince Gahrek began to talk but the king cut him off.
¡°Be quiet boy, I am having a conversation here. Now where were we? Are you suicidal?¡±
¡°I am not, your Majesty, but I had to get your attention somehow and this was the only thing I could think of,¡± Michael said and slowly lowered his arm.
¡°That was very dramatic, young boy, but you have my and everyone¡¯s attention now, so you better use it well.¡± Michael could see King Jearn lean forward on his throne and watch intently.
¡°Your Majesty, humans and dwarves have worked together in the last great cataclysm, and our races are both still here. Now the time of low mana is over, and it is on the rise again. I know that our people have lost touch since the end of the catastrophe, but I believe that we can rebuild the trust and friendship that we once held.¡± Michael focused only on the old king now, he had done so much, even putting himself in danger to gain his attention now he just needed to use it.
¡°Lost touch? You humans don¡¯t even remember what you have done? You don¡¯t even know why we want nothing to do with you anymore?¡± A loud laugh followed from him but everyone else in the room was as silent as if they were in a gravesite.
¡°What are you talking about,¡± Michael asked confused and even most of the dwarves didn¡¯t look like they knew what he was talking about.
¡°Right before the cataclysm ended, a group of humans came into this very kingdom. They wanted to borrow our most-priced artifact. An artifact that was passed down to us by our founders Yoren and Thorm. We refused; we had given so much for the war, lost so much, but this was too much.¡± A deep-seated sadness came to the surface on the marked face of the ancient dwarf.
¡°And how did the humans thank us for our continuing support and our sacrifices? They stole the artifact from our vault and used it in some kind of ritual. The cataclysm ended shortly after but even until this day we have only been able to retrieve a single fragment of the artifact.¡±
Michael looked at his hands while he pondered about the story, but it didn¡¯t ring any bells. It was a story from nearly one thousand years ago so he doubted that it would have been transcribed by the church if it concerned a dwarven artifact and human theft.
¡°You talk about regaining the trust and friendship that we had? It is lost and broken like the artifact that you once stole.¡± There was no malice in the king¡¯s voice, just pain.
Michael looked up from his hands and said, ¡°And still there might be a fragment of it left here. I can¡¯t say that I have ever heard this story. I can¡¯t say that I have even heard anything resembling this story. I can¡¯t tell you with a good consciousness that you should forgive and forget because my race is not very good at that either, but I am trying to mend the wounds that the great cataclysm has left on my people. Your grudge sounds like the one the Church of Idas has with the mages. It was made before anyone here was alive and no one that caused it is still here but nonetheless people that haven¡¯t been slighted hate those that have done nothing wrong.¡±
Michael gave the king a sympathetic look and also looked at the other dwarves. He had their undivided attention. He saw angry dwarves, pondering dwarves, and even some agreeing dwarves.
¡°Your Majesty, I ask you, will you put a grudge first that is over nine hundred years old, or will you put your people first, those that a living in the here and now? If you don¡¯t choose to serve your people first then I am sorry, I won¡¯t be able to enter into any kind of agreement with you.¡±
King Jearn held his eye contact for nearly a full minute during which no one dared to interrupt. Then a smile came onto his face, and he began laughing loudly and slamming his arm down on his armrests.
¡°You won¡¯t be able to enter into any agreement with us if we don¡¯t put our people first,¡± he exclaimed between fits of laughter. ¡°Very good, very good.¡±
He then suddenly stopped and got serious again, ¡°What I find the most impressive is that you actually mean that from the bottom of your heart. Huh. Well, you have gained my interest, Lord Rowan. Please tell me about what you have planned.¡±
A huge weight fell off Michael¡¯s shoulders and he grabbed the podium in front of him for support. Whispers and discussions instantly began to erupt all over the court hall and Michael saw the anger on Prince Gahrek¡¯s face. The guardian who was still standing in front of him with his weapon at the ready finally relaxed and returned to his position, but he still kept an eye on Michael.
¡°My plan is to establish a trading post between your kingdom and my lands and construct a road on either side of it. Dwarven and human traders can go there to exchange goods. We can start to get used to each other with this and expand this trading post to handle trading permits into the respective kingdoms at a later date.¡±
¡°What about the beastmen? Being harassed by them or having to run with heavy escorts will not work,¡± the king asked curiously.
¡°I have already set up a meeting with the chief of the wolf clan which controls the area. I plan to negotiate free passage for our trade and even to allow them into the trading post which would give us access to their pelts, herbs, and meat.¡± Michael would have expected an uproar at this information if Solon hadn¡¯t told him that the dwarves weren¡¯t at odds with the beastmen as much as the humans because of their border wall.
¡°And you believe that you can convince them?¡±
¡°I believe so, they haven¡¯t raided my lands in over a year, so I think that they are either weakened or not interested in conflict with the kingdom at the moment. Both would give me a good chance to talk them into a peace agreement and also a trading agreement.¡±
¡°Very well, Lord Rowan,¡± the king said and gave him a nod. ¡°Does someone want to speak on this matter,¡± he then asked to the left and the right.
¡°I would,¡± came the angry voice of Prince Gahrek. Michael made space for the furious dwarf and took a seat at the single chair on the platform right next to the guardian.
¡°Brothers and sisters, what are we doing? Are we really considering working with the humans? Do our traditions mean so little to us? He asked if we would put our grudge over our people and I say that if we just let it go then we are letting go of a part of our identity, of our self. Are we ready to just accept them back after what they have done to us? After what they have taken from us? We are doing completely fine on ourselves and don¡¯t need the inferior goods from the humans to cost honest dwarves their jobs.¡±
He stepped back from the lectern and looked at the faces of the people in front of him.
¡°Think of who you want to see prosper. The dwarves or the humans? Keep things like they were for hundreds of years because they have been proven to work, allying with humans has only brought suffering.¡± He then turned around and walked down from the podium seemingly not wanting to waste more breath on this senseless matter.
After him followed a seemingly endless string of other dwarves that spoke on the matter, from merchants to clan heads, from supporters to those cursing out everyone who even considered it.
When the last speaker had finally passed King Prezzim rose from his throne. ¡°Now that we have heard everyone we can come to a vote. I, King Prezzim Thromson, support the establishment of a trade route with the human realm.¡± He sat back down and looked at the other king.
King Jearn rose from his throne with some difficulty and let his gaze flow over his subjects who all looked as tense as Michael felt. ¡°A king has a duty to his ancestors, but he also has a duty to his people. I am old. I am the past. Today I will follow the youth, our future. I will follow my dear King Prezzim¡¯s example and vote for the establishment of the trade route under the condition that a deal can be made with the wolf clan to provide free passage. I pray that it will herald good times for when I am gone.¡±
The commotion was way larger this time, the arbiter even had to call everyone to order and even threaten with penalties if the people didn¡¯t settle down.
Michael just sat there and stared. He couldn¡¯t believe that his outburst had actually worked but he knew ¨C like everyone else in the room ¨C that they had won with the support of both kings.
Chapter 57.
Michael
With a precise strike, Eydis opened up the beer keg to the cheers of the party guests.
¡°My whole cellar is open today,¡± Valmick announced loudly, ¡°Drink to your heart''s content because today we have achieved something historic. Three cheers for Lord Michael Rowan, hiphip.¡±
¡°Hurray.¡±
Michael just stood there with a grin and watched the dwarves - a majority of whom he had never met - cheer loudly and begin drinking like a group of adventurers that had just found an expensive artifact.
¡°You already looking forward to the day that you can partake,¡± Solon asked him and nipped on his beer.
¡°I am not so sure about that, to be honest,¡± Michael laughed and leaned back in his chair. ¡°Now we only need to get the Vargr-Sl?kt to agree to our plans and we will have a one-of-a-kind access to the dwarven market.¡±
¡°You are here to celebrate not to think about the next move in your world of plans,¡± Kiran scolded him from the other side. ¡°Have fun for a change and be a kid.¡±
Michael was happy to sit back and watch the others enjoy the party though. He didn''t feel like partying himself after he had lost control earlier today and it could have gotten him killed, he was actually sure that it would have if he wasn''t a child.
The party got wilder with every keg that was opened. Most were drunk only an hour into the party but even though the dwarves were drinking at least double of what the humans where they seemed to be better off.
Two hours in Michael saw the knights in a drinking match with a couple of dwarves, Eydis was dancing with Valmick''s daughters, and Kiran seemed to be in deep conversation with a group of clan elders.
A pair of dwarves suddenly were on a table and performed a traditional dance. Michael clapped in the rhythm of the song and didn''t notice Grur Parak appear next to him.
¡°This was the work of a genius, milord,¡± he said and startled Michael a little.
¡°Wow you can move quietly,¡± Michael commented. ¡°It was more luck than anything.¡±
¡°I heard you set off a light explosion right in the court chambers,¡± Grur chuckled a little bit and Michael got red from embarrassment.
¡°Yeah, I might have lost control there for a moment.¡±
¡°Don''t underestimate the value of a little bit of shock and awe in a negotiation. Especially with old folk that are bored out of their mind.¡± Grur tipped himself on the nose and then added, ¡°But don''t go around spreading my business strategies.¡±
¡°Now that we are already at business, you said you would move much of your operations to Reen if I managed to get the dwarves to sign a trade agreement.¡±
The trader smiled as if he had been caught by him, ¡°Oh yes, you remember that. I will keep my word, mostly because this will be a great opportunity to make some money before all the vultures descend on your lands.¡±
¡°Good to see that I can count on your desire to stay ahead of the pack,¡± Michael joked, and the trader kept up his smile.
The party continued well into the night when most guests were either lying on the tables or under them. Michael sat in a corner with a book he had borrowed from the library. Eydis was asleep in his lap and breathed quietly, she had passed out an hour earlier after winning a drinking contest to the shock of the audience.
Steps caused him to look up and he saw Valmick making his way through the comatose dwarves and humans. Most had blankets thrown over them by servants and were just left there to sleep of their intoxication.
¡°You are still awake,¡± the minister said, he hadn''t drunk much from what Michael had seen and was still lucid.
¡°I can''t sleep early. I tend to work well into the night and this book has captured me,¡± Michael said and showed him the cover.
¡°Ah the tales of the cataclysm. I am surprised that you found a version in remurian, I didn''t know that we had one,¡± Valmick said and offered him a cup of water. Michael gladly accepted it but made sure to not wake Eydis with his movements.
¡°Yeah, Kiran found it while rummaging through your library. He said it was stuck behind another book and had multiple layers of dust on it.¡±
¡°I see. I presume it is very different from the version that is told in your home?¡±
¡°Yes, it is. The most important difference is the detail. Most historical lore we have has been transcribed and kept by the church and they tend to focus on the betrayal and the gods, while this focuses mostly on the war itself.¡±
Valmick sat down next to him and signaled him to continue.
¡°In our texts for example it only says that the cataclysms ended a year after the betrayal because of Idas''s and his follower''s wrath but it never explains what exactly happened. In this book, though it is said that a great ritual was the reason for the end of the cataclysm, it only says that the mana levels fell and that was that though.¡±
¡°That is because we don''t know,¡± Valmick explained. ¡°We know that the humans were on the brink of collapse. With the civil war of the mages, the purge, and the never-ending tide of monsters and demons they couldn''t hold much longer. So, the mages that were left conducted an unprecedented slight against the natural order, that is what some scholars theorize at least.¡±
He plucked at his beard and thought about how he wanted to explain it in remurian.
¡°The theory is that they forced the natural cycle of mana to advance into the next step and forced a rapid decline of mana. Which forced the demons back into their realm and starved the monsters, allowing the humans and everyone else to survive.¡±
¡°You mean that the mages saved humanity from a certain doom,¡± Michael asked with a deep frown.
¡°That is the theory.¡±
¡°And that is probably also what the artifact that was stolen from you was used for,¡± Michael exclaimed; Eydis grumbled in her sleep and turned a little.
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¡°That could be true.¡±
¡°This changes everything. The church preaches that the mages were at fault for humanity nearly being wiped out but they saved us in the end.¡± Michael spoke quieter again not wanting to wake Eydis.
¡°The loss of your gods was indeed a heavy hit for your people but the remurian pantheon wasn''t the only religion in the human race. There were dozens of others.¡± Valmick explained and Michael stared at the book in his hand with a deep frown.
¡°History is written by the victors,¡± he suddenly blurted out not knowing how he got to that conclusion.
¡°You could say that.¡±
Valmick rose from his seat with a sigh and said, ¡°I am heading to bed. You should do the same.¡±
¡°Good night,¡± Michael said, and the dwarf walked away.
Michael didn''t think he was able to sleep though, his mind was turning with the deception he had uncovered. He had known that not all mages were evil, but he had at least thought that the church had some valid reason to mistrust them but now he couldn''t even believe that anymore.
Michael didn''t sleep at all that night and just sat there reevaluating everything he thought he knew.
It was shortly before ''dawn'', the dwarves had a day-night cycle with their lanterns, when Eydis rolled onto her back, stretched, and opened her eyes with a yawn.
¡°Hey there,¡± Michael whispered and smiled at her. ¡°How are you feeling?¡±
She grinned back and just stayed put where she was. ¡°It was a good party, so I feel trashed.¡±
¡°Not the best place to sleep it off too,¡± Michael said with a silent chuckle.
She tilted her head at this and signed, ¡°It was very comfortable, and I felt safe.¡±
Michael patted her head and then said, ¡°Come on, let''s get you up to your room, so you can sleep it off properly.¡± She didn''t seem to like it that much but still forced herself on her feet.
¡ª¡ª¡ª
¡°Sign here and here,¡± a dwarf with some kind of glass in front of one of his eyes said and pointed at two lines on matching contracts.
The man was a contract scribe of Clan Foulder and had prepared the contract for the artisans who wanted to come work for Michael. It also included a loan from Clan Foulder to pay for their debts, the involvement of Clan Foulder would make sure that they actually came to Reen and did not bail.
Michael signed at his spots and after him did the artisans that Waren and Farel had gathered.
They had found everyone Michael had asked for - a group of twenty-five dwarves and their families - which caused the home of Thobrin to be quite packed, but the guard looked overjoyed nonetheless.
Waren came over to Michael after signing and offered his hand which Michael took, ¡°I am looking forward to working with you, Lord Rowan.¡±
¡°And I will look forward to working with you, Mister Karnson. How long will you be until you can join us in Reen?¡±
The dwarf thought about it and began counting things on his fingers.
¡°We will have to deliver our debt payments, some of my mates have to get their personal affairs in order before leaving and we will have to gather tools, supplies, and equipment. Oh right, and we will have to file the paperwork with the government for our identifications. I would guess we will follow two or three weeks behind you if nothing goes wrong.¡±
Michael nodded, ¡°That seems reasonable. We will probably still be clearing out the mountains when you arrive and we also have to prepare lodging for you until you can get your own homes, so having some time will be good.¡±
¡°Alright then, I hope your negotiations with the beastmen will go well or this is gonna be a fun trip,¡± Waren said with a smile and Michael agreed.
Farel appeared out of nowhere and slapped the back of his brother and said between loud laughter, ¡°Haven''t had a good scuffle in years so don''t worry too much.¡±
¡°A bar fight is something entirely different than being mauled by a beastmen, you oaf,¡± Waren snapped back.
Michael simply smirked and watched them fight it out.
¡ª¡ª¡ª
They stayed for three more days, while Grur tried to establish business relations and Michael waited for the trading agreement to be finished by the royal contract scribes but after a ceremony that went completely overboard in Michael''s opinion, they finally ratified it. It would of course only go into effect with the addition of the Wolfclan''s signature, but Michael was sure that the hard part was behind him.
Now the time to leave had come again. He couldn''t stay away from home for too long and even though he wouldn''t tell anyone he disliked the life underground. He missed the wind, the sounds of animals, and most of all he missed the sun.
¡°I am grateful for your hospitality, I couldn''t have asked for a better host,¡± Michael said to Valmick and Sigrid.
¡°Oh dear, you are welcome to visit any time,¡± Sigrid said and patted his cheek.
¡°Just let us know in advance,¡± Valmick quickly added.
¡°Of course.¡±
Solon then joined them, ¡°It looks like we are about ready to leave.¡±
Michael nodded and asked him, ¡°Are you sure you don''t want to stay a little bit longer?¡±
¡°Ah no, you are gonna need me with the wolf-kin and I always get claustrophobia after a while in this city,¡± he replied with a cheeky smile. He then kissed his sister on the cheek and said goodbye to the rest of the family.
¡°I have a gift for you before you leave, Michael,¡± Valmick said and pulled out a small wooden box.
Michael took it and inspected it with interest. He then opened the lid and a silver ring appeared in it. It was covered in small runes and had a white clear gem embedded into it. The gem passed completely through the silver and was also covered with runes. The moment Michael touched it he could feel the magical intent that was imprinted on the ring.
¡°It''s an artifact,¡± Michael said and turned it in his hand, ¡°What does it do?¡±
¡°It captures light and binds it in the gem for you to use when you need it. It is quite more complex than it sounds like, I promise,¡± Valmick explained with a proud expression.
Michael understood the difficulty that must be behind this seemingly trivial effect. The only elemental mages that could actually create their element were fire mages and even they had limits, so capturing light and keeping it stored without continually draining mana is something that Michael didn''t know could be done.
He slipped the ring on his finger and now felt the magical script more clearly or more accurately the three different scripts. It was as if he was carrying a spell sigil on his finger.
¡°How does it work,¡± he asked and looked at the satisfied dwarf.
¡°If you pour mana into the gem, then it will charge up with light and if you pour mana into the silver it will discharge. You don''t have to dispense a lot of mana though; it is quite efficient and the amount can regulate the effect.¡±
Michael carefully directed his mana into the silver and the gem began to shine dimly.
¡°You can give it a little bit more,¡± Valmick pushed him with an amused expression.
Michael gave it a little bit more and the gem began to glow up until it was shining like a torch. After a minute or so it suddenly fell dark. Michael blinked confused and thought might have overdone it.
¡°It is empty. A small ring with advanced magic won''t hold for long,¡± Valmick explained, and Michael nodded. It was still an incredible gift and could save his life in situations where he was in darkness.
¡°Thank you, minister. I will cherish this gift.¡±
The dwarf smiled and shook his head, ¡°No, thank you for taking the first step in saving my people.¡±
They shook hands and after saying his goodbyes to the rest of the family they began the long way home.
As they made their way through the city, Kiran rode up next to him.
¡°It seems like we got everything we came here for,¡± he said.
¡°It would seem so. I am happy with what we have achieved,¡± Michael answered happily.
¡°I am still glad that we are getting out of here,¡± the Kiran said. ¡°Don''t get me wrong it is all interesting and such but also really claustrophobic and everything is so small.
¡°You are just looking forward to being left alone again, don''t you,¡± Michael laughed and after a short moment in which the mage looked like he wanted to protest, he fell into his laughter.
They kept talking about everything that they were looking forward to until they finally left the tunnel that connected the city with the outside world.
The sunlight fell on Michael''s face and he instantly felt more alive. In front of him, he could see Eydis stretch and similar happy reactions from most of the caravan.
Michael''s gaze fell onto the carts that they were still dragging with them and they had even acquired two more to fit everything they had bought. Tools, weapons, alcohol, and unique herbs and fabrics filled them. On one of the carts sat two dwarven contract scribes who had been assigned to oversee the correct signing of the contracts with the Vargr-Sl?kt and then to bring them back, together with a small dwarven escort.
Michael was happy for their presence as he believed that it would strengthen his position in the negotiations and also reduce the likelihood of a fight.
It wouldn''t be long now until they had to face off against them. Michael was nervous but after everything they had achieved already, he chose to be optimistic.
Chapter 58.
Michael
It didn''t take long for them to be intercepted by the Vargr-Sl?kt after leaving the safety of the walls that protected the dwarven kingdom.
It was the large brown wolf-kin again with whom Michael had spoken over a week ago. He was alone when he suddenly stepped out of the underbrush and in front of the caravan.
The guards were instantly on guard and moved their horses into defensive positions when Michael called them off.
¡°Greetings, it seems like you have been waiting for us,¡± Michael said loudly and moved his horse to the front of the caravan. Even on the back of his horse, Michael didn''t need to lower his head to look the wolf into his yellow eyes.
¡°We have been waiting, lordling. My chief is eager to meet the heir of the beast,¡± he answered in his low and rumbling voice, his grin made Michael shudder, but he kept his cool. Michael was intrigued by the nickname the animal-kin had given his father but now was not the time.
¡°And where would your chief be,¡± Michael asked with a raised eyebrow.
¡°He is waiting for you in the den. You are invited to join him there and enjoy his hospitality.¡±
Michael''s eyes narrowed, ¡°Does he guarantee our and the dwarven envoy''s safety?¡±
¡°No harm will fall upon you without prior provocation,¡± the still-unnamed wolf answered him.
Michael thought about it and decided that this was going to be the best he was gonna get anyway. ¡°Lead the way then.¡± He could virtually feel the uneasiness of his men behind him as the wolf-kin turned around and began wandering slowly into the forest.
Michael pushed himself to follow without showing any weakness or reluctance as a good example for his men.
The journey got evermore treacherous as they cut further into the woods and the carts slowed them down considerably. The wolf-kin who had still not introduced himself waited patiently every time they had to stop to get a cart out of a ditch or untangle it from some other predicament.
What unnerved Michael the most though was the further they came on their way to this den; they saw other wolf-kin stalking them from the shadows.
Sometimes they just stood there watching them move past, sometimes they followed them for a while, and then again at other times, Michael could only hear them howl.
¡°How high are the chances that we are being led into an ambush,¡± one of the knights named Erhen Quinn asked quietly. He was the youngest of the four knights and looked quite unnerved.
¡°They are just trying to intimidate us. Stay calm and keep your up your attention,¡± Lance advised his junior even though he was only a year older.
¡°Seems to be working quite well on Erhen here,¡± Silas Bornholm, the last of Michael''s new guard said jokingly. He was a veteran and worked through stress with humor.
¡°Be quiet if you haven''t got anything useful to say. Keep your eyes open and be ready for everything,¡± Sir Tomp ordered with one hand on his hammer.
Michael tried to just look ahead as if he wasn''t interested in the wolf-kin that were following them, but it would be a lie if he said he wasn''t concerned.
The journey to the wolf den took two days. Their guide would vanish every time they made camp and reappear at first light to continue. Michael doubted that many of his men got a good night''s sleep in those days, he certainly didn''t.
At noon of the third day, their guide finally stopped and turned around. ¡°Our den is just behind this tree line. I would recommend you keep your weapons sheathed if you want to walk out of it again.¡± He sounded dead serious, and Michael nodded before relaying to order to everyone. It gave him a strange sense of comfort that the wolf mentioned that they would be leaving again if they didn¡¯t do something stupid.
As they stepped out of the woods and onto a clearing a wooden palisade came into view. It wasn''t too impressive, probably able to keep away bandits and other smaller attacks, but a determined force would tear it down in minutes.
They approached a wooden gate in front of them and to their left and right emerged at least fifty wolf-kin out of the woods. They were already outnumbered.
Michael could hear the ten dwarven guards mumble something to each other and grab their weapons, but Solon stopped them. ¡°Keep calm and don''t grab your weapons or we will all die here.¡±
The gate opened and even more wolves emerged from inside making a corridor for them to pass through.
Michael had taken point in the caravan again, if they wanted him dead then he would die anyway so he could at least show that he did not fear them.
The horses were getting restless, but Michael forced his through the gate and into the ''den''.
It was a town, a little primitive in Michael''s eyes but well-built. The buildings were built out of the local mostly bright wood and the majority had some kind of animal carved into the wood above the door and other runes on the doors themselves.
He could only see warriors lining the streets but some of them were a little smaller which Michael guessed were the females. Michael inspected the rows upon rows of warriors and noticed a warrior with a star-shaped patch of white fur on his nuzzle. He wasn¡¯t sure why this one had stuck out to him this much and he forgot about it immediately until he noticed the same symbol on the nuzzle of a warrior a few crossings later and yet again a few crossings after that.
The whole road was lined by them until they reached the town square where a grey wolf in waited for them in front of a great hall decorated with some kind of large bones.
They filed onto the square and Michael immediately dismounted. All exits were blocked by groups of warriors and even behind the grey wolf was a wall of shields.
¡°It is true then. The beast hiding among men is dead,¡± the grey wolf said with a clear and calm voice. ¡°I didn''t actually believe it.¡±
¡°If you are talking about my father, then yes he was murdered,¡± Michael replied and stepped closer to whom he assumed to be the chief until he was standing right in front of him.
¡°Hm, I see. What an unfitting end for such a mighty warrior. I am sure his soul will find its way to your god.¡± He lowered his head respectfully and Michael returned the gesture.
The wolf then straightened to his full size and introduced himself, ¡°My name is Greywind, chieftain of the wolf clan and ruler over these parts of the great forest.¡±
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¡°My name is Count Michael Rowan, new ruler of the Counties of Reen and Emall,¡± Michael returned the introduction.
¡°So, Lord Rowan, Moloch here has told me that you wish to negotiate with me about peace and trade,¡± there was humor in his voice, but Michael noticed something deeper behind it that the older wolf-kin tried to hide.
¡°That is true. I have successfully established a trade agreement with the dwarves of Garekha and wish to build a trading post on your side of the river. We would like to invite you to join this trade and with that establish peaceful relations with your people.¡± Murmurs began to go through the warriors that had surrounded them and Greywind seemed to ponder about what he had said.
¡°And why should we do that? You have lost your greatest warrior and both you and your king are merely pups. This is the best time there is for us to raid and plunder. You are in a position of weakness and that is why you come here to prevent us from attacking, am I right?¡± The old wolf gritted his teeth in a smile that might have been meant to look friendly.
¡°You are right, we aren''t at our strongest, but neither are you,¡± Michael countered.
The grey wolf laughed loudly and pointed at his warriors before asking, ¡°Where do you see weakness? We are as strong as we have ever been.¡±
¡°Then why have you not attacked us in the last year? It couldn''t have been fear because you had no problem with raiding us while my father was still alive and present, and I don''t think that it was because of a change in leadership. So that leaves only two options in my opinion, either you were worrying about someone else and couldn''t afford to agitate the kingdom or you were too weak to beat us if we did retaliate.¡± He could see a couple of the warriors behind Greywind lose control of their expressions when he mentioned their raiding behavior and then he was sure that he was on the right track.
¡°Don¡¯t you see all these warriors,¡± Greywind asked. ¡°Ask one of your knights if they could take on our host.¡±
Michael frowned and then shook his head, ¡°Chieftain, I am not here to insult you but we both know that this display of power was just a trick. I saw the same warrior thrice in your line. You funneled us through the long way to get here and circled your warriors around through the faster paths to appear to have higher numbers.¡± He could hear the surprised murmur not only from the wolf-kin but also from his own men who had seemingly not noticed.
The chieftain stood there in silence and so Michael continued, ¡°I am also not here to trick you. I am here to genuinely make peace and establish trade with you.¡±
Greywind continued to stay quiet, and Michael began to get agitated when he finally opened his mouth. ¡°You seem to be quite clever, but you are still just a pup, and we are hunters and not traders.¡±
Michael gritted his teeth at being called a pup again even after unveiling their little deception.
¡°Chief Greywind, do you think this is the best decision? There is a reason why there is a delegation of dwarves here. Do you really want to be in between two countries that want to trade and the only reason they can¡¯t is you?¡±
¡°Are you threatening us,¡± Greywind growled, and Michael could hear similar sounds from the warrior named Moloch who had guided them here.
Michael took a deep breath not wanting to fall to his emotions again and calmly replied, ¡°I am just trying to understand this. Why would you want to keep up hostilities when you could trade with us and gain much more from it? There would be no more bloodshed and no more misery resulting from each other.¡±
Greywind fell silent again and Michael began to worry that he might have overdone it. ¡°I can¡¯t make a deal with prey,¡± the wolf-kin chieftain said. Before Michael could speak up again, he continued, ¡°So you must prove your strength. One of yours against one of ours.¡± He looked at Michael with an expecting glance and Michael understood. The wolves had to save face, so the humans needed to win and prove themselves.
¡°Then let me prove myself a warrior,¡± Michael said and stepped forward to the surprise of the chief.
¡°You want to fight yourself,¡± he asked with a frown.
¡°You want to make a deal with me, that means that I will have to show myself worthy. I will let you pick out the challenge that you find fitting.¡±
Greywind nodded and after a moment of deliberation shouted, ¡°Dawn, get over here!¡±
Michael watched as a smaller wolf-kin made her way through the line of warriors. Michael guessed that she was a female because of her thinner snout but he couldn¡¯t be sure.
The light fell upon her fur as she stepped out under the roof of the great hall and Michael understood why she was called Dawn. She had light brown fur which got even brighter at her belly and in direct light she looked like the rising sun.
¡°This is my daughter, Dawn,¡± Greywind explained. ¡°She will be your challenger.¡±
¡°It will be my honor,¡± Michael said but Dawn stayed silent and observed him with the eyes of a predator.
She was at least a head taller than Michael and the muscles under her fur were proof for her hunter¡¯s life. In her hands were a large round shield that might have been a little too big for her and a one-handed axe.
Sir Tomp approached him with his shield, but Michael waved him off and handed him his coat instead.
Dawn watched this and wanted to throw away her shield as well, but Michael interrupted her, ¡°Please keep your shield. My second hand will not be empty, and it would be unfair if you dropped your shield for that.¡± She looked at her father who nodded and then she restrapped her shield to her arm.
Greywind then stepped between them and announced loudly, ¡°The fight will go on until one of you is incapacitated or gives up. Apart from that there are no rules. This fight can be until death if none of you gives up. Do you understand these rules?¡±
They both nodded and the chieftain stepped back. After him followed a dark black wolf covered in bone talismans and began growling and howling something in their language which Michael guessed was some kind of religious ritual.
The wolf-kin began bashing their weapons on their shields and Michael¡¯s men quickly joined in.
Michael knew that he was at a disadvantage against the taller wolf with more reach, but he would have the element of surprise on his side. That meant that he needed to finish this fight quickly though.
¡°Begin,¡± Greywolf yelled.
Michael dashed forward letting his mana flare up high. The power surged through his body, and he felt alive.
He feigned a strike to the right upper torso to get her shield out of the way but changed direction to hit her leg.
Dawn wasn¡¯t so easily tricked though and reacted with the speed of a trained augmenter. His sword impacted her shield, and she countered with a strike of her axe.
Michael pivoted to the right to get behind her shield and evade her strike. She used this opportunity to ram him with the shield and push him back.
The cheers and shouts around Michael began to get quieter as his mind concentrated solely on the enemy in front of him.
This time Dawn was the first to attack. She jumped forward in a savage attack and let her axe descend on Michael¡¯s shoulder in the blink of an eye. She was fast, probably faster than Michael.
This was the time for his first surprise, and he snapped his fingers. A small light explosion appeared and blinded the wolf for a moment in which Michael ducked under her strike and managed to get a cut in on her stomach. It was shallower than he had liked but the wolf-kin¡¯s skin was much thicker than he had anticipated, and he didn¡¯t want to kill her.
Dawn snarled and jumped back while shaking her head, but Michael wouldn¡¯t let her get away this easily. He followed her and assaulted her with everything he had, one blow after another was intercepted by the shield as Dawn displayed superb shield discipline.
She then took in a deep breath and howled. The scream was strengthened to an extreme by mana and Michael¡¯s ears were ringing and threatening to burst. He stumbled back and had to use all his self-control to not drop his sword to cover his ears.
Now he was on the defensive and Dawn didn¡¯t give him any room to breathe. He dodged most of the attacks, but she was faster than him and he finally had to block a particularly quick strike with his sword. She instantly locked his sword with her axe and ripped at it with her superior strength.
Michael let go of it, not wanting to be pulled any closer to the natural weapons of the wolf. He tried to gain ground now that he had been disarmed but Dawn charged at him without any care for her own safety, the only weapon her enemy had was a dagger which he would still need to reach for after all.
Michael began to construct a sigil in his left hand and reached down to his dagger with his right. Dawn was upon him before he reached it, and her axe was aimed right at his neck.
Michael raised his left hand and Dawn closed her eyes; her strike was inevitable Michael wouldn¡¯t escape.
With a devious smile, Michael activated the sigil, and a small wall of light, as big as a spread hand, appeared in the way of the axe. It impacted on the wall and stopped. Cracks began to form on the wall of light, but it held.
He pulled out his dagger and stabbed right at her throat. Her reckless charge, closed eyes, and the awkwardly blocked strike she had played right into his hand.
Dawn opened her eyes the moment she felt the resistance and confusion was pained all over her face when she saw what had stopped her strike. With this distraction, she was too slow to stop Michael¡¯s dagger as it found its way to her throat and stopped right at it.
¡°Do you surrender,¡± he asked a little out of breath but with a shit-eating grin.
They stood there for a moment in that position before Dawn dropped her axe and announced in a clear voice, ¡°I surrender.¡±
But no cheers erupted from the humans and no howls from the wolves as everyone just stared at what just happened.
Chapter 59.
Michael
Michael carefully pulled back his dagger from Dawn¡¯s throat and took a step back. The defeated wolf-kin inspected the shallow cut on her stomach seemingly not understanding why everyone else was so silent.
Michael turned around and looked into the confused faces of his men. Kiran was the first to react, he stepped forward and asked, ¡°What the hells was that? It looked like your light blocked her attack.¡±
Michael smiled while he answered, ¡°That is because it did. This is what I have been working on. I call it hard light; it is still a work-in-progress, but I think it has potential.¡±
¡°Potential,¡± the mage said in disbelief.
¡°Yeah, it requires a lot of concentration and precision to get right but with a lot more practice I should be able to use it properly,¡± Michael explained.
¡°This is not what I am talking about. What you just did there, I have never heard anyone do something like this. You managed something that not even Gradel Thule can do. You are amazing,¡± Kiran said, and excitement crept into the old mage¡¯s voice.
Michael paused, somehow, he hadn¡¯t thought about that what he invented might have been a first in the world. His men began to nudge each other and share some whispers until a few moments later they broke into cheers.
Michael turned back to Greywind, and the chief patted his daughter on the shoulder and exchanged a couple of words in their language before he addressed Michael. ¡°You have proven yourself to be more than strong. We do not wish to fight and weaken each other. Come join me inside for a meal, there we can discuss the peace and trade agreement.¡± After that, he barked a few words, and his warriors began to disperse.
Kiran put his hand on Michael¡¯s shoulder stopping him from immediately following the chieftain and said, ¡°You have to tell me everything about this new hard light later, okay?¡±
¡°Of course, we have a lot of experimenting to do,¡± Michael answered with excitement burning in his eyes which was mirrored in the mage¡¯s.
The discussion had to wait though; Michael had to get through another kind of conversation first.
He motioned the dwarven contract scribes, his retainers, and his guard to follow him and then entered the great hall behind Greywind.
The hall''s interior was quite comfortable with pelts and multiple fires warming the room. A large boar was roasting over the biggest fire in the middle of the room spreading an inviting aroma.
¡°Please sit with me over here, Lord Rowan. Your men can warm themselves around the central fire,¡± he pointed at a smaller fire in a more secluded part of the hall. He wanted to discuss the treaty in private it seemed, and Michael had no problem with this.
Michael noticed that his men had become less tense by now, but Eydis and Sir Tomp still followed Michael with their eyes.
The chieftain and Michael sat down on a large fur on opposing sides of a low table. Chairs were seemingly not part of a wolf-kin¡¯s home, but a couple of benches were situated around the central fire.
After sitting there in silence Michael took the initiative and began explaining his plans for the trade post and the road between Reen and the border of Garekha. Greywind listened patiently and attentively until he had explained everything.
¡°You said the trading post would be on the river on our side, but where exactly,¡± the grey wolf finally broke his silence.
¡°I would like to place it as far south as possible to reduce the need for cutting through the forest, but the river has to be deep enough to allow riverboats to traverse it.¡±
¡°I see. What law will apply in this trade post and who will judge?¡± Michael blinked at the wolf-kin surprised, it was a really good point.
¡°Let¡¯s say that every nation sends in one judge, and we create a lawbook that applies to the trading post with basic laws for them to enforce. People will have to answer to the law of the place that they are currently in when they are not in the trading post. We should also provide a mixed guard.¡±
Greywind nodded, ¡°It sounds reasonable.¡±
¡°Good. I would also suggest that you would be responsible for general safety on the road in your country which should be paid for by the taxes,¡± Michael said next.
They continued for a while talking through different things, about taxation, law enforcement, infrastructure construction, rights, and many more topics.
After they had talked through everything they could think of and even discussed the peace treaty, Michael asked, ¡°I am interested. What was it that made abandoning your raids on the kingdom?¡±
Greywind stayed quiet and Michael thought that he looked sad even though he couldn¡¯t read the facial expressions of the animal-kin very well.
He then sighed and said, ¡°It was my son, Titan. He felt like I was a weak leader and tried to usurp my position. He was a dumb boy, strong as a bear but as bright as a rock. Many died in that fight and with the Boar Clan always trying to expand their borders we couldn¡¯t leave our home undefended or be stuck between the boars and the kingdom.¡±
¡°I see. My condolences but with this treaty, you will be able to focus on rebuilding,¡± Michael said and smiled.
¡°It doesn¡¯t matter anymore but I am thankful that my people can have some peace at last,¡± he sighed, and then the weak and sad old wolf disappeared, and the confident leader of the tribe returned.
¡°Now that we have an agreement, we will have to consult the guardians,¡± Greywind said and looked solemn.
¡°The guardians?¡±
- A couple of hours later ¨C
Michael¡¯s gaze swung from left to right as he followed Moloch who led him into a grove with twelve tall wolf statues positioned in a large ring.
The sun had not gone down yet but no sunlight managed to enter this grove. It was illuminated dimly by swarms of fireflies that circled around the wolf stones.
The ground between the statues was laid out with loose stone slaps and in the middle stood a large stone altar that dwarfed the black wolf-kin that stood behind it. It was the same one that had spoken right before the duel and Michael noticed another wolf with nearly white fur which was being supported by the darker one.
She had the skull of what Michael guessed had once been a dire wolf on her head and supported herself with a staff made out of black wood and blackened bones in addition to the black wolf. They were shamans, Michael had been told by Sir Tomp and Kiran, the mages of the animal kin who doubled as the religious figures of the clan.
The grove was filled with the members of the wolf clan, but it was eerily silent. Michael stepped toward the altar, but his men stayed where they were, all tense and suspicious of what was about to happen.
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Michael came to a halt next to Greywind in front of the altar when the white wolf-kin began to speak with a scratchy voice. Michael could hear the years that had passed for her as she intoned some kind of chanting.
Michael wanted to ask what was happening, but his eyes were fixed on the old shaman, he could feel a massive amount of mana spreading from her. Then he noticed that it wasn¡¯t just coming from her but from all the twelve statues around them.
Slowly the eyes of the wolf statues began to glow as more and more mana filled the space in between. The audience began to hum in a low base tone and the air vibrated.
The shaman talked quicker, her voice rising to ever greater heights. The mana moved in a swirling motion. For normal people, it would be like a slow draft, but Michael saw the mana. It was like a whirlwind that was beginning to pick up in pace.
Then another maelstrom appeared and another until one had formed around each of the statues. Michael watched as they pulled in more and more mana until it condensed, and a shape appeared.
The humming and chanting came to a crescendo when a huge dark purple wolf emerged from each of the statues. They were ethereal and their eyes were glowing in the same light. They landed on the free ground of the ritual circle and began circling the altar.
Michael could see the panic in the eyes of his men but to their credit, no one tried to flee or intervene, either through fear or discipline.
¡°Great guardians,¡± Greywind spoke loudly and ignored Michael¡¯s widened eyes. ¡°We come to you in this time of hardship to hear your council.¡±
A voice, that sounded like all twelve of them talking in unison, echoed from all sites, ¡°Speak!¡± Their voice went through Michael¡¯s core, and he trembled.
¡°This is Michael Rowan of the Telios Kingdom,¡± Greywind said and was instantly interrupted by a flurry of voices.
¡°Prey.¡± ¡°Enemy.¡± ¡°Hunter.¡± ¡°Murderer.¡±
The wolves began to fletch their teeth at him and circle in closer. Michael couldn¡¯t shake the dread in his chest as the wolves approached him, but he was not as weak-willed anymore. He stepped forward pulled out his sword and rammed it in between two stone slaps.
¡°I am not here to fight, honorable guardians. I am here to make peace with your people.¡±
The wolves hesitated for a moment and then continued to circle less threateningly.
¡°Continue,¡± the booming chorus of voices said.
It was obvious that the guardians were talking to Michael now, so he answered. ¡°We have fought long enough, spilled enough of each other¡¯s blood. I have proposed a peace treaty to the wolf clan and a trade agreement to strengthen the bond between our people so that we can live peacefully as neighbors. Chieftain Greywind has tested my strength and found me worthy. He wants to gain your blessing, great guardians.¡±
¡°Your strength of body has been tested,¡± the guardians said, ¡°Your strength of spirit is yet to be determined.¡±
Michael frowned, he didn¡¯t know what the guardians expected from him but before he could ask for an explanation, the largest of the spirit wolves broke formation and walked right in front of him.
¡°Your spirit will be tested and if you prove to be strong in both body and soul you may leave this grove again,¡± the large guardian said, this time alone.
¡°What does that mean,¡± Michael said unsure if he was just threatened but the wolf didn¡¯t give him an answer before phasing his ethereal snout into Michael¡¯s chest. He wanted to back away but the moment it touched him he was paralyzed. His consciousness blanked for a moment and when he opened his eyes again, he was in a strange room filled with books and tables.
This library was bigger than anything he had ever seen, it had multiple levels filled to the brim with books, and there must have been tens if not hundreds of thousands of books here.
Even the seating area was bigger than any single room in Reen Castle and it was completely empty except for a single old man who sat at one of the tables. He was leaning back in his chair and seemed completely captured by the thin book he was reading.
He was old, his hair white, a well-maintained short beard decorated his face, and his skin wrinkled but he was also looking dignified and astute, he reminded Michael of Solon.
Michael approached him slowly and took in more details. His clothing was unlike anything Michael had ever seen, the fabric looked thin but robust at the same time, the angles were clean, and he had never seen such precise seams.
What interested him more though was the contraption of glass which the strange man had resting on his nose. It was similar to the one he had seen with the dwarven contract scribe, but he had forgotten to ask what it was back then. Maybe it was a magical item or something like that.
¡°Hello,¡± Michael asked carefully but kept at a safe distance from the man. He didn¡¯t know who he was but to transport him to another place without any difficulty meant that he was probably a powerful mage.
The old man looked up at Michael and he took off the glass contraption. ¡°Oh, hello there.¡±
¡°Who are you,¡± Michael asked and tried to strengthen his body in anticipation of a fight, but he couldn''t feel his mana.
¡°I am just an old man savoring some light literature,¡± he answered and put the book on the table in front of him.
¡°Why have you brought me here?¡±
The man tilted his head to the side before answering, ¡°I have done nothing of that sort. You came here of your own volition.¡±
The voice was familiar to him, but his mind was refusing to tell him from where he knew it from even though he was sure that he did. Michael frowned and looked around again, but he had never been here before.
¡°And where exactly is here?¡±
¡°Isn''t it obvious? This is a library,¡± the man answered with a smile.
Michael sighed and thought, extremely helpful.
He sensed no hostility from him, so he pulled back a chair in front of the old man and sat down.
¡°I am Count Michael Rowan, Lord of Reen and Emall and Vassal of the King of Telios.¡±
¡°I know who you are, Michael. My name is Thomas.¡±
¡°Thomas, right. Do you also know why I am here,¡± Michael asked.
Thomas closed his eyes for a moment and then said, ¡°It seems like something attacked your soul and to protect yourself you have pulled back into the deepest parts of your mind.¡±
¡°This is the deepest part of my mind,¡± Michael asked confused.
¡°It is barely part of it, so yes, it is.¡±
The deepest part? Barely part of my mind? This voice?
¡°I know who you are,¡± Michael suddenly burst out and Thomas simply smiled.
The library began to shake, and mist came through the windows and doors.
¡°What is happening,¡± Michael shouted and jumped up from his chair.
¡°It seems like you are being ejected from here. The attack has ended, and you can''t be here,¡± Thomas explained while looking around with interest.
¡°No, wait. I have so many questions,¡± Michael pleaded as the mist began to envelop him.
¡°Those will have to wait, my boy. Remember this, Michael, stay on your path and trust yourself,¡± the old man said with urgency in his voice.
Thomas gave him a last smile before the mist covered him completely.
Michael¡¯s eyes opened again and was back in the moment the spirit wolf had touched him. In that moment Michael¡¯s chest seemed to split apart for just a moment and a light erupted from it. Brighter than anything Michael had ever seen or produced but it didn¡¯t blind him. The spirit wolf howled and got catapulted back, shutting the light off when he got split from Michael. It crashed against one of the statues and broke apart.
Everyone stared in silence as the remains of the spirit wolf began to circle the statue and then vanished.
¡°What did you do,¡± Greywind whispered and looked at Michael in shock.
¡°He destroyed one of our guardians,¡± someone else shouted and other roars joined in. The wolf-kin began to grab their weapons, the humans and dwarves doing the same when the chorus of voices returned.
¡°Your spirit is strong, young warrior. We judge you to be worthy of standing equally with our people.¡± They then turned to Greywind. ¡°We agree with your judgment, chieftain, and give this oath our blessing.¡±
Greywind nodded as everyone began to relax again. The chieftain took out a knife, cut the palm of his hand, and then handed it to Michael.
¡°I vow to keep to the agreement we have made today not only in word but also in spirit.¡±
Michael did the same and took the wolf¡¯s hand, his palm would probably be healed well enough until he was back in Reen thanks to his mana-infused regeneration.
He repeated the same words the wolf clan chief had said, the eleven remaining spirit wolves gathered around them and intoned, ¡°And we are witness to this agreement. May it stand for the years to come and may a strong bond result out of it.¡±
Michael nodded at Greywind, who returned the gesture.
The spirit wolves turned around shortly after and sprinted against their respective statues where they vanished in an explosion of mana.
The wolf kin were quietly conversing with each other as Michael returned to Kiran.
¡°What were those wolves,¡± he asked.
¡°That was death magic. More specifically the spirit magic school. These statues appear to be artifacts that can hold massive amounts of mana. Astonishing,¡± Kiran answered absentmindedly. He was much more focused on the statues than on Michael.
¡°And what did that wolf do to me?¡±
¡°He drew out your soul to test its strength, I presume. I have heard that life and death mages can interact with one¡¯s soul, but this was the first time that I saw it. Yours seems to be quite potent to dispel a spirit of that strength on merely a touch.¡± The mage didn¡¯t sound surprised and that caught Michael¡¯s attention.
¡°You expected it to be strong?¡±
He finally turned to him and inspected him with his piercing eyes. ¡°The size of the mana well one possesses gives a vague estimation of one¡¯s soul. Mana and souls are tightly connected and with your mana well I would have been surprised if your soul wasn¡¯t similarly mighty.
Michael nodded but he had to think about the strange place he had visited. It had been a couple of minutes inside but not even a second out here. Thomas confused him even more; he was sure that that man was the old voice he had heard so many times and who had pulled him out of his depression. Michael just couldn¡¯t explain who or what he was.
An illusion? A demon? Maybe the soul of his former self?
His guesses got evermore wild, but he resolved himself to uncover the secret of Thomas, the old man in the library.
Chapter 60.
Michael
Michael walked through a richly decorated hallway, monster trophies, tattered banners, and magical weapons hanging on the wall as he followed it.
He hadn''t had this kind of dream since leaving for his expedition but still recognized their strange feeling.
Walking down the hallway he finally reached a balcony made from fine dark wood. Everything felt as real as only life could, he searched for a meaning, an idea to be had but he couldn¡¯t find it. Below him was a sprawling city that spanned to the end of his vision, it was constructed out of stone and filled with happy-looking people.
Applause reached his ears, and he redirected his gaze further downward. Ranks upon ranks of armored soldiers stood in a huge courtyard, their weapons raised to a salute and their voices cheering for their lord.
He was taller and felt stronger, was this a vision of the future or a promise? He wasn¡¯t sure but he recognized the landscape of Reen even if it was warped by the advancing civilization.
A feeling of power and pride swept into Michael''s mind, but it felt forced like it was not coming from himself. He was nearly drowned by it as if someone tried to push away his own feelings.
Is this what I want, he thought and looked at the vast city and soldiers. Is my goal to be a great ruler and general?
He took a step back and frowned. Power has never been my goal! Fame has never been my desire!
Turning around he noticed that the hallway which he had arrived through was gone and in its stead was a familiar house. Warm light shone through the closed windows, and he heard familiar voices coming from inside.
Michael took a couple of steps closer when he felt something trying to pull him back to the balcony. He braced himself against it, it was as if he was walking through honey, but he persisted. The cheers began to devolve into cries of pain and the roaring of monsters, but Michael knew that it wasn¡¯t real.
After a couple of laborious steps, he finally reached the door and pushed it open. The cries vanished and the view into the common room of Michael''s house opened up. He saw them, all of his retainers sitting around the table, laughing, and eating as they had done for the last years.
The force that tried to pull him away was getting stronger but somehow it did not affect him anymore.
Michael smiled as Sola argued with Kiran about something and Geron was sitting between them with a miserable expression. Solon was peacefully sitting on the other side and watched the discussion with a cup of tea.
Eydis noticed Michael at the door, smiled at him warmly, and motioned him to enter. He stepped through the door, and it closed behind him with a loud click.
Michael awoke when the carriage hit a pothole in the street.
¡°Curses,¡± he growled and sat up from his slouched sleeping position.
¡°Did you sleep well,¡± Solon asked.
¡°How can anyone sleep in these things,¡± he groaned and stretched his rebelling back.
There were old Kiran, Solon, and him in the carriage; Grur had left them after they crossed the border because he needed to get back home and prepare everything for the future.
¡°You slept a few hours, Michael, we are already in Reen,¡± Kiran said with a smirk. Michael had been exhausted from the last couple of days of magic training. He completely exhausted his mana reserves multiple times and hadn¡¯t given it time to fully replenish which drained him to his core until Kiran banned him from using his mana until it was fully replenished the day before.
¡°Why didn¡¯t you wake me,¡± he asked and looked out into the familiar streets.
¡°You were sleeping so quite peacefully, and I didn¡¯t want to take that from you.¡± Solon also looked amused at Michael¡¯s complaints.
Michael rolled his eyes but focused on making himself presentable for the imminent arrival; he didn¡¯t care personally but he knew that appearances played a crucial role in getting treated with respect, the most important thing Michael had learned from his mother.
It only took five more minutes until the carriage rolled into the castle¡¯s courtyard and stopped in front of the welcome committee. The guards and knights had positioned themselves in rows to the left and right of the nobles and important citizens as always and Sola and Geron were also present.
Michael stepped out of the carriage and tried his best to hide his exhaustion when he was greeted by someone he hadn¡¯t expected.
Princess Mira was standing in front of the waiting nobles in a simple green dress, her long hair was secured in a braid, that laid over her left shoulder, it had grown considerably since the first time Michael had seen her, and a silver sun-shaped hair clip blinked in contrast to her black hair color.
¡°Mira,¡± he said surprised. She walked over to him and said with her eyes focused on the ground, ¡°I am sorry that I wasn¡¯t here earlier.¡±
Michael took her hand, and she looked up at him. ¡°You did what you had to. I knew that you were with me in spirit and that gave me strength. So, don¡¯t be too hard on yourself and the king.¡±
Mira teared up a little, but Michael smiled and winked at her. ¡°Let¡¯s talk after I am done here okay,¡± he said, and she nodded.
The knights and nobles were waiting eagerly for what their lord had to say; he obviously wasn¡¯t dead, but they still didn¡¯t know if his mission had been a success.
Michael let his gaze flow over the audience, tickling at their curiosity, and then said, ¡°I am happy to announce that the hostilities between us and the Wolf Clan are no more. I am also happy to announce that I have achieved a trade agreement with the Kingdom of Garekha. A good new era is upon us, my friends. An era of peace and prosperity.¡±
The reactions were understandably mixed; while most were happy about the trade with the dwarves, many showed more negative feelings about the peace with their biggest enemy of the last decades. It would take time for them to see the advantages of not having to have a tight net at the border and the prosperity that trade could bring with the wolves.
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Sola and Geron approached him. ¡°Welcome back, how was your adventure,¡± Sola said with a genuine smile and Geron gave him a respectful nod.
Michael chuckled dryly, the aching in his whole reminding him of the journey, ¡°It took its toll.¡±
Worry came over Sola¡¯s face, but Geron was first to speak, ¡°Well, you seem to have managed just fine. I don¡¯t know which achievement is larger, making peace with the beastmen or making a trade agreement with the dwarves. You deserve to be tired.¡±
Kiran joined in here with a humorous tone, ¡°Oh, he is not tired because of those achievements. He is tired because he just demolished humanity''s understanding of light magic as a side project while doing all those other things.¡±
Sola looked at the old mage with a raised eyebrow and then turned her gaze to Michael. He didn¡¯t say anything and just raised his hand to begin constructing a sigil.
¡°Hey, didn¡¯t I say no magic until you are fully recuperated,¡± Kiran protested but with little force in his voice.
Michael smiled him off and concentrated on his spell and shortly after a ball of light appeared. Sola, Geron, and almost everyone else present inspected the ball with interest.
¡°Take it, Sola,¡± Michael said and offered her the ball.
Her eyes widened as she started to understand what was happening, but most others had not caught on yet. With a shaking hand, the light mage reached for the ball of light and Michael shivered with anticipation when she finally first touched and then grabbed the hard light.
¡°By Idas,¡± she exclaimed with a weak tone and a cacophony of whispers erupted in the audience when Sola took the ball of light out of Michael¡¯s hand and pressed down on it without any effect.
¡°This is impossible,¡± the priestess murmured and continued to stare at the ball of light as if mesmerized by it.
¡°This is a gift of Idas,¡± one noble exclaimed, ¡°He has blessed our lord with his own light.¡±
Others didn¡¯t seem to be convinced and repelled by the unnatural sight, but most seemed to be on the side of amazement.
¡°Your strength rises by the day, milord,¡± Geron announced loudly on purpose. ¡°Not long and you might be able to rival your late father.¡±
The mention of his father stung a little, but Michael knew what the knight was doing, he was focusing the attention of the nobles and knights on Michael to shift the positive reactions onto him and not the magic.
Mira stepped forward as if enchanted, she looked at the ball of light and then turned her gaze toward Michael, looking him in the eyes for a moment before saying a single word, ¡°Amazing.¡± It hit him with such an array of emotions, he sensed amazement, sadness, and even a hint of fear that he couldn¡¯t place.
He held her eye contact, mesmerized by the wave of emotions she had managed to convey in a single word to him until she looked away. Michael frowned and shook his head, unsure what had just happened, but he wasn¡¯t willing to ask her about it in this crowd.
Michael continued to be bombarded by questions he had little to no answer for from Sola while he entered the castle.
A small feast had been prepared for his return and no amount of protest could have stopped his vassals from canceling it. He accepted his fate and spent the better part of the next three hours feasting and telling the nobles and merchants of the happenings of his travels. Some were interested in his magic but as none of them understood much of it the focus quickly turned to the trade agreement between the wolves, dwarves, and them.
The glint of greed in their eyes concerned Michael a little but he couldn¡¯t really fault them for that, greed was a defining trait of merchants and nobles alike these days even if Michael didn¡¯t appreciate it.
It was hard for him to stay attentive the whole evening without using his mana, but he pulled through until he finally managed to get away from the festivities and found himself on a small balcony with Mira and their respective guards standing watch a couple of meters away.
¡°We really don¡¯t have to talk now, you must be exhausted,¡± Mira said and looked at him with an inquisitive look.
Michael chuckled and kept his gaze upon the stars, ¡°I am fine. I don¡¯t want to wait till tomorrow to catch up with you at least a little.¡±
Michael heard her move and looked over at her, she was also looking up into the night sky and the stars were reflected in her shining blue eyes. ¡°Alright, but promise me that you won¡¯t overdo it, please.¡±
¡°As you command, princess. I will keep the collapsing to a minimum,¡± he answered with a cheeky smile which rewarded him with a punch to the shoulder and a pouting princess.
He leaned back on the bench and suddenly thought about the dream again while looking down the balcony on the walls of the castle.
¡°What is it,¡± Mira asked him after a while of silence, and Michael snapped out of it.
¡°Huh, what?¡± He looked at her confused and blinked.
¡°You have been staring down the balcony for over a minute. What is going on in that head of yours,¡± she explained and leaned against the railing.
Michael pondered if he should tell her about it. He never shared his dreams with anyone, but he wanted to talk to someone about it. He had thought multiple times about telling Solon, Eydis, or Kiran, all of them being the most unlikely to condemn him or take it as a sign of possession. He didn¡¯t actually think that either Geron nor Sola would but he didn¡¯t want them to doubt him in any way.
That might have also been the reason why he never spoke to any of the others about it. He couldn¡¯t quite explain the thought process that went into the decision to keep it to himself.
His friends were different though, he wasn¡¯t their liege, they didn¡¯t have to rely on him, he didn¡¯t need to be strong with them, and had no desire to act like it in front of them.
Talking to Theodore has helped me a lot with coping with my last two breakdowns so why not this time as well? I don¡¯t need to tell her everything either just get it off my chest, he told himself.
He turned to the two knights and said, ¡°Please give us some privacy.¡±
The knights bowed and took a couple of steps back, they were still in sight, but Michael was sure that they had toned down their mana use to not listen in anymore.
Michael turned back around and leaned on the railings next to Mira who was looking at him with interest.
¡°I had a strange dream. I was in a grand palace, I think. Trophies of my victories hanging on the walls as I passed by. Once I reached the balcony, I saw a huge city and an army of knights who were all cheering for me. It felt like a dream come true but just not my dream, you know?¡±
He sighed and his fingers grabbed the railings harder. ¡°I never wanted to rule. My life has been turned upside down again and again since that day. I don¡¯t want power, I don¡¯t want glory, I don¡¯t want any of this.¡±
¡°It must be hard for you,¡± Mira said with a low voice, ¡°Whatever you do you will always have those who will hate you for something they claim you are. Something you have no control over, and that you can¡¯t change¡± Michael looked at her with surprise, this was exactly what he had been struggling with for years already. He wondered if he was this easily read but Mira looked into the distance with an absent expression as if she was talking to herself.
She then refocused and looked at Michael, ¡°What do you think it means?¡±
Michael was still confused by her reaction but said, ¡°I don¡¯t know. At the end of the dream, I walked away from the scenery and returned to the house I shared with the others. They were waiting for me and had fun, this is where I belonged.¡± He smiled into himself and remembered the warm sight and the days of peace he had shared with them there before everything fell apart.
¡°Maybe that was the meaning. To show you your real path,¡± Mira suggested.
Michael wasn¡¯t sure what to make of this situation, but she wasn¡¯t wrong. The first part of the dream felt wrong, and the pull might have symbolized the pull that fame and power had on people, but the feeling didn¡¯t quite match. It felt more like someone pushing this fate on him than him discovering what he really wanted.
¡°It is hard when you have to second guess yourself at every point because someone decided for you to be evil because you had a long affinity awakening,¡± Michael said in a joking tone.
Mira chuckled a little, ¡°I can imagine but you are you and no one else and I trust you to not be evil.¡±
¡°That is very nice of you to say,¡± Michael laughed.
¡°Hey, I was trying to be nice here.¡±
¡°My apologies, I didn¡¯t mean to offend.¡± Mira scoffed at the overly polite tone, and they squabbled for a while longer but soon after Michael had to surrender to his exhaustion and call it a night.
The work was not done yet. He had completed one task but the next was already waiting for him.
Chapter 61.
Michael
Geron slammed down his hand on the table to get the attention of everyone. There were a good three dozen people present in the council chamber, nobles, veteran knights, high-ranking guardsmen, leaders of adventuring parties, and more.
All were gathered around the large table in the center of the room on which a large map of the Ereic Mountains was laid out. Michael watched from the sideline as every head turned to the young knight commander.
¡°I welcome you all to this strategy council. We have spent the last weeks preparing everything for this operation because it will determine not only the economic future of Reen but also its security,¡± he said with a tone that showed the urgency of his words.
¡°The Ereic Mountains may hold riches beyond comprehension, but they also hold a significantly higher mana concentration than the lower lands. We don¡¯t know why this is and it doesn¡¯t matter for us. Without any large settlements close by, it is a breeding ground for monsters and other enemies. This problem will only increase the longer we wait to clear it out, if we leave it be then we will have to deal with more than a couple of dire wolf packs in the future.¡±
Most of the present men were experienced warriors between the adventurers and professional soldiers of the house but Michael could see the uneasiness in the faces of some of the merchants and nobles who had a less warrior-like personality.
¡°The mountains can be split up into three distinct regions,¡± he began pointing at the map with a wooden stick. ¡°The lowest region is the mixed forest at the foot of the mountains. The mana levels there are similar to the rest of Reen, but it is filled with caves and similar holes. We can expect goblins that populate the region in tribes here. They are reproducing at an alarming rate and will be numerous. The monsters in this region will be low-level, zero to one skull with some two skull hunting parties.¡±
He pointed at the next higher level. ¡°This is the middle region. It is mostly covered by needle forest and is home to tribes of ogres, they are strong but not overly bright but a direct confrontation with them could prove costly. Dire wolf packs call the second region their home and have pushed most of the other monsters out, but we can also expect strong two skulls or even some three skulls there. Both the dire wolves and the ogres hunt the goblins for food, which is probably the only reason that we don¡¯t have too many problems with them in our lands.¡±
Michael looked at the map as Geron put a wolf and an ogre wooded miniature into the second region like he had done with a goblin marker in the first.
¡°Finally, is the upper region. Those are the mountain tops, and we know very little about them, but they are populated by mainly harpies and wyvern, and we will stay clear of it for now, we have neither the manpower nor the equipment to fight either the harpies or the wyverns.¡±
Geron then turned to the leader of the adventurer¡¯s guild Thore Xyran. ¡°We appreciate the information that the adventurers have provided.¡±
The man nodded and Geron continued.
¡°Our campaign will be split into three parts. First, we will move into the lower region and begin with a systematic eradication of the goblins there, the adventurers and knights will accomplish this. This will deprive the middle region of its food supply and cause them to get more reckless and with time they will start fighting each other for resources.¡± Geron pushed the markers of the knights and adventurers in.
¡°The second phase will be done at the same time as the first and it will entail the fortification of the lower region. After each area is cleared by the adventurers and knights the guardsmen will start building small forts to repel the dire wolf and ogre attacks and keep them from breaking out into the countryside. We will keep this phase up until the whole of the lower region is secured and sufficient fighting between the ogres and the monsters has happened.¡±
He put in small wooden forts and put in the guardsmen tokens while speaking.
¡°In the final phase, we will push into the middle region and start eradicating what remains of the monsters and ogres and build fortifications at our new border in the mountains so that no new monsters come flocking in from the neighboring counties and beastwoods.¡±
Geron pushed with all markers up into the middle region and knocked over the wolves and the ogres.
The audience began to quietly discuss this plan until Thore stepped forward. The smaller man still exuded an aura of confidence and authority, and everyone fell silent. ¡°It is a good plan. The monsters will fight the ogres if we pose enough of an obstacle. There shouldn¡¯t be anything in the middle region that can break a well-entrenched group of trained soldiers. The knights and adventurers will have to take the brunt of the fighting, but we have determined the reward to be sufficient and support this plan.¡±
Multiple more voices were raised in agreement.
Michael listened intently to the reactions of the audience, he had already been briefed on the plan beforehand and had given his approval.
After everyone had given their opinions on the basic plan, Geron spoke up again, ¡°This plan will rely on coordination and cooperation. The knights and guardsmen will serve as the disciplined trunk and the adventurers will have to act as a quick-moving reactionary force. Because of the bad visibility in the mountain forest, we will employ horn signals and messengers. A list with the signals is waiting for the leaders outside this room, make sure that your men and women know them, their lives could depend on it.¡±
The adventurers nodded and looked just as grim as the knights. Michael had already heard that many groups from all over the duchy had come for this mission, looking for fame and reward.
¡°Do we have enough men to do all this though,¡± Lord Ragar interjected, the young baron was looking much more confident since the attack on the castle, and he seemed to have taken a liking to staying in Reen.
Geron gave Michael a glance who nodded at him. ¡°Since the peace treaty lessens the need to patrol the border to the wolf clan, we have already ordered the knights and a portion of the guardsmen stationed there to return to Reen for the campaign.¡± Geron didn¡¯t show it, but he hadn¡¯t agreed with this decision and predictably many of the present did not either.
¡°That seems careless, Sir Geron,¡± Lord Uger said while crossing his arms in front of his chest. ¡°We don¡¯t know yet if the wolves will keep their word and to leave our border so undefended while also moving most of our troops into the southern mountains will invite raiding and even an invasion.¡±
Many nobles, guardsmen, and knights nodded in agreement, but Geron stayed stalwart. ¡°These are valid concerns Lord Uger, but Lord Rowan has determined that the wolf clan will not break their word anytime soon. The threat that is rising in the Ereic Mountains is of a more immediate danger to the people of Reen and Emall and we have to conduct this operation in a quick and decisive manner. If we become bogged down in fighting or must hunt and seek out monsters, goblins, or ogres in hiding then we will invite our enemies even more. If on the other hand, we clear out the mountains at a fast pace then we will appear strong and we will have our borders completely secured at an earlier time again.¡±
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The argument had swayed them to some extent, but they still seemed unsure about the plan, so Michael spoke up for the first time in this meeting.
¡°The chieftain has sworn to uphold the pact in front of their guardians, something like their gods. It would be as if we swear an oath in front of Idas. Would any of you break it merely a few weeks after making it?¡±
The doubters became uneasy, and Lord Uger objected, ¡°But they are beasts, who knows how they hold it with their faith.¡±
¡°They are as true to their guardians as you are to Idas, milord. I promise you that we are safe from that side for now. I can¡¯t speak for every wolf-kin but there won¡¯t be an organized attack any time soon and our remaining forces at the border won¡¯t have any problems repelling a small party that goes against their leader''s and deities wishes.¡± Michael held the lord¡¯s eye contact for a while until the man nodded and backed down. With him, most of the resistance fell even though they didn¡¯t like the idea they would not challenge it further.
It was a nice sight that his people were beginning to respect him and trust his words without anything more than that.
¡°Will you take part in this operation, Lord Rowan,¡± one of the knights asked.
¡°Of course I will. I am not gonna send my people into a monster-infested area and then stay back where it is safe. I want to stress though that Sir Geron is in charge of this operation,¡± Michael answered, and his subjects nodded pleased but some of the adventurers didn¡¯t look so convinced.
A female adventurer was the first to speak up, she was a tall woman, a little over two meters tall, and Michael guessed that she might have half-giant blood. ¡°Of course, I have heard the stories, like anyone in this land but wouldn¡¯t it be better if you stayed behind so that we can concentrate on our work and not have to take care of a child, ¡, with all due respect I mean.¡±
Michael¡¯s guard in particular seemed to be quite offended but this, but Michael answered before anyone else could. ¡°I promise to not slow you down, but this kind of experience is something I will not pass up on. Getting some combat experience and getting to test my hard light against actual enemies is worth the extra trouble.¡±
Michael could see the clear interest in the eyes of the audience when he mentioned his new magic.
¡°Very well, we will make sure that you will get this experience, right boys,¡± the woman said with a wide grin. Many of the other adventurers joined in with cheers and it took a while for the rambunctious adventurers to calm down.
The meeting continued with more detailed briefings of the different group compositions, supply chains, and staging areas.
With a yawn, Michael stretched his muscles while leaving the council chambers. The meeting had continued well into the afternoon, and they were just discussing rough strategy. The details of everyone¡¯s assignments would be discussed once they had made camp at the border of the mountains.
As he walked out, flanked by Lance and Eydis, he saw that Mira was waiting for him with her knight.
¡°Hey Mira,¡± he said and went over to her. ¡°Have you been waiting long?¡±
She sighed and answered, ¡°A while.¡±
¡°Is there something you wanted?¡±
¡°I was just wondering,¡± she paused for an awkward moment, ¡°Why wasn¡¯t I invited to this meeting?"
Michael frowned, ¡°It doesn¡¯t really have anything to do with you. Uhm, you would have been bored out of your mind.¡±
¡°Ah okay,¡± she replied but didn¡¯t seem to be happy with that answer as she turned away.
¡°Are you interested in military matters,¡± Michael asked and stepped into her line of sight with a cheeky grin.
¡°I ¡, I have read a lot about adventurers and their journeys and was interested in seeing some of them,¡± she tried to avoid his gaze and her face got red from embarrassment.
¡°Why didn¡¯t you say so I could have introduced you to the leader of the adventurer¡¯s guild,¡± Michael laughed which caused her to get even redder. Michael sensed that there was something else. ¡°There is something else on your mind, no?¡±
¡°I would like to learn how to fight,¡± she finally said quietly. Michael looked at her with surprise he hadn¡¯t expected this change of topic.
¡°You want to learn how to fight? Well, sure why not. I can show you a couple of things and I am sure your guard could also help you with that,¡± he glanced at the knight in silver armor and then added, ¡°I am sorry I seem to have forgotten your name sir if you were ever introduced to me.¡±
The knight was older, in his forties, and had a harsh face with sharp features. His hair had already started to gray, and his skin was weathered by the years of campaigns.
¡°I have not, Lord Rowan. My name is Sir Antreos Lampert,¡± the knight said in a well-spoken manner, it was the first time that Michael had heard the knight''s voice as far as he remembered.
¡°Well met, Sir Antreos. I would say that you would be a more suitable teacher for the princess than me.¡±
Mira looked at them both a little bit uncomfortably and the knight answered, ¡°The queen regent Susanne Merland doesn¡¯t want her daughter to learn swordsmanship.¡±
¡°Why,¡± Michael asked confused, ¡°It is always good to know how to defend yourself.¡±
¡°She says it isn¡¯t becoming for a lady of royal blood,¡± Mira replied sadly.
¡°What did Zen say to that?¡±
¡°Zen is busy all the time. Neither he nor Theodore have much time for me. I have been basically alone since your sisters ¡,¡± she stopped herself and looked at Michael with wide eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I shouldn¡¯t complain.¡±
Michael made a step toward her and grabbed her arm softly, ¡°Mira, I am so sorry. I didn¡¯t even think about how you might feel.¡± He scolded himself for forgetting that Mira had become good friends with his sisters over their time in the capital and that he wasn¡¯t the only one who had lost them over a month ago.
¡°Oh no, it is nothing. You don¡¯t have to think about it, our pain is not comparable in the slightest,¡± Mira quickly interjected and rushed closer to him grabbing his free arm.
¡°We have both lost them.¡± He then thought about what the knight had said and turned his head to him. ¡°Did you say that the queen didn¡¯t want Mira to learn swordsmanship? With those exact words?¡±
The knight nodded stoically. Michael grinned at Mira and said, ¡°How about we go against your mother¡¯s wishes, just for old time''s sake.¡±
The princess instantly glowed up but then hesitated, ¡°You would go against the strict order of my mother to not teach me how to fight. I don¡¯t want you to get into trouble.¡±
¡°I won¡¯t because I am not going to teach you sword fighting. I am going to teach you how to handle a stick. Technically I am not going to violate your mother¡¯s wishes and if she never finds out she can¡¯t change her order, right?¡±
¡°A stick,¡± Mira asked him with a confused voice, but he simply winked at her and said, ¡°Come on I know a good spot where we can have some privacy. He then turned to Lance, ¡°Lance, we are going to the house please get the rest of the guard and inform Sir Geron.¡±
An hour later Michael and Mira were standing in the backyard of the house with wooden staffs in hand. Mira had changed from her dress into one of Michael¡¯s training outfits and looked a little bit embarrassed and confused at the same time.
¡°Why should I learn to fight with a stick,¡± she asked curiously.
¡°You will generally not have a weapon if your mother doesn¡¯t want you to learn to fight so knowing how to use blunt improvised weapons that you can find nearly everywhere is a good idea.¡±
She frowned, ¡°But how is a staff gonna do me any good when fighting against a real weapon.¡±
Michael smiled and said, ¡°Alright, put it down and grab one of the wooden swords.¡±
She did and stood in front of him with an unsure expression. ¡°Attack me,¡± Michael ordered and waited.
Her expression only deepened as she stepped forward and poked at him with little force. He simply swept the sword to the side and repeated, ¡°Attack me but do it like you want to kill me and not whatever that was.¡±
She grabbed the sword with two hands this time and charged him. It didn¡¯t look half bad with her natural grace, but Michael kept the staff between them, slapping the sword to the side every time she tried something or pushing her back with quick attacks.
¡°Are you even trying,¡± he asked and laughed a little.
Michael could see the frustration on her face, but this was exactly what he wanted. She jumped at him and aimed for his head; her strike suddenly sped up.
¡°What ¡,¡± Michael blurted out and instinctively began burning some mana. He spun around his staff and redirected the strike away from him and then locked the staff under her leg and pulled it out from under her.
She landed on the ground rather ungracefully and Michael blinked at her confused. ¡°Did you just burn some mana at me?¡± Something about this situation puzzled him but he didn¡¯t quite know what.
She got back to her feet and dusted herself off. ¡°Sorry, I got a little frustrated.¡± She smiled at him apologetically and he returned it.
¡°You see what I mean with the staff? You can defend yourself well with it and keep people away.¡±
¡°But I have no clue what I am doing?¡±
¡°True but I also am not very skilled in staff fighting. Believe me, it is a good skill for you to have. I will also show you some things with shorter sticks, but you should probably focus on the staff.¡±
She nodded enthusiastically and picked up her staff that she had put to the side.
¡°Let¡¯s begin with the stance.¡±
Chapter 62.
Michael
¡°Faster,¡± Michael barked as he struck at Mira''s left. She jumped out of the way and said with a happy face, ¡°It is a little bit like dancing.¡±
¡°If you could kill someone by dancing at them, then you would be a prodigy,¡± Michael said.
The princess stabbed at his chest with her staff, and he smirked. ¡°But you can''t.¡± Michael then deflected her stab with one side of his staff and aimed for her throat with the other, stopping right before hitting her.
Mira didn''t look distraught though and smiled at him while holding out her arms in surrender. ¡°That was fun. I actually thought I had a chance there.¡±
¡°You have been training for three days,¡± Michael laughed, ¡°Don''t get ahead of yourself.¡±
¡°Maybe I am a once-in-a-generation talent,¡± she argued with a cheeky smile.
¡°Of course, you are,¡± he shook his head amused, and looked around.
Eydis was currently sparring with Lance, the rest of Michael''s guard and Sir Antreos Lampert were standing at the different entrances of the backyard.
Eydis was domineering the slightly older man with her aggressive attacks while he tried to fend her off and find an opening.
Michael watched for a moment before he put his staff back into the rack and said, ¡°This concludes our training. Geron should be here shortly to notify me of the completion of all preparations for our move south. Just keep up your training when you return to Lionsgate, and you should be fine.¡±
He wanted to enter the house to wash up a little bit after the exercise, but Mira yelled, ¡°Stop!¡±
Michael turned around surprised at her outburst and she looked similarly surprised while she struggled for words. ¡°Ehm, why do you think I am going back to Lionsgate already? I have traveled far to see you and waited here not to just leave again after a couple of days.¡±
Michael frowned and inspected his friend, he had a feeling that she was lying to him about something, his perception of people had improved a lot in the last half year, but he couldn''t put a finger on what she was doing right now.
¡°We will be gone for weeks clearing out our bridgeheads and it will take even longer to secure the entirety of the mountains that border Reen and Emall. It makes no sense for you to stay and wait until then. You could more reasonably return to Lionsgate and come back once we are done with how long this might take.¡±
Mira was grasping for straws while stammering and stuttering for a reply, something was seriously wrong. ¡°What if I accompany you? My guards would certainly be a valuable asset in your campaign.¡±
Michael''s frown deepened. ¡°What are you actually trying to accomplish here, Mira? Sure, your men would be a good addition, but you know as well as me that Zen and your mother would curse me if I brought you anywhere close to the Ereic Mountains.¡±
¡°Oh, I was just thinking that some combat experience would do me some good,¡± it was apparent that not even she believed a word she was saying but before Michael could press for more details, Sola exited the door behind me.
¡°Kiran has made some food so come in before it gets cold.¡± Mira looked strangely happy to be bailed out by the priestess and quickly walked past Michael.
¡°Come on, let''s get something to eat,¡± she said while giving him a smile over her shoulder.
¡°We just ate before the training,¡± Michael argued but still followed her. He noticed that Lance and Eydis had also stopped fighting but was too focused on Mira¡¯s strange behavior to think about it.
She ignored his arguing and walked away in a playful step. Michael followed her until they entered the common room and Michael was hit by a loud, ¡°HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!¡±
Michael blinked confused and looked into the faces of the people who had taken care of him for the last couple of years. They were all there, Solon, Geron, Kiran, and Sola were standing around the table and Eydis shoved him in from behind.
Mira jumped a little while ginning, took Michael¡¯s arm, and pulled him into the room to the table where a crooked cake was waiting for him.
¡°What is this about,¡± Michael asked confused.
¡°It¡¯s your birthday,¡± Sola said with a laugh.
¡°That is today?¡± Michael blinked again and counted the days in his head.
¡°I never met anyone that confused their own birthday as much as you do,¡± Kiran shook his head with amusement.
¡°I don¡¯t know it just feels wrong. As if it is not the day it is supposed to be.¡± It was true he had forgotten his birthday at least three times in the last four years but strangely he never forgot the day he had awakened from his coma. He privately thought of that day as a more fitting day to celebrate his life, but he had never shared that thought.
¡°Well, you have us to remember it,¡± Sola said while shaking her head with a smile. ¡°Come on and cut your cake.¡±
Michael looked at the cake, it was crooked to the extreme and looked like it had been made by someone who had never held any kind of cooking utensil in his life. He looked at Kiran with a raised eyebrow. The old mage loved cooking and baking and would normally gladly take over kitchen duty.
¡°I helped make it,¡± Mira said, looking a little embarrassed, ¡°I think I should have let Master Kiran do it.¡±
¡°Master Kiran?¡±
The old mage quickly intervened and said, ¡°Oh you made something eatable on your first try, I would say that is a success.¡±
Mira began to glow up again and her happiness quickly infected the rest. They split up the cake and it wasn¡¯t bad at all.
While eating Michael asked Geron, ¡°How are our preparations is everything ready?¡±
¡°Michael, can¡¯t that wait for tomorrow? Let¡¯s just celebrate,¡± Sola admonished him, but he shook his head.
¡°The nation will not grind to a halt just because today eleven years ago I was born. I appreciate the effort, but we will leave today.¡±
Sola frowned at him but nodded.
¡°Preparations are complete,¡± Geron started, ¡°Lord Telp is well on his way to Emall to oversee the mission there and the last unit we have been waiting for from the border has arrived. We are ready to join up with the rest of our forces down south.¡±
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¡°Good. We will get going after we are done here.¡±
Mira appeared in front of Michael and grabbed his hand, pulling him to his feet. ¡°Let¡¯s dance, Michael.¡± Her bright smile made it impossible for him to refuse and he found himself in a small open space with her while Solon was playing on a flute and Eydis was rhythmically slamming her flat hand on the table.
¡°Now you are in my world,¡± Mira said diabolically and spun around him. He had difficulties keeping up with her precise dance moves, she had learned a lot since the last time.
Geron and Sola joined them shortly after and Michael nearly forgot everything while dancing and having fun.
They danced for a while until Michael gave up with the ever-increasing difficulty and surrendered.
¡°I had enough,¡± he said while laughing, ¡°I am going to hurt myself if we continue.¡±
¡°Got you to give up after all. I was starting to have doubts.¡± The princess was breathing a little harder and looked quite beat herself.
¡°Yeah, you win.¡±
¡°Come on, it is time for presents then,¡± Sola said and quickly added, ¡°Yeah I know you don¡¯t want us to give you gifts but suck it up.¡±
Michael raised his hands and simply complied.
¡°This one is from us,¡± Sola said and pointed at Michael¡¯s retainers. She handed him a single bracer; it was like three metal rectangles that were angled to cover the top of his right arm. It had all their initials worked into it from the front to the back. The bracer appeared to have been forged by a competent smith but what drew his attention more were the symbols that had been carved into the edges.
¡°We had it made while you were away and Kiran and I worked on enchanting it,¡± Sola said with a huge grin.
¡°You mean I enchanted it, and you were standing behind me and complained,¡± Kiran corrected her with a raised eyebrow.
¡°I made sure you weren¡¯t overlooking anything and supplied mana to the effort.¡±
¡°You are barely any better than Michael at artificing.¡±
¡°Well, you aren¡¯t good at it either.¡±
¡°I never said that I was proficient.¡±
The two of them looked like they would throw spells at each other any moment when Michael stepped in with an amused expression.
¡°Alright, don¡¯t blow up the house.¡± They settled down and Michael could see a hint of amusement in both mage¡¯s eyes. ¡°First of all, thank you for this, I really appreciate it. And now what does it do?¡±
Kiran shrugged, ¡°Nothing much, it is just strengthened. But you can catch an enchanted blade swung by an augmenter with it, we even tried, that is where that nick on the side comes from.¡±
Michael turned the bracer and saw a small chink in the armor piece.
¡°Where did you find an enchanted sword? Wait, you didn¡¯t use my father¡¯s, right?¡± He looked at them, but they quickly shook their heads.
¡°We wouldn¡¯t dare touch it. No, we asked Sir Pyke for his,¡± Geron quickly explained. Enchanted swords were a rarity as all artifacts were in the kingdom. Most of them were either gifts from the church for some good deed or more often remnants of the old days.
Michael put the bracer on and inspected how the light reflected in the metal. ¡°Thank you very much.¡± He exchanged a couple of handshakes and hugs with his people while Mira waited patiently.
After they were done Mira spoke up, ¡°I also brought something for you.¡± She gave him a small rectangular package wrapped in simple cloth.
Michael inspected it and the interest of the rest of the attending was obvious. After opening the band that was holding it shut it was revealed to be a small book with a black cover. He opened it but the pages were blank.
¡°It is a diary,¡± Mira explained, ¡°So that you can write down your adventures and tell me about them later.¡±
¡°Thank you, that is very thoughtful of you,¡± Michael said and hugged her.
¡°You will have to tell me about this one in letters, okay?¡±
¡°That means you are going back to Lionsgate,¡± Michael asked, and she nodded.
¡°As you said it will be weeks if not months until you are back, and Mother will ask me to come back soon anyway.¡±
¡°I will make sure to give you every detail.¡± They shared a smile and the party continued for a while longer.
The mood got ever more somber the closer they came to noon and at one point they were all sitting around the table exchanging gazes.
¡°I think it is time,¡± Michael said, and the others nodded. He rose from his chair, and everyone followed suit.
¡°Solon, I will leave the administration in your hands while I am gone.¡±
¡°I will make sure to keep everything going and welcome the new inhabitants as soon as they get here,¡± the dwarf answered.
Michael nodded and turned to Mira, ¡°It was nice seeing you again. I hope we can repeat this some time soon but for now I wish you safe travels back.¡±
¡°I think I will stay here for a couple of days, Mister Solon wanted to show me some things. Stay safe down there and don¡¯t do something heroic,¡± she wrapped her arms around him, and he reciprocated.
¡°Heroics are not my cup of tea.¡±
Solon would be the only one that was staying behind in Reen and the horses were standing ready for them to leave. Michael had barely returned home and now he was going to his next adventure.
Lynx
A guard stepped through the hallway, unsuspecting of the being hanging on the ceiling.
Humans are such narrow-minded creatures, Lynx thought while watching him turn around a corner. He dropped down from the ceiling and wandered the halls of the estate, dipping in and out of the shadows every time he came across a guard or servant.
No, wonder that the light child¡¯s castle got infiltrated so easily if all human guards are as careless as this, he continued pondering while walking behind a guard a mere meter away. The guard turned around as if he had heard something, and Lynx mirrored his movement to stay at his back and then slipped into a room.
It was a rather large living room with a fireplace and a couple of armchairs in which three men had made themselves comfortable.
Lynx breathed out a little bit as the door fell into the lock behind him and let his mana flow. The sound of the clicking lock vanished and he was instantly on the move again, climbing up to the support beams.
He spotted a cat on his way up that was watching him from in front of the fireplace and tilted his head before continuing his climb.
There was a reason cats had been tamed by many mortal races over the millennia they had keen senses and were quick to spot more esoteric intruders, but the humans had forgotten their purpose and now kept them as useless pets or vermin hunters.
What a shame, it would make these infiltrations more exciting.
¡°What if he is successful and there actually are riches in the mountains,¡± the smallest of the men said with a nervous voice. ¡°Lord Rowan has declined every attempt of ours to offer support for his endeavor, he only allows Viscount Telp to lend his support. If he actually finds what he is looking for then he and the Viscount will profit while we go empty-handed.¡±
¡°It is quite troubling that the young lord seems to be quite adept in keeping us away,¡± the overweight man said and took a sip from his cup. ¡°If he expands his power we will suffer. He doesn¡¯t like us; he never has but how could we know that we had to deal with the brat one day.¡±
¡°He is still just a child,¡± the last man interjected, he had a calm demeanor and was taller than the others.
¡°I have heard that often before he does something extraordinary. He is just a child but destroyed Fredrick¡¯s operations when he was even younger, he might even still have the damn book. He is much smarter than you give him credit for.¡± The short man looked quite troubled and played with the cup in his hand.
¡°No need to worry, my friend. I believe that this is a fa?ade. I believe that his retainers are the ones pulling the string. Maybe a plot by the dwarves, everything changed since that Solon arrived here after all.¡±
¡°You really think so,¡± the fat man asked.
¡°Yes, I do. How would a normal child accomplish these things, that is ridiculous. Doing trade with the dwarves and trying to exploit mineral wealth is exactly what the dwarf would want.¡±
¡°So, what are we going to do about it,¡± the small man asked with an unsure expression.
The tall man smiled and looked at the liquid in his cup. ¡°For now, we won¡¯t do anything and just see what happens in this expedition. If it fails, we will be in a great position and can offer to bail out Lord Rowan for some concessions. With that, we can regain control like we had it the last decade.¡±
He smiled a dark smile. ¡°And if he succeeds then we might have to get rid of the ones pulling the strings and take the young lord into our care.¡±
¡°You want to kill them? They survived one attack already, what makes you think that we would have more success than the ones that wiped out most of the family?¡±
The tall man leaned forward in a conspiratory manner and said, ¡°Because we have more inside support and are not trying to kill the ruling family.¡±
Lynx cocked his head; he had been in many noble houses in the last couple of weeks and had heard many questionable if not outright criminal conversations but this one was definitely the one to take the proverbial cake.
He would love to just drop down there and end their treacherous plan before they could even think about enacting it, but he had strict orders to gather information and nothing more.
Good spies follow orders, after all.
The nobles continued with less treasonous subjects and Lynx wanted to leave but saw that the cat had moved to the beam he had climbed and looked up.
Lynx would smile if he could as he made himself comfortable.
What a shame.
Chapter 63.
Michael
Light moved in a swirling mass as Michael moved his hands slowly. With a hand-closing gesture, he tried to compress and stitch it together into hard light.
Impressed noises came from a couple of onlookers and Michael pulled an annoyed face. This distraction was enough to lose control of the spell and it imploded.
¡°You need to keep up your focus in the middle of battle, so don¡¯t let yourself be distracted by a couple of curious people who surely have something better to do,¡± Kiran said and raised his voice at the end to make sure that the adventurers that were watching heard him. Some looked embarrassed while others laughed.
¡°I know,¡± Michael replied frustrated, and breathed in deep. He was trying to learn to make hard light without a sigil to be able to call on it quickly but to use it in combat he would first have to be able to do it at all.
He was just about to start again when Sir Zeke Tomp spoke up, ¡°Lord Rowan, please do not forget the meeting in the command tent.¡± Michael dropped his hands and nodded at the knight.
He walked over to his little tent and washed up in a bowl of cold water before moving over to the close by command tent.
The camp was filled with men and women walking around, sharpening their weapons, and doing other preparations for the soon-starting campaign. Many greeted the young lord as he walked past them and into the command tent where he was awaited by the different unit leaders.
¡°Welcome Lord Rowan,¡± Geron said with a small bow and then turned to the rest. ¡°Now that we are all here, I will tell you the current situation.¡±
Michael stepped next to the table on which a large map of the mountains was placed. It had been expanded in the last days and he saw a bunch of new markers.
¡°Most scouting groups have returned by now and we have identified multiple large goblin tribes. We will hit them first and we will hit them hard. We have identified twelve major goblin nests in our sector, and they have been marked with numbers. The unit with the corresponding number will attack the goblins at that position and each one will be supported by a detachment of guardsmen to make sure they don¡¯t get away. If they manage to slip through our net, we will have a difficult time hunting them all down. We will move out from here a couple of hours before sunrise tomorrow and hit all of them simultaneously roughly two hours after sunrise.¡±
¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be smarter to attack them at night,¡± one of the guard sergeants asked.
¡°No, goblins are generally nocturnal so hitting them shortly after sunrise is attacking them while they are sleeping,¡± the same tall adventurer lady answered that had raised concerns about Michael¡¯s presence.
Michael inspected the markers while the others discussed the perfect time for a raid and quickly found the one that corresponded with his unit number ¡®one¡¯.
¡°I will leave it to the respective units how exactly you want to eradicate their target because you all have vastly different styles, but I will stress again that the cleaner we are at this stage the easier everything will be later.¡± Geron looked at each of the unit leaders until they nodded and then continued.
¡°The other camps will do the same,¡± and he pointed at one camp to the east and one camp to the west of their position. ¡°As well as Viscount Telp¡¯s men in Emall.¡±
The biggest problem would be the scale of the mountains, they simply had too few men to just push up in one continuing line so they would have to take them piecemeal. To prevent anyone from breaking through into the country every camp would have to assign mounted patrols to cover the space between them.
In the end, they would try to cut down the number of goblins as much as possible and rely on the monsters and ogres to finish off the rest in their search for food once the troops of Reen had thinned out and claimed their usual hunting grounds.
- Next day at dawn -
Michael was walking behind Eydis through the forest. They had left a couple of hours ago and were closing on their target. The sun had just risen and was bathing them in spotted light under the trees. It wouldn¡¯t stay like this for long though, the adventurers had predicted rain and Michael trusted their outdoor skills.
His unit consisted of the tall adventurer¡¯s party and Michael¡¯s guard and was probably one of the strongest units that was being deployed. That also meant that they were going after the biggest goblin camp though.
¡°First time on a hunt,¡± the adventurer lady asked, her name was Clara, and she did actually have some half-giant blood in her veins but only a little by her own admission.
¡°Have gone hunting before but never for monsters, only humans and animals,¡± Michael answered while concentrating on his step.
¡°Well, goblins aren¡¯t monsters, they are weaker but both more numerous and vicious.¡±
¡°Yeah, I know,¡± he paused for a moment and then looked at her. She was packed with muscles and had more scars on her limbs than he had ever seen but her face had been lucky to have none, it seemed. Her hair was black and shaved short on one side. Michael had never seen a woman like her.
She looked back and raised an eyebrow. ¡°What? Got something on my face?¡±
¡°I have never seen someone like you, that¡¯s all.¡±
She laughed quietly, not wanting to make too big of a ruckus. ¡°Well, strong women are a rarity in this shithole of a country.¡±
¡°That is not it. I have Eydis and she is the strongest person I know. There is something different about you.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t go falling in love with me or something like that. You are way too young for that,¡± she inspected him with an investigating gaze and then added, ¡°But I am sure you will be a cute little guy once you are a little bit older so come hit me up then and we will see.¡±
She winked at Michael, and he blinked confused when a wave of mana hit him. He looked over to Eydis who was giving the adventurer a deathly stare.
She noticed it as well and smirked at the barbarian girl, ¡°What you got a claim on him or what? You his plaything?¡±
Eydis stepped closer and looked like she would take a shot at her face.
¡°Whoa, whoa, stop,¡± Michael interjected.
¡°What you wanna fight? That would be interesting,¡± Clara said cracking her knuckles with a smile.
Eydis signed something and looked at Michael.
¡°Really?¡±
Clara looked at him as well and asked, ¡°What did she say?¡±
Eydis gave him a wave and he sighed, ¡°She said ¡®Fuck you¡¯.¡±
Michael took a step back, not wanting to get between them when they threw it down, but Clara simply smirked in a strange way and said in a tense tone, ¡°Is that an offer, darlin?¡± She looked up and down Eydis with a hungry gaze.
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Michael looked at Eydis and the young warrior was standing there with wide eyes and a reddening face.
¡°That¡¯s what I thought,¡± Clara said, tipping Eydis on the tip of her nose. She got even redder, turned around, and began walking again.
Clara laughed again and watched Eydis as she walked away.
¡°You have a strange sense of humor,¡± Michael said and shook his head.
¡°What? That wasn¡¯t a joke, she is pretty and if she is not yours then I might try my luck.¡±
¡°She belongs to no one.¡±
¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Clara chuckled a little and continued watching Eydis move through the underbrush with the grace of a predator.
They walked in an awkward silence until Michael couldn¡¯t take it anymore.
¡°You have experience with goblins, so tell me something about how they work.¡±
¡°Uh, they are small and aggressive,¡± she started but Michael interrupted her. ¡°I have seen them before, I nearly died because some of them freed a bunch of monsters in the capital once after a stone crusher evolved a second time. I mean more of like a tribe.¡±
¡°Right, sorry. Goblins are weird, a mage once explained it to me, but I forgot most of it. Most goblins are part of a tribe and that means more for them than it would do to a human. In a tribe, each generation knows what the previous generations have experienced simply by instinct, or something like that. It means that a goblin tribe gets stronger with each generation, and you can¡¯t just keep them down, you have to destroy the tribes completely from time to time or they will learn from their mistakes.¡±
¡°How does that even work? How could they know what the previous generations knew without being taught it,¡± Michael asked, and the adventurer scratched her head.
¡°I have no clue. The mage might have explained it, but I can¡¯t quite remember, it had something to do with their way of reproduction and mana. Goblins use a sort of gestation pool, and these things reek of mana.¡±
¡°They might imprint their knowledge on their newborn like an artificer,¡± Michael guessed lost in thought, he wished Kiran was with them, but the mage had bolstered another party.
¡°Yeah, I think it was something like that. Back to the point, they remember what was done to them, so if you defeated them through a frontal assault, the next time you try that you might run into ambushes. If you snuck in and murdered their leadership, they might start employing decoys. If you attacked them with the element of surprise, they might tame some kind of beast to alert them. You get the gist, the goblins might be stupid, but they are crafty. They will find a solution to every problem; it might be a dumbass solution, but they will find one. If they weren¡¯t so weak and stupid, they would be a huge problem.¡± She heaved herself over a large log and turned to help Michael, but he jumped over it with mana-infused nimbleness.
¡°They don¡¯t sound that dumb.¡±
¡°Well, goblins don¡¯t think like civilized races. They see prey and only think about eating them, they don¡¯t think about the repercussions of slaughtering a whole village and inciting a cleansing raid that will kill them all. They are smarter in achieving their goals than animals but nothing more, and their goals are always weapons or food.¡±
¡°Crafty but not smart, huh?¡±
¡°Yeah, and that is the easy part of the little fuckers, now we come to the weirder part that I understand even less. Normal goblins don¡¯t use mana in any way. Still, with a bigger clan, there will be special ones like warriors that can augment a little bit, shamans that can use magic, or chiefs that are a little bit smarter than other goblins and lead them. They don¡¯t seem to get these abilities somewhat random like with humans though because you never find them in small groups.¡±
Michael was intrigued by their way of reproduction which seemed all too alien from what he had learned.
¡°Is there a pattern to what kind of special goblins exist,¡± he asked while his head spun different theories about their workings.
Clara blew up her cheeks a little while pondering his question, she didn¡¯t seem to mind his inquisitive nature. ¡°Well, I never saw a shaman with a group below forty goblins, but warriors appear at around twenty or even lower when the tribe has been there for a while. Goblin chiefs are rare even at the large tribes but there are many more different kinds of special goblins.¡±
¡°What can we expect in our target?¡±
¡°It was something like hundred goblins in the scout report right,¡± she asked, and Michael nodded. ¡°Well, we will definitely have a shaman then, probably something like earth or water affinity with forest goblins. Might even have a chief for such a large gang, but probably a dozen warriors maybe some stalkers and trappers.¡±
Michael looked at her with a questioning look and she sighed, ¡°If you don¡¯t understand trapper then I really can¡¯t help you; stalkers are pretty self-explanatory as well, but they are sneaky little fuckers with bows, javelins, or slings that like to ambush. It really depends on what their tribe had to face till now what they have but warriors and a shaman are pretty much a certainty.¡±
Michael nodded and thought about what all this new information would mean for their upcoming task. They didn¡¯t talk much for the rest of the way wanting to keep the noise down.
The forest grew denser as their unit of knights, adventurers, and guardsmen approached their destination. After only another hour Eydis stopped and raised her hand to signal the others to do the same.
Michael crept up next to her making sure that his mana was locked away safely in case their shaman was any good at his job.
He squinted his eyes to see but it was just a sea of green with bushes and trees, the sound was something different though. He heard them snickering in the same way the goblins had the day that they released the monsters upon Michael and his friends in the capital.
My eyes really are bad without mana, Michael thought until he finally saw two green goblins with stone-tipped spears. One was yawning and the other one was chuckling while stabbing at something.
¡°It¡¯s the camp,¡± Eydis signed and pointed at a small child-sized hole in the bramble bushes.
¡°That is how they survived so long in this environment,¡± Clara whispered, ¡°They have a literal fort and the scouts told us nothing about it. Fucking coppers, they have no idea what is important.¡±
Michael looked at her and saw the silver plate dangling around her neck. Adventurers had a class system that put them in rough brackets of skill and payment.
Wood, copper, iron, silver, gold, platinum, kindled, and ardent in that order but in these times, there were very few that even exceeded silver and the rules on how to advance were as old as humanity itself.
¡°So, how are we doing this,¡± Michael asked.
¡°What? I am in charge here?¡± She actually looked surprised.
¡°You''re the most experienced here, I presume.¡±
She scoffed a little bit and cracked her neck. ¡°Did you just call me old? Never mind, don¡¯t answer that.¡± She was probably in her late twenties; Michael would never have thought about calling her old. ¡°It''s just a hundred goblins and we have five knights, a silver adventurer party, and two units of guardsmen, we should manage either way. You come up with a plan, will give you some experience in a way that is safe. Your goal is to make this fight as quick and safe as possible, and I will judge you for how you do and tell the tale to everyone who wants to listen, deal?¡±
She grinned at the young lord and made a gesture for him to go ahead. He looked at her for a moment, having a silver adventurer sing his praises in the guild would probably help his standing with them.
Michael turned back to the entrance and began thinking. A frontal assault through this little entrance would slow them down considerably if there were guards on the other side to hold them, traps would also be hard to avoid crawling through there for the adults. An augmenter could easily punch his way through the bramble but that would wake the entire camp, slow them down, and cause them to either be split up if they broke in at multiple entrances or have the same problem as with the frontal attack.
He turned back to his men and said quietly, ¡°Move back a little bit until you are well out of range. Eydis, you are with me, we are going scouting.¡±
Sir Tomp looked at him with a disapproving gaze and Michael added, ¡°I am safer if they don¡¯t catch us, and smaller numbers are better to scout. We are going to stay clear as much as possible and just take a look around.¡±
They split off the group while they pulled back and began circling the camp. It was surrounded by the brambles on all sides, they served as a natural barrier, creating a defensive perimeter for the camp. The entrance they had discovered earlier was just one of multiple more or less hidden paths through it, but most were even tighter than the first.
¡°I hear guards inside,¡± Eydis signed with closed eyes, concentrating on every noise.
Michael could feel the mana emanating from her. ¡°You are burning mana? What if the shaman feels it?¡±
She shrugged, ¡°I don¡¯t think it is strong enough to feel that from in there.¡±
Michael frowned but let her be, her senses were much better than his so she would at least notice if the goblins began to rally.
¡°You got an idea,¡± she asked him and looked over.
¡°The brambles are the biggest hurdle for us. We need to find a way to either get in before they rally and fight in the confined spaces or get them to come out.¡±
¡°How about, setting fire to one side and smoking them out,¡± Eydis suggested.
Michael thought about it, it would be risky to set a fire in such a wooded area and they didn¡¯t actually need such a tactic to win, so he shook his head, it was not worth the risk of causing a wildfire.
He looked around and then up. ¡°Wait here,¡± he said and started climbing a nearby tree. Mana began to slowly flow through his limbs, with Eydis burning mana there was little reason to impede himself.
It took him only a few moments to get up into the branches and look down into the goblin camp. He had a great view from up here and it was a chaotic mess, goblins were lying around everywhere, weapons, tools, and bones littered between them. He could see a couple of moving patrols, but it looked like most of them were asleep, mostly under makeshift canopies made out of leaves and sticks. In the back of the camp was a single tent, decorated with skulls and bones that probably housed either the leader or shaman of the tribe.
Michael tapped the scar on his nose while a plan began to form in his mind.
Chapter 64.
Michael
¡°Is everyone clear on the plan,¡± Michael asked while pulling his cloak closer. It had started raining a little while ago and it was trickling through the foliage. The rain would cover their attack a little bit but Michael could have done without it.
The adventurers and knights nodded, most of the guardsmen had fanned out around the camp already so there were only a few left with them.
¡°Are you sure, you don¡¯t need help,¡± Michael asked Clara as she rose from her spot with a huge grin.
¡°Just wait and see, little man.¡± The adventurer took a deep breath and braced her hands against a tall tree that Michael had chosen. The bark instantly began to crack as the woman with half-giant blood began to push.
The air around them began to reek of mana and Clara¡¯s skin began to crack. Michael stared at her skin with a confused expression until he noticed that it wasn¡¯t that her skin was cracking, it was more like dust and dirt covering it slowly.
¡°You have an earth affinity,¡± he whispered but she ignored him and kept pushing.
Her feet began to press down into the soft earth, with a turn of them the earth shot up and engulfed her feet giving her a strong stance. The wood groaned as the tree began to tilt slowly and the first roots started to emerge from the earth, Michael and his men tensed up, ready to strike.
With a last effort, Clara grabbed one of the larger roots that had broken the surface with one hand and pushed the tree over its tipping point. It fell, comically slow at first but picked up speed until it crashed down with a loud boom into the bramble bushes, building a bridge into the goblin camp.
Eydis was on the trunk before it had even fully collapsed and sprinted over it into the goblin camp, closely followed by the knights, then Michael, and at the end the adventurers.
Eydis was in the middle of the surprised goblins before they had even gotten up and turned a few of them into bloody mist in an instant. Screams began to echo from the startled green creatures, but they rallied rather quickly to their credit. Most of them were nearly naked with just some scraps of fur or what looked to be ragged cloth covering them and primitive weapons of stone and wood.
The knights were next to arrive, but they didn¡¯t care for the goblins and began moving toward the lone tent with Michael behind them.
Magic was flowing through the air when a light ball hovered above their heads and exploded, blinding the nocturnal creatures even more while the knight carved a bloody trail toward the tent.
Last were the adventurers and Clara, they immediately joined Eydis in her slaughter and began tearing the goblins limb from limb. Michael saw a goblin fly ten meters with a gruesome hole in its chest and got a short glance at the now completely grey-skinned Clara.
The goblins were no match for the attack and nearly half of them laid dead in a matter of seconds. That was when the reinforcements arrived from the tent.
First was a group of faster goblins, armored in wood and occasionally even pieces of metal armor that were probably looted from unlucky adventurers. They were armed with better weapons too, from daggers to metal tools, and even some proper swords. These were the warriors of the tribe, though still much weaker than a human augmenter they would at least stand a chance, no matter how slim.
Following them came a single old-looking goblin, he was adorned with a skull on his head and wielded a bone staff. The moment he emerged he said something incomprehensible and slammed his staff on the ground which caused the earth to shake in a cone in front of him.
The goblin warriors didn¡¯t seem to mind that much, but the attacking force lost their balance for a moment, not enough to put them in danger though.
¡°He is an earth mage,¡± Sir Tomp yelled for everyone to hear and swiped at one of the warriors who jumped back with a cackle.
Michael noticed three more figures slipping out of the tent and into the shadows thrown by the bramble bushes and yelled, ¡°Three stalkers in the shadows to the left.¡±
The arrows came flying the moment he had started talking though and Michael heard a pained groan from Sir Silas to his left. An arrow wouldn¡¯t stop an augmenter for long though and they couldn¡¯t stop, they had to finish this now.
Michael began constructing a sigil in his free left hand and a light javelin began to materialize. The shaman¡¯s eyes locked onto him, he was already casting his next spell as well and was faster than Michael with his phrase casting.
A head-sized boulder came flying at him with the speed of an arrow. Lance moved in front of it and braced his shield against the impact. The shield cracked and splintered but managed to hold the projectile.
Michael stepped to the side in a flowing motion and threw the hard light javelin at the shaman. He tried to raise a mount of dirt to protect himself, but the attack pierced right through the hastily constructed defense and impaled the small caster. The mount collapsed without the mana to supply it, the javelin would exist for a few moments more until it flickered out of existence once it ran out of energy and the lifeless body of the shaman fell to the ground.
¡°The shaman is down, focus on the special ones, rout the rest,¡± Michael yelled and took a look around the battlefield.
Though nimbler than normal goblins, the warriors were no match for the stronger enemies and multiple of them had already fallen. Just as Michael spotted Clara, an arrow bounced off her skin as if shot against a stone wall. She leaped over the battlefield, a good ten meters, and landed right in front of the offending goblin stalker. The creature tried to flee but its head turned into red mist only a moment later.
The goblins were losing heart now and began to split up and run for their lives. Many were slaughtered on the way to their paths through the bramble and the rest would find their end once they ran to the spears of the guardsmen positioned outside.
The whole fight had not even taken five minutes when the last goblin found his timely end and the guardsmen began filing into the clearing. Michael stood there looking at the shaman that he had killed and inspected the staff.
¡°Good stuff, little lord,¡± Clara said and slapped him on the back which nearly made him fall into the remains of the shaman. ¡°Oh, sorry.¡±
She was covered in crumbling dirt mixed with blood and her hammer was virtually dripping with it.
¡°You didn¡¯t tell me that you had an earth affinity,¡± he said after rebalancing himself.
She simply shrugged and began dusting herself off, ¡°You never asked. A leader should always make an effort to understand his teammate¡¯s abilities.¡±
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¡°Okay, I will remember for next time,¡± he answered and nodded.
¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to come up with something so creative. I would have expected a more straightforward approach from a noble or even for you to ask the goblins to come out and fight honorably.¡±
Michael scoffed and said, ¡°Do you think I am stupid?¡±
She shrugged again with a smile and turned to the shaman. ¡°That magic attack was quite neat, packs quite the punch.¡±
¡°Yeah, if thrown hard enough it goes through shields and armor, quite well.¡±
One of the adventurers came out of the tent and shouted over to them, ¡°We found their breeding pond.¡±
¡°Ah gonna have to burn that,¡± Clara said and started walking over with Michael on her heel. ¡°You sure you wanna see that? It is a little bit disturbing.¡±
¡°What do you mean,¡± Michael asked as they entered the tent. The adventurer showed them a hole in the tent that led into an especially thick patch of bramble.
¡°Well, you know, we are burning their, ehm, offspring.¡±
Michael blinked as they reached a small chamber, he nearly had to puke from the rancid air but pulled himself together to see a green putrid-looking pool in the ground. Three dead goblins were lying in the dirt in front of it.
¡°I will be fine,¡± Michael said more to himself than the others and stepped closer, taking a look into the pool. Inside was a thick green liquid that emanated a large amount of mana, one of the adventurers was currently filling some vials with the fluid.
¡°What are you doing,¡± Michael asked him with a confused expression.
The man looked up and explained, ¡°It is mana rich, and you can get good money for this shit if you know who to sell it to.¡±
Michael frowned but nodded, it was not his place to tell them how to make money and they would destroy it anyway so there was little harm in them taking a little bit. He could imagine that it would be helpful in alchemy or rituals, but Michael was glad that he didn¡¯t have to work with something so disgusting yet.
He then looked at Clara and said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem too bad, let''s just burn it and be done with it.¡±
She looked at him surprised and he turned his head back. That was when he saw the little goblins floating in the pool. They weren¡¯t conscious and still very small.
Michael¡¯s eyes widened, he took a step back and vomited into a corner.
¡°There we go,¡± Clara said and gently patted his back. ¡°Get it all out.¡±
¡°Dammit,¡± Michael said while panting.
¡°It¡¯s alright, let¡¯s get out of here.¡± Clara guided Michael outside, once there he sat down and breathed slowly while Clara left him with his knights and went back in to finish the job.
¡°Are you alright, milord,¡± Sir Silas asked and knelt down next to him. He had a clean bandage around his left upper arm where the arrow had hit him.
¡°We are waltzing in here into their home, killing their people and murdering their children for riches,¡± Michael mumbled.
The veteran knight nodded understandingly and said, ¡°It is the first time that you are on the offensive, right? This is the burden of conquest, these goblins had to die either way to secure our borders, but I understand how you feel.¡±
¡°Ah, it is just some idle thoughts,¡± Michael quickly said trying to play it off but with little success. ¡°I am just wondering if we couldn¡¯t have chased them away or reasoned with them like with the vargr-sl?kt. I am not used to this kind of violence that is all,¡± he tried to smile but what came out was a warped expression.
¡°You can¡¯t compare this to the animal kin. Goblins have no sense of diplomacy, they are animals in humanoid form,¡± he halted for a moment and then resolved himself to continue talking, ¡°You haven''t seen what goblins can do to a caravan or a village, if you had you would think differently. Not all the bones around here are from animals or monsters, after all.¡±
Michael looked around, his thoughts were still clinging to the goblins floating in the pond and the fire that would engulf them.
¡°Do you want us to pull back from the mountains,¡± Silas asked with a neutral tone and Michael could hear the uncomfortable shuffle of the rest of his guard.
Michael shook his head with a dry smirk, throwing water from the rain everywhere like a dog, ¡°Of course not. I am just having difficulty with the reality of my choices. The goblins are in the way of prosperity for my people, and I won¡¯t let them stop me.¡±
Rain continued to fall as Michael watched the blood being washed away. The guardsmen had started to pile up the corpses and clean out the camp. This would make a good forward base, with its natural defensiveness once it was strengthened by fortifications.
Clara emerged from the tent a few minutes later. ¡°The rain is quite nice. The gestation pools burn like hell, and I am not sure if he could have safely burned it without the rain.¡± She looked at Michael for a moment and then asked, ¡°You good?¡±
¡°Yeah, I am fine.¡±
¡°Alright, you know that it needed to be done.¡±
He nodded, ¡°Doesn¡¯t mean that I have to like it.¡±
The knights and adventurers made ready to leave the clearing behind and return to camp, while the guardsmen would stay and start preparations to make this a forward outpost.
The way back to the camp was much more tedious now with the rain making everything muddy and cold but they pulled through without any real problems. The rain stopped after half the journey and the mood improved substantially.
Clara and Michael went straight to the command tent while their men returned to their tents to wash up and get a warm meal. Not even Eydis was allowed to stay at Michael¡¯s side on his orders. The barbarian girl looked gruesome, even though the rain had washed a lot of the blood away already and really needed a break.
¡°You are back,¡± Geron said as they entered. The tent was rather empty with only Geron and two other men inside, tending to the map and a couple of reports.
¡°We cleared out the camp without any complications. I think we got all of them if there weren¡¯t any patrols out that we missed,¡± Michael reported and stepped toward the map.
Multiple of the markers that had shown goblin tribes had been marked as destroyed and one of the men did the same with Michael¡¯s target. There were also a whole lot of new markers distributed all over the map.
¡°The position is very defendable, and we left the guardsmen behind to start fortifying it,¡± Clara added.
The knight commander nodded and said, ¡°Alright. Clara, you and your unit will take a supply unit in once you have rested a little bit and use that position as your forward base for your hunt. Lord Rowan, your unit will be on standby for now, if something comes up.¡±
They placed a small ¡®fort¡¯ marker on where the tribe had been and one of the men scribbled something on a piece of paper before handing it to Clara.
The tall woman turned to Michael, ¡°You have done well, little lord. I will sing your praises and hope that we see each other again. Stay safe.¡± She turned around with these words and left the tent without waiting for a reply.
¡°Strange woman,¡± Geron noted and turned back to the table.
¡°You have nothing for my unit to do right now,¡± Michael asked the knight after she had left.
¡°You should rest for now,¡± he answered in a dodgy manner.
¡°Geron, don¡¯t give me special treatment. Spit it out, what can we do?¡± He stared at him until he relented.
¡°Fine, I sent out a group of lower-level adventurers, woods and coppers, to clear out a nearby cave but they haven¡¯t reported back. I sent a scout to check half an hour ago but don¡¯t have a unit right now that I can afford to take a look.¡±
¡°We are gonna take care of it after a quick meal,¡± Michael said and looked at the map. Geron pointed at a small marker maybe two hours southwest from their position.
¡°Our reports say that a small tribe of goblins is holed up there, but the adventurers should have been enough to clear them out. So, your assignment will be to go there, find the party, and finish off the goblins if there are any remaining. Take a sketch of the map, the scout should be able to lead you there if you find him.¡± One of the men made a quick drawing of the way and handed it to Michael after a short wait.
¡°Okay,¡± Michael said and continued inspecting the map. ¡°How is everything going?¡±
¡°We haven¡¯t met any kind of real resistance yet, so far all of the bigger strikes have been a success those that have reported back already at least, and we don¡¯t have any missing bigger parties. Once we establish forward camps, we will be able to conduct our work more easily.¡±
¡°Alright, keep up the good work.¡± They exchanged nods, Michael left the tent after and made his way to his tent where his guards were also situated.
They were currently getting comfortable and preparing a meal. Sola had joined them and inspected Silas¡¯s wound.
¡°Hey, Sola. How are you doing?¡±
¡°Oh, Michael, there you are. Fine for now. We only had smaller injuries, those units with dead or heavier injuries will take longer to come back, I presume.¡± The priestess looked happy to see him unharmed and he sat down on a stool next to her.
¡°Did we get new orders, milord,¡± Sir Tomp asked while cleaning his sword.
¡°Yes, we are going to look for a missing group of low-level adventurers. They were supposed to clear out a tribe of cave goblins but are overdue.¡± Michael handed the sketch map to Sir Tomp, gratefully took a piece of dried meat from Lance, and began to chow on it. ¡°But we are gonna rest for a moment first and get some food but make it fast.¡±
¡°Since when are you so sensible,¡± Sola joked and finished up the bandage on Silas¡¯s arm.
Michael simply smiled at that. They talked a bit more until everyone had eaten and then they ventured forth again, this time in a much smaller group.
Chapter 65.
Michael
They were back out in the forest only a while later. Eydis was the vanguard as always; Zeke, Lance, and Erhen forming a protective triangle around Michael and Silas in the rear.
The rain started and stopped multiple times while they trudged through the mud. Michael wished he could return to his study and sit in front of the fire with a book, but he didn¡¯t voice this weakness.
¡°If we don¡¯t run into the scout, we will have a hard time finding it with this map,¡± Sir Zeke said. ¡°Will be hard to track them too in the rain.¡±
It was true the map showed three landmarks and a rough direction and nothing more, Michael would be impressed if they actually found the cave.
¡°How high is the probability that the adventurers simply got lost,¡± he asked and shook the water from his face.
¡°Might be. Would be a huge waste for us to go looking then but at least we won¡¯t run into an ambush then,¡± Erhen said with a miserable expression.
Michael smirked at the young knight''s attitude but concentrated on the path.
A whistling noise grabbed their attention and they stopped. A man came jogging out of the forest a few moments later.
He stopped in front of them and bowed before talking, ¡°Good to see you, milord. I didn¡¯t know you were in the area.¡±
Michael nodded, ¡°You must be the scout that Sir Geron has sent out to find the adventurers. We have come to investigate. Did you find them?¡±
¡°I found their target and traces of them going in but none coming out. I didn¡¯t dare to enter the cave alone.¡± The scout looked a little bit concerned about his failure, but Michael paid it no mind.
¡°Lead us there, if they are still alive then we will find them.¡±
The way to the cave wasn¡¯t far from the spot where the scout had found them. They questioned the man about everything he found on his way, but he didn¡¯t have much useful information.
It was quickly apparent that they would have missed their target if the scout hadn¡¯t found them but only half an hour later, they were kneeling on a little ridge looking down to the cave.
To call it a cave was an overstatement in Michael¡¯s opinion, it was more like a hole in the ground. The ground around it looked disturbed, as if many people had gone in and out.
¡°This is definitely the place,¡± Michael said and turned to the scout. ¡°Go back to the camp and report to Sir Geron that we have found it and are going in.¡±
¡°Yes, milord. Good luck.¡± He turned around and hurried back in the direction they came from.
The young lord turned back to the little open space in front of the cave and asked the group, ¡°What do you think?¡±
¡°I can''t make out any sentries,¡± Lance said.
¡°Me neither,¡± Erhen confirmed.
Michael nodded and got up from his crouching position, ¡°Then let''s go down and take a closer look.
They descended down the ridge toward the cave entrance keeping up their vigil and prepared for whatever had stopped the adventurers from coming back.
Nothing happened as they carefully approached the entrance and Michael relaxed a little bit.
Eydis went down on one knee once they had made sure that they wouldn''t be ambushed and started examining the ground.
¡°There is no evidence that this group of goblins is bigger than we thought, maybe a dozen from what I can see,¡± she signed with purposeful slowness. The knights had proven zealous in learning sign language, but it still had only been a little over a month.
¡°There are human prints here that match the number of adventurers, they entered the cave and I see no signs of a fight here.¡±
¡°I can''t imagine that a dozen goblins could take down a group of adventurers in an open space even if they were only woods and coppers,¡± Sir Zeke said with a thoughtful expression. ¡°They probably ambushed them inside of the cave or they are hiding their true numbers.¡±
Michael nodded, ¡°Then let''s move in carefully, no one is helped if we get ourselves into an ambush.¡±
They got back into formation and began descending through the hole into the cave. Michael conjured two balls of light while they were still in the light of day, which provided ample light.
Eydis ordered Erhen to light a torch nonetheless to give Michael more light to work with in case of a fight or provide illumination if Michael had to weaponize his light orbs.
The tunnel they entered was tight, two people could probably press through next to each other but they just stuck to a single file line to allow everyone some kind of freedom of movement.
The walls were bleak rock and Michael wondered how this tunnel had come to be, it didn''t look artificial, but he couldn''t discern any reason for it to be here, no stream or any limestone that were normal reasons.
They moved on through the tunnel and it didn''t take them long to find the first goblins just behind a turn. Two corpses of the little grayish cousins of the forest goblins they had fought earlier laid in puddles of their own blood.
Eydis signaled them to halt the moment she spotted them and carefully went ahead to investigate. She stepped closer with her eyes jumping from one shadow to the other shadow, expecting an attack at every moment.
She reached the goblins and inspected them for a moment before waving the rest of the group closer.
¡°Everything seemed to go well for the adventurers for now, they didn''t look to have put up much of a fight and I can''t find any sign for any goblin to have escaped. It is just so weird for them to have sentries at such a strange spot. Why not move them back a couple of meters so they can''t be surprised by someone charging around the corner.¡±
Michael could hear Silas shuffle behind him uncomfortably and looked at the man. ¡°What is wrong?¡±
¡°It is nothing, milord,¡± he answered but after a raised eyebrow and strict gaze from Michael he continued, ¡°Is it only me or is it getting warm down here?¡±
He was right, Michael realized with a frown, it had gotten just a little warmer since they descended down into the hole.
¡°It shouldn''t get warmer this close to the surface,¡± he said with a worried voice.
¡°Fire Mage,¡± Lance suggested but Sir Zeke shook his head, ¡°Their tribe should be way too small to have a shaman.¡±
¡°We are gonna keep it in mind. Let''s go on we should be close to the camp,¡± Michael decided, and they moved on, but a certain tension was apparent in everyone.
Their journey was eventless until they reached a cavern that reeked of blood and burned flesh.
It was a strange scene; the goblin camp was in shambles, their makeshift tents were trampled, blood was spilled everywhere and much of the cavern had scorch marks but there were no bodies anywhere.
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¡°What the hells happened here,¡± Erhen blurted out while other knights instantly fell into combat positions.
¡°Fan out, look for any sign of the adventurers,¡± Michael ordered with a frown.
Sir Zeke stayed next to Michael while the rest began to slowly traverse the remains of the goblin camp. ¡°Milord, was there any mention that one of the adventurers is a fire mage?¡±
Michael frowned and scolded himself internally that he had neither asked nor thought about it himself, so he shook his head. ¡°Not to my knowledge but as Clara has shown even if one was, we can''t be sure that he or she would have shared that information with us.¡±
They stepped through the remains together and Michael noticed that at more than one spot even the stone floor seemed to have been charred.
The others returned to them a few minutes later after having completed their searches.
¡°Have you found anyone?¡±
They shook their heads, all but Silas who said, ¡°I found one goblin completely buried under some rubble but no sign of the adventurers.¡±
¡°Did you find the gestation pool,¡± Michael asked again, Lance and Erhen exchanged an uncomfortable glance before the older knight spoke. ¡°We found it, we think, but it is empty.¡±
¡°Empty? What do you mean,¡± Sir Zeke interjected and looked at the two young knights.
They signaled the others to follow them and turned around toward one of the walls. They led them to a small opening in the wall and pointed at it. ¡°It is safe, we checked.¡±
Michael stepped forward and looked at the hole. It was small, the knights would have difficulty squeezing in there but that was not what caught Michael''s attention. The rock surrounding the entrance was melted and covered in claw marks, that looked to be at least from the size of a bear.
¡°What do you think did this,¡± Erhen asked with a concerned voice and let his fingers wander over the deep gashes.
¡°Some kind of monster or magical creature with a fire affinity, no doubt,¡± Silas answered with a solemn tone. ¡°I think we can consider the adventurers dead if they met something that can do this.¡±
Michael ignored the comment and peered into the hole, inside was a similar scene with the smoldered stone and claw marks. It looked like something too big for the hole had pushed its head in forcefully. That was probably true with the remains of the gestation pool completely empty.
¡°I would guess a monster. With the mana inside of the gestation pool, every monster would relish in it,¡± he said and took a step back. ¡°Shouldn''t be anything too dangerous this far down the mountain, so the adventurers might be still alive.¡±
Sir Zeke frowned, ¡°It ripped through the entire camp and melted stone, I am not sure if low-level adventurers can square up against that.¡±
¡°We are going to look anyway. At least to kill that monster if we can''t find it,¡± Michael retorted in a commanding voice and the knights nodded.
Eydis whistled a little and then signed, ¡°It came in through a collapsed pathway. It might have opened up when the goblins and adventurers fought.¡±
¡°Go on then,¡± Michael said, his mood had worsened considerably, and even though he wanted to hope that they could still find them, the words of the knights made sense.
They followed her to a collapsed part of the wall, this cavern seemed to have been the end of the cave once but with this new entrance it stretched further underground, and Michael could feel some potent mana coming up through it.
As he stepped through the rubble of the breakthrough in the wall, he looked at the debris and said, ¡°No, something came through from the other side. The rubble got flung into the cavern.¡± He went down on one knee and inspected the tracks of multiple somethings being pulled toward the opening.
¡°The adventurers must have lost and been pulled into the lair of the monster. Too many bodies to devour them all right away,¡± Silas commented with a hard expression.
Michael rose and looked at the others, ¡°They might be still alive. Dead bodies start losing mana quickly so a monster would like to capture them if it can''t eat them right away, right? Maybe some of them were even still fighting and chased the monster down there.¡±
The knights looked at each other with a doubtful expression but Michael remained adamant. ¡°We have to hurry; we might be able to still save some of them.¡±
He wanted to walk through the new entrance, but Eydis held him back. ¡°If we are doing this then we are gonna do it right,¡± she signed and then entered first.
The mana in the tunnels got denser and denser to the same degree as it got warmer and soon, they were all soaked in sweat.
¡°What the hells, is this place? Some kind of furnace,¡± Silas complained, ¡°Do we even know where we are going?¡±
¡°How wouldn''t we? We are just walking down a tunnel,¡± Lance retorted while shaking his head but similarly soaked in sweat.
Eydis raised a fist, signaling them to stop, and narrowed her eyes trying to see better. Michael looked past her, but he only saw some vague light in the distance, Eydis had way better senses than everyone else here.
¡°What is it,¡± he asked.
¡°There are plants up ahead,¡± she signed back with a confused gaze, ¡°Glowing plants.¡±
¡°Do you mean like moss,¡± Michael whispered back with a frown.
¡°No, real big plans and they are glowing in the dark.¡±
¡°Glowing plants growing underground,¡± Erhen asked confused.
¡°Let''s take a look,¡± Michael''s curiosity was piqued, and he softly pushed Eydis to go ahead.
They moved slower now until they emerged from the tunnel into a large cavern, the roof was around five to ten meters above them, but they couldn''t see the walls because of the plant life.
There was mostly shrubbery, but they grew nearly as tall as a man most of the time, and some kinds of trees stood here and there. Their leaves were different shades of red and yellow and their sticks were black like charred wood.
Michael wasn''t the only one who was awestruck by the alien landscape, but he was the first to react. He walked forward past the rest and reached for one of the leaves. It was strangely warm, and Michael could feel the warm flow of mana inside.
He could hear his guards talking behind him, but he was too enthralled by the new discovery. Michael let his hand slide over the leave and then broke it off to take with him. The moment he did some of the plant fluid splashed on his hand and burned like boiling water.
¡°GOD DAMMIT,¡± he cursed and shook his head wildly.
Eydis rushed over to him, wiped his hand, and smacked him against the head once she saw that his hand was fine. ¡°What is wrong with you?¡±
¡°Sorry, curiosity got the better of me.¡±
¡°We are not in your study or Reen anymore. This is the big world, and everything here wants to fucking eat you and then spit you out. So don''t be an idiot, I don''t want to die trying to protect you just because you ran into danger for no reason.¡± She looked upset and Michael nodded apologetically after which her expression softened, and she rubbed his shoulder before turning back to their surroundings.
¡°Anyone know what this is,¡± Michael asked and looked at his guards.
¡°Some kind of mana refuge, I guess. Probably fire affinity from the scorching feeling,¡± Silas said.
Mana refuges were places that had an unusually high mana concentration because of either magical ore, water, trees, or something else that attracted and stored the mana. They were the reason that magical races didn''t go extinct and were rarely uninhabited from what Michael had learned.
A cracking sound followed by a roar surprised them from the right side which was followed by another from the other side.
Sir Zeke looked around, his eyes widening, as he said, ¡°Oh no, this isn''t a mana refuge, this is a damned Dungeon.¡±
More yells joined in on the first as everyone started moving together in a defensive formation.
¡°What is a dungeon,¡± Erhen asked, his head turning from one sound to the next.
¡°How do you not know that,¡± Silas growled with his shield raised.
¡°Calm down everyone, remember your training,¡± Zeke said in a calm voice. ¡°A dungeon is a place with a high mana concentration that becomes a breeding ground for monsters. They are more numerous here and evolve faster with the high mana and ample prey. So, we are going to back off slowly before we attract any attention and seal it as it should be.¡±
¡°What about the adventurers,¡± Michael argued and turned to the interim leader of his guard.
¡°They are all dead. There is no way that they are alive down here. Dungeons are very dangerous. This one is only the second one I have ever seen, and we don''t know how long this has been here and on what level it is.¡±
Michael wanted to retort something but just before he did his reasonable mind kicked in. Zeke was right, Michael had of course learned about dungeons, but of course, he had never seen one, due to the fact that there have been like two in the last fifty years in the kingdom and that was deep underground, but he knew that they could be dangerous enough to threaten even his father if they grew enough.
¡°Alright, let''s head back, block the entrance, and inform Geron,¡± he said with an unhappy expression and turned around only to notice two orange glowing eyes, red shiny scales, and a row of scorched teeth.
¡°Shhhhi...,¡± was the only thing he could get out before a torrent of fire erupted like a beam from the maw and barreled in their direction. He jumped back but his guard was way faster, Eydis grabbed him and pulled him to the side, Lance and Erhen were between Michael and the fire in an instant, their shields raised, and two mana blades surged toward the monster from Silas and Zeke.
They connected cleanly but only managed to wound the beast which let out an ear-shattering scream.
¡°We need to get out of here before the whole fucking dungeon hears the dinner bells,¡± Silas yelled and turned toward the entrance a couple of meters away from them.
The others also began running with Eydis picking Michael up to keep pace. Michael started constructing a sigil the moment he realized what happened. They didn''t get more than two steps when another pony-sized lizard came scurrying down the wall above the tunnel entrance and breathed in for another flame breath.
Michael quickly raised his hand with the magic sigil. The light flickered into existence just a moment before the lizard could breathe out and materialized into a light javelin. Michael threw it at the monster, cut through the first swath of fire, and nailed its lower jaw to the wall beneath.
The monster tried to rip free, but it lost its bearings and slipped off the wall. The javelin was still stuck in the wall though and the weight of the lizard combined with the velocity of the fall made it into a strong lever.
The first thing to fall was the lizard, followed by a large chunk of rock that had been broken off by the javelin and lastly, the whole roof of the tunnel came crashing down, completely blocking the tunnel they had entered through just a few minutes earlier and crushing the fire-breathing lizard.
¡°Defensive positions,¡± was the last thing Sir Zeke could yell before more monsters broke through the boiling foliage.
Chapter 66.
Michael
Two of the fire lizards circled them with hungry looks in their eyes, the humans had nowhere to go now that the tunnel had collapsed.
Just as Eydis turned around with Michael under her arm, a group of small bronze-furred creatures appeared in a nearby treetop. They looked vaguely humanoid but were smaller than even Michael and hunched, they also had a tail with a small fire burning at the end. The word monkey came to mind out of nowhere.
Some of them pointed at Michael¡¯s group with their hands and began to raise a hellish ruckus with their screams and jumping.
Michael slapped his hands together and began constructing a large sigil as more monsters appeared every moment.
Next was a triplet of serpentine creature with nearly glowing scales, that was as large as the lizards. The air around them seemed to vibrate with heat and toxin dropped off its fangs, sizzling wherever they landed.
More howls and growls came from the forest, promising more beasts to arrive shortly.
¡°Let me go and fight,¡± Michael ordered; Eydis dropped him after a short delay and charged forward to join the others.
The fight quickly got chaotic with the small humanoid creatures throwing small balls of cinder from the treetops, the lizards shooting torrents of fire from afar, and the serpents extruding heat that made it hard to close in.
Erhen and Lance were on defense duty and blocked as many of the attacks with their shields, but the wood was already starting to give under the heat and wouldn¡¯t hold back the attacks for long. This was a bad matchup for the knights.
While Eydis was jumping around the serpent group to avoid their fangs and figure out how to close in against the heat, Silas and Zeke were trading potshots with the lizards.
Michael concentrated on his sigil as it grew and grew.
One of the serpents was the first to fall when Eydis jumped forward and sunk her axe into its head with a blurry motion. She instantly jumped back but Michael could hear a pained noise coming from her. Her axe was starting to glow while the serpent''s blood sizzled on the metal, so she threw the axe at another one of the snakes where it stuck in the glowing body.
Another three salamanders emerged.
Silas ducked under a flame breath of the salamander that had already been hurt in the first attack and flung a mana blade right under its jaw. The creature fell into a puddle of steaming blood and convulsed while it died.
The fight was starting to go their way, the little cinder-throwing creatures weren¡¯t of much danger their attacks having little effect on the augmenters.
But more monsters began to file out of the forest, a couple of smaller frog-like creatures, a hedgehog the size of a dog with fire covering his back, and lastly a huge at least three-meters-tall humanoid creature with the same fur as the little cinder-throwers but much bigger and with mounting muscles.
The humanoid charged at Eydis with thunderous steps, pushing the serpents to the side, it was so huge it used its hands to support its steps. The woman began jumping back to get some distance between herself and the raging monster.
¡°There are more coming,¡± someone yelled but Michael was concentrating on his spell. Pressure was building up inside of him when he released it with a scream. Mana shot out of his hands in waves as a large barrier of light began to form around Michael and his guard, separating them from evermore emerging monsters.
Waves of pain began to shoot through Michael¡¯s arms and down to his hands while he pushed more and more mana out, red liquid emerged in drops from his skin and after a few moments covered both his hands, but he kept pushing.
The barrier closed right in front of the monsters, and they began banging their heads and claws against it to get through, but Michael kept on pouring in more and more mana.
The huge humanoid reached the barrier and crushed its fist into it with a howl. The moment the first connected an explosion shook the forest and a small part of the barrier began to crumble.
Michael staggered back a little bit from the impact but managed to keep control of his mana.
The gap was too small for the monster, so it plucked its meaty fingers through it, braced its feet against the barrier, and began pulling with an infernal scream.
The word ''gorilla'' appeared in Michael''s mind even though he wasn''t quite sure how he came to that.
¡°Hold it back,¡± Zeke yelled and flung a mana blade at the gorilla, it managed to inflict a gaping wound on its chest, but the size of the monster made the cut look small.
The beast let go of the barrier nonetheless and stared at them with its beady eyes.
Blackness closed in on Michael''s vision while he strained to keep the barrier up, but he still noticed that some monsters had started consuming the monsters that they had already killed.
He wasn''t the only one to notice, the gorilla monster swung its head around and screamed at the fire lizard that was currently ripping pieces out of its kin. With a strong leap, it traversed the distance and hit the lizard so hard that the following explosion tore its head off clean.
Other monsters tried to move in on the carcass, but the gorilla pounded its chest. Michael and his guard watched as the monsters stopped pounding on the barrier and eyed the power struggle.
Everyone seemed to grind to a halt for a moment when a single cinder bolt hit the gorilla in the back of the head. The monster instantly turned around and charged the nearest monster in a frenzy. Chaos instantly ensued and the mana beasts began tearing each other apart.
Michael looked up into the trees and saw a couple of the small monkey creatures snickering.
¡°Let''s get out of here,¡± Silas yelled and pointed to the right-side wall. The knights and Eydis moved immediately but Michael didn''t. His body had started to cramp under the strain of mana, so Lance picked him up in a smooth motion, he had apparently dropped his shield sometime earlier.
¡°Open the barrier,¡± Zeke said as they approached the sport where it connected with the cave wall.
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Michael raised his trembling hand and released some mana under a pained growl. The barrier opened just enough to let a fully grown man through, and they made their escape.
¡°Keep your mana low. The carnage over there should mask our presence,¡± Zeke ordered and continued following the wall. It wasn''t hard for Michael to oblige, every vein and artery on the way from his heart to his fingertips was burning the moment even a little mana touched them.
Without the strengthening he felt the heat much more though, it was easily over thirty degrees in the cavern, and he was far from dressed for these kinds of temperatures with his chain mail and gambeson.
They followed the wall of the cavern and Michael felt his spell collapse behind him without his constant supply of mana. The screaming of the fighting monsters followed them until they found an opening in the wall which hid a small cave.
They pressed themselves through the opening and the knights moved a large rock into the entrance to block it at least partially.
Lance put Michael down and immediately turned his attention toward his blood-soaked hands.
¡°What the hells happened,¡± he asked, and the others also gathered around them with partially confused and partially concerned expressions.
Michael was light-headed from the blood- and manaloss, he didn''t manage to give them an answer immediately and had to drink and eat something first.
"Was that blood magic,¡± Erhen asked carefully once Michael had strengthened himself.
¡°What? Hells no,¡± Michael quickly shot down the idea. ¡°It is no wonder that you don''t know what that was, it is a mage-specific thing.¡±
He held up his hands which had stopped bleeding and started to explain, ¡°You all know that mana flows in the same paths as your blood does. Augmenters are pretty much limited by how much mana a body part can actually take so you can''t push unlimited mana somewhere because it will just be full at one point. Mages however can push their mana out so my hands for example will never be full.¡±
The knights nodded; this was basic knowledge.
¡°That also means that a mage can put as much mana into a spell as he has but the astral body of the mage might not be up to move such a volume. What happens then is that the mana exits the arteries forcefully and doesn''t split from the blood correctly. It pulls the blood out and damages the flesh around it, hence bleeding and pain. That barrier drained more than two-thirds of my entire mana well, so my hands will be out of commission for a while.¡±
He began slowly dripping mana back into his appendages; it hurt like hell, but he needed the enhancement of his regeneration. He was proud that he was already able to direct his mana to enhance a single feature instead of the whole body part, this reduced the pain considerably because he needed much less mana.
¡°So, you hurt yourself with your spells if they are too big,¡± Silas asked with a frown.
Michael shook his head and clarified, ¡°Not exactly, I hurt myself if I try to put up a large spell too quickly. If I give the mana enough time to flow safely through my body, then I can throw most of my mana at once. This is also the reason why mages don''t obliterate everything with ginormous fireballs in the middle of a fight for example, because they don''t have the time, and also concentrating while in pain is hard.¡±
¡°Alright, this is enough for now. Let''s get you cleaned up,¡± Eydis interjected and stopped the rest from asking more questions.
They turned to take care of their own injuries which were mostly centered around Erhen and Lance who had braved the fire, but they were all breathing heavily under the heat.
Eydis looked to be doing the best of all of them because she wore little metal armor with only bracers and the rest being a mix of leather and cloth armor for maximized agility.
¡°So, how are we going to get out of here,¡± Erhen asked while poking at a nasty burn on his shield-elbow.
¡°Our way in has been blocked and we don''t know how much of the tunnel collapsed,¡± Silas noted with a grim expression.
¡°We should look for another tunnel leading to the surface. Dungeons tend to grow toward it earlier than later and with the tunnel we have entered being so close we might be in luck,¡± Zeke replied and slapped Erhen''s hand away from his wound.
¡°Dungeons grow? What exactly is a dungeon, is it an animal,¡± Eydis asked with an interested expression toward the veteran knight.
¡°You don''t know about dungeons,¡± he asked with surprise, and she simply shrugged. The knight wiped the sweat out of his neck while he answered, ¡°I will try to explain to the best of my knowledge, if you have additions, milord, please just interject.¡±
Michael nodded; his knowledge of dungeons was probably not that much more extensive than the knight¡¯s, but he might know some things that were unimportant to a warrior.
¡°A dungeon is a kind of mana beast in itself. It might sound weird, but it is true. Monsters gather mana in their body and grow into more impressive beasts. Dungeons are similar, they start at a certain level and begin pulling in mana from the surroundings, creating an extremely mana-rich area.¡±
Everyone could feel the truth in his words. It wasn''t just the heat of the temperature but also the heat of the fire affinity mana that was pressing in on them. Michael could feel his mana reserves being refreshed at a greatly increased rate down here.
¡°This mana-rich area that the dungeon creates becomes a mana beast spawning ground. They spawn at rates that may be as low as double of what they do on the surface to extremes like twenty or more times as much, depending on the dungeon, there will also be higher skull levels that can appear than on the surface. If that wasn''t bad enough, they fight and consume each other down here and evolve to the extreme if left alone enough. It wouldn''t be strange to find a multiple times evolved three-skull down here.¡±
Michael could see the uncomfortable glances of the knight''s faces while Eydis stayed strangely calm.
It was basically like this; an unevolved zero-skull could be defeated by a determined adult with no martial experience, an unevolved one-skull would be the same for a militia man, an unevolved two-skull for a trained soldier, and lastly an unevolved-three skull by a normal knight. After this, it was hard to say because the levels became more of a guideline than a strict rule. With possibly evolved three-skulls existing down here even the knights could be in trouble in a one-on-one situation.
¡°Like with monsters dungeons can have affinities, like the fire affinity of this one, and the monsters inside of it will share this affinity because the dungeon will convert all the mana it pulls in,¡± Michael added in the short pause and Sir Zeke nodded.
¡°So how do you destroy a dungeon? Do we have to collapse the cavern or something? You said it grows and digs its way up to the surface, so that seems wrong,¡± Lance asked.
¡°That''s right, a dungeon will grow with the increasing mana, but it has a weakness. Every dungeon has something to anchor it in this world, a kind of core. They are called Dungeon Guardians, and they are monsters of much increased strength. Most of the time they will be some kind of extremely evolved creature or even a higher-skulled one than what is normal in the dungeon. I am talking about five or more evolutions or something like a four-skull monster if there are only three-skulls here tops.¡±
¡°How is a stronger monster a weakness,¡± Erhen asked with a frown.
Silas rolled his eyes and asked, ¡°What does an anchor do?¡±
¡°Keep a ship in place,¡± the young knight replied with a questioning tone.
¡°And what happens if you cut the anchor?¡±
¡°The ship drifts away,¡± Erhen answered after a short moment of understanding and embarrassment.
¡°It is a little more dramatic than the mana just drifting away though,¡± Zeke interjected. ¡°The mana is pulled in here by force so if the Guardian is slain then it will leave violently, ripping the dungeon apart.¡±
¡°And us with it if we are inside,¡± Lance concluded but Zeke shook his head. ¡°No, it takes a little bit until everything comes crashing down. We will have some time to get out before it collapses but we would need to find an exit, or we would be trapped in a collapsing dungeon.¡±
¡°I have read that in dungeons of old, that defied the laws of existence, an object could also be the anchor, but I doubt that it will apply to a dungeon like this,¡± Michael threw in the little extra information he had.
¡°Okay, so we saw at least evolved two-skulls out there but it was the edge of the dungeon so we can expect three-skulls or even four-skulls further in,¡± Silas said, and Zeke nodded in agreement.
¡°Now most of you have never seen a three-skull monster, so I will explain something. Zero to two-skull monsters are the beast types, they are basically monstrous animals, but after that, the monsters become more like magical creatures. Brace yourself for strange sights, because being surprised can get you easily killed down here.¡±
¡°Good, then we will just keep to the walls and walk around until we find another tunnel that leads out, right,¡± Michael said.
¡°Yes, that would be the best way, I think. After that, we should return with a stronger unit and destroy this dungeon before it can grow too much.¡±
¡°Agreed.¡±
They continued caring for their wounds for a while longer, especially bandaging Michael''s hands took a while before they made ready to emerge from their hiding spot again into the dungeon.
Chapter 67.
Geron
"Thank you,¡± Geron said after receiving the report of another group leader. Most had returned by now; the operation was going mostly to plan with just some small hiccups where goblin camps weren''t there anymore or some escaping.
His mind wasn''t on the operation though, they hadn''t heard back from Lord Rowan''s party yet. That wasn''t surprising, they weren''t expected back for a couple of hours yet, but it was still on Geron''s mind. He wasn''t sure if it was the right decision to send the young lord into a situation that was obviously dangerous.
Maybe I should have gone with them, he thought in vain. He was the commander of this operation and knew that he couldn''t just abandon his post out of selfish desires, it didn''t stop him from worrying though.
¡°They are fine,¡± Sola said from her spot in the corner of the tent. She was looking tired after spending most of her mana on taking care of the wounded. ¡°He has four knights with him and if anything gets past them, then they would still have to overcome Eydis and that is not happening.¡±
¡°Still feels weird to not be at his side, that is all,¡± Geron replied while trying to look busy.
¡°You can''t fool me, darling,¡± she laughed a little and he finally looked over to her. Even with the dirt, blood, and exhaustion, she was the most beautiful person Geron had ever seen. He kept his gaze on her until she smiled warmly and asked, ¡°What?¡±
¡°You should take a bath.¡±
She laughed loudly and replied in a squeaky voice, ¡°You asshole! Not everyone can sit in a tent all day and push some paper around.¡±
Geron smirked, pulled her on her feet from her chair and closer to him. ¡°I don''t mind a little dirt, but you might feel better.¡±
¡°I would certainly know what would make me feel better,¡± she answered with a sly smile, but they were interrupted by a loud voice before Geron could reply anything.
¡°Commander, there is an adventurer here who says he is the only survivor of his group.¡±
They separated from each other, and Sola returned to her chair while Geron turned back to the strategy table. ¡°Send him in.¡±
A young man, maybe eighteen, entered he was wearing a copper adventurer marker and a worn padded gambeson, definitely a low-level adventurer. He looked horrible, blood running down his face from a wound on his forehead, his armor and parts of his skin was scorched.
¡°What happened, boy,¡± Geron asked with a neutral tone. Sola was instantly on her feet helping the man to a chair and looking at his wounds.
¡°We..., we went to exterminate the goblins as instructed,¡± the young adventurer''s eyes and words trailed off multiple times while he talked but Geron was patient with him.
¡°The monsters were too strong. They killed us all, dragging us down into the forest, but I was still alive and managed to find a hole that led to another cave.¡± He was rolling his eyes and shaking as he spoke.
¡°Keep it together. One thing after another, what squad was yours, where did you go?¡±
¡°Team ¡ seventeen.¡±
¡°Isn''t that the one Michael went looking for,¡± Sola exclaimed with widened eyes and looked at a stone-faced Geron.
"What place was it that they dragged you to? A monster lair?¡±
¡°I heard stories about it but didn''t think I would ever see one,¡± the young man wept and put his hands over his face.
¡°What did you see? Tell me,¡± Geron growled, and the adventurer looked at him through his fingers.
¡°A dungeon!¡±
Michael
He dashed to the side, dodging the attempt of the small monkey creature to throw cinder into his face, and rammed his sword into its neck.
The fire monkey went down with a gurgling noise and Michael ripped his sword free with a pained hiss. His hands were continually pulsing, but he couldn''t afford to be slowed down.
The knights were holding the bigger monsters off at the perimeter while smaller ones slipped through the cracks or came jumping down the trees.
They had been fighting for the better part of three hours. It was always the same, they moved a while along the wall until some kind of monster spotted them and made a ruckus while attacking. Then they would have to contend with a wave of monsters and either clear them out fast enough or look for a moment to slip away.
Michael''s mana reserves were filling up well with him not throwing any kind of magic around and only having to fight zero- or one-skull monsters, but the knights were starting to have a harder time with the constant heat from the surroundings and the fire attributes of the monsters.
Michael had forced them to take a couple of small breaks already but that never lasted long, they were too focused on getting him to safety rather than their own health.
A horned beetle came charging at Michael, it was as big as a dog and the tip of its horn was glowing red. Eydis, who was inside the ring of knights, taking care of anything dangerous that broke through, gave it a side glance and then focused on a group of five small bird creatures that were throwing feathers at them.
The beetle came barreling in with the fury of a bull, its size made it look a little bit silly, but the hot glowing horn would teach him if he underestimated it. Even though it was only a one-skull it was still at least once or twice evolved.
Michael jumped to the side to evade the charge, but the monster was quick on its six feet and managed to change direction in a heartbeat, a boon of its evolution no doubt.
He used his sword to parry the horn and redirect the beetle past him, he was still stronger than the small beast. Michael swung around cleanly and stabbed at the back of the insectoid. His sword bounced of the hard shell and only left a scratch.
Devastating charge and impenetrable armor, Michael thought while jumping around the beetle. He was sure now that the monster was at least three or four times evolved, he was surprised that the beast had not increased in size by much in its evolutions, that seemed to be a common way to evolve with most monsters from what he had seen.
Michael tried to stay behind the monster while thinking about how to kill it, his eyes focused on the spindly legs. He swung at the closed one and cut it clean off.
Not much armor there, huh, he thought and began taking off one leg after another. The beetle was no match for his speed and only a few moments later it was wiggling on the ground with only one leg on each side left.
Michael then grabbed the corner of its shell and yanked the whole beetle on its back. He hissed when the strain on his hands let them flair up again but ignored it.
The wiggling stopped a moment later when he sunk his sword into the gaps in the belly of the beast.
He looked around and took in the scene; Eydis had ripped the birds apart already and was currently beating down on an infernal dog with her bracers.
Silas and Lance had finished their fights and Erhen was chasing off a group of the small monkeys.
They watched as Zeke wrestled a smaller version of the huge gorilla monster to the ground and crushed its throat with his knee. He held it down until it stopped moving and then rose breathing heavily.
¡°That was the last one, I think,¡± the veteran knight said and looked around.
¡°Better be or we will fight the next one with only our hands,¡± Silas growled and looked at his bent sword. ¡°Damned heat, it is bad enough having to hold back to not break the sword but with all these fuckers having so hot blood we have to deal with even softer swords.¡±
Michael looked at his own sword, it was crafted to the highest standards in Reen, but it was still only a mundane sword. He was not strong enough to easily break it normally but now it was chipped and bent.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
I need to get magical weapons for my knights, Michael thought. He looked at Eydis who had lost her second weapon a while ago and was fighting with her body and what parts of the monsters she could use as a weapon.
¡°We must have circled nearly the entire cave by now and have only found dead-end tunnels. We should probably start thinking about what we do if we don''t find an exit,¡± Michael said to change the subject to a more productive one.
¡°We can always wait for rescue,¡± Erhen suggested. ¡°They should be getting nervous by now and with Lord Rowan here we can expect them to send a rescue party fairly soon and with a lot of power if even our party hasn''t come back.¡±
¡°That is great, you just wanna sit back and get rescued? How is that going to look for us as Lord Rowan''s guard,¡± Silas protested, and the younger knight shrunk back a little bit.
Eydis ignored the whole discussion and was currently butchering the largest monster she could find.
¡°We don''t even know how far the tunnel collapsed, it could take days or weeks for them to dig through to us,¡± Sir Zeke interjected with a grim expression.
¡°Let''s not get ahead of ourselves,¡± Michael said, ¡°We don''t even know if the tunnel collapsed that far. We will not give up yet.¡± He looked from one knight to the other until they nodded.
Eydis jumped up triumphantly just a moment later and presented a spiked crystal as large as a marble. It was pulsing with a dim light.
¡°Is that a mana core,¡± Michael asked surprised.
Eydis nodded excitedly and signed with one hand, ¡°I had some kind of strange feeling multiple times before with the monsters and it seems it was this.¡±
¡°Interesting,¡± Michael commented and inspected the woman. She must have a great sense of mana if she managed to feel the power of such a weak mana core in this environment.
Lance took the core out of Eydis''s hand and looked at it, ¡°I have never seen a mana core before. It is warm.¡± He frowned and passed it to Erhen.
Monsters of a certain mana level begin creating mana cores to store their mana, this starts at the three-skull level but lower-leveled monsters with enough evolutions could also have one. At first, it will be spiked but with more mana, it will become smoother and smoother until it fully forms a sphere.
¡°Marvelous, to think that this small thing holds so much mana,¡± Erhen muttered while staring into the gem.
Mana cores were used mostly by mages in rituals, drawing out the mana of the stones or by artificers building them into their works as a power supply.
¡°Bag it and let''s gather everyone we can,¡± Michael ordered.
The knights looked at each other with a slight look of confusion but complied, nonetheless.
Mana cores were not worth that much in the kingdom because of the defacto ban on mages and the single-digit count of artificers in the whole kingdom. Most of these only made trinkets so mana cores were rarely used.
Lord Cedric''s old sword had a few built into the hilt and blade but that sword was ancient.
Michael smiled a little but explained, ¡°Have you forgotten that we will have some competent artificers in our country soon so the monster cores will be useful? Might even be in your future weapons.¡±
A sudden enthusiasm came over the knights when Michael mentioned the possibility of them receiving magical weapons. Eydis directed them to the monsters she thought had cores, which were sadly only two more and the cores were even less developed than the first.
The monster parts would have been more valuable than the cores normally in the kingdom, but they wouldn''t have the time.
After gathering the cores and Eydis grabbing a horn to use as a makeshift weapon they continued around the cave.
It didn''t take them long to reach the point of their entrance. The battlefield they had left was looking much more gruesome now. Dismembered monsters that had been mostly devoured and a swarm of low-level monsters picking through the remains that the bigger ones had left. Mostly a swarm of the little monkey monsters that had started the fight.
The monkeys made a ruckus when they entered the clearing but still backed off from them. Michael stared at the little beasts while they walked over to the collapsed cave entrance, but they kept their distance while screaming at the top of their lungs.
¡°So, what do you think,¡± Eydis asked Michael while he inspected the cave-in.
¡°Don''t know, we should probably just start digging,¡± he said and stepped back.
¡°Erhen, Lance, get in there and start clearing,¡± Sir Zeke said and took position watching the tree line.
¡°With these monkeys, we will have to contend with a new horde soon,¡± Michael said and stepped next to Zeke.
¡°No, I don''t think we will have a problem. After this carnage, the monster density will be way down and those that survived will have retreated to evolve no doubt with the mana they have consumed here.¡±
Michael nodded and stayed next to the knight in silence while the others worked.
Suddenly a loud crash happened behind Michael, and he spun around to see the two young knights jump back from the rubble.
¡°What happened?¡±
Lance shook his head and replied, ¡°I don''t know, milord. I grabbed a stone and then suddenly something collapsed behind it, I think.¡±
¡°Another cave-in,¡± Zeke asked.
¡°Possible. This whole thing might be much more unstable than we thought. Let''s proceed but more carefully.¡± Eydis joined the clearing effort while the rest watched, there was not enough space to have more people work on it anyway.
Something was striking Michael as odd though. He heard nothing unusual and turned around. The monkeys were gone, and he now noticed that it was oddly quiet.
Another crash shook the air but this time it was coming from the forest. Everyone turned around and looked when a second crash happened.
¡°That sounds like trees falling,¡± Eydis signed and grabbed the monster horn.
¡°Something big is coming,¡± Silas added.
Loud footsteps began to appear and one of the trees blocking their vision was suddenly toppled and crashed to the ground revealing another tree.
It was not as tall as the other ones around but much thicker, the trunk consisted of two parts until it fused two meters above ground, and the leaves on the thick branches were on fire. A strange symbol and opening were situated right beneath its burning crown. It suddenly raised one of its trunks and took a step forward.
As if a lens got swapped Michael realized that this wasn''t a tree but a four meters tall charred wood monster.
The two trunks were its legs, the thick branches its arms, and the symbol and opening was its face.
With an ear-shattering roar, it made another step forward and the light fell on the bark which reflected it as if it was made out of metal.
¡°It is the dungeon guardian,¡± Zeke yelled, ¡°A damned tree horror, that''s a four-skull monster.¡±
The guardian made another step and reached one of its hands into the burning leaf crown. It flung the fire in their direction, everywhere it landed small fire creatures began to rise and charge them, they looked like large saplings.
¡°We''re cut off, defensive positions!¡±
The knights moved as a unit and made a half circle around Michael swinging at the little fire saplings. The weapons of the knights seemed to go through the flame, but the horn Eydis was wielding made them vanish in an instant.
¡°They are ethereal, use your mana,¡± Silas yelled, and a wave of mana cut through a swath of them from his sword.
Michael pulled a face but started constructing a sigil nonetheless, the mana burned like hot water running down his arms, but they weren''t equipped to fight this many ethereal enemies and he was the mage of the group.
Something rumbled behind Michael, but he knew that there was just a wall behind him, so he paid it no mind.
More mana blades were thrown by the knights, but they wouldn''t be able to keep up the mana expenditure for long.
Eydis threw a monster bone she had picked up while running through the flaming saplings over to Erhen, the inherent mana in the monster parts made them makeshift magical weapons for a while after their deaths.
The guardian was still walking closer with thundering steps and Eydis charged it alone. Everyone else was too busy to call her off but Michael knew that a four-skull was too much even for most knights, and this was a guardian.
His sigil activated and a flurry of small knife-sized light spikes were flung into the mass of oncoming flame saplings, ripping them apart. The spikes wouldn¡¯t even have been able to pierce skin properly but the advantage of ethereal beings against physical attacks was completely reversed against magical.
Michael''s mana reserves took a hit nonetheless and his hands began bleeding again.
His attack had thinned out the horde but there were still at least two dozen left.
¡°Finish them off,¡± Zeke ordered Erhen and Lance, while he and Silas followed Eydis in her charge against the guardian.
Eydis jumped at the guardian nimbly evading the slow strike of the tree monster which made the ground shake. She rammed the horn at the face of the monster, but it broke without having much of an effect.
The monster roared again, and the leaves exploded outward in a flame eruption, sending the barbarian girl flying ten meters and crashing down hard.
¡°EYDIS,¡± Michael yelled and charged past the young knights, and through the sapling swarm, he got a few burns for his thoughtlessness. He could hear Lance yell behind him, but he was not listening, much rather staring at Eydis who was lying in an unnatural position with her arm strangely bent behind her back and unmoving.
Zeke and Silas charged right past her and engaged the guardian with precise attacks against its joints and other open spaces but its size and the heat it still emanated made things difficult.
Michael came to a sliding hold on his knees next to Eydis and put his fingers to the side of her throat. A couple of heartbeats passed what seemed like an eternity while Michael looked at her and waited.
Her skin was severely burned and the arm that was under her body was most certainly broken. Then he found a pulse and a wave of relief washed over him, she was severely hurt but he could feel mana flowing in her body. Even though she was unconscious her body was instinctually augmenting itself to keep her alive.
Another crash dragged his attention back to the fight when he saw Zeke being flung back a couple of meters by one of the fists of the tree, but he landed on his feet looking much worse for wear now.
They were exhausted, their mana reserves were draining, and their weaponry was bent or broken.
Michael began pouring every drop of mana he could muster into a magic sigil, the script was simple, but he put in all the mana he had.
He groaned as more and more blood and mana left his hands while the knights held off the guardian.
A light javelin burst into life and grew ever larger until it was thicker than an adult''s upper leg.
Michael struggled to his feet, the weight of his body and the spell dragging him down. He looked at the beast in front of him, the knights that were fighting, his friend on the ground, and threw the spear at the beast.
The spear struck it like a meteor and the mass of mana exploded when its integrity was lost. The light blinded even Michael and for a moment he saw only white.
He shook his head and when his vision returned, he expected to see the monster collapsing, he had poured his all into this attack, his men were in danger, and this was their last chance. This was the moment in a story when the hero would strike down the evil with all their power, but the monster still stood.
There was a gaping wound in the torso of the beast and the attack had definitely damaged it severely, but it was not going down.
Dread came over Michael as the beast took another step forward and reached into its crown again to spawn more of the burning saplings.
With a crushing noise, the collapsed tunnel was blasted free, and the pieces of rock fell everywhere. Through came a flood of humans, led at the front by Knight Commander Geron.
Chapter 68.
Sola
Sola entered right behind the adventurers and knights leading the charge. She was awestruck for a moment seeing the alien landscape, red big-leafed trees, and small orange shrubs.
Her attention was quickly diverted to a particular tree standing closer to the tunnel and currently swiping at the adventurers that jumped around it.
A torrent of water rose from the water barrels that the augmenters had carried in here and shot at the burning tree monster. It howled when the water slashed over its burning crown and evaporated most of the small fire beings running around between the entrance and the monster.
Her gaze lastly fell on a familiar group; the first person she noticed was Sir Zeke Tomp, the tall knight was barely standing with most of his weight on his warhammer, the two young knights Lance and Erhen also looked bad but much better than their leader, and lastly the grim Silas looking concerned.
Sola couldn''t see Eydis anywhere but guessed that she was somewhere on the front, that girl never understood how being a bodyguard worked. A slight smile snuck on her face as she thought about the young woman, and she hurried over to the group to find Michael.
She got over to them to see Eydis lying on the ground and her heart stopped for a moment.
¡°Idas, no,¡± she shouted and pushed Lance to the side to get to her. ¡°I am here, little one,¡± she said to the unconscious girl and looked over her.
¡°She is still alive and augmenting,¡± came Michael''s pained voice from the side but Sola was too shaken to notice the tone.
Eydis was badly burned, and her right arm seemed to be broken and her neck wasn¡¯t as strong as it should be. Sola began stabilizing her head and then said, ¡°Michael, I need your help with this. You need to carefully remove everything from her wounds before we can treat them.¡±
¡°I can''t.¡±
¡°Michael, she might get an infection and die if we aren''t fast and thorough enough.¡±
She was confused as to why Michael would refuse, was he in shock? He loved Eydis like he had his siblings, she couldn''t believe it. Then she looked up and saw the tears running down the eleven-year-old boy''s face and the blood on his severely shaking hands.
¡°Oh my god, Michael.¡±
¡°It doesn''t matter,¡± he said out between his teeth, he was obviously in pain, ¡°It''s just my hands, help Eydis.¡±
Sola stared at him for a moment and then nodded. She looked at the knights surrounding them with concerned expressions, but they wouldn''t be able to help her in their state either.
¡°Don''t just stand there. Go to the entrance and bring me a couple of guards and the stretchers!¡±
Kiran
The water evaporated the moment it hit the guardian''s flame, but Kiran managed to draw it back out of the air even if he lost a large amount.
First time seeing a dungeon in fifteen years, and it had to be a damn fire affinity one, he thought and drew in more water from the barrel behind him.
He concentrated his efforts on controlling the burning leaves on the tree, which he suspected would be the source of any area attacks the monster could employ.
Kiran was concerned about this whole thing, to find a four-skull monster, even if it was a dungeon guardian, so close to the surface was bad, really bad. The mana levels shouldn''t be rising this fast; it should have taken at least ten years to get to this point, but it has not even been five since the mana started returning to the world.
He inspected the guardian closer and noticed the large hole in the face plate of the tree, he couldn''t help but smile because the only one that had any way of inflicting that kind of damage on this beast was Michael.
With a flick of his wrist, Kiran formed the water together in a sphere and let it fall onto the tree monster like a waterfall. He pulled as much water back out of the air when it evaporated and added it back to the top of the waterfall.
Geron
The tree smashed down its fist and caused the knights and adventurers to scatter before it. Geron had to deal with the increased weight of the magical greatsword that Sir Pyke had given him at the start of the campaign.
He still remembered what the old knight had said, ¡°This sword was given to me by Lord Cedric when I became Commander, it is only right for you to inherit it. Make no mistake though, you will have to prove yourself worthy of it.¡±
It technically didn''t matter to him that the sword was thrice as heavy as his usual weapon because he could use much more mana when wielding it without breaking it, but it was still uncomfortable.
A silver-ranked adventurer charged past him and stepped onto the fist of the beast to use the upward motion to catapult himself right at its face.
His skin was grey and crumbling as he smashed his fist into the tree with such force even other augmenters weren''t able to match.
The beast staggered back into the ropes that the adventurers had prepared, and they began throwing more over the top. The fire began to lick on them but with the constant stream of water falling on the flames and the rope they managed to hold.
Kiran won''t be able to keep this kind of barrage up for long, Geron thought and continued to watch the adventurers try to drag the guardian down.
The beast let out an infernal scream when one of its legs broke under the constant attacks and it fell to one knee.
The scream had not even subsided yet when the forest came alive with yelling and other noises.
¡°It is calling the monsters to defend itself,¡± a silver-plated adventurer yelled.
¡°Secure the perimeter. Guards to the front, knights support where needed. Let''s give the adventurers the time to finish this,¡± Geron ordered swiftly but stayed where he was.
The humans barely had time to deploy when the first wave of crazed monsters broke through the tree line, but a row of organized spears held their charge for now.
This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
We should be glad that Lord Cedric always put value on disciplined troops and not just augmenters, Geron thought and refocused his attention on the guardian.
It was flailing its hand around trying to swat the humans like flies but the ones that surrounded it were the elite of the local guild. It was unlikely that most of them had ever faced something like this, but they were still used to monsters and this one was severely wounded, outnumbered, and many of its abilities were probably impaired by Kiran. They would never again get this easy of a fight against a four-skull monster.
It tried to flare its fire again and again, but the fire was always suppressed by similar amounts of water. Then its second leg was pulled back by the ropes and the monster fell to its hands.
¡°Now finish it,¡± someone yelled, and the adventurers charged in unison.
The guardian suddenly rose, pulling those that had held it with the ropes of their feet. A dangerous light began to glow in its mouth as it prepared for a devastating attack.
¡°Get back,¡± Geron yelled and charged forward.
The waterfall disappeared at the same moment.
The light began to blink dangerously in its mouth, the burning leaves dimmed, and the flame in its mouth threatened to overflow, at first, it was red but got brighter and whiter with every passing moment.
Geron leaped right at the hole in the face plate of the monster when a torrent of water shot past him and into the mouth hole of the beast. Half of its face was blown off when the water evaporated and exploded, leaving an even larger opening for Geron to ram the greatsword into with his whole weight.
The monster tumbled from the explosion followed by Geron''s weight and fell backwards.
Geron crashed down with it but was back on his feet the moment it had landed. The sword was only halfway in, so he raised his foot and stomped down on the crossguard of the large sword, ramming the rest into the beast.
It howled again but the leaves began to glow dimmer and dimmer until all light had faded.
¡°The beast has fallen,¡± he yelled victoriously, and the men cheered loudly.
The monsters that had pressured the guardsmen broke off their suicidal charge the moment the guardian had fallen and began running around in panic. Some still ran into the line of humans while most fled back into the forest.
¡°That went surprisingly well for a who knows how many times evolved four-skull,¡± one of the knights said absent-mindedly while he walked back from the front.
¡°Don''t underestimate them, without the large wound and magic support we might have been decimated,¡± Geron censured the knight and the man nodded apologetically.
¡°We are gonna have to deal with more of them if they find the way through the other tunnel,¡± Kiran noted.
¡°There is another tunnel,¡± a voice asked, ¡°We couldn''t find one.¡± It was Sir Silas who stepped over to the knight commander.
¡°Yes, one of the adventurers that you were looking for escaped through a little tunnel close to the center of the dungeon. He said it was barely large enough for him to fit through and led him into a natural tunnel. I don''t think that many monsters will be able to squeeze through there, but he couldn''t tell us where exactly he emerged, so we don''t know.¡±
Geron then turned back to Kiran and asked, ¡°What do you think, how long will the dungeon take to collapse?¡±
The old mage looked around and then replied, ¡°From the size and mana I would say thirty to forty minutes at most.¡±
Geron nodded and then ordered loudly, ¡°Gather what you can, we are leaving in twenty minutes.¡±
¡°I am sure Lord Rowan would appreciate it if you retrieved the monster core of the guardian. We gathered a couple of cores ourselves,¡± Silas spoke up and Geron agreed.
- Half an hour later ¨C
Geron oversaw the last of his men leaving the cave entrance that led down to the dungeon. He could hear the rumbling of the dungeon collapsing and he thought he could make out bestial screeching from below. The knight shook his head, that was impossible, they had collapsed the tunnel behind them with earth magic to prevent monsters from following them.
He turned around and walked over to the makeshift tent where Michael''s party had been brought to.
There were only Sola, Kiran, Michael, and his guard present in the tent and a couple of gazes fell upon Geron as he entered.
Eydis still looked horrible, and Sola was still working on her, pulling parts of her clothing out of her burnt skin. Her arm and head were stabilized with wood, and he still wasn''t sure if she would make it but if anyone could then her.
Geron was impressed that the girl was able to augment while unconscious, she often impressed him, to be honest. Even though she never had much formal training Geron couldn''t help but recognize her sheer talent, not that he would like to share that sentiment.
Michael was lying next to the barbarian girl unconscious, his hands bandaged and his chest rising and falling slowly.
¡°Is he okay,¡± Geron asked.
Kiran, who was assisting Sola with his steady hands, looked up and said, ¡°He wrecked his hands not once but twice. He can count himself lucky if he doesn''t have any kind of lasting damage after they heal.¡±
Geron gritted his teeth and looked at the boy, how he laid there, he looked so small and helpless. Geron couldn''t believe that he sent a child into a warzone.
¡°How are his chances?¡±
¡°He is still young, and his astral body is much sturdier than it should be. After what the knights told me he did and thinking of the amount of mana he has, he should have completely ripped his hands apart. I would say normally his chances would be a thousand to one to regain full function of his hands but with how unique his body is I would guess fifty/fifty. He will probably pull through, he always does somehow.¡± The mage looked lost in thought as he grabbed a set of pliers out of a bowl of water and returned to his work on Eydis.
Every time anything happens, he is in the middle of it and every time we find something new that is unique about him, Geron thought.
¡°Geron, you saved our lord down there,¡± Zeke''s voice raspy pulled Geron out of his thoughts. He looked over to the knight who had been pealed out of his armor and was breathing heavily.
Geron knelt down next to the knight and inspected his injuries until he concluded that the knight would live.
¡°Without all of you he would have been dead long before we arrived,¡± he told the injured knight who shook his head.
¡°I can''t do this anymore, Geron. I lost one ward already and now I nearly lost another one because I was careless,¡± Zeke gritted his teeth and tried to lean up which seemed to put him in more pain, but he continued as if he wanted the pain.
¡°I am not suited to protect him, Geron. I am not suited to serve.¡±
¡°No, you will not resign. As commander of the knights, I order you to stop being sorry for yourself and live with the fact that unforeseen things can happen. He would have died without you, of that, I am sure.¡± Geron stared the knight down until he nodded and sunk back onto his resting place.
Michael
He put his hands in front of his eyes to block out the light but was instantly pulled out of his drowsy state from the sharp pain in them.
With a groan, he looked at the bandages and then at his surroundings.
¡°You''re awake,¡± Sola''s voice came from the side, and he looked over to her.
She was sitting with him in the tent next to a sleeping and bandaged Eydis, with her hands swaying over the barbarian girl.
They were in Michael''s tent back at the main camp, so he had to have been asleep for a couple of hours at least.
¡°How is she doing,¡± Michael asked and got up without using his hands. He had severe muscle ache which didn''t make it easier, but he was used to that.
¡°She should be fine. She healed well the last couple of days. I don''t think she would have made it without her augmenting and my constant care though. Her burns weren''t that bad, mostly surface level because of her increased toughness but the internal damage must have been worse for her to be still asleep,¡± the priestess answered calmly while still swaying her fingers in controlled motions.
¡°Days? How long have I been asleep,¡± Michael frowned, he hated being out for long periods, but he couldn''t say that this was a first.
¡°Nearly two days. You used up every last drop of your mana and wrecked your physical and astral body in the process, your hands won''t be back to full functionality for weeks.¡±
He looked at his hands and then toward Eydis, it was worth it, he decided.
¡°The dungeon is gone?¡±
¡°Yes, it collapsed behind us so there is no need to worry but we gathered some valuable materials before we had to leave.¡±
Michael watched her control her mana. She was directing it from one part of Eydis''s body to the next, coordinating the young warrior''s mana to ensure a smooth healing process.
Normally the mana would revolt against the influence but while normally augmenting was like a controlled stream that resisted when pushed in one direction, when the user was unconscious it was more like a bowl that could be tipped in the direction one needed.
¡°What now,¡± he asked, and Sola looked up for a moment.
¡°You are gonna rest. Your part in this expedition is over for now.¡±
Chapter 69.
Michael
Trees surrounded Michael as he walked through the underbrush filled with goblin corpses and rivers of blood. There were hundreds if not thousands of them, but Michael was calm.
¡°Find the source,¡± a rumbling voice shook the air around him as he continued up the mountainside. He wasn''t sure why he was doing this, but it felt like the peak was the place he needed to be.
He walked past the goblin camp that they had cleared, and soldiers patrolled the bramble and newly erected fortifications. Blood covered the wooden spikes and unrecognizable corpses filled the moats.
It didn''t take him long to leave the lower region behind and find his way into the middle region.
Wolves stalked him from the shadows and large frames were visible in the distance, but he paid them no mind. He wasn''t here for them, and they couldn''t do anything to him, the voice wouldn''t let them.
¡°At the peak, you will find answers!¡±
Answers? To what questions, he asked himself, but his mind was slow and difficult to keep focused, so he continued ascending the mountain without wasting more thoughts on the why.
The pine forest of the middle region began to grow lighter until he stepped out of the tree line and into the upper region.
Only a few trees survived up here, but those that did were huge, the ground was mostly covered in rock and only the hardiest of grasses. Large rams roamed this area in herds, hunted by the harpies and wyverns that ruled this region of the mountains.
The harpies watched him with curious eyes, sitting on an ancient tree like a flock of strange birds but he couldn¡¯t make out their exact forms. He looked up and noticed a wyvern cycling above him, he still didn''t feel like he was in any danger even when a roar split the silence.
¡°Come.¡± The voice lured him further up the rocky surface until he stood in front of a cave entrance. The walls were glowing as the light behind Michael fell on the mineral-rich rock.
He knew that something was in there and that he needed to enter to find it, but his legs didn''t move. He tried to force himself to go forward but, in this world, he wasn''t in control.
Michael awoke in his bed, not violently like he was used to after these kinds of dreams, but calm and collected.
He stared at the roof of the tent for a few minutes while he thought about what he had seen. This was not the first time he had this dream; it had followed him the last weeks every night already.
¡°Why are we here,¡± he said quietly to himself. ¡°The answer is in that cave, and I will find it.¡±
He swung himself out of bed and began dressing himself. His hands had healed well over the last four weeks, but they were still sluggish and would take some more time to completely recover.
The cold morning breeze greeted him together with Erhen as he left his tent a few minutes later. It was still early but the camp was already quite busy. They had moved closer to the forest two weeks before to reduce the travel time of the units now that most of the goblins in the area had been wiped out by their efforts and the relentless hunts of the starving monsters and ogres of the middle region.
Michael sat down next to the small fire in front of his tent and picked up a pot to start making some breakfast, he turned his hand in an awkward position while lifting the pot though and pain flared up causing him to drop it with a metallic noise.
¡°Milord, please let me,¡± Erhen said and quickly picked up the pot. Michael waved him away with badly hidden frustration and started making a light stew.
These last weeks have been incredibly boring. He couldn''t have magical or martial training, couldn''t write for longer than a few minutes, reading was hard because books didn''t take well to the environment, and Geron didn''t let him leave the camp much. He had even suggested that Michael return to Reen which Michael had vehemently refused.
The only thing he could do consistently without much pain now was play games, help in the strategy tent, and talk to people, it was dreadful.
You only realize the importance of hands after having them unusable, he thought and smirked as his bad mood began to fade. It was his own fault so there was no reason to be sour about it.
Michael continued working carefully with Erhen''s help until Eydis came out of her tent. Contrary to Michael''s injuries, hers had been completely healed already for over a week. With the constant attention of a trained healer and her own augmenting, she had managed to heal two or three times faster than a normal person should.
The burn marks had also mostly vanished, but she had a large burn scar between her chest and neck which she presented with pride. Scars were a sign of survival and strength in her culture and were considered attractive even for women.
Michael''s wounds would not heal as quickly, he needed to take it slow and make sure that they heal as cleanly as possible to maximize his chances of regaining full function.
The other knights joined them shortly after, he was starting to see the wear and tear on their clothing and equipment. Michael had insisted that they continued to participate in the campaign even if he couldn''t and they had given it their all. With the fights having shifted mostly into the middle region, they had to push themselves more than before which strained their weaker equipment.
¡°Who is going to stay with Lord Rowan today,¡± Lance asked between two bites and looked at Sir Zeke.
¡°You all are,¡± Michael interjected before the current leader of his guard could answer.
Five surprised faces turned to the young count, but he didn''t explain it much further.
- A while later in the command tent ¨C
¡°You want to go where,¡± Geron asked with an unsatisfied frown.
¡°I am going to the upper region to investigate,¡± Michael calmly replied.
The tent was filled with his guard, retainers, and the knights but notably no member of the adventurer''s guild. Expressions of confusion, resignation, and opposition were prevalent on most of the present faces.
¡°But why? What are you looking for,¡± Sola asked with her arms crossed in front of her chest.
¡°We all know that mana gets stronger the father you go underground, and it should become weaker while ascending a mountain but for some reason that isn''t the case in our part of the Ereic Mountains. So, I am going to go up there to investigate and find the source of this anomaly.¡±
¡°Can''t this wait until we have cleared out the middle region? The monsters are already starving and have started fighting the ogres for their resources. If we wait just a little bit longer and continue pushing them into each other then we can have both groups ready to fall in a matter of a week or two. After that we would have much more manpower and space to explore the upper region,¡± Geron explained.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Michael knew all of this; he had been basically living in the strategy tent for weeks now.
They had eradicated most of the goblins pretty quickly at the start of the campaign, now were mostly repelling hunting parties coming to the lower region looking for food and forcing ogres or monsters to venture into the territory of other ogres or mostly dire wolves to get them to fight each other.
This was a slower approach than just walking in and trying to take it by force, but it was worth the lives it would save.
¡°We can''t wait,¡± Michael said and held eye contact with his knight commander. ¡°We are not the only ones that will have an easier time getting to the upper region and we are certainly not the only ones that might be interested in what is causing this anomaly.¡±
Whispered words were shared between some of the present and Kiran spoke up after sitting silently in a corner for everything before, ¡°You think there is something valuable up there?¡±
¡°I don''t know about valuable but if whatever is up there is emitting enough mana to fuel huge parts of a mountain range with more mana than the world core can then I would say it is something we should at least be the first to reach and evaluate.¡±
¡°You are going to go yourself, no matter what we say right,¡± Sola asked with a raised eyebrow.
¡°Definitely. The boredom here is going to kill me before anything out there can,¡± he returned in an amused voice.
¡°That still leaves the problem of how we will get there. We will have to travel through a warzone with starving beasts and after that, we are in an open field with wyverns and harpies,¡± Silas noted. ¡°I am not sure how we square up against a wyvern. These things are mini dragons.¡±
The present knights especially began to quietly discuss this, while some were more cautious, others boasted that they would kill a wyvern by themselves.
¡°We will just have to avoid them,¡± Michael said but he had a strange feeling of security when thinking about the winged beasts.
Geron sighed, knowing quite well that they couldn''t do anything, and said, ¡°Very well then, I will come with you. We are just waiting mostly right now anyway, and you will need all the help you can get.¡±
The rest of the knights that were here, which were nearly all in this camp because of the early hour, agreed and also offered their assistance.
¡°I appreciate your enthusiasm but if we want to go unnoticed then we will have to keep the group small. I am only going to take my guard, Sola, Kiran, and Geron. The rest of you will have to hold the fort here so that we don''t have any breakthroughs.¡±
Even though disappointed the knights nodded and after a short period of giving out orders, all those who wouldn''t join the mission left.
¡°It seems I have been forcefully recruited to this,¡± Kiran said with a smirk.
¡°What? You don''t want to come,¡± Michael asked with a similar tone, but the mage waved off. ¡°I am probably the most interested person in this magical anomaly.¡±
Michael then turned to Geron. ¡°You are sure that things will be fine here with both of us gone?¡±
¡°I wouldn''t be too concerned with that. The adventurers are organizing themselves, the guard is in place, and the knights have their own hierarchy. I am more concerned about our part. You will be tempted to use your magic up there if we get into trouble and if you do you might finally destroy your hands and I don''t really want to risk that,¡± Geron replied in a last attempt to convince his liege to rethink this.
¡°Well, in that case, you just have to prevent situations that will tempt me,¡± Michael retorted with a smile.
They were trudging through the forest just two hours later. With their small group and the nature of the camp they came from, it wasn''t hard to quickly get ready for their mission and get supplies.
The weather was much better this time, so they made good way into the forest. They passed by a small camp of guards that greeted them, their wooden spikes had blood on them, and a couple of wolves lay in the moat. It reminded him of his dream but at least he didn''t see mountains of goblins and blood rivers.
The further they ascended the thicker the mana got, it was not as obvious as in the dungeon and the change was only slight. He actually wasn''t quite sure if it was just because of the change in scenery from the mixed forest to pine forest or if he really noticed a change.
Their conversations died down with the change in scenery and everyone locked their mana down as well as possible. They could certainly fight their way through the middle region, but it was just much easier not to.
It was obviously a realm of beasts; the trees were covered in wounds made by claws and the ground was pressed flat by the roaming bands of wolves and other creatures. Michael couldn''t hear a single animal anywhere, no birds, small mammals, or bigger game, everything had been already consumed.
This is a little bit like a dungeon, Michael thought, well, except for the ogres living here.
It made the whole situation with the higher mana levels even weirder when one considered that there was developed life constantly draining it. Even if ogres weren''t considered much more civilized than goblins, they should reduce the atmospheric mana quite substantially. Michael was tempted to trail off into theories but decided to focus on his surroundings.
This part was rather clear, it was often used as a staging ground for their displacement pushes to get the monsters and ogres to fight each other, so it was regularly cleared of anything hostile. They were still tense though, because monsters spawned anew regularly but their ascend was fortuitously free of monsters. And so, they left the pine forest and emerged into the rocky upper region. It looked familiar to Michael; this was the place he had emerged from in his dream.
¡°Alright, this wasn''t so bad. What are we looking for exactly,¡± Geron asked while looking around.
¡°We are gonna have to follow the mana, go there where it is highest, and then we should find the source,¡± Kiran answered, Michael felt the mage''s mana expand as he tried to find the right direction. There were little to no monsters in this region as far as their information went, the harpies and wyverns hunted them all down as soon as they left the safety of the pine trees, so it should be safe to use mana on a larger scale.
¡°Follow me, I can feel the way,¡± Michael lied and went ahead.
Sola looked at Kiran with a questioning look, but the old man simply shrugged and followed Michael.
They ascended the path Michael had taken in his dream and he was silently glad that no one questioned why he knew where to go or where exactly they were heading.
The climb got harder and harder the further they came with gravel slipping under their soles, large boulders blocking their path, and their equipment weighing them down.
The knights were mostly armed with spears to increase their range against the flying threats, but Erhen and Silas were carrying bows. These were the strongest bows you could make without magic; a normal human would probably not even be able to draw them, but an augmenter could use an even stronger one if trained for it. As always it was their lack of craftsmanship that hampered the effectiveness of their augmenters.
Michael came to a halt when he found the tree where he had seen the harpies in his dream, but it was empty. He looked up into the sky as well and tried to make out anything but there too was nothing.
Inspecting the tree more closely it was quickly clear that it was larger than any he had seen before but it looked dead, the bark had a grayish coloring, and the branches were devoid of leaves. As he looked closer a single figure landed on one of the branches without so much as a whisper.
It was a strange creature; it had the legs and wings of a bird, but the torso of a human woman, and its head was that of a human with a beak instead of a mouth and nose. Her chest was covered in feathers, but Michael wasn''t sure if they were hers or a piece of clothing.
Her black eyes met Michael''s for a moment before he was grabbed by the shoulder and pulled back into the ranks of knights, out of the corner of his eyes he could see bows being readied and mana flaring up.
The creature tilted her head and inspected them for ten whole seconds until it opened its beak and screeched loudly. Two arrows pierced her just a moment later, passing right through her chest and shattering on the bark of the tree behind.
¡°Move, move,¡± Geron bellowed and lifted Michael off his feet.
The young lord let it happen, knowing fully well that they could move faster with the knight carrying him.
The group scrambled to get away from the tree and find some kind of cover but soon after more bird-like calls began to follow them.
Michael looked up the best he could from his position and saw at least five harpies on their trail.
¡°To the rocks, we can find cover from aerial attacks there!¡±
Michael cursed a little as he was shaken when Geron jumped over a bolder in between the rocks and then came to a sudden halt.
He took a look around after Geron had put him down and sharply pulled in some air.
They were surrounded by at least fifty if not more harpies, who were sitting on the rocks all around them like some kind of strange flock of birds. The image from his dream came to mind but this time he could see them clearly.
The harpies were all of different colors, some bore brown feathers others brighter or darker variants but all in all they looked very similar to the first one they had seen.
¡°This is not ideal,¡± Silas grumbled.
¡°We probably shouldn''t have murdered the first one we met instantly. I think we made them mad,¡± Sola commented a little tense.
Six to one were not that bad of odds for a mage and augmenter group but fighting against such a large flock of flying enemies on such rugged terrain could prove dangerous for their lack of experience in this kind of terrain.
¡°We can''t draw this out too much or we will get more unwanted attention,¡± Zeke said, ¡°I say shock tactic, scare them off with a show of power.¡±
¡°Sounds good,¡± Geron agreed but a distant but still loud roar stopped anyone from moving.
Michael had heard it before, and his gaze instantly went to the sky where two small dots started to become bigger and bigger.
Chapter 70.
Michael
The two wyverns descended with an ear-shattering roar, forcing the harpies to take flight and scatter.
Just a few meters above ground the scaled beasts began beating their wings and, stopping their fall, unleashed a storm wind causing Michael to be knocked against a stone, his escort to hunker down, and the harpies to fly around confused with many crashing back into the group from the pressure.
Geron was in front of Michael a moment later, sheltering the boy from the wind with his own body.
High-pitched screeching of the harpies joined in with the growling of the wyverns in a cacophony that threatened to rip Michael¡¯s ears apart, he couldn''t help but press his hands on his ears to protect them.
The harpies tried to scatter once more after they had reoriented themselves, but the scaled beasts didn''t give them time to breathe. Michael saw a harpy being ripped in half by the mighty jaws of one of the wyverns while another was helplessly being carried in its claws.
The other wyvern was continually beating its wings to keep the harpies from flying away with the air pressure but none of them seemed to have much interest in the humans that were taking cover between the rocks.
Raging for a few moments more the swarm of harpies was nearly cut in half before the wyvern seemed to have had enough and allowed the remaining harpies to flee.
Michael stared at the beasts as they both landed and turned toward the humans; he could see the details much better now that they weren''t a flurry of death and blood.
They looked much like the drawings he had seen of them before with their sharp snout and horns that adorn their head like a slanted crown. The bigger of the two was covered in light brown scales while the other was more grayish, but both of their eyes were the color of amber and had a slit like a cat''s eye.
They used their wings as additional limbs to balance themselves on the rock and their tail moved slowly from side to side as they watched the humans with curious eyes.
¡°They look at us like their next dinner,¡± Silas growled and readjusted his grip on his spear which now looked pitifully short against the nearly six-meter-high and fifteen-meter-long wyverns.
¡°What are they waiting for,¡± Erhen pushed out between his teeth while pointing an arrow at the grey wyvern.
Michael wasn''t as fazed by the beasts as the rest for some reason and his eyes were fixated on the eyes of the bigger one, a feeling of safety pushed into his mind.
[Follow them,] the rumbling voice that he had heard many times before appeared in his mind. [They will bring you to the answer.]
The young lord didn''t react at first, was he to trust the voice in this situation? They might just lead him into a nest and feed him and his compatriots to their offspring.
[Have faith, young human. I haven''t helped you this far just to have you become lunch,] the voice said with amusement ringing clearly.
Michael frowned for a moment, he wasn''t a fan of not even having his thoughts to himself when dealing with the voices but resigned himself to the situation with a sigh, he had come all the way up here trusting that he would find something worthwhile, he wouldn''t stand down now.
¡°Put down your weapons,¡± he declared loudly, ¡°These are our guides.¡±
The situation was eerily silent for a moment as heads turned his way and the wyvern cocked their heads like puppies before a sheer barrage of frantic shouts and exclamations made it hard to understand any single person.
¡°STOP,¡± Michael shouted, causing everyone to shut up and look at him with big eyes.
¡°I will leave it open to any one of you to go back down the mountain, but I will keep going up until I find what I am looking for and I am going with those two,¡± he pointed at the still curious wyverns.
¡°Milord, this is madness. You can''t seriously think that these beasts are here to help us. They will attack the moment we show them our backs,¡± Geron began to talk with an urgent tone.
¡°Then go down the mountain,¡± Michael stared the man down. ¡°I have my reasons to trust them and if you can''t trust my judgment then you don''t have to follow me on this quest.¡±
His words hit the knight like a hammer strike and Michael felt bad the moment he had spoken them but he wouldn''t be able to convince them with words, no matter how hard he tried.
¡°I will never abandon my duty, not even when I think that this path is folly,¡± Geron growled and took a step back.
¡°And I never expected you to, but I mean it, I will not hold it against anyone if you don''t want to be part of this,¡± he turned to the rest of his escort, but their faces hardened the moment he did and determination replaced the uncertainty, no one would back out on this day.
Michael nodded, turned back to the two-winged beasts, and said, ¡°We are ready to go.¡± The bigger one cocked his head again and continued looking at him.
He doesn''t understand me, of course, Michael thought to himself and simply began walking up the mountain. The wyverns seemed to understand and also started stomping up the rocky surface showing surprising skill in scaling the uneven terrain for something that can fly.
As they continued up the mountain, Michael could still feel the tension and hostility of his entourage until Sola stepped up next to him and started talking.
¡°Michael? What exactly is happening here? This is beyond strange.¡±
Michael wasn''t happy about all of this either, before he could have explained everything by saying that he felt the mana or something, Kiran and Sola might not have believed him but everyone else would. Now with the wyvern escorting them and him not knowing what to say, it was understandable that everyone was confused and eager to know what exactly was happening.
¡°I can''t really tell you; I just have a feeling that this is the right way and that we will find answers once we reach our destination,¡± he replied and hoped that the priestess would accept this vague explanation which of course she did not.
¡°You have a feeling? How does it feel?¡±
¡°I can''t tell you,¡± he repeated. ¡°I feel like I have seen this all before and that I have walked this path already,¡± he mixed his lie with the truth to sound as convincing as possible.
Sola walked in silence, next to him for a few seconds while seemingly trying to muster some courage before speaking up again, ¡°Could it be that you are being manipulated?¡±
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She had unknowingly hit very close to the truth and cut right into the chink that Michael had also been battling with for years now, was the voice one of a demon? Did Father Albion see the truth all these years ago? Michael continued to refuse to believe this to be true but that didn''t stop him from wondering.
¡°Would you believe me if I said that Idas was guiding me,¡± he said in an attempt to get her off this path with humor.
She wasn''t amused though. ¡°Are you trying to pull me into a theological discussion to distract me from my question?¡±
¡°I don''t want to think about it,¡± Michael relented and just stared ahead.
The priestess looked at him with a sad expression, she was the first one to be there for him. When his mother was always busy and only really paid much attention when she could dress him up or they had visitors, his father thought him weak, rightfully so in Michael''s opinion, and the twins were beating down on him without anyone protecting him, she came into his life.
Sola had basically raised him, even with the other teachers Michael had, she was the one who was there for him from the beginning. It wasn''t something that was often praised, people talked about his talent with the sword, his magical abilities, or all the knowledge he had accumulated in his young years, but Sola was the one who had built him into a good person.
He could feel her warm mana press against his as she walked next to him, but she didn''t say another word while staying at his side.
Like so they continued their march, seeing herds of horse-sized goats roaming the land and keeping their distance to the wyvern until they finally reached the huge tunnel entrance. It was at least five meters high and wide, and its walls were sparkling with different metallic shines.
¡°We are here. This is the place,¡± Michael said while gazing into the dark.
¡°I can''t help but agree,¡± Kiran added, feeling the abundance of mana flowing out from this opening.
The two wyverns took position on a large ledge to the right of the entrance and laid down, closing their eyes quickly.
[Enter alone,] the rumbling voice sounded in Michael''s head again and he jumped a little bit which thankfully no one noticed.
[Hells no,] he answered in his thoughts aggressively, still having his conversation with Sola in mind, [How stupid do you think I am? I am not gonna walk into a cave on the suggestion of a disembodied voice that I have only moderate trust in without any kind of protection.]
After a short pause, it answered, [Very well, do as you wish.]
Michael began walking into the tunnel and was surprised that no one protested but was quickly overtaken by Geron and Eydis who took the position in the vanguard.
The darkness threatened to drown them but Sola''s magic burst into life, causing the walls to explode in their true beauty. White, purple, red, green, blue, and a myriad of other colors filled the tunnel as the light in Sola''s hand got reflected by the metals and gems in the walls.
Everyone stared at the beautiful spectacle and Geron mumbled barely audible, ¡°Well, no one can say that this expedition wasn''t worth it now.¡±
¡°Heh, one day in here and you won''t ever have to work again,¡± Erhen added with a certain gleam in his eyes.
No one commented on this, but they managed to focus more while continuing down the tunnel. The mana got thicker as they did, and the amount began to flow freely into the humans.
¡°Is this another dungeon,¡± Lance suggested but Kiran shook his head. ¡°The upper region would be swarmed by monsters with an open dungeon like this. It must be a mana refuge or something.¡±
They walked past at least a few hundred meters of similarly stacked walls, maybe even shinier than before until they finally stepped out into a huge cave. A hint of sunlight fell through a massive hole a hundred meters or more above them, but it was only a little. They had taken hours to get to this point and the sun had long passed its zenith.
The cave wasn''t dark by any means though, not only the walls but also the ground was covered in crystalline structures that hummed with power and shed just the faintest amounts of light.
Michael could feel them pull in mana just before releasing it again, it was like the crystals were breathing.
¡°These must be the reason for the high mana concentration here,¡± he said out loud. ¡°They are drawing in massive amounts of mana from all around and releasing it again.¡±
¡°But wouldn''t the mountains around here be starved of mana if these crystals pull in the mana,¡± Sola replied and Michael was stumped for a moment, she was completely right.
Kiran stepped over to one of the larger crystals and put his hand on it while talking, ¡°You are both not wrong, these crystals are extruding much more mana than they are taking in.¡± He stood there for a moment and then turned back with a fire in his eyes that Michael had not seen before. ¡°They pull mana up from down below and release it up here. How is this even possible?¡±
Michael frowned as he looked around, there were hundreds of these crystals here and the mana was thicker than it had been in the dungeon, nearly oppressively so, so why was it that there was not a single monster anywhere?
The whole cavern was suspiciously empty apart from the crystals all around, just ragged stone and minerals filling the walls and the little hill close to the center of the cave, giving them a metallic shine in the light of Sola''s magic and the light of the crystals.
Why are we here, Michael wondered. This is quite the marvel and the wealth that can be found here is great but the only question that is answered is the higher mana density in the mountains and that knowledge gives us little.
[You have finally arrived,] the thundering voice sounded in Michael''s mind again. His escort jumped surprised; it seemed like the voice was talking to all of them this time around.
Before Michael could answer a tremble went through the cavern and even the mana began to shake as if some kind of quake went through it. In the center of the open space, what Michael had identified as a hill or large boulder began to move.
Wings were pulled back, a thick tail scraped over the ground like a serpent, legs thicker than tree trunks smashed into the ground and finally, a huge head with fangs like swords and eyes made out of ice blue swung around to them. The scales that covered this behemoth were metallic grey, the color of unpolished iron to be precise, and the aura that it extruded made Michael stumble back.
The whole beast rose to its feet, easily three times larger than the wyvern they had seen outside, and Michael could feel mana hum in resonance to the power of the beast, it was so far out of their league that it was nearly comedic.
Michael''s shocked expression was mirrored tenfold on the faces of every human present as they stared at the armored creature finally settling down again to face them.
¡°It''s a dragon,¡± Lance said, being the first to mutter anything at all.
[Correct, young knight. I am Ferrekxan, the earth dragon.]
Michael frowned when he heard the name, something was familiar about it and the dragon''s gaze swung over to him when he felt his question.
¡°Why is your name so familiar,¡± Michael asked it out loud nonetheless for the benefit of his companions.
[Interesting, your dwarven teacher seems to have taught you of their beginnings in great detail,] the dragon sounded more intrigued than anything and with his words, Michael finally realized where he knew the name from.
¡°You are the Ferrekxan, one of the ancient earth dragons that guided the dwarves when they first came into this world, the Iron Dragons,¡± he said with wide eyes.
[I am. I just wonder what version of the story your teacher has told you.]
¡°The Iron Dragons took the dwarves under their wings and taught them everything about mining and working with what they mined. In the end, the dwarves and dragons began to fight over the treasures because of greed from both sides, and the two races split apart,¡± Michael recalled the lesson about dwarven history.
[I am surprised that the dwarf actually admitted that it was their fault as well. Hm, our races have indeed been at odds to say lightly since then, wounds have been made that can never be mended and both us and the dwarves have long memories.] The dragon extruded an aura of regret that resonated through this strange mental connection.
¡°Excuse me, great dragon,¡± Kiran interjected into the conversation. ¡°I don''t want to interrupt but I am ... how do I say it, a tad curious how a literal dragon is able to exist in these times and how in the thirteen hells, Lord Rowan came to know of your existence.¡± He sounded a little bit hysteric as he slightly flailed his hands around pointing at everything.
His hysteria was mirrored in every man and woman present with most of them being frozen in place, Sola mumbling prayers of protection, and Eydis sizing the beast up and then looking back to the tunnel, trying to judge if they could make it out of here before the dragon murdered them all.
A rumbling laugh rolled through their minds which was mirrored by a throaty sound coming from Ferrekxan. Everyone froze once more at the sound until the dragon spoke once more.
[Did you think we would just die out because of a cataclysm? It wasn¡¯t my first and won¡¯t be my last! But it seems like there is a lot to talk about, little ones. Be assured you are in no danger.]
¡°It doesn''t really matter. There would be nothing we could do against you anyway,¡± Silas replied with a dry chuckle.
Michael agreed but the magical creature didn''t faze him as much as the rest, it might have been his contact with it over the years or the sense of safety it gave him. What could possibly harm him with an ancient dragon watching over him, one of the most powerful magical beings in recorded history? If it wanted him dead, why even worry?
¡°Then let''s talk,¡± Michael simply said with a smile and looked into the dragon''s eyes.
Chapter 71.
Michael
It didn''t take long for the knights to make camp in the cave which Ferrekxan had identified as an inactive volcano. They had all gotten way more relaxed after the short starting conversation and the story about the dragons helping the dwarves, but Michael could still sense a certain tension in all their movements that refused to go away.
Michael was now sitting on a rock in front of the dragon and looked up at its scaled face.
¡°So, how is this possible,¡± Michael repeated the question that Kiran had asked earlier, ¡°We met a four-skull monster in a dungeon a few weeks back but that was a guardian. I understand that these crystals are pulling up mana but how does that work.¡±
[Hmm, it is very old magic, and you wouldn''t be able to replicate it even if I told you how it worked,] the dragon said in his mind.
¡°Why is that?¡±
[When the last cataclysm ended, it was quite the surprise. We were at the height of mana, most fronts had been shattered, and many of the surviving races were pulling back to try to weather the storm of monsters and demons in hiding or their fortresses., the Idas fanatics were throwing themselves at the demons in a crazed rage together with his divine servants, and the monsters were consuming everything that had mana in them. This cataclysm would have been a victory for the invaders. Then the mana suddenly started to drop rapidly. It should have stayed up for a long time yet and declined slowly but it just dropped like someone had pulled the plug from a barrel.]
Michael wasn''t sure because the dragon''s face was much more rigid than anyone he had ever seen, but it looked like he was frowning.
[I had to quickly find a place to hibernate, I wouldn¡¯t have reached my home in time and came about this volcano. It wasn''t the mana refuge I needed but once I let my mana seep into the earth and guided its path, I managed to create one. With the side effect that earth affinity mana began to disperse into the surrounding mountain range for nearly a thousand years.]
¡°So, these crystals are created by you?¡±
Ferrekxan nodded, [I used the atmospheric mana together with mine to enchant the crystals that were already here to pull in enough mana to sustain me. It was barely enough.]
¡°Did that also cause the riches in the tunnel,¡± Michael continued his line of questioning.
[The high concentration of earth mana has changed the whole area. Tougher stone, more minerals, and higher mana conductivity in everything, it is actually not as much that it is higher more like it retained many of their properties from the cataclysm that would have been lost. It is a treasure trove for your people,] the dragon fixated his gaze on Michael and the boy felt expectations weigh on him.
It was a little bit like in dungeons with affinity mana, it could change the land if it was strong enough and remained. Life mana would cause dense forests with much wildlife, while death mana for example would cause nature to die and corpses to come back as undead.
¡°So, I was right about the dreams,¡± excitement flowed through Michael as he understood what the dragon was saying. ¡°There are riches in this whole part of the mountains for us to exploit?¡±
[That is one reason why I called you here.]
¡°But why? Why me, you could have called my father or anyone else. I am just a kid?¡±
The dragon made the laughing noise again which sounded like rolling stones which caused the other humans to stop what they were doing and look at them before resuming their tasks.
[You will need much more training to lie over a mind bridge, young human. I can feel your thoughts, you and I both know that you are special. Your soul is burning brighter than a dozen others and your mind is as alien as I have ever seen in a mortal.]
Michael was quiet for a moment, he knew that Ferrekxan was talking to him privately, but he still didn''t like to discuss this topic with anyone. He resolved himself nonetheless, if he couldn''t talk with a literal dragon that was thousands of years old then he wouldn''t be able to find anyone to talk to about this.
[Do you know what makes me so different,] he began talking in his mind. [I have been asked that question and have been asking myself that for years now. Is this also something you have done?]
A mental sigh reached Michael before the Ferrekxan talked again, [I know this is not what you want to hear but I have also no definitive answer to your uniqueness. I felt the moment that you awakened, like a star being born in the night sky. In truth, you are the reason why I awoke, I felt a disruption in the aura of the world, and that disruption was you. If I had been awake before I could have told you how it came to be in more detail but being just awoken, I had to find you first.]
Michael slumped down with disappointment at the ancient dragon''s words.
[I tried to find more insights many times, but I have been repelled by your soul on any occasion I strayed too close.]
[But you are a dragon! You are one of the most powerful beings in existence, how could my little soul repel you,] Michael exclaimed confused.
[It is something that I have pondered about for quite some time as well. I have seen mighty heroes and champions of gods or other patrons become mighty enough to easily repel my modest abilities but for someone at your age and with neither training nor intention to do this is giving me cause to pause,] Ferrekxan sounded like he was lost in thought with his thoughts trailing of and splintered pictures of humans and other races virtually glowing with strength being projected into Michael''s consciousness.
[Oh, my apologies,] the dragon said when he noticed what he had let slip.
Michael frowned but didn''t push it.
[Do you think it has something to do with the other voice?]
[I am certain of it,] he nodded. [I have noticed it in your mind from time to time, but I was never able to find its origin, but I am quite confident that it is part of your being.]
Michael fidgeted a little bit while he prepared to ask the question that had haunted him for the last few years.
[No,] Ferrekxan simply said before Michael could utter it. [The other voice is not one of a demon. As you might imagine, I have quite thoroughly searched your mind for any signs of corruption or tampering but I have found nothing. I may not be the strongest in matters of mind magic, but I don''t think that the demons would have been able to hide their tracks when influencing you from a whole different sphere of existence so thoroughly.]
He slumped down again but this time from relief. Of course, Michael had been told numerous times that it wasn''t likely or that nothing could be found but to have the assurances of an ancient dragon simply had a different weight than from human mages.
¡°Wait you said something about mind magic? I never heard about that and on that topic, how are you even talking to me in my head,¡± Michael said out loud, the previous subject much less interesting now that the dragon had assured him that he wasn''t a demon child. He was of course still interested in the identity of the strange old man in his mind, but Ferrekxan knew as little as he did apparently, so it didn''t matter for now.
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[I am not surprised that your teacher didn''t or couldn''t tell you about it,] there was no hint of superiority in his mind voice, he was just stating facts. [Most forms of magic have certain sub-schools; they are still a part of the same mana but just some abilities are so different from others that they get categorized in different schools for ease of management. Illusions for light and darkness magic for example or ice for water magic.]
Michael nodded to show his understanding.
[Pure mana is the most flexible of the types of mana and has many sub-schools, mind magic for example is the art of imprinting your intent on your mana and projecting it into the mind of another being who then has to interpret the mana. It would fall in the category of blessing or curse if you will, depending on if the receiving entity wants the mental message, you have never resisted in any way.]
¡°Okay, that makes sense but how are you reading my thoughts when I am not sending you my intentions?¡±
[That is a much more difficult process. Your whole being is controlled by your mind and your thoughts resonate in your mana as well, I can read your mana with mine and interpret your thoughts from it. It is less clear than if you would send me your thoughts directly but in turn, it is hard for you to hide anything you think about.]
Michael couldn''t even imagine how difficult it would be to read one''s thoughts from their mana. In his eyes, it was just looking like a swirling mass. His eyes then caught on one of the crystals behind the dragon and a thought struck him.
¡°Wait a moment. You said this mind magic was a sub-school of pure mana, right?¡±
The dragon nodded, which was a huge movement in comparison to Michael''s small body.
¡°But you also said that you used earth mana to create this sanctuary and flooded the mountains with it. That means you have multiple affinities.¡±
[Yes, I have an earth and pure mana affinity.]
¡°Kiran taught me that it is supremely difficult to have multiple affinities because the mana repels one another and you can only have an elemental and an arcane affinity,¡± Michael remembered the lesson well, Kiran had told him about the time that he tried to unravel life affinity and had failed.
[That is not entirely true. Mortals can have only one elemental affinity, but they can theoretically learn all arcane ones even if that is practically impossible due to the initial difficulty and its increase with every new affinity. You people also don''t live as long to make it feasible to learn more than one or two if you are very talented. Magical creatures can have multiple elemental affinities, depending on their species, and there are those races that have the power, longevity, and intellect to learn many arcane affinities.]
The picture of a leather-skinned creature appeared in Michael''s mind. Its body was quite small in comparison with its head, but it looked like a lizard.
[This one, in particular, is someone I knew two thousand years ago, he managed to have seven affinities, which nearly ripped him apart though. Even for a dragon more than four or five are risky.]
They continued to talk about differing subjects until silence fell on their conversation for a minute.
It didn''t take long for Michael''s thoughts to wander until they fell to his comrades who were currently making dinner while throwing glances in their direction.
¡°Why are you helping us, by the way? Are we the new race that you want to build up or what is the reason?¡±
[Haven''t you guessed it already?] Ferrekxan looked at him with curiosity in his eyes, but Michael simply frowned, he didn''t believe in the reasoning he had said.
[The mana is returning; it will lead to another cataclysm and we dragons need allies. You humans are the closest ones, but your race has devolved majorly, you are weak. So, I will help you to become strong again for the upcoming catastrophe.]
Michael nodded along as he let the words sink into his mind. ¡°Are you saying that the next cataclysm is going to be in my lifetime?¡±
Ferrekxan moved his body in a way that Michael interpreted as a shrug before answering, [I can''t say. Whatever you humans did to end the last cataclysm has thrown all my knowledge about how the mana cycle works down the chasm. It might happen in the next few decades or the next centuries, depending on how fast the mana returns. Whenever it is, I want you to advance humanity and return it to its former glory or even exceed it. Your mind is special, and you have already started with what I ask you to do without my interference.]
Michael stayed silent and pondered about what this could mean and the destruction a cataclysm would bring. Humanity had survived one but that was more due to something shady that we did, and no one even knew what it was exactly.
Now here he was, an eleven-year-old count sitting in front of a thousands of years old dragon who told him that he had to revolutionize humanity. It was like a fairy tale that would be told to children to get them to believe that even the smallest person can make a difference.
[This is certainly a lot for you to handle, so think about it. If you agree and do what I say then I will lead you on your journey to become what you and humanity are meant to be.]
¡°No,¡± Michael replied instantly.
[No?] Ferrekxan moved his head up a little bit, looking down at the child.
¡°I will not give the reigns to you. I will not leave the future of humanity in your hands. I will continue doing whatever I can to protect those that I am responsible for and if you want to help me with that then you are most welcome but I will not become your tool,¡± Michael held eye contact with the dragon knowing fully well that the magical being could kill him in a moment and there was no one that could stop him but he had lived with the feeling of being controlled for too long to now submit to it willingly.
[Do you think that you know better than I do,] the dragon asked him after a full ten seconds of staring.
¡°I most certainly do not but it is my life and my people we are talking about.¡±
Ferrekxan raised a claw and let it tap the surface of the rocky ground in a much too human motion as he thought.
[Fine, little human. You have the drive to advance all on your own, so I will accept your conditions and will help you with my counsel and knowledge. Be warned though, if you prove to become an obstacle to my plans, then I will destroy you.]
Michael didn''t doubt the words of the dragon for one moment and, even though it might seem ridiculous to a bystander, he replied with fire in his eyes, ¡°I take this warning and return it in kind, dragon. Should you ever threaten my people, I will not stop at anything to see you dead before my feet.¡±
The glint in Michael''s eyes was quickly mirrored in the frost blue ones of the dragon. [You will do well, child.]
¡°Then let''s talk about what you are willing to share,¡± Michael replied with a smile.
Sola
Sola stole another glance in the direction of the iron-colored dragon while sitting around the fire with Geron and Kiran.
¡°Stop it, Sola,¡± Geron said without looking up from his sword.
¡°They have been at it for over an hour already. Shouldn''t one of us stay with him at least? We have no idea what kind of thoughts that thing is putting in Michael''s head,¡± she argued and fiddled with her Idas brooch.
Geron sighed and looked up from the rag he was cleaning his sword with to his liege. ¡°The Lord has a mind of his own, he will not be manipulated that easily.¡±
¡°He came up here without fully knowing what was here,¡± Kiran noted. ¡°Not all dragons are forces of good. I agree with the priestess that we should be careful and talk to Lord Rowan after we get out of here but there is little, we can do about it right now.¡±
Sola frowned a little, she knew that Michael was headstrong, and she did trust him, but this was a real dragon they were talking about.
Before she could say much more on the topic, Michael rose from the spot he had barely moved from for a while and made his way into the camp. He walked straight over to them with a big yawn and sat down close to the campfire.
Kiran handed him a bowl of stew he had made, and the young count dug into it with the fervor of the starving.
Sola couldn''t contain her curiosity for long before speaking up, ¡°What did the dragon say?¡±
¡°He will support us with his knowledge and allow us to mine the middle and lower regions, but we are to stay away from the upper region, wyverns, and the whir-beasts,¡± after a short moment where the others looked at him confused, he added, ¡°The goat/sheep animals. They are the main food for the wyverns and Ferrekxan.¡±
¡°What about the harpies and wyverns, won''t they raid us or eat our service animals,¡± Geron asked.
¡°The wyverns regard Ferrekxan as their leader, from what I have gathered they will be peaceful with us as long as we are. Ferrekxan has also offered to task his wyverns with thinning out the harpies so that they won''t be a threat to us.¡±
Geron nodded in thought. ¡°That will make the operation much easier if we don''t have to control the upper region. We should be able to complete it in the next weeks, I think, depending on how much the beasts of the middle region weaken each other and how many casualties we want to risk.¡±
¡°Will there be enough mineral riches to make this whole venture worth it if we keep away from the source,¡± Kiran asked while rubbing his chin.
Michael smiled back, ¡°You have no idea.¡±
The glint of satisfaction and pride in Michael''s eyes took a lot of the wind out of Sola''s worries but she just couldn''t stop herself from thinking that this dragon couldn''t have these benevolent tendencies.
¡°What does he want in return,¡± Sola asked and tried her best to not let her feelings about the dragon resonate in her voice.
Michael turned to her, and worry began to overshadow his satisfaction.
¡°For us to become strong,¡± he answered.
Chapter 72.
- Somewhere in the lower region ¨C
¡°Unit three, support unit six,¡± guard lieutenant Vaaren yelled as he directed his men in the defense of outpost six-four. The ten men of unit three hurry to charge over to the earth rampart where unit six was desperately trying to keep an ogre from climbing over it.
Vaaren let his gaze flow over the front line where half a dozen starving ogres were currently trying to break into their fort to finally get some sustenance.
They were hideous creatures; four meters tall with muscle-packed limbs and faces that not even a mother could love. Their brownish skin was thick but not as thick as their heads. There was no way that they could break into this fort with their numbers, but they were getting desperate.
A virtual rain of rocks fell on the frontline and Vaaren could see at least one of his men getting felled by a head-sized rock.
¡°Archers! Focus your arrows on the rock lobber,¡± the lieutenant yelled and made sure that his shield was attached properly to his arm in case the brutes would return fire.
There was only one ogre that was smart enough to understand that throwing rocks was a better idea than trying to overcome the three-meter-tall earthworks lined by humans with spears.
The rock lobber was quickly peppered in arrows, but the size of the brute meant that they needed to hit specific places to inflict any kind of real damage with arrows.
The first ogre fell a short time later, even the big fellas wouldn''t keep on their feet with a spear thrown in the eye. In return, Vaaren could see that one of his men took one step forward too much, had gotten grabbed at the leg, and was unceremoniously smashed against the very earth rampart he was just standing on a moment earlier.
It would probably take a couple of minutes of fighting to get these lugs off his wall, at least it would have if it wasn''t for this huge hammer-swinging woman who appeared out of the woods and smashed the rock lobber''s skull in from behind.
Behind her followed the rest of her silver-ranked adventurer group and proceeded to annihilate the small group of distracted meatheads.
Lieutenant Vaaren stepped out from his overlooking position and onto the earth rampart, looking down on the adventurers.
¡°Good to see you, Miss Clara,¡± he called out to her and saluted by smashing his fist to his chest.
The part-giant woman simply looked up and with what looked like no effort at all jumped up to the top of the earth hill.
¡°Heya, Vaaren. Another group, huh? You guys should probably have a knight or two stationed here with the frequent attacks on this fort,¡± the adventurer said in her informal way.
Vaaren scoffed with a little smile before replying, ¡°The guard will do their job. It might not always be as pretty as you mana-fueled maniacs slaughtering your way through, but we get things done.¡±
¡°Don''t worry, we maniacs will try to get your asses out of the fire if you can''t handle it anymore,¡± she smirked, and the lieutenant couldn''t help but do the same.
¡°I do prefer to have you on my side than on the other that much is for sure.¡±
Clara gave him a rare genuine smile and lightly punched his shoulder, ¡°The feeling is mutual, little guy.¡±
Vaaren looked over the battlefield and noticed that there were still corpses from the previous engagement lying around that they hadn''t managed to get rid of before these six ogres had arrived.
¡°The attacks are definitely becoming more frequent and much more desperate. I assume that we will start moving in and hunting down what is left in the middle region soon,¡± Vaaren thought loudly.
¡°Once the little lordling returns maybe,¡± Clara answered and got a surprised expression from the guardsman in response.
¡°What do you mean? Has Lord Rowan gone anywhere?¡±
¡°Yeah, I heard from some colleagues that he ventured into the upper region, the little bugger,¡± she ignored the annoyed expression to her disrespect. ¡°Heard about a couple of groups that want to go up there exploring before everything is claimed by him too.¡±
Vaaren looked up the mountains while lost in thought, they were hardly visible between the trees though and wondered what could have drawn the young count up there.
Michael
Michael hated that he had to leave so soon already when the sun hit his face. They had spent the night in the volcano but after another short conversation, they needed to get going. It had been risky to go up here in the first place and staying away without a word for longer than a day always had the risk that the knights and guards would get antsy and start looking for them. Doubly so after what happened in the dungeon a few weeks back. And so, they were now standing at the tunnel entrance looking down and the view was phenomenal.
The two wyverns were again or still resting on the stone plateau next to the tunnel entrance and had lifted their heads when the humans had exited. The brown one nudged Michael with his head to the horror of his guard but Michael told them to stay back and gave the wyvern a careful pat on the back of the nose.
He then turned around and gave everyone an intense stare. ¡°Listen up. No one here will lose a single word about Ferrekxan and the wealth we have found up here. I will decree that this area will be off-limits by the threat of death and say that I made a deal with an intelligent alpha wyvern. That is our story and that is what has happened up here, am I understood?¡±
Everyone nodded, most were just glad to be going home and the rest knew that it would be only trouble if anyone found out that there was a living dragon in these mountains sitting on a treasure trove of riches.
¡°Good, let''s go home.¡±
The way down the upper region was much more relaxed with two wyverns leading the group to the treeline. Michael waved them goodbye and then made his way back to camp, Geron and the others had to cut down a couple of monsters in the middle region that threw themselves at the group in desperation but other than that nothing happened on the way down.
Once back in camp, Michael went straight to the command tent to put the upper region into lockdown and had that ruling communicated with all relevant parties.
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¡°Well, I think it is time to return to Reen,¡± Michael said while leaning back in his seat.
¡°Huh,¡± Geron couldn''t help but perk up and look at his liege with suspicion. ¡°We are not done with everything, and you want to leave?¡±
¡°Everything that is left is cleaning up, you don''t need me for that;¡± Michael replied with an amused expression.
Before Geron could say anything else, Lance entered and announced that the dwarven survey team was waiting outside.
¡°Ah, they have finally arrived,¡± Michael said, quickly got up, and went outside to see a group of dwarves followed by a similarly sized group of human teenagers and young adults.
Greetings were exchanged between Michael and the leader of the group Zinnel before they got right to the main topic.
¡°We have confirmed that there should be mineral riches in the mountains, I will leave it to you to find them and report back,¡± Michael told the dwarf. They had been one of the most important hirings that Michael had made in Garekha, even if they weren''t able to find expert craftsmen, having an expert group of miners and surveyors would yield a tremendous fortune from what he had seen in the mountains.
¡°Aye, will do, Lord Rowan,¡± Zinnel answered with a heavy rustic accent and played with the silver jewelry in his grey beard.
Michael was taken aback for a moment; he had been called Lord Rowan by most in the last months but somehow this one hit him. He had to think of his father and a blunt pain went through his heart.
What would father think of what I am doing here, he thought. Michael had managed to not think too much about his family lately with all the work he never was able to let his thoughts wander much anyway.
He imagined Lord Cedric Rowan sitting behind his desk looking over the reports of the Ereic Mountain Invasion and commenting on inefficiencies and errors.
¡°It would be faster if we didn''t have to bring the wee lads with us,¡± Zinnel''s voice ripped Michael out of his thoughts and back into reality.
¡°I am sorry. What did you say?¡±
The dwarf looked at him with a frown and pointed at the group of humans that had followed him. ¡°It would go faster if we didn''t have to train the humans on the job.¡±
¡°Oh, yes. You know very well that training new personnel will only be a temporary loss of efficiency and a much greater increase later on,¡± Michael replied.
The dwarf waved him off, ¡°Ye ye, I know. It is part of our contract so we will do what we have to either way.¡±
¡°Good. Do you have everything you need?¡±
Zinnel looked back to a female dwarf, and she nodded. ¡°Should be fine. It is not dwarven quality, but we will do just fine. If these mountains are so full of treasure as you say, then we should be able to unearth some veins easily, and once Farel and Waren have set up shop we should get better equipment to find the more elusive veins.¡±
¡°Alright then, I look forward to your reports. You will have full autonomy about where you start and where to establish the first mines, but the upper layer is off-limits and I would appreciate it if you could start with something that will make us some money quickly if you manage to find something,¡± Michael said with a slight smile. He was sure that he would get a lot of grief from his steward once he returned regarding the treasury and debts they were in now.
Zinnel laughed and replied, ¡°We will try to dig up something good for you, lad.¡±
Mira
Mira sneaked through the corridors making sure that no one saw her. She was supposed to be present at some kind of event of the young nobles in the capital, but she just couldn''t stand having all of them fawn over her and pretentious idiot Julius Wulfen.
She knew that the servants were on the lookout for her so she chose to hide where they would never expect her, in the council wing. She normally stayed away from it to not be pulled into politics or be stopped by some old man talking to her about his sons.
With a sigh Mira dipped into the council chambers, she knew that Zen was currently training so they should be empty right now. It was richly decorated, in the way of House Merland, with many lions and a lot of silver with high-quality dark wood to make the silver stand out even more.
She liked this room; it reminded her of her father who had often let her sit on his lap while in a meeting.
¡°I miss you, Dad,¡± she mumbled to herself. Things had just not been the same since he had died, Zen was doing the best he could, but he was pressured from all sides and even if he would never admit it without Lord Cedric here, he was vulnerable to outside influence.
She walked around the council table and let her fingers run across the intricate carvings. This room perfectly mirrored how she felt, it was once home but now she was alone in it. Her mother was mostly concerned with Zen, her father was gone, and her friends were either busy all the time or far away.
Heavy steps pulled her out of her thoughts, and she scrambled to hide behind the heavy curtains. Mira breathed slowly as two men entered the chamber.
¡°It is a concerning development down south. I have gotten numerous strange reports from Reen and Emall,¡± the first man said, Mira didn''t recognize the voice though.
They are talking about Michael''s land, Mira thought and listened closely.
¡°Yes, apparently Lord Rowan''s mad quest into the Ereic Mountains has been a success. That is indeed concerning, if the predictions that my spies have reported to me are true, then we will see a massive rise in wealth and strength in Reen and Emall and in extension the Duchy of Praanen,¡± the voice sent a shiver through Mira, she knew it all too well, it was Duke Leopold Wulfen. She clasped her hands in front of her mouth, he was the last person she wanted to be caught by.
He had this scary way about him, the way he talked with a total lack of emotion and his eyes seemingly piercing right into one¡¯s soul. Mira shuddered which sent a ripple through her hiding spot. She held her breath for a moment, but it didn¡¯t appear as if anyone had noticed.
¡°Having that backwater duchy rise in power might interfere with my plans and that can''t be allowed,¡± Lord Wulfen continued in a dangerous voice.
¡°I heard that there is a large faction of nobles who are not happy with the way the young Lord Rowan is running things. We could support them and put more kindling into their grievances to bring them on a course of confrontation with their liege, that should stunt his growth effectively,¡± the other voice suggested, and Mira continued to listen with growing horror.
¡°Let''s keep that option open,¡± Lord Wulfen answered calmly. ¡°I have another idea which might be able to make their advantage into ours. For now, we will wait and see if our information proves to be correct should it be, then we will be prepared to choke out the kindling in the south if we must.¡±
I need to tell Zen and Michael about this, Mira thought but still kept quiet until she could no longer hear the two men.
She then hurried out and nearly ran into her knight Antreos Lampert.
¡°Your Highness, there you are. I have been looking for you all over the palace,¡± he said and frowned when he saw the tears in her eyes. ¡°What happened, milady?¡±
She told the knight everything she had heard about how Lord Wulfen and another man wanted to incite unrest in Michael''s land and that Lord Wulfen wanted to do something against him.
¡°You should keep this to yourself, milady,¡± the knights said with a hard expression.
¡°Why would I do that?! I need to tell Zen; he needs to put a stop to this!¡±
The knight shook his head at the emotional girl with the patience that he always exuded. ¡°It would only do more harm than good. His Majesty King Zenial''s rule leans strongly on Duke Wulfen at the moment so he won''t be able to do anything about a vague threat and noble squabbles. Everything that telling him would achieve right now is pitting him against his strongest supporter, however selfish this supporter might be, and expose yourself for having listened.¡±
¡°I need to tell him anyway. Michael is our friend and Zen should know,¡± Mira spat back and began running. The knight was easily keeping up with her, but she ignored him, and he didn''t try to stop her.
She ran through one corridor after another, dodging startled servants until she reached the training square where Zen was currently sparing with Sir Gavin Strom.
¡°Brother, I need to talk to you,¡± she said after catching her breath, but he didn''t listen to her.
¡°Brother! Zen!¡±
¡°I am a little busy, Mira,¡± he replied while blocking a strike of the knight commander.
¡°It is really important.¡±
She managed to distract him so much that he didn''t react fast enough and got a strike against his upper leg as a reward. He cursed in pain and whirled around to his sister.
¡°Dammit, Mira! Can''t you see that I am busy?! I don''t have time for your childish behavior!¡±
Mira stared at her brother with tears in her eyes and his anger quickly vanished, but it was too late already.
Sir Antreos was right, Zen doesn''t care, she thought, remembering what had happened when Michael¡¯s family died. Zen would put his duty as king first and she couldn¡¯t change that. She turned around and ran away before her brother could say anything else.
¡°Mira, I''m sorry. Come back!¡± Zen''s calls went unanswered as Mira stormed away.
If Zen won''t help me then I will have to protect Michael myself, Mira thought angrily and hurt.
Chapter 73.
Michael
The scratching of a feather on paper and the aroma of a cup of tea in a room filled with books and reports. That was the life that Michael yearned for, he liked fighting, it gave him a different sort of rush, but here in his father''s office, he found true peace.
His hand stopped for a moment, he still had trouble calling this his office. It was much like his father had left it; the books Michael had brought were mostly placed on the ground with rugs beneath them to cover the ground. Other than that Michael had changed little, there was still the large table in the center covered in maps, the broad wooden table he was sitting on now, the chair that his father had used with an extra box placed on it to let the small boy sit there. The few trophies that his father had deemed worthy to be hung on his empty walls and above all the magical nameless longsword.
With a smile, he looked at the sword and let his mana flow toward the blade to hear its ring as it greedily drank it. He didn''t give it too much and for a moment he imagined feeling disapproval from the blade before he turned back to the documents in front of him.
Michael straightened them and his gaze stuck to his hands, they were spotted with small scars like patches of singed flesh turned nearly black. The price he had to pay for his reckless use of mana nearly two months ago. His hands had healed well according to Sola, but these scars were for life.
Sola had suggested that he could use thin gloves to hide them, but Michael wasn''t ashamed, it was a battle wound that he was proud of, even if he inflicted it himself. It didn''t matter to him much but at least he was back to training again even if it had become more stressful to get training and work balanced.
A knock dragged Michael out of his thoughts and in came a middle-aged man. He was dressed conservatively but still had an aura of elegance. He was the start of a solution to his work problem because even if Solon and others had helped him, they just couldn''t put their own duties off to aid with the paperwork and schedule. Michael and the counties needed trained personnel who could deal with the amount of paperwork that was needed for a well-functioning realm and Parcival was the first.
¡°Milord, Mister Farel and Mister Waren have arrived and are waiting in the council chambers for you,¡± Parcival said with a small bow. It had proven rather difficult to find someone who could read and write to an acceptable degree and also possessed the intellect and personality to do this work without annoying Michael. When he had finally nearly given up Parcival had heeded the call, the younger brother of a merchant, and Michael had accepted him into his service.
Schools will be high on the priority list, at least in cities, Michael thought but quickly refocused on the black-haired man in front of him.
¡°Good,¡± he said and handed a stack of papers to the man, ¡°These are done, take care of sending them out, please.¡±
¡°As you wish, milord,¡± he bowed once again and left the room with the letters.
Michael quickly organized his desk, patted down his clothing, and then made his way to the council chamber where Farel and Waren waited for him.
¡°Greetings, Lord Rowan,¡± Waren welcomed him politely.
¡°Heya, Lord,¡± Farel was less polite.
After returning their greetings, Michael stepped to the table where they were waiting. A blanket had been laid on the wood to protect it from the collection of rocks that had been placed upon it, they shone with the telltale sign of minerals.
¡°Ah the first shipment of ores has arrived,¡± Michael assumed and took a good look at them. He could see the coloration of iron, copper, zinc, and to his delight silver. Of course, he knew already what they had found for weeks but to see the first spoils for himself was still a good feeling.
¡°Aye, they started with the silver mine, so we got that mostly, but they sent us samples of the rest for us to test and I have to say this stuff rivals or even exceeds the quality of what comes from dwarven mines,¡± Farel said in his heavy accent.
¡°The purity is excellent even with only a little work and the mana conductivity is very high for these kinds of minerals,¡± Waren added, mirroring but containing the excitement of his brother.
¡°That sounds great. For now, we will make silver ingots and sell them. We are deep in the red and need some money to pay back our debts.¡±
The clearing of the mountains had been extremely expensive between the draining costs of the adventurers, supplies, and other wages; the coffers of the counties would have been emptied multiple times over if it weren''t for the investments of Duke Wallsten and loans of the merchants. Now was a critical moment though, the interests were high, and they needed to get rid of them before they accumulated.
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The operation was not even over yet, they had released the adventurers already and around half of their troops, but the rest were still in the mountains, hunting for hidden survivors and putting down newly spawned monsters, they would have to remain there until civilization had taken hold.
Farel and Waren exchanged gazes and Waren spoke up, ¡°We can definitely work with the amount that is coming through the mines, they are expanding as fast as possible but with the lack of manpower it won''t be overly much.¡±
¡°I know, but miners and trainable men are coming in from all around, I have put out the word in House Rowan¡¯s villages that there is work to good conditions so the worker shortage should be mended as time passes.¡±
¡°Then we have the second problem that this city is not equipped to handle large amounts of raw ore,¡± Waren continued.
¡°That is true. I know you don''t have workplaces on the scale and quality that you are used to right now but once we have some more money on our hands we will invest in smelters and forges as the first point of business,¡± Michael answered, and saw the relief on the dwarves faces. ¡°I know that the mines and your work will be our primary income and I won''t stop until we have achieved its true potential.¡±
Waren nodded and grabbed a tiny shard of the table, ¡°It is good of you to think that way because the true potential in those mountains is vast.¡± He held up the tiny shard between his fingers and something vibrated slightly in the air.
Michael frowned and tried to track down the feeling until he noticed the vibration not in the air but in the mana.
¡°Is that magical ore,¡± Michael asked while staring at it.
¡°Blacksteel,¡± Farel said with a glint in his eyes. ¡°It definitely falls in the category of magical ore. Much denser than regular iron or even steel, it resonates very well with earth mana, an exceptional material for standardized arms and armor, and highly valued in dwarven lands. Zinnel wrote me that he found a large vein up in the middle region but that he doesn''t have to tools to mine it.¡±
Michael nodded as he thought about what that meant, magical ores were rare because they only appeared where there was a high mana density for a long long time. To find one of these materials so quickly and easily promised great things for the future of their mining endeavors.
¡°Okay, get your workers to start with the silver smelting, that has priority right now, but I want you, Farel, to start making enchanted tools for the mines. Whatever riches we might gain from selling silver will be laughable if we can start making tools, weapons, and armor out of magical metal,¡± the fire in Michael''s eyes was met with agreement from the dwarves but Farel had to stump his expectations.
¡°I will do what I can, and I am sure I can make some tools to mine Blacksteel but don''t expect anything clean. The tools and smithy that I have access to here are in no shape to make anything but the most crude enchantments.¡±
Michael could hear the hesitation in the master smith''s voice and tried to soothe his grievances. ¡°I can imagine that is isn''t the kind of work you want to deliver but once we get going, I will make sure to help you build a smithy that can rival the great forges of Garekha.¡±
With his mood raised, they spoke about supplies and extra buildings that they needed to extend their smelting operation before they left shortly after.
¡°That is a relief,¡± Solon noted, and Michael turned to the dwarf who had also been present but had kept quiet the entire time.
¡°It is, now I can hopefully stop Lord Oligan''s complaining about the state of our finances,¡± Michael said with a smile and picked up one of the rocks. Solon stayed quiet and watched while Michael put it back down and turned to the real center of his interest, the shard of unrefined Blacksteel.
Before his inner eye, an army of heavily armored soldiers appeared, each of them clad in the finest Blacksteel armaments. No one would dare to move against them and then they would be safe.
¡°Talking of the nobles, they are getting increasingly frustrated that you take money from the merchants but not from them. That sentiment will only increase now that the extent of the success will become apparent,¡± Solon said and looked at Michael with a wary expression.
Michael scoffed, ¡°With the merchants, I at least know what they want from lending me money. The nobles can have any number of plans and expectations if they help me out. I am not going to listen to them for years to come telling me that I should give them preferential treatment just because they helped me out with the mines and that without them, I would have nothing.¡±
¡°That is certainly what would happen, but I believe you should placate them somewhat. They are your power base, after all, their support will be paramount for your plans.¡±
¡°For now.¡±
¡°Yes, but it won''t help you in any way if you antagonize them, they might even suspect what is to come if you treat them like the enemy,¡± Solon smiled a little, Michael had become rather antagonistic to a large portion of the nobles since he took over the reign, even more than before.
There were a hundred reasons for this, and they peppered him from all sides. Reports of corruption, mismanagement, abuse of power, and so much more reached his ears every day. It was an absolute miracle that they didn''t have a peasant revolt or bandit uprising every year.
¡°Might have to organize a feast or something, hand out a couple of gifts, and pat some backs,¡± Michael replied with a sour gaze that only broadened the dwarf''s smile.
¡°That is one of your responsibilities as the count.¡±
¡°Dammit. I will get the servants on that; we wouldn''t want anyone to feel abandoned.¡± In his head, he already put up a list of nobles that he definitely wanted to come, like Viscount Telp and Lord Ragar, so that he wouldn''t completely be surrounded by morons. He chastised himself a moment later for these thoughts, being this negative about his people was not a good thing, and that was the point the nobles were also his people and he needed to care for them to the same degree he did with the normal people even if they vexed him to no end.
He didn¡¯t stay much longer and returned to his office where he was stopped by Parcival before he could return to work. ¡°Milord, a royal missive has arrived just now,¡± the servant said with a stern expression and handed him a scroll with the royal silver lion sigil.
Michael took it with surprise and after checking that it hadn''t been opened, broke the seal, taking in the content of the long letter.
He read it once and then again before he spat out with searing anger, ¡°You got to be joking?!¡±
Chapter 74.
Michael
Michael sat on the end of the table in the council chambers with his arms crossed and a badly veiled scowl on his face while Solon read the royal order out loud for the council to hear.
¡°His Majesty, King Zenial the First, King of Telios, Silver Lion, and Protector of the Realm, has decreed that the Ereic Mountain range is to be placed into the direct administrations of the crown. The land and resources are hereby property of the royal family of House Merland. Entering and exploitation of the region will be viewed as trespassing and theft of the crown''s resources and punished to the full extent of the law.¡±
¡°Count Michael Rowan, is hereby ordered to come before the king to discuss the arrangements for the management of the new royal fief.¡± Solon carefully put the letter down and took his seat. The chamber was silent while the members absorbed what they had just heard. The council wasn¡¯t fully present with Viscount Telp still residing in Emall to finish up the Ereic Mountain operation.
¡°This is bad,¡± Lord Oligan was the first to break the silence with a simple expression.
¡°We have invested a lot in this operation, will we be able to manage without the mines,¡± Geron followed it up.
¡°It will be rough, the trade with Garekha and the beastmen is only slowly picking up but if it gets going in earnest then we might be able to recuperate our losses in a couple of years,¡± the steward replied with a sour expression. ¡°We will have to raise the taxes to not go bankrupt though.¡±
¡°I don''t know if that is a good idea, the people of these lands are not exactly well off and if we raise the taxes then that will be a blow that they might never recover from,¡± Sola interjected.
¡°We don''t have a choice, we need to pay back the loans,¡± Lord Oligan shook his head.
¡°Stop,¡± Michael said and tapped his finger on the table until all turned toward him. ¡°We are not going to do any of that. The king can''t just take the mountains from us so easily and definitely not without compensation.¡±
¡°We haven''t claimed the mountains regarding the rest of the kingdom. It is not against tradition or the laws for the king to claim them,¡± Solon noted.
Michael pulled an annoyed face at the mention of his oversight. He hadn''t even considered that anyone could be foolish enough to claim the mountains. For everyone but the king it would be equal to a declaration of war, but Zen could push it through if he actually wanted to, something that Michael doubted greatly.
¡°I will not stand for this,¡± he finally said, ¡°I am going to go to the capital and convince the king of the senselessness of the idea. While I do that, you will continue with our work but do not under any circumstances sell any of the produce.¡±
¡°We would be going against the king''s orders,¡± Lord Oligan objected.
¡°As long as we don''t sell it, we can just hand it over if I fail and someone raises the issue. We can''t afford to just stop working for weeks, as you said Lord Oligan, we need the money to pay back our loans and every moment that we do not work is a moment where interests accumulate.¡±
¡°Do we know what prompted the king to make such a move against us,¡± Geron asked.
Michael shook his head while answering, ¡°I have heard little from the capital in the last weeks. I can only imagine that someone has planted the idea into his head.
They discussed the possible reasons and repercussions that this development could have further until Michael grew tired of the discussion.
He looked at each of his council members and rose from his chair causing everyone to fall silent. ¡°Good, I will depart immediately to Praanen. I will need Duke Wallsten''s help to rectify this, send him a messenger with a copy of the order and the information that I am coming to him. Continue your work in my absence and call back Viscount Telp to Reen to take care of matters in my absence.¡±
He left the chamber and marched toward his quarters to gather a few things before his departure, but Solon followed him closely.
¡°Michael,¡± he said with the serious tone that was so uncharacteristic for the old dwarf.
Michael stopped and turned to his mentor, even in his anger he knew better than to ignore when Solon had something important to say.
¡°We will need to talk about how you should approach the negotiations. This is a tense situation and your way of diplomacy ... how to say it, might be a little aggressive for dealing with your liege in this situation.¡± Solon tried to look stern, but he couldn''t hide the glint of amusement from his eyes.
¡°What do you mean aggressive,¡± Michael answered with a raised eyebrow.
¡°Think back to your last diplomatic missions,¡± the dwarf replied. ¡°In Garekha you yelled at them and made a light explosion to get their attention.¡±
Michael scratched his head; they were being rude and didn''t listen to me so what was I supposed to do?
¡°You more or less threatened the Vargr-Sl?kt into a non-aggression and trade agreement after exposing their weakness and beating up the daughter of the chieftain,¡± Solon continued after seeing Michael''s unconvinced expression.
¡°That is taken wildly out of context,¡± Michael protested.
¡°You threatened you know what in the mountains with annihilation from what you have told me.¡±
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Michael stopped for a moment and thought about all these instances with realization washing over him. ¡°That is fair, it is honestly a miracle that no one has murdered me yet.¡±
¡°You seem to have a talent for being rude but getting away with it in negotiations but that is nothing you should bank on. Don''t get me wrong, this kind of approach has its place in diplomacy, but it will get harder to get away without consequences once you get older, so you are gonna need to develop a more dignified way of talking to people if needed.¡±
Michael gets red as he is scolded for his seeming lack of manners. He hoped that Sola hadn¡¯t gotten wind of this as she was never present in his negotiations. She would give him a serious earful upon learning that he was lacking manners in other lands.
¡°We will develop a strategy for the meeting on our way to Praanen and then refine it with Duke Wallsten on our way to the capital.¡±
Michael looked at the dwarf with surprise, ¡°You are coming with me to the capital?¡±
Solon smiled back at him with his characteristic smile. ¡°Yes, I am. Now get moving, there is much to prepare before we head out. I will talk with Geron to organize a proper escort and then we will meet in the courtyard.¡±
Lynx
Traitorous, scheming, greedy, incompetent. All those traits seemed to be abundant in the humans of the Kingdom of Telios.
A muffled scream pulled Lynx''s attention to the messenger that he had caught. He was tied up and gagged but Lynx could see the fear in his eyes as he struggled against his restraints. In the dark, only illuminated by the campfire that the messenger had made, Lynx must look like a demon with his coat and mask.
The masked being turned his gaze back to the letters in his hand, they were exaggerated and often outright untrue accounts about the happenings in the counties ruled by the radiant soul. Lynx had to admit that if one believed what was written here then they would paint a truly dire picture of a crazy lord that was lusting for power even if he had to get into league with beasts and monsters.
Of course, he didn''t believe them because he knew where this messenger was coming from and who had written these accounts.
The urge to follow his steps back to the estate from which he had tailed the messenger and enact bloody vengeance upon the traitors to his master was strong, but he knew how to follow orders. There would be a time when they would pay but that time was not now, now he would be patient.
Lynx would like to take these letters back to his master for him to use as proof of the treachery, but he knew that they would get suspicious if the messenger didn''t arrive at his destination.
With that thought in mind, Lynx finished up his notes of the contents of the letters and began his work to return the letters to their former appearance. It was a trivial task for him, there were no magical safeguards on the paper, no mana in the wax that could be disturbed.
He longed for a challenge, of course, it was a blessing to be able to do his work without much effort or chance of detection, but the underdeveloped security of the humans made his work somewhat boring.
Lynx was a faceless, a magical being virtually made for espionage and assassinations. His body, mind, and abilities were all formed to give him every advantage possible in his line of work. All of it was a massive overkill to what the humans were able to put in his way even if the mana levels weren''t high enough to use his abilities to their fullest.
After dealing with the letters, he crouched down next to the messenger and cocked his head to the side.
¡°I am going to ask you a few questions and if you answer me truthfully then you will walk out of here with all of yourself still attached.¡± He looked at the messenger who didn¡¯t seem very cooperative.
Lynx pulled out a serrated dagger and held it into the messenger''s sight, ¡°Believe me when I say that I can inflict pain upon you such as you never have experienced. You will tell me what I want to know and only you control how painful it is going to be for you.¡±
The man¡¯s eyes widen, and he nods profusely.
Lynx carefully took the gag out of the messenger¡¯s mouth and asked, ¡°Where are you bringing these letters?¡±
¡°To Lionsgate. I am supposed to meet someone there.¡±
¡°Interesting. Do they know what you look like?¡±
The man paused for a moment and Lynx could see his thoughts race. ¡°Y-yes?!¡±
Lynx knew that he was lying. He cocked his head to the side and smiled internally, not that he could externally with no face, something that he very much longed for but could never achieve ¡°I see. Tell me about this meeting.¡±
The man gave him everything he asked for and Lynx thought about just taking his place but then he would have to kill the man, coming right back to the problem that his employers would get suspicious if he didn¡¯t return.
¡°You are in luck, human. I need you alive so you will go back to sleep and once you have awoken all of this will just have been a bad dream.¡±
The man looked at him with terrified eyes until Lynx blew a swath of mana-infused air in his face. The eyes of the man turned back and only a moment later he was asleep. He would wake up with only hazy memories of this interaction and assume that he had a bad dream. After a few hours on the road, this whole thing would be inevitably forgotten.
Lynx would have preferred to not wake him at all, but he needed to find out who the messenger was delivering the letters to and if it was worth spending his time following him to his destination.
It took a few more minutes to get the messenger and everything back to what it was before Lynx had attacked him, every detail counted to not make the man suspicious.
After that Lynx looked for a comfortable tree to wait out the night. Tomorrow he would travel to the capital of this kingdom. Oh, how he liked big cities, so many secrets and so many loose mouths.
Geron
Geron looked down into the training yard, the first new recruits had arrived a few weeks prior together with Sir Godfrey. Around half of these had already dropped out from the rigorous training that the old knight put them through but that was to be expected.
Most of these recruits weren''t of noble descent so they had next to no previous training and no pressure from their families if they still had one. Geron trusted the eye of the former commander when it came to telling if someone had the talent to become a knight but to see if they also had the drive to push through the grueling training was another question, one that was hard to answer beforehand.
The training of the knights of House Rowan had always been brutal with Lord Cedric''s strict standards and Sir Godfrey''s iron fist. Lord Michael had not eased up on these standards more of the opposite, he gave Sir Godfrey full authority to break the recruits down if he had to rebuild them from the ground.
There were still more recruits than Geron had ever seen at the same point in training. Recruiting from the masses obviously resulted in more potential squires even if they normally needed a little bit more work to get into shape than those of noble or warrior families.
Of course, these very families that put forth their own children to the knights of House Rowan were the first to protest vehemently against the recruits. Claims of watering down the quality and accusations of disgrace were flung left and right with some even stating their intent to not send any of their family to be trained here anymore.
It was foreseeable that this would happen but even though it was regrettable that these talented young men would not join the knighthood¡¯s ranks there were many very talented peasant boys that jumped at the opportunity.
Geron turned away from the spectacle of two dozen teenagers running laps until collapse, under the threatening gaze of their instructor. He looked forward to the day these recruits would be joining their brotherhood, not only to show the worth of the lowborn but also because they had way too few knights right now and that made Geron nervous.
Chapter 75.
Michael
Praanen was an impressive city, not in terms of size, Lionsgate was much bigger, but in terms of organization. The streets were neatly placed as if the whole city had been built according to a plan. Every street seemed to have a theme to it, he didn¡¯t see a single road where homes and businesses were mixed as you would see in organically grown cities. The city guard was similarly efficient, moving the people along quickly at the gate and showing them the way to the duke¡¯s estate.
Michael would have enjoyed a tour through the city if he wasn¡¯t so distracted by his reason to be here. Solon and Michael had spent the entire journey here debating, switching roles to advocate or object to the king¡¯s proposal, trying to find every possible argument.
When they finally arrived in Praanen, Duke Wallsten welcomed them with open arms together with his two sons. Michael had met them before but never talked much to them because they were much older than him. The oldest, Theden, was thirty-four, and the younger one, Serev, was thirty-one, if Michael remembered correctly.
Michael didn¡¯t have much of an opinion about either, Theden was a muscle-packed warrior that liked to spar with the knights on Michael¡¯s last visit. Serev was much different though, a slim man with a pretty face and a tendency to be more interested in female visitors than male.
Duke Wallsten¡¯s wife had regrettably died a long time ago before Michael had been born and the duke had never remarried.
It only took a few minutes of polite conversation until Solon, Michael, and Duke Wallsten were alone in his study. Neither Serev nor his older brother seemed that interested in the visitors except for Eydis for obvious reasons.
¡°Well, Count Rowan. You have managed to create quite an interesting situation here,¡± the old duke said with a smile, Michael was as always, a little taken aback by the duke¡¯s insistence to address him so formally even if he didn¡¯t do it with other vassals like his father.
¡°Interesting, is certainly one way to say it. Outrageous would be my take on it though,¡± Michael replied.
The duke nodded slowly, seemingly lost in thought, ¡°It is quite an aggressive move, one that I didn¡¯t expect due to the good relationship you and the king enjoy. I think it is safe to assume that this order was heavily influenced by Duke Wulfen and his lapdogs.¡±
Michael and Solon had also rather quickly come to that conclusion.
Duke Wallsten continued, ¡°He is an ambitious man. Quite successfully so I might add, since he took over his uncle¡¯s duchy upon his death ten years ago. He probably sees the resources you have uncovered in the mountains as too great of a developmental boost to our frontiers which in turn strengthens the rest of the duchy and increases our influence.¡±
¡°He doesn¡¯t even know half of it,¡± Michael said which raised Duke Wallsten¡¯s interest, but Solon spoke before he could question what Michael meant.
¡°That is the kind of politicking and power squabbling that brought down many kingdoms, we can¡¯t allow this to happen, but at the same time we can¡¯t afford to let it drive a wedge of hatred between us and an important pillar of the kingdom.¡±
¡°I will not let them bring down the kingdom so easily,¡± Michael scoffed.
¡°You should listen to what your teacher is saying, not what you want to hear,¡± Duke Wallsten admonished him lightly. ¡°The important point he was trying to make is that we have to solve this without irreparably destroying our relations with Duke Wulfen.¡±
Michael wanted to retort something but then stopped, it was true he was angry but that shouldn¡¯t cause him to lose his head. He knew that antagonizing Lord Wulfen would make things harder for him, and if he did it to such an extent that they could never work together again, it would make things harder in critical situations for the kingdom.
¡°Okay, I will follow your lead, milord,¡± he finally said to Duke Wallsten with more control over himself.
¡°Excellent, Count Rowan.¡±
¡°Why are you calling me that,¡± Michael asked him, curious about the special treatment. ¡°You never called my father by his title; I actually never heard you call any of your vassals by their title.¡±
The duke looked at him with a smile, his deep wrinkles throwing shadows onto his face. ¡°They don¡¯t need to be reminded of their rank; most nobles have an inflated ego so casually calling them by their name is often a good way to get them back down to earth. You don¡¯t need that, what you need is respect. You are still a child so many treat you no different than a snoddering infant. By me calling you by your rank I show you that I do not do that and at the same time remind those around me of your rank and that you deserve to be treated accordingly.¡±
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¡°That is a lot of thought for such a small gesture,¡± Michael noted.
¡°Of course, it is something you should learn. Oh, just to be clear this doesn¡¯t apply to anyone, with your father and uncle for example. I don¡¯t call them by their title because I met them before, and they are my personal friends.¡±
Michael winced a little bit at the mention of his father and uncle in the same sentence and his blood began to boil again. He felt that it was easier to agitate him lately than a few months ago.
¡°My apologies, it wasn¡¯t my intention to bring back painful memories so soon,¡± the duke said and looked apologetic.
¡°I do not mean disrespect, milord, but I think that was exactly what you were trying to do,¡± Michael replied.
The duke smiled sadly and took a moment to answer, ¡°It is true that I do not mean to upset you, I was simply trying to ascertain how your feelings toward your uncle are. Have there been any advancements in the investigation?¡±
¡°Nothing, less than nothing. Most of the prisoners we took from back then are dead, either from our attention or self-inflicted, and not a single one spat out anything regarding the attack. It is infuriating.¡±
¡°And you think your uncle would be able to induce such fear into them that not a single one wants to talk, despite what you are threatening or doing to them?¡±
¡°Who knows to what lengths he went to finally overcome my father,¡± Michael said dismissively much to the grief of the old duke.
Michael noticed the worried look that Solon and the duke were exchanging but they couldn¡¯t understand. Michael knew deep in his guts that he was right, that his uncle had murdered his family. A gut feeling that had served him well in his short life already and he wouldn¡¯t cast it away without any real evidence.
There were many explanations as to why the prisoners wouldn¡¯t talk. Maybe his uncle had their families imprisoned, maybe the men were trained to resist this kind of interrogation and were completely loyal, or maybe one part of his uncle¡¯s story was true, and he had utilized a barbarian shaman but in a different way than he had said. Every good lie contains a shard of truth, after all.
Whatever the case, Michael would find the answers one day and then he would avenge those he had lost.
- Sometime later ¨C
Michael wandered through the hallways, lost in thought. If it were up to him, they would have left immediately but Duke Wallsten had said, ¡°We are not in a rush. We can leave tomorrow at first light.¡±
They had coordinated on a conservative strategy, trying to show the advantages of leaving the mines with them while avoiding any accusations and blame. Michael wasn¡¯t sure if that would work but if it didn¡¯t then he still had the chance to get annoyed and yell at someone.
The castle in Praanen was bigger and sturdier than the one in Reen and much more practical than the palace in Lionsgate, so Michael liked to walk the defensives to study them. It wasn¡¯t the first time he was here; he had visited with his father once before on direct order of the duke, but the stone construction still impressed him. He planned to build one of his own in Reen one day and it was a nice way to pass the time to plan the castle.
Left to him, down the wall was the eldest son of Duke Wallsten, Theden, he was currently fighting in a spar with a knight with expertise that rivaled the great knights of the kingdom.
Michael watched as Theden moved with determination and pummeled the other knight with his great axe. The knight tried to defend himself with his shield with little success. Theden showed strength that even exceeded that of most augmenters to such a degree that Michael pondered if he had a mana affinity that boosts strength. He observed a little bit longer but couldn¡¯t see any indicators of an affinity.
¡°What do you think,¡± Duke Wallsten¡¯s voice appeared out of nowhere.
Michael turned and saw that the duke was approaching him from the next guard tower.
¡°Your son is a strong warrior,¡± Michael answered and looked back to see the knight had tripped and fallen to the ground, but Theden was still hitting his shield until the knight gave up.
¡°Strong but foolish. He would solve every problem with his axe if you gave him the choice.¡±
¡°It is not bad to have the resolve to fight for what is right,¡± Michael tried to stay polite, but the duke simply laughed.
¡°There is no need to sugarcoat your opinions with me, even if I appreciate you practicing for our negotiations in the capital.¡± Duke Wallsten stayed silent and watched as Theden pulled the other knight back to his feet. He looked up and saw his father on the battlements, with his axe raised he grinned up and got a smile in return.
¡°Theden is someone you want to have in your service, strong and unquestioning, but not one you want to have as a leader. He lacks cunning and long-term planning.¡± Michael stayed silent, not quite sure what the man wanted to say.
Duke Wallsten simply looked ahead as he continued, ¡°Serev is even worse if you look at it from a neutral perspective. He only has eyes for the women, he could do so many things if he only put the effort into them that he spends on chasing fair maidens.¡±
¡°I love them with all my heart,¡± the duke said and turned toward Michael, ¡°but they are both governed by their emotions, unable to put what they personally want and desire in the background. Theden will never try to solve something with diplomacy which he could also solve by striking someone down, because he loves to fight. Serev will never choose to not chase a woman he wants even if it will destroy his reputation and lead to war.¡±
¡°Michael, don¡¯t be like them,¡± he said with urgency, ¡°Feelings can¡¯t matter to people in our stations, we need to be ready to do what we have to regardless of if we hate to do so, regardless of if the others have insulted us, regardless of how we feel.¡±
The old duke swayed a little bit after talking with such intensity for a long time and for a moment Michael saw the weakness of an old man. He stepped forward and supported the duke while burning some mana, even if he was much taller than him.
¡°I have great hope for you, my boy,¡± he said while gratefully leaning on Michael¡¯s shoulder. ¡°But I also feel a great deal of anger and hate in you. It wasn¡¯t fair what happened, you should still be the child that is allowed to learn everything, but you can¡¯t leave all the lessons behind just because it wasn¡¯t fair. Anger will never help you; anger is a weakness no matter the circumstance.¡±
The duke looked at Michael, but he didn¡¯t reciprocate the glance. ¡°I hope you can win this battle. For all our sakes.¡±
Michael said nothing, there was something that bugged him about what the duke had said but he couldn¡¯t pinpoint it. So, they stood in silence.
Chapter 76.
Lynx
Lionsgate was great. Even if you compared it to other human settlements in this kingdom this city was a virtual hive of intrigue, crime, and loose tongues. Sure, it was not as bad as some other human kingdoms where cities were controlled by crime syndicates in their entirety, but it was enough to make Lynx feel some semblance of warmth in his chest.
Following the messenger had proven to be less interesting than Lynx had hoped, even though the messenger had held a brisk pace, he didn¡¯t seem very concerned about anyone stalking him. At least that confirmed that the man had no recollection of the little chat Lynx had had with him.
The Faceless was now sitting on the top of a roof again, a place he so often took.
Roofs really are one of the greatest inventions ever made for my kind, he mused while watching the contact of the messenger enter the royal palace. Lynx wasn¡¯t surprised that someone in the palace was the recipient of the slander that they called letters.
Lynx stared at the walls of the palace with contempt. He wouldn¡¯t be able to enter it without drawing attention. Not because these humans were more alert or more prepared than the ones he had dealt with before, but because of ancient runes etched into the walls that they probably didn¡¯t even know about. The moment he, as a magical creature, crossed the threshold of the walls he would be marked by a strong mana which would make hiding nearly impossible to anyone with even the faintest of mana senses.
It would take him quite some time to analyze the defenses, and even more to find a flaw, which this one should have due to its age. He could also try to get through one of the gates as these runes generally weren¡¯t placed there to not mark every legitimate magical visitor that came through but that would also take some preparations. Of course, all that meant that the contact would be long gone before Lynx had any chance to enter the palace himself.
Lynx shook his head and returned to his little sketch of the man who had received the letters, he didn¡¯t need it, his memory was near infallible, he would send this one to his master.
He sighed, got up from his spot on the roof after finishing his drawing, and turned to leave. Traversing human cities was always a treat in comparison with many other races, they built their buildings so close together that one could reach nearly every point in the city without ever touching the ground.
As Lynx jumped from roof to roof a scream reached his senses and he stopped. Looking down from the gap he had just traversed he saw a group of three bulky men standing around a young woman, screaming at her with a couple of kicks for good measure. She was clutching something tightly in her hands while pressing them against her chest, using her body to protect it from the thugs.
¡°Give it, you dumb cow,¡± the largest of the men yelled with an ugly accent and gave her another kick but she refused.
Lynx turned around and began walking away, this scene was nothing out of the ordinary in the back alleys of any large human city and he wouldn¡¯t get involved.
Then he stopped and thought about it for a few moments. The radiant soul would disapprove of this, he was a creature of compassion and wouldn¡¯t agree to Lynx leaving this defenseless human to her fate. It might not be Lynx¡¯s own conviction but following the core of his master¡¯s wishes was more important than following the words and he had nothing better to do, to be honest. He raised his hand in front of his mask and the air began to glimmer, hiding the mask behind it as he stepped toward the edge. It wouldn¡¯t do if stories of a lynx-masked stranger saving people started appearing.
Lynx dropped down into the alley like a whirlwind, he landed in a crouching position and his knife cut through the back of the large man¡¯s knee. Before the man even recognized what was happening, Lynx was already on the move, dashing forward while standing up. He rammed the knife into the neck of a second man before letting go of it, whirling around him, grabbing the knife with his other hand, and throwing it at the last of the thugs in one fluid motion.
Now realigned to face the large man who had fallen to his knees, Lynx jumped at him with his foot first and snapped his head back with an audible crunch. The man dropped to the ground with a broken neck, the second one was trying to get the blood out of his airway, and the third was leaning against the wall lifelessly with the knife firmly lodged into his eye socket. The whole attack had taken not even five seconds and Lynx was satisfied.
Some would call this brutal; Lynx didn¡¯t give them a chance to run or to explain their actions, they might even have been justified but these kinds of morality didn¡¯t matter to the faceless, he had chosen a side to support and that was that.
Lynx grabbed the knife and pulled it out of the head of the man with a wet sound, cleaned it off on his tunic, and turned to leave when the young woman called out to him, ¡°Wait!¡± She scrambled to get to her feet, but Lynx heard her fall back down.
He ignored her and reached for a wall to pull himself up when she called out again, ¡°Please take me under your wing.¡±
Lynx stopped and turned halfway back to her. She noticed and doubled down quickly while trying to get at least into a kneeling position, ¡°I will do anything, just please take me with you and out of this shit hole. I can clean, I can cook, I can steal, I can learn!¡±
Lynx stayed quiet and inspected the girl. She was young, maybe fifteen or sixteen, her body was covered in bruises, she had a black eye, and her nose must have been broken at least once before. He didn¡¯t care much for her appearance though, he looked deeper until he saw the light of her soul emanating through her eyes. It was strong, for a human, even if her body was broken, she had kept her soul intact, and the soul was the most important indicator of a person¡¯s worth in the eyes of the faceless. Of course, she was comparable to the radiant soul, but no human Lynx had met for hundreds of years had been.
He was interested in her proposal and stepped over to her, looking down as she tried to make a good impression.
¡°The path you want to take is gonna take you to places much worse than this,¡± Lynx said with his cold inhuman voice and the girl winced for a moment.
¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, I am dead if I stay here. These guys were Gunnar¡¯s men once he finds out they are dead he will hunt me down. You took them out without even breaking a sweat, I want that kind of strength.¡± Lynx was convinced of her determination but that wasn¡¯t the only thing that someone in his line of work needed.
¡°Give me what you are cradling in your hands,¡± he said and held out his hand. She stared at him with distrust before looking down into her hand. She ever so slowly raised her hand as if she was fighting against a force dragging it down until she finally dropped a small metal ring into his extended hand.
It was thin and made from silver, a very simple thing and the only worth was the price someone would pay for the silver.
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¡°It is the only thing I have left of my mother,¡± she said quietly, ¡°I hid it but I couldn¡¯t pay Gunnar¡¯s tax anymore, so they came to shake me down.¡±
Lynx put the ring in a pocket at looked at the girl, he would return it later, but he wanted to see if she could accept losing the ring just because he said so.
¡°I will take this ring as payment,¡± he said, reaching out his hand to her. ¡°If you take my hand then you will become my subordinate. You will do anything that I tell you and we will work for the benefit of our master. There is no quitting once you have accepted my offer, it is a deal made with your life.¡±
She looked scared but managed to keep her voice calm, ¡°Who is our master?¡±
¡°You will find out if you survive,¡± Lynx answered dryly.
After a moment of deliberation, the girl slowly took his hand and Lynx pulled her to her feet with an internal smile.
A little earlier than I had planned, but I knew all along that the radiant soul is too ambitious of a man to be served by just one.
Michael
The sun was standing high in the sky when their caravan finally reached the royal palace in Lionsgate. The view of the tall walls and the palace buildings behind gave Michael mixed feelings. He was happy to be here, seeing his friends again and all the memories he had here were strong but even though his anger had blunted significantly on the way here it was still present in the back of his mind.
He leaned out of the carriage window to get a better look at the plaza in front of the main building and saw that a great gathering was waiting for them, no doubt a show of respect for Duke Wallsten much rather than for Michael himself.
Rows of guards transitioned into knights until they circled the large fountain to see an assortment of nobles lining the path. Zen and Mira were waiting together with Duke Wulfen and the high priest of Idas at the top of the steps. Michael could see Theodore standing with his father a little bit off to the side.
Zen¡¯s mother was also present, still wearing black grieving attire and standing a little bit to the side, her face covered in a black veil.
The silver-clad king¡¯s guard was arrayed in front of the stairs in a neat line, staring at anyone who even gave a suspicious look in the direction of their monarch.
The carriage finally stopped in front of them, and Michael exited first and the duke right after. They stepped forward and simultaneously fell to one knee, bowing to their king.
¡°Rise,¡± Zen ordered, and they both got up. Zen had changed visibly in the months that Michael hadn¡¯t seen him. He looked stressed but his aura of determination had grown stronger. Mira smiled at Michael, but he could see concern in her eyes that she tried to hide.
Zen signaled them to approach, and they did, walking through the opening between the king¡¯s guard, Michael caught a glance from Sir Strom and nodded respectfully.
¡°I welcome you, Duke Wallsten and Count Rowan. I am glad that you heeded my summons,¡± Zen continued after Michael and the duke had reached him.
¡°When you call then we will always answer, Your Majesty,¡± Duke Wallsten said with a small bow that Michael mimicked.
¡°I am blessed to have vassals such as you,¡± Zen said with a nod and then turned to Michael. ¡°I am sorry for your family, Michael. I wanted to come down to Reen myself for the funeral, but things have been tense here and to be quite frank, they still are.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t hold it against you, Your Majesty,¡± Michael replied with a sad smile, ¡°I know that the death of my father hasn¡¯t just turned my world upside down but also affected the whole kingdom. I am grateful for your words though.¡±
¡°I still feel like I have failed you as a friend.¡±
¡°Even if I value our friendship very highly, I don¡¯t expect you to shrink on your duties because of our friendship,¡± Michael answered and the expression on Zen¡¯s face lightened up a little bit.
¡°You have always been a paragon of duty,¡± the king said with a warm smile which made him look more like the boy that Michael had met several years ago. The other dignitaries exchanged a couple of words with Duke Wallsten and Michael before the king spoke up again.
¡°Uriel will show you to your rooms, your journey has been long, and I don¡¯t want to keep you. Rest for now and we will have dinner together later,¡± Zen said with a smile which Michael and Duke Wallsten answered with a deep bow.
The lengths that the royal court went to just to greet them amused Michael, all these guards and knights had to stand ready in their finest armor, the nobles had dressed up for the occasion, and even the royal family was present just for them to share a few sentences.
Mira suddenly appeared next to Michael as they followed the servant through the richly decorated corridors of the castle, ¡°Heya.¡±
¡°Huh, where did you come from,¡± Michael said with a surprised expression.
¡°I am silent like a shadow,¡± she said with a smirk, which quickly changed into uneasiness. Describing someone with anything to do with darkness or shadows was seen as an insult by zealous followers of Idas so it was rarely done in circles that had to deal with them.
¡°How is training going,¡± Michael asked quickly changing the subject and Mira gladly jumped at the opportunity.
¡°Finding places to train without anyone seeing me is such a paaaain, I feel like a spy in my own home,¡± she complained theatrically causing Michael to chuckle.
¡°I am sure we can find some time in my stay here to get some practice in,¡± he said, and she glowed up with a huge grin.
¡°You mean that?¡±
"Sure, at least something good has to come from this trip,¡± he said while glancing over the richly decorated hallways. If Zen sold this stuff then he would make more money than he could with the mines in a year.
¡°At least I warned you beforehand,¡± Mira said proudly, ¡°So, what is the plan to turn this back on Duke Wulfen.¡± She looked at Michael expectantly but only got a confused look in return.
¡°What do you mean you warned me?¡±
¡°I send you letters,¡± she answered her smile fading slowly. ¡°Didn¡¯t you read them?¡±
Michael stopped, causing the group consisting of Mira, Michael, Solon, the duke, and their guards to stop and look at them.
¡°Mira, I didn¡¯t get a letter from you in weeks. Not since you returned to the capital,¡± he said with a frown. The servant had now also noticed that everyone had stopped and was walking back to them.
¡°But I...,¡± Mira began saying but was quietly interrupted by Duke Wallsten. ¡°Your Highness, maybe you should discuss this behind closed doors. There are many ears in this palace.¡±
She got red for a moment and then nodded quickly.
The four of them were sitting alone in Michael¡¯s room a few minutes later, Duke Wallsten and Solon had offered to leave them alone, but Michael asked them to stay.
¡°So, you send me a letter telling me about what is happening now?¡±
¡°Two actually,¡± she said and nodded vehemently, ¡°I overheard Duke Wulfen and another man talking about you and the mountains and that the south can¡¯t be allowed to gain in strength. The other man suggested that they could turn the disgruntled nobles against you to plunge you into political trouble, but Duke Wulfen wanted to try something else to turn the situation to their advantage first. Later I asked Zen about it and wrote you what he told me.¡±
Michael leaned back and looked over to Duke Wallsten who seemed very interested in what the princess was saying.
¡°Well, these letters never reached me. Someone must have intercepted them,¡± Michael said, and the duke nodded. Solon was leaning back in his chair with a thoughtful expression.
¡°There is no doubt. This situation is already dangerous not only for us but also for Duke Wulfen but if we had claimed the mountains before which we would have done with the information in the letters then it would have been hopeless for him.¡±
¡°We should tell Zen about it! Stealing royal letters must be illegal,¡± Mira shouted angrily and stood up.
¡°Not so quickly, Milady,¡± Solon stopped her with a warm smile. ¡°We have no proof and even if the king believes us there is nothing for him to do here, he can¡¯t risk losing Duke Wulfen¡¯s support without any proof. The important thing is that our adversaries know that the princess is on our side and that she knows more than she should.¡±
¡°I wrote everything in code,¡± Mira interrupted him with a huge grin, ¡°They can¡¯t read it!¡±
Michael shared a confused look with Duke Wallsten before Mira elaborated, ¡°I learned a code from Master Solon when I was in Reen for fun and used that to write the letters.¡±
¡°Could they have broken that code,¡± Duke Wallsten asked Solon with a stern expression.
The dwarf shook his head and replied, ¡°I doubt it, the code is based on a dwarven poem, and without it, the code is nearly unbreakable.¡±
¡°You made a code with a poem? Doesn¡¯t that have way too few words for that,¡± Michael asked incredulously.
¡°Dwarven poems are very very long,¡± Solon smirked.
¡°That is good, so they don¡¯t know how much we know,¡± Michael said but after a moment of contemplation exchanged a careful glance with Solon who seemingly had the same thought as him. If they couldn¡¯t read them, how did they know to intercept the letters?
¡°What are we gonna do about it,¡± Michael asked, putting that thought off for now.
The duke tapped onto the table with a thoughtful expression. ¡°For now, we need to know everything you have discovered, Milady.¡±
Chapter 77.
Michael
Michael filed into the dinner room with the other invited parties. Zen and Mira were obviously present, but the queen-mother had excused herself, other than them, Duke Wallsten and Duke Wulfen, who had brought along his son and wife, who had been introduced to Michael as Lady Selena Wulfen, and lastly the Archpriest of the Kingdom of Telios Patheros.
Lady Wulfen was a small woman with hazelnut-colored hair and a round face, that didn¡¯t mean that she was heavy though, she looked very slender and pretty to Michael.
The Archpriest in contrast was a man in his forties with an angled face that Michael wouldn¡¯t describe as pretty. His short brown hair was already receding, and he wore no beard. His clothing was impressive enough to distract from his plain face, they were beautiful robes in white and gold as it was the church¡¯s customs but to such a high quality to rival the clothes of the late King Johann.
Zenial of course sat at the head of the table while Michael and Duke Wulfen flanked him to the left and right. Michael¡¯s seat would have normally been reserved for the next important person, but Duke Wallsten had given up his seat for Michael and taken the one next to Michael, with Mira filling up the left side of the table. Lady Selena sat beside her husband with her son Julius at her side across from Mira. The Archpriest had taken a seat at the opposite end of the table and gazed over the present nobles.
It didn¡¯t take long after sitting down that Zen turned to Michael and spoke, ¡°Michael, much has happened to you in the last months, and I am eager to hear all of it. A meeting with the kings of the dwarves, peace negotiations with the wolf clan in the beastwoods, and the clearing of the Ereic Mountains. You have been busy indeed.¡±
¡°Yes, those mines you have discovered will be very beneficial to the kingdom indeed,¡± Julius Wulfen said with a polite smile, but Michael could guess the glee that the young heir must have been feeling.
He turned to the heir of House Wulfen who had grown considerably since last they met and looked him in the eyes. ¡°They will indeed, even if the way they will be used is still to be determined.¡±
¡°You are not saying that you will challenge the decision of the king to claim them for the good of the whole kingdom, do you?¡± Julius looked back at him with a frown. Everyone was watching the exchange of the two teenagers, but no one intervened as Michael smiled.
¡°There is still some deliberation to be had about the best use of these resources. The king surely appreciates quality council from the people that are at the core of the issue.¡±
This comment made Julius frown deeper as he showed his disapproval. ¡°I am sure the king has had more than enough ¡®council¡¯ to make an informed decision about the subject.¡±
¡°Oh, I am not so much concerned with the quantity of council but much more with the quality,¡± Michael retorted before he could reign himself in. The implied insult hit home much more visibly on Julius¡¯s face than on his father¡¯s, who simply watched the exchange with a neutral expression.
Julius gritted his teeth and growled, ¡°And you are much more qualified, I assume?¡±
Michael stopped himself from answering reflexively again but before he had settled on a diplomatic answer Zen interjected, ¡°As much as I appreciate a lively discussion, I haven¡¯t invited you for politics. We will have plenty of time to claw each other¡¯s eyes out about the wealth of the southern mountains in the coming days.¡±
Michael turned toward the king and saw an amused smirk on his face, he probably didn¡¯t suspect that Michael was completely ready to claw someone¡¯s eyes out to retain his mountains, well metaphorically speaking ... mostly.
Zen looked at both of them until they had calmed down and then looked at Michael with an excited gaze, ¡°I heard that you fought a four-skull Dungeon Guardian. How was that?¡±
¡°Oh yes, I can tell you it was definitely not a direwolf,¡± Michael answered with a chuckle which caused the others to laugh as well, the only one who understood the jab was Julius who simply stared at Michael.
He resigned himself in after that and began telling the stories of his latest adventures to a mostly interested audience. The Archpriest seemed to be mostly displeased with the tales as they were filled with magic and other races, but he kept quiet, content with listening and watching.
The conversations eventually diverged from Michael¡¯s adventures and split up into multiple smaller conversations.
¡°And then he jumped into the stream after my earring even though he couldn¡¯t swim at the time,¡± Lady Selena recounted with a lighthearted chuckle and patting her husband¡¯s hand. ¡°I was actually concerned that he would simply drown but the guards managed to pull him out in time.¡±
The lady was currently recounting one of her first meetings with her now husband to the amusement of Zen and Michael.
¡°You must have been impressed by his bravery,¡± Zen said with gleaming eyes, but the lady scoffed humorously.
¡°Impressed? I was furious. I quite vividly remember yelling at him what kind of stupidity had brought him to the conclusion that diving after an earring into a stream without being able to swim was a good idea.¡±
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Duke Wulfen managed to keep a dignified expression through all of this but Michael was sure he saw the edges of his mouth twitch upward multiple times, but he managed to keep the smile off his face.
¡°I heard that love often makes people do foolish things,¡± Michael noted cheerfully, ¡°Not that I would know but that is what people say.¡±
Lady Selena looked at her husband with love in her eyes and asked, ¡°Did you love me back then already? We didn¡¯t know each other that long.¡±
The reserved duke looked at his wife and finally smiled weakly, ¡°I jumped, didn¡¯t I?¡±
Lady Selena then turned back to her young listeners with a grin and concluded her story, ¡°The first thing that I demanded for this marriage to go ahead was for him to learn how to swim.¡±
Michael and Zen chuckled at that, and Lady Selena joined in with a friendly laugh. Michael caught himself multiple times forgetting for a while that he was sharing stories and laughs with his ¡®enemies¡¯ for this journey and just enjoyed the conversations. Sure, he avoided talking with Julius for any extended period of time, but the rest were nice people on his side of the table.
He didn¡¯t share many words with the Archpriest directly either, the man seemed to be content with throwing in a comment or two from time to time but stayed silent most of the time, so Michael couldn¡¯t get much of a read on him.
After a couple of hours, the dinner came to an end, and they began wishing each other a good night. To his surprise, it was Duke Wulfen who stayed behind with Michael and Zen for a moment and then approached Michael.
¡°Lord Rowan, do you have a moment,¡± he said. Michael looked over to Zen who had asked for him to stay behind and the king nodded.
¡°Of course, milord. What can I help you with?¡±
¡°I do not intend to drag down the mood, this evening has been surprisingly delightful but due to the nature of why we have gathered here in the capital, I feel like I have to get this off my chest before the emotions start boiling over in the next couple of days,¡± he said calmly.
Michael frowned but motioned him to go ahead.
¡°I want to extend you my condolences for your loss. It is a great injustice what has happened to your family, and I was shaken to my core when I heard about it. Your father and I never got along, and we rarely agreed on anything, but I deeply respected him. Losing him is a travesty.¡±
Michael tried to read the man¡¯s face, he was sure this was just a polite or manipulative speech, but he couldn¡¯t see any clue that the duke was lying, he much rather picked up an aura of sincerity from him.
¡°Thank you. I appreciate it, Duke Wulfen,¡± Michael answered and bowed deeply. The duke nodded back at him and then left.
Michael was left a little bit stunned; he had expected hostility from the duke, but he had proven himself much more civil.
Zen joined him in looking after the duke while he left and placed his hand on Michael¡¯s shoulder, ¡°That went surprisingly well.¡±
¡°Right? Somehow, he was much nicer than the last couple of times we met,¡± Michael replied with a confused expression.
¡°He is not a monster, Michael. He is just ... very focused on doing what is best for the kingdom,¡± Zen said with a little bit of hesitation.
¡°And for himself,¡± Michael added to which Zen huffed but didn¡¯t disagree.
¡°Come on, let¡¯s go onto the balcony and get some fresh air.¡±
Michael followed the king outside until they were alone on the balcony, he imagined that it had been quite a challenge for Zen to convince Mira to leave them alone for this.
Zen leaned on the balcony railing and looked down on the gardens, it had gotten dark a while ago and there wasn¡¯t much to see but a couple of lights where the guards patrolled.
At this moment Michael noticed once again how young they both were with thirteen and eleven. It slipped his mind from time to time because they were both rather mature for their age, so it was hard to distinguish between the adults and them. Sure, they towered over Michael but after years of working with Solon, height didn¡¯t connect with age in Michael¡¯s brain anymore.
Zen and Michael had both been pushed to grow up faster than most other children, in that they were very similar. The reasons were different though, while Michael was pushed by adversity and a strong sense of duty to his people, Zen was molded by the pressure of expectations.
He had been the sole heir of the kingdom from the moment of his birth, it had never stood to question that he would succeed his father one day and everyone expected him to be perfect. Now he was the king, decades earlier than anyone had expected or hoped for, and the expectations were even larger. His father had been a great king even with his weaknesses, and now Zen was looked upon to continue in the large footsteps of his father, in that Michael and Zen were alike again.
They stood in silence for a minute just staring in the dark until Zen suddenly spoke.
¡°I am going to be betrothed soon,¡± he said with a humorous smile.
¡°Oh,¡± Michael said surprised, ¡°Congratulations. Who is the unlucky bride? One of Duke Wulfen¡¯s daughters?¡±
Zen smirked at Michael¡¯s words but shook his head, ¡°I had considered it, but he said that I already have his loyalty and that we need to reinforce the alliance with the Perios Kingdom now more than ever.¡±
¡°That makes sense. What kind of person is she?¡±
Zen shrugged, ¡°I have no idea. I never met her.¡±
¡°Huh, that is gonna be a surprise at the wedding,¡± Michael joked, and Zen pushed him jokingly. That was the special bond that they shared when Michael was with Zen, separate they both appeared more as adults with little experience than as children but the moment they came together they reverted to being just dumb teenagers poking fun at each other.
¡°I will meet her before that of course! I have exchanged some letters with the king of Perios and he will visit with his daughter in a couple of months. It will still be a while until I am even old enough to marry,¡± Zen said with feigned annoyance.
¡°It is a good move,¡± Michael admitted. ¡°To be honest, I haven''t seen many people yet that decided to make the good move over their emotions.
¡°Yeah, it should show all our neighbors that we stand together and prevent at least all-out war. There is much more we will have to do to secure that peace though,¡± Zen said and got a little bit more serious.
¡°About that. The mines ...,¡± Michael started but Zen cut him off.
¡°Let¡¯s not talk about that yet. I just want to catch up with my friend and leave the politics and administration for tomorrow. I hope that is alright with you?¡±
¡°Yeah, sure,¡± Michael said and also leaned on the railings.
¡°So, how are you, Michael? And I don¡¯t want to hear about what you have accomplished or how your lands are doing. I want to know how the boy Michael Rowan is doing,¡± Zen asked, showing at the same time how well he knew Michael.
They talked long into the night; on this balcony, they weren¡¯t a king and a count they were just two friends who hadn¡¯t seen each other in a while.
Chapter 78.
Michael
Michael was sitting at the breakfast table with Solon and Eydis, enjoying the work of the palace chefs. Kiran was a great cook there was little doubt about that and Michael had eaten a lot of different things in the last months, but the chefs of the palace were just on another level, it might also be the better ingredients, Michael had no clue.
He had just finished roughly telling his retainers about the previous evening when Sir Zeke entered the room.
¡°Lord Rowan, Princess Miranne Merland is here to see you,¡± the knight said with a small bow that made a metallic sound.
¡°Oh. Send her in please,¡± Michael said surprised, and looked over to the door where the black-haired girl entered a moment later. She was wearing a simple dress and had her hair open, but everything was overshadowed by her broad grin.
¡°Good morning,¡± she said enthusiastically and hopped toward them.
¡°What has you in such a good spirit,¡± Michael asked suspiciously but Mira ignored him and came to a halt in front of Solon. She placed her fist against the palm of her other hand and bowed toward him, ¡°Good morning, Master Solon.¡±
The dwarf mirrored her movement with his hands and replied, ¡°Good morning, Lady Mira.¡±
Michael watched everything with a raised eyebrow and looked over to Eydis who smirked at his annoyed expression.
¡°Could someone please tell me what this is all about,¡± Michael asked but was promptly ignored again.
¡°Why don¡¯t you join us for breakfast,¡± Solon said and Eydis pulled the vacant chair back with one hand.
¡°I would love to,¡± she said and hopped around the table.
¡°Hello? Could you please stop ignoring me,¡± Michael pleaded with not just a little bit of annoyance in his voice.
¡°Alright, alright,¡± Mira relented with a chuckle while plopping down on her chair. ¡°When I was in Reen, Master Solon told me about a tribe of river people that value respect for their elders and teachers above all else. I thought it was cool, so I do some of their things now.¡±
Michael was still suspicious, this was not something she had to hide from him, on the other hand, she was still doing it in front of him so she couldn¡¯t have been too concerned about him asking.
¡°Ah yeah, I remember those, interesting but very traditionalist as far as I remember the story,¡± Michael said and looked to Solon who nodded in agreement.
¡°Well, I like them,¡± Mira pouted and crossed her arms in front of her chest.
Michael simply smirked and changed the subject, ¡°So what brings you to us this early in the morning, Mira.¡±
¡°Oh, nothing really,¡± she tried to feign ignorance with little success, ¡°I just heard that you would be stuck in meetings for today, so I wanted to come visit and see if the offer of training is still open for some time later.¡±
Her eyes virtually sparkled with hope as she stared at his and for a moment, he just wanted to agree but he stopped himself.
¡°I can¡¯t say if I have time today. As you said I will be stuck in meetings and very important ones at that. I will come to find you once I have some time, but I can¡¯t promise anything,¡± he said and smiled at her happy reaction, it was nice to be around her because she wasn¡¯t as scarred as Michael himself or Zen and just a happy child.
They talked a bit more before Michael had to excuse himself for his meeting with the king.
- Some time later -
Michael was clad in his best tunic, his hair freshly cut, and a fine cape running over his back, this was not a friendly chat with the king, this was an official meeting with people higher than him in the hierarchy and he had to dress appropriately.
When he arrived in the council chamber it was already populated by a couple of people. Duke Wallsten was already present; less finely dressed than Michael, the man had a reputation as being not a man for luxuries. Theodore¡¯s father Count Gretten was also already seated and in a light conversation with the old duke, it was of little surprise that the man was present, he was the steward of the kingdom after all.
Next to Count Gretten sat another man, he was short and slightly round but not overly so. His clothes were putting everyone currently present to shame and each of his fingers was adorned by rings of differing designs and gems embedded into them. The crowning piece of his collection was a large ruby that hung around his neck in a golden casing, even from his position at the entrance Michael could feel a potent vibration from the artifact.
The last two people present were the Archpriest who sat quietly in his chair, gazing at Michael as he entered, and the priest he was listening to whispering into his ear. Michael froze when he saw the priest and his eyes met those of Father Albion. His surprise blunted his anger, but the priest wasn¡¯t surprised at all, his eyes were virtually on fire as he stared at Michael with hatred.
After his surprise had passed, Michael stepped forward to the table and greeted all the high-ranking persons present. He found out that the man he didn¡¯t know was the Master of Trade Radiel Barca, he was a jovial man with a loud voice and a gregarious laugh.
Once the greetings had finished, Michael turned to Father Albion and said with a cold tone, ¡°It has been a while, Father Albion.¡±
The man didn¡¯t answer and stared at Michael without any other reaction.
¡°Lord Rowan,¡± Archpriest Patheros said in a calm and collected manner. ¡°I do not mean to be impolite, but I ask that you refrain from addressing Father Albion directly. I have heard about the ... conflict between the two of you and would like to prevent any sort of disturbance that would disrespect King Zenial¡¯s halls.¡±
Michael smiled at the man and nodded in agreement but under his polite mask, he knew exactly what the cleric was doing. He was trying to unbalance Michael by having Father Albion present and lay the groundwork for forcing an angry outburst from him, additionally, Father Albion had probably been instructed to keep quiet to not legitimize any outburst from Michael. It seemed that he would have to deal with a lot of underhanded tactics in the meetings to come but that wasn¡¯t surprising.
The next person to enter was Duke Pattro Greeich, Lord of the Duchy of Wyrt and the king¡¯s mentor.
¡°Ah, Duke Wallsten, Count Rowan, it is a pleasure to see you again. It is a shame that I couldn¡¯t attend the dinner yesterday, but I wish to invite you two to dinner myself while you stay here,¡± Duke Greeich said in his friendly way and Michael easily agreed. His father had always said that Duke Greeich was a good man and also mentioned that he was his strongest ally while he was staying in the capital.
It didn¡¯t take long after this for Zen to arrive in the company of Duke Wulfen and Commander Gavin Strom. They took their places at the table without many words and Duke Wulfen opened the meeting.
¡°Greetings, we have gathered here to discuss how the operations conducted by Count Michael Rowan are going to be passed over into royal administration,¡± Duke Wulfen started but was quickly interrupted by Duke Wallsten in a short pause.
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¡°Dear Leopold, I would like to interject for a moment,¡± Duke Wallsten said which caused the other duke to frown. ¡°I would like to reopen the discussion if this repossession should even take place before we spend our energy on hashing out how to do it.¡±
¡°What is your reasoning for this suggestion, Duke Wallsten,¡± Duke Wulfen replied much more formally and without any hint of disapproval.
¡°The decision has been made without consulting the people that are to be affected by it and those that have the most knowledge about the area. This is why I firmly believe that we can give further insights that could sway the opinion of the here gathered council.¡±
Duke Wulfen stayed silent while seemingly pondering about that opinion and then turned toward the king, ¡°I second Duke Wallsten¡¯s request. It is only proper that they are allowed to voice their opinions, there might be an advantage there for the kingdom that we did not think of.¡±
Michael was surprised that ¡®young¡¯ duke had agreed so quickly but considering that there was next to no chance that Zen would decline Duke Wallsten¡¯s request, it was sensible for Duke Wulfen to appear open-minded even if he didn¡¯t actually agree.
¡°I agree,¡± Zen said and tapped his finger quietly on the table. ¡°It was never my intention to just take the mountains without an explanation even if it may seem so. I agree that I probably could have gone about this in a slower way and invited you for talks first, but time is not our ally and I still hope that you will see the merit in the decisions I have made.¡±
Michael flinched a little bit at that, he could tell that Zen hadn¡¯t been pressured into taking the mountains but firmly believed it was necessary and advantageous for the kingdom. This would make the whole thing much harder for him.
¡°First of all, I will explain our reasoning for this decision, after that you may contribute whatever, you find important to this discussion,¡± Duke Wulfen said calmly with a glance at Michael and Duke Wallsten.
¡°The kingdom is not doing badly but we aren¡¯t swimming in funds either, with the pressure of the latest events the tension between us and our neighbors is high. The Perios Kingdom is still weighing if they should continue their alliance with us, the Firn Kingdom is always watching and waiting for an opportunity to beat us down, and the barbarians to the south-west and the beastmen to the east have already started doing probing raids against us. We need to show strength right now and getting a massive influx of money and resources would signal us becoming stronger and not weaker.¡±
The explanation wasn¡¯t without merit, of course, Michael tried to find holes in the logic but for now, everything was sound.
¡°Our plan is to use those funds and resources to invest in the strengthening of our military might to discourage our neighbors from doing anything foolish and show our allies that we are still worth the effort. The military is not supposed to be the only benefactor of the influx of funding though, His Majesty has decided to also put a focus on improving the infrastructure of the kingdom. Roads, river ports, and guard posts should increase the mobility of our forces and also our economic capabilities. These improvements will be made in all of the kingdom, so the Duchy of Praanen will also receive funds for development, you have found these riches after all.¡± The duke finished his short explanation and promptly sat down.
The chamber was silent while Michael mulled over what he had heard, it was not as bad as he had feared, at least they had thought of a somewhat sensible plan. Michael wasn¡¯t happy anyway, even if their plan made some sense, it still wasn¡¯t the best use of the mountains in his opinion. Sure, they needed to strengthen their military to thwart any invasion before it happened, but Michael feared that they were planning to divert most of the funds there.
The initiative to improve infrastructure was similarly a reasonable one but just from Duke Wulfen¡¯s comment that the duchy would receive funds for this he knew exactly how little would reach those projects after going through many hands. Half of the wealth of the mountains would vanish before it reached any place where it was needed, and Zen was too optimistic if he thought that it wouldn¡¯t.
The silence dragged on while the council watched Michael and Duke Wallsten with sharp eyes. The old duke spoke up first.
¡°There has been put some thought into this endeavor already as expected,¡± he said slowly, ¡°While much of what you have said makes sense in the long term, I can¡¯t help but see a striking flaw in it, the time frame in combination with the scale. What you are proposing will help the kingdom very little in the next decade, the mines are not there yet, and Lord Rowan has just started mapping and probing the ground. The little silver he had dug up might be a good amount of money for his county, but it is just a drop in a bucket for a whole kingdom.¡±
¡°If your plan truly is to disperse the money over the whole kingdom then the effect will be nonexistent until the mines have been thoroughly established and that will take years. While that might be the case with dispersing the quite limited resources that can be excavated right now, it wouldn¡¯t be as minor when focusing these resources on a smaller stretch of land, like a county or two. I propose to leave the mines in Lord Rowan¡¯s possession so that he can use these resources to develop his lands. House Rowan is known for their high-quality soldiers and knights so expanding them would increase the military power of the country and developing the underdeveloped lands in the south can raise the prosperity of the country for less investment than an already exploited land, which will also increase the taxes that will reach the royal treasury.¡±
Zen frowned and looked like he was considering the duke¡¯s words, Duke Greeich nodded in agreement, but the rest of the present council members didn¡¯t seem very convinced.
¡°Your view is too pessimistic, milord. The news of the kingdom having access to these kinds of resources will be enough to make our neighbors hesitate and the kingdom will be able to use this hesitation to invest in quickly establishing these mines,¡± Count Gretten said while shaking his head.
¡°How much money do you have to burn,¡± Michael asked amused which brought him a nasty look from the count. ¡°I don¡¯t think that your plan to invest in the military and infrastructure will be realized anytime soon if you try to force the development of the mountains in a short period of time.¡±
The steward flinched and replied, ¡°And how do you propose that you can utilize those resources if the kingdom can¡¯t?¡±
¡°Because I am not in a rush to siphon huge amounts of money from the mountains. As Duke Wallsten has already stated two counties can use a low amount of money to much greater effect than a kingdom. We will expand the mines slowly and steadily, but it will still have a huge effect on our economic strength,¡± Michael replied confidently.
¡°That sounds like a waste of the potential,¡± Duke Wulfen noted. ¡°I don¡¯t mean any disrespect, but I am doubtful that a small county or two have the means to efficiently exploit the full potential of what can be found there.¡±
¡°We do have the proficiency required through the dwarven artisans we have invited, and I already have a plan in mind for how to gather the required workforce for the mining project. While we might not be able to muster as high of an investment as the crown could, we are much more efficient with every coin due to the close proximity. If the crown takes over the mountains, they would have long supply lines and would have to bring in workers from far away which would increase the cost of every single mine. I am convinced that we will be able to exploit the great natural resources much more efficiently than a royal project could,¡± Michael replied to which the duke frowned.
¡°That is very much debatable which we will get to later but now that you mention the great natural resources we don¡¯t even exactly know what is in the mountains. I believe that it might be necessary to send a royal envoy into the Ereic Mountains to ascertain the true scale of what we are even discussing and put these talks on hold until they return,¡± Duke Wulfen suggested.
It was clear what the duke¡¯s plan was, he was trying to drag this out to increase the financial burden on Michael and bring House Rowan to its knees through the accumulating interest of the loans. At the same time, he would decrease their ability to expand the mining project later which would decrease Michael¡¯s credibility when he said ¡®they could use the mines better¡¯.
¡°Of course, we won¡¯t stay in the way of this,¡± Duke Wallsten replied, ¡°We should also continue the exploitation while the envoy investigates to make it easier to judge. The profit should go to House Rowan for that period of time in my opinion as they are the ones doing the work.¡±
¡°Naturally, House Rowan does the work so they should not have to sit on the cost,¡± Zen agreed but seemed very content to just listen to the discussion without contributing anything more for now.
Duke Wallsten had quickly turned their disadvantage on its head with this suggestion, dragging it out while Michael was allowed to sell what they mine would bring time on their side. At least that is what the duke intended, he didn¡¯t know about the blacksteel, no one here did. Michael had chosen to keep it a secret because it would make their position way harder if people knew that there was magical ore in the mountains, and he wasn¡¯t confident that the duke would agree to keep it secret. Michael was sure though that the information hadn¡¯t spread as the only people who knew were some of the dwarves and Michael¡¯s inner ring.
While he was confident that no noble who would be part of a royal envoy would recognize magical ore, he couldn¡¯t be too sure that they wouldn¡¯t send a knowledgeable smith or miner who had experience with these kinds of materials. It all depended on the fact if they actually wanted to do a thorough survey or if they just intended to waste time. Michael didn¡¯t want to risk it either way, but it would be suspicious to oppose the idea now.
Duke Wulfen knew that this way of doing things would be contra-productive to his effort and gave Count Gretten a glance at which the man spoke up.
¡°It would take a very long time, Duke Wallsten and Lord Michael have traveled here for these talks; I do not think we need to waste this much time. I for one trust in the estimates that Lord Michael has provided,¡± the steward said, and Michael could see the amusement on Zen¡¯s face, he clearly wasn¡¯t blind to all the maneuvering happening here. No one was, Duke Wulfen was testing the waters with this half-hearted attempt to get them into trouble.
¡°How about you give us a rough estimate of what amount of money we expect to gain from the mountains,¡± the young monarch said.
Chapter 79.
Michael
The steward began to scribble on a piece of paper while consulting a small book and conferred with the Master of Trade Radiel Barca sitting next to him. After a few minutes, he finally revealed his estimation at which Michael scoffed. He then noted multiple places where the steward had been too generous and also pointed out that one had to put the expenses into the calculations.
What followed were two hours of back and forth between Count Gretten, Radiel Barca, and Michael while they tried to get an estimation that everyone could agree to be reasonable. It only took a few minutes until no one else was able to keep up with their bickering, so they turned their wait into an impromptu council meeting for general affairs.
When they finally finished, they were all unhappy with the result, Michael thought that the cost of establishing the whole infrastructure was too low, Count Gretten said that the estimation of the revenue must be too low, and Radiel Barca was generally unhappy with the predicted tariffs on trade. All in all, they had reached a good result if everyone was unhappy.
After they had finished their presentation on the estimation, Michael couldn¡¯t help but smirk at the pale expression on Zen¡¯s face as he glanced at the predicted costs.
¡°This can¡¯t be right, this is enough to bankrupt a whole duchy easily, we can¡¯t afford that right,¡± he said with searching glances at his vassals.
¡°Yes, that is what it would cost if we wanted to get enough money to follow through with your plans in the next five to ten years,¡± Count Gretten admitted hesitantly.
¡°And here, this has the same estimation in revenue as Lord Rowan¡¯s estimate for the mountains staying with him, but the costs are much higher,¡± Zen continued confused.
Zen¡¯s knowledge of business basics is lacking, Michael realized, not very surprising to be honest, I doubt that King Johann put much value on that.
It still indicated that he didn¡¯t quite realize what kind of a task he was trying to take from Michael, making a whole mountain range profitable was a monumental task that he was probably planning to just hand off. Michael took note of this for later.
¡°Developing the mountains will be more expensive for you no matter what scale,¡± Michael explained, ¡°First is the distance, you will have to ship material all the way down to the mountains and back up, you could buy them in Reen but that still leaves the transport back into your lands. Secondly, you will have to relocate workers and soldiers into the mountains, build more housing, and improve vast stretches of roads up to your duchy Regia. Those are just a few points and most of them are more expensive for you because Regia is a few days of travel farther than Reen.¡±
¡°Couldn¡¯t we just buy the stuff from Reen and recruit workers there? That would benefit you too right,¡± Zen asked.
¡°That would be difficult, buying the material would be the lesser problem even if prices might get a little higher when the merchants have the ability to increase the prices because of the long supply line we would have to endure if we didn¡¯t buy from them. The bigger problem is finding the workforce, as in your lands most of the citizens of Reen and Emall are serfs, so we can¡¯t just recruit them, that means we would have to buy them their freedom, which also increases costs and could lead to bad blood with the local nobility,¡± Radiel said with a strangely happy expression.
¡°You didn¡¯t tell me that this endeavor was such an expensive one,¡± Zen said to his steward who looked not even a little bit guilty.
¡°It might be expensive, but these costs are heavily front-loaded, sure we will have to pay a little bit more than Lord Michael to supply our operation later on, but the revenue will easily pay back the costs in a couple of years.¡±
Zen looked less than happy, he had always been more of the idea-finding person and less the fine details enthusiast, so Michael wasn¡¯t surprised that the young king hadn¡¯t bothered working through the complexities of funding. He had probably been content with his steward assuring him that it was financially sound, which to his credit it was but just not as fast as Zen would like. Michael intended to continue striking into that gap and see if he could blow the whole idea wide open with this.
¡°You can¡¯t forget that we were forced to place the compensation for House Rowan¡¯s effort in clearing the mountains at the actual cost because we couldn¡¯t agree on any value, which I still find very unreasonable. I am sure that you, Your Majesty, will agree with me that repossessing the mountains and merely paying my house back the money it cost to take them is not right, considering the lives that were lost and the risk we took,¡± Michael said with a stern expression.
Zen looked at the piece of paper that had the compensation written down and began massaging his temple. ¡°Of course, we can¡¯t just take the mountains without any reward.¡±
¡°How much do you have in mind? Twice what we put in or does thrice sound better? If I am allowed to be honest it would have to be more than that to blunt the bad taste this repossession is leaving on my tongue,¡± Michael pressed, Zen looked more miserable with every word, Michael knew exactly what kind of number was on that piece of paper and even thrice of that was not a small sum.
¡°Lord Rowan, you are still speaking to the king. Watch your words,¡± Duke Wulfen said in a threatening tone.
Zen waved him off and said with a sour expression, ¡°It¡¯s alright, he is not wrong. I am essentially trying to rob him of a treasure that could fund his lands for years to come.¡±
¡°Even with these costs it will still be a great influx of funds into the royal treasury, it might not throw much profit in the next two or three years, but the revenue will only rise while the costs will go down,¡± Count Gretten pressed, he was surely noticing that the was losing the king.
Michael could see that Duke Wulfen also wasn¡¯t pleased with the development, which showed in only the slightest hint of emotion on his face, he seemingly resigned himself that he couldn¡¯t get everything he wanted here and had to make concessions to keep his plan from sinking.
¡°We can cut some costs by selling the materials in Reen and Emall in the early years, this will cut transportation costs and we can circle that money straight back into the development. This should help reduce the strain this endeavor will put on our finances in the first year. This will also help Lord Rowan through the trade and strengthen our south,¡± Duke Wulfen said, and Zen brightened up a little bit.
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Michael wouldn¡¯t let it slip though, sure having the materials being sold on his land would mean a great influx of funds through tariffs and taxes, which is why Duke Wulfen certainly didn¡¯t want this, but having Zen think that this was too expensive to do in the first place was just much better.
¡°It would make it more feasible true, but it would still be a loss in revenue. Why diminish the effects that the mountains can have just to have control over it if you can leave it with a trustworthy vassal that can use it more efficiently,¡± Michael countered.
A back-and-forth ensued between Michael and Duke Wallsten on one side and Duke Wulfen and Count Gretten on the other which got more heated by the minute, more between the two counts than the cool-headed dukes.
Bickering about who could use the resources better was followed by arguing about the amount of compensation for House Rowan until they got to the point that Count Gretten questioned Michael¡¯s competence and Michael shot back that they would have to deduct a percentage of the earnings estimate due to corruption if the king wanted to give a noble the task of overseeing his mining projects.
The two dukes had to step in at this point to prevent Michael and Count Gretten from making the argument even more personal in front of the king.
¡°How about we take a little break? I see that you are in this with your heart, but we can¡¯t have emotions running hot here, we are not enemies,¡± Zen said with an admonishing gaze to Michael and Count Gretten who both had the decency to look embarrassed.
They left the meeting room and many of them entered in a large sitting room next to the council chamber to get some food and drink. After getting a stern talking to from Duke Wallsten about the virtues of keeping one¡¯s calm, Michael sat in an armchair that was much too big for him and nibbled at the bread that a servant had brought him.
He was sitting alone with most of the king¡¯s side of the council having left shortly after for their own chambers and only Duke Wallsten and Greeich sitting on the other side of the room fully immersed in their conversation. The last other person present was the Archpriest Patheros who was currently approaching Michael.
Michael rose respectfully as the man approached and bowed. ¡°Your eminence, what can I help you with?¡±
They both sat down before the man spoke but when he did, he did it with a warm smile. ¡°Oh, it is not so much what you can help me with but much rather what I can help you with, Lord Rowan.¡±
A shudder went down Michael¡¯s spine as the smooth words rolled over him. He couldn¡¯t quite tell why but he already had a bad feeling about the conversation.
¡°And what would that be,¡± Michael asked and did his best to mimic the smile that the priest was giving him.
¡°The church¡®s word carries a lot of weight in court and my support would do much to bring you a favorable outcome in these negotiations,¡± the priest replied.
¡°Duke Wallsten and I would very much appreciate your support, your eminence,¡± Michael said suspiciously, ¡°What do you expect for this endorsement?¡±
¡°You catch on quickly. That reinforces what I have heard and seen, you are quite a unique specimen, Lord Rowan,¡± he spoke in a slow and controlled manner, weighing every word before saying it.
¡°I wonder what you have heard about me and how much of that you believe,¡± Michael countered.
¡°You are referring to Father Albion, yes? I have to say he is telling quite the troubling tale which I am not sure of for now.¡± A threat so thinly veiled; most people of influence could easily ignore the ramblings of a mere priest but if an Archpriest were to support that opinion, then it would be harder to ignore.
¡°I do not enjoy the dancing of politics, never have. Let¡¯s agree to get to the point of this conversation and make our threats without a polite smile,¡± Michael replied very undiplomatically. His temper had not cooled down since the meeting yet and the fact that he was sure that he was going to be blackmailed in just a few moments didn¡¯t help his mood any.
The Archpriest didn¡¯t seem to be overly offended by this though and simply leaned back in his chair dropping the polite smile. ¡°You are your father¡¯s son that much is obvious. Being able to drop the facade once in a while can be very relaxing but I have to say that I do enjoy the dance that is politics. It takes a certain kind of finesse that often can surpass the raw power of an individual which elevates those with a high intellect over those with privilege.¡±
Michael decided to ignore the implied insult and simply waited for the man to get to the point. Patheros noticed Michael¡¯s disinterest and smirked.
¡°You don¡¯t seem too interested in this kind of philosophical discussion; I expected you to subscribe to that idea after hearing about your tendency to favor talent over birth.¡±
¡°I tend to focus my interests on subjects that improve the lives of my people rather than my own personal power,¡± Michael stated plainly.
¡°What a pretty construct to dress your ambitions in. It does make you seem more benevolent I have to admit. The thing that I can¡¯t tell is if you believe what you are saying to be true or if you are mature enough to know how to work your reputation.¡± Patheros tapped his chin in a thoughtful motion but kept his eyes firmly on Michael.
¡°The duty of a ruler is to care for his subjects, I am merely following a path that is seemingly forgotten all too easily. People that lust for power don¡¯t care which position they have to take and what principles they have to warp to gain what they want,¡± Michael shot back.
¡°Interesting. You either truly believe that or you are a very very good liar,¡± Patheros noted with a fascinated expression.
Michael sighed at the priest and then huffed, ¡°Could we get to the point, please? I don¡¯t see any value in this discussion of my beliefs.¡±
¡°Discussions of other¡¯s beliefs is my day''s work,¡± the Archpriest remarked but dropped the subject. ¡°Then let us come to the reason I have come. You want my support, and I am willing to give it to you.¡±
¡°When did I ...,¡± Michael started to protest but Patheros simply continued talking.
¡°Of course, nothing in the world is free, I am not going to sugarcoat it as you asked me not to. I have a couple of things that I would like in exchange for the church¡¯s support. First, the church will receive a tenth of the revenue of the mines as donations, second, you will build a cathedral in Reen in the next twenty years, and lastly, I will appoint a new court priest to Reen to serve on your council. Do not worry it won¡¯t be someone like Father Albion.¡±
Patheros looked at Michael with a business-like expression as he laid out his demands, none of them were too severe, and even with ten percent deducted from the revenue it would still be an unbelievable boon to retain the mines which the Archpriest¡¯s help would make much more likely.
¡°I do have a perfectly fine court priestess already,¡± Michael said carefully and watched Patheros¡¯s reaction, but he was stone-faced.
¡°Sister Sola is not trained for this position. She is merely a member of the Order of Purity after all. She was never meant to be in charge of a congregation,¡± Patheros scoffed and this time a lot of emotion filled his voice. ¡°You need a proper court priest to give you counsel on what is the path of righteousness.¡±
A spy to tell you all my plans, you mean, Michael thought sourly and shook his head before answering. ¡°I will not exchange Sola for someone I neither know nor trust.¡±
¡°This term is non-negotiable, I am afraid. It is my duty as Archpriest to ensure the safety of my charge¡¯s souls and placing trustworthy court priests around the country is the only way to make this work.¡±
Michael scowled internally; he had hoped that Patheros had only included it to spy on him in the hopes that Michael wouldn¡¯t notice but he seemed very dead set on getting someone into Michael¡¯s council.
¡°You are right, Your Eminence, this is non-negotiable. I will not replace Sister Sola and you can¡¯t accept her, so this negotiation is sadly doomed to fail,¡± Michael concluded with a polite smile, not showing his internal annoyance. He could have lived with the other conditions, but he wouldn¡¯t throw his trusted retainers away so easily and of course not invite a spy into his inner circle.
¡°At least I now know that you actually meant what you said before about caring for your people, or you just don¡¯t want to deal with the church,¡± Patheros said with a slight smile and then turned around to walk away. He stopped just a few steps away from Michael and then turned around to give him a thoughtful glance.
¡°I was wondering how you frightened Father Albion this much. I was guessing that he had just lost his marbles but now I am not so sure anymore.¡± Patheros turned away from him after these words and left a concerned Michael in his wake.
Chapter 80.
Michael
An hour later they were all back in the council chamber waiting for Zen to reopen the meeting. Michael had spent most of the break calming himself and trying to guess what the archpriest would do with little success; he just didn¡¯t know a lot about the man.
Michael didn¡¯t have much time to ponder the issue further as Zen stood up from his seat and announced, ¡°Welcome back, now that we have all cooled down a little bit we can continue the discussion. I hope that everyone can stay calm this time. Let¡¯s hear some opinions from people who haven¡¯t shared theirs yet. Archpriest Patheros what is the church¡¯s opinion on this whole matter? Is there any divine guidance you can share with us?¡±
The priest stayed silent while he appeared to organize his thoughts, but Michael guessed that it was only a facade, and he knew exactly what to say.
¡°Milords, it is an honor for me to represent the will of the church in this meeting, as it is my honor to walk the path of Idas every day of my life,¡± the man began, every word carefully weighed. He continued for a few minutes talking of the grace of God and recollecting most of what had been said in the meeting before getting to the point.
¡°I have contemplated as much as possible in the last hours about the decision we are here to make. In the end, it was clear what I had to recommend. Lord Idas always told us to become strong as a people and with that in mind, I can¡¯t suggest with a clear consciousness to leave the wealth and resources in the hands of a single count when they could be used for the betterment of the whole kingdom and its people,¡± he said, and the royal side of the argument nodded in agreement. Again, he preached for a while about the commandments of Idas and other religious dogma while Michael sighed relieved.
He had expected the man to be much more vehemently against him or even accuse him of colliding with heretics, non-humans, and mages but the Archpriest didn¡¯t seem very invested in his arguments. His best guess was that Patheros thought that attacking the friend of the king so directly might put him at odds with Zen, but he couldn¡¯t know for sure. For now, Michael was just happy with how it had worked out even if he was very suspicious of the priest¡¯s motivations.
After Patheros was Duke Greeich¡¯s turn to speak, he had a smirk on his face while stroking his white mustache slowly.
¡°We have danced around what should be the most important argument so much that even I nearly forgot about it,¡± the old duke said, he wasn¡¯t as old as Duke Wallsten but still old. ¡°You are all talking about compensation and who can use it better and whatnot. Even the priest ignored it, and he should be the advocate of morality here,¡± he gave the archpriest an amused glance, but Patheros didn¡¯t react.
¡°I guess I am going to spell it out. Is it right to take the rewards of an achievement forcefully from the person who has achieved it? Is that the morally right thing to do,¡± he looked into the faces of the present men while talking and got a mixture of responses from dismissal to agreement.
¡°I have seen many kings in my time, with the end of the Twin Mountain Kingdom I have seen more than I ever wanted to. Good kings and bad kings, benevolent kings and tyrannical kings, selfless kings and selfish kings. King Zenial you will have to choose what kind of king you want to be.¡± Sounds of discomfort erupted in the chamber while Michael grinned at the directness of the duke.
¡°Pattro, morality will not protect our kingdom, we need to be practical right now,¡± Duke Wulfen reprimanded his equal.
¡°Practicality was always your path in life, Leopold,¡± Duke Greeich replied with a smile. ¡°But understanding the finer things that motivate us and make us behave morally good are much more important than you give it credit. The world is not so simple. The people need to know that their king is a good king so that they will follow willingly and with enthusiasm.¡±
¡°I do understand the motivations of men quite well,¡± Duke Wulfen replied coldly.
¡°Then you can quite easily tell us what exactly the rest of the realm will think of our king if he actually goes through with this plan,¡± Duke Wallsten inserted himself into the conversation.
Duke Wulfen stayed silent while looking from one duke to the other before Duke Wallsten took it upon himself to answer his own question. ¡°The nobles will be in uproar, the bards will begin to sing of the injustice that has been committed, and the peasants will hear and believe those stories. Your reputation will suffer, your Majesty. No one will want to take a risk like this again at the danger of the reward being taken away or they will start to hide their riches and fear your attention. The path to ruin is built with good intentions after all.¡±
Michael knew that Zen wanted to be known as a good king and be loved so he knew that this would hit close to his heart even if it was a low blow. This is also the reason Michael didn¡¯t want to bring up this point himself because as his friend it would sting in a bad way. Zen was frowning already but Duke Wulfen wouldn¡¯t just let them have their way.
¡°You are exaggerating. I will not deny that there will be those who are disgruntled by us infringing on the nobility¡¯s autonomy, but those voices will be quiet and far between, and easily drowned out by the noise of progress that the king can make with the gain from the mountains.¡±
¡°Quiet and far between is a particular way of degrading a whole duchy,¡± Duke Greeich said with a raised eyebrow.
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¡°No one can expect the lords of Praanen to not be a little disgruntled, they are the ones who have to give up something, but they will be rewarded so I don¡¯t think that they will disagree for long,¡± Duke Wulfen waved him off.
¡°I meant myself and my vassals,¡± Duke Greeich clarified bluntly. ¡°I have made my misgivings about this plan quite obvious since this whole ordeal began, and I will gladly repeat them.¡±
¡°That won¡¯t be necessary. You have made your position clear on the matter, but I am interested in the subject anyway. How bad will the reaction be to this,¡± Zen asked with a concerned expression, he was already on the hook and now the battle would be to keep Duke Wulfen¡¯s side from calming his concerns.
¡°Not as cataclysmic as the esteemed dukes might want to make it look like, no one will think of you as a tyrant, any vassal with the kingdom¡¯s prosperity in mind will see that this is the best way to go,¡± Duke Wulfen replied.
¡°I don¡¯t understand why you are so vehemently against this. The duty of a noble is to protect the kingdom and if the kingdom is prospering then your lands will too,¡± Count Gretten added in Michael¡¯s and Duke Wallsten¡¯s direction.
Michael stayed quiet listening intently to every sentence, but Duke Wallsten wouldn¡¯t leave this alone.
¡°Would you leave such an opportunity without any argument? A chance to make your people¡¯s lives better. This is a real chance for Praanen to catch up to the other duchies, break out of its rank as a frontier, and finally become an equal to the other duchies,¡± Duke Wallsten retorted more emotionally than Michael had ever seen the old duke.
Count Gretten chuckled dryly as if the duke had just made a joke and then said dismissively, ¡°It would take decades for Praanen to reasonably catch up economically and militarily even with these resources, it¡¯s unrealistic. The amount of development the kingdom could do with the resources in such a long timeframe would majorly overshadow the effects it would have down south.¡±
Duke Wulfen watched the whole exchange with a frown, certainly wondering why Duke Wallsten had moved the conversation in a direction that benefitted them with the unreasonable expectations that the duke had stated. He glanced over to Michael and saw a glint in his eyes just as Count Gretten finished up his statement and his eyes widened. He quickly gave the steward a warning glance, but it was too late.
¡°Unrealistic you say? Leave the mountains with us for five years and Praanen will have caught up or even exceeded the other duchies militarily and economically,¡± Michael stated with a confident expression and the room fell silent.
¡°That is just ridiculous,¡± Count Gretten exclaimed, ¡°How desperate are you to keep the riches to yourself to make such an outrageous claim? Over half of Praanen was settled barely fifty years ago there is no way that you could succeed in building it up to such an extent if half the land is frontier wilderness.¡±
He wasn¡¯t completely wrong, the counties of Reen, Emall, and his uncle¡¯s fief Grent were mostly wilderness with Reen being the most developed and even in Reen, there was less than half the population of other counties in more established counties.
¡°Then it should be a great deal for the kingdom,¡± Michael said with a grin and Duke Wulfen growled at his underling to finally get him to keep his mouth shut. ¡°The kingdom won¡¯t have to spend as much money to develop the mines and if I fail in what I have claimed then I will turn over everything without any resistance or demanding any compensation. Either way, the kingdom will either have a duchy that develops up massively and brings much higher tax income and military support or it will receive a fully established mining operation for free while being able to use its own funds for defense.¡±
Duke Wulfen shook his head at this point knowing that he had lost this round which was quickly confirmed by an excited Zen.
¡°Are you sure that you can pull this off,¡± he asked with an awestruck tone.
¡°If nothing cataclysmic happens then I am certain that I can do what I promise,¡± Michael replied confidently because he knew what was in those mountains. It wasn¡¯t just the minerals, it wasn¡¯t even just the magical materials that no one here knew about, the thing that made him completely sure was the presence of an ancient dragon that had already agreed to help him with his vast knowledge and his drive to reform and rebuild his lands.
Zen grinned excitedly, always one for grand gestures and confident declarations like those that a hero in an epic tale would make, and announced, ¡°Then this is what we are going to do. The cleared part of the Ereic Mountains will remain in the possession of House Rowan for the next five years, upon which point we will judge if the condition that the Duchy of Praanen has grown to match the other duchies of the kingdoms has been fulfilled.¡±
- Somewhere in the Palace -
¡°I apologize for my misstep, milord. I should have known that they were trying to bait me,¡± Uther Gretten said while trying to avoid the eyes of Duke Wulfen. He wasn¡¯t actually his direct vassal with his lands being in the central duchy of Regia but in reality, he was completely subservient to the powerful Duke.
Leopold sighed and shook his head. ¡°It was a long shot anyway. There was little chance to convince the king to take away the mountains from his friend with how the cards are laid right now. The only chance we had was shocking them into doing something foolish and antagonizing His Majesty.¡±
That obviously hadn¡¯t happened, even if the young Rowan had lost his temper for a short while he had said nothing that could have been used against him regarding this meeting. Leopold would probably still let the boy¡¯s accusations of nobles being corrupt leak to worsen his reputation and maybe make his own vassals angry. It wasn¡¯t personal, quite the contrary he was impressed by the boy and if he were his vassal Leopold would have celebrated, but in the situation, as it was, he was dangerous so Leopold wouldn¡¯t pull his punches just because the young count was a child.
¡°It wasn¡¯t a total failure though. We have a clear avenue to salvage this situation now, the only thing we need to do is make sure that he fails in what he has promised and then he will lose the mountains and not even get any compensation,¡± Leopold added with a slight smile.
Uther scoffed and said, ¡°I don¡¯t think we have to do much on that front, milord. As I said in the meeting, it is utterly impossible that Praanen catches up to the other duchies in a mere five years.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t underestimate Duke Wallsten, he might be an old man and appear to be quite passive, but he is shrewd and ambitious. Not to mention that the kid has already done some unexpected moves and will definitely throw caution and conventional wisdom to the wind to reach his goal,¡± Leopold admonished the smaller man.
¡°Of course, milord,¡± he shrunk under the criticism.
¡°We will go back to your earlier suggestion, let us see if we can¡¯t get his vassals to be a little trouble,¡± Leopold said with a dark smile.
Chapter 81.
Lynx
The last few days have been a surprisingly fulfilling experience for Lynx, it had been quite some time since he last had a student. Even if he viewed his disciple with the same emotionless nature that the faceless showed most things the act of teaching and creating an organization from the ground up was fulfilling indeed.
She hindered his ability to do his work in the capital quite significantly because he couldn¡¯t just send her on a mission with her lackluster abilities, but it would be worth it in the future.
He shook off these useless thoughts and looked down the roof he was currently sitting on. The street beneath him was bustling with activity as the market district always did in this city but his attention was focused on a large bakery on the other side of the street.
Someone pulled himself up onto the roof with a huff, but Lynx didn¡¯t react. He didn¡¯t even move when the radiant soul stepped next to him and looked down to him.
¡°A curious meeting place, Lynx,¡± he remarked humorously. The young lord was, as always, accompanied by the silent woman, her eyes searching for the slightest sign of aggression from the faceless while her whole mannerism feigned boredom. She could probably trick most humans with her act but the senses of a faceless were too different.
¡°I would prefer to keep rumors about a masked stranger to a minimum,¡± Lynx answered without taking his gaze off the bakery.
¡°Oh, I am not complaining, but it showed me that I will have to practice climbing a little more,¡± Michael answered and followed the Lynx¡¯s gaze toward the building on the opposite side of the street. ¡°What are you looking at?¡±
Just as he did the door swung open hard and a small girl with short dirt-blond hair jumped through it followed by angry shouts and a few moments later a corpulent man with a bright red head and a rolling pin in hand. ¡°COME BACK HERE, YOU THIEVING RAT!¡±
¡°Who is that,¡± Michael rightly caught on that the girl was the focus of Lynx¡¯s attention.
¡°She might be my first student,¡± Lynx explained, and after the girl had rushed around a corner he turned toward his chosen master.
¡°A student? I always took you for the solitary type,¡± Michael said surprised, looking at him.
¡°A single man, no matter how fast, cannot be everywhere, an organization on the other hand can.¡±
¡°If you need anything just ask.¡±
¡°We are quite self-sufficient at the moment, but some funds would be advantageous in the future,¡± Lynx replied nonchalantly, but he knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to finance himself and multiple students by stealing from criminals for long without drawing too much attention.
¡°Stealing from an innocent baker, is that your self-sufficiency,¡± Michael questioned him with a raised eyebrow.
Lynx didn¡¯t mind the question. ¡°This bakery is a front for a criminal group, and I need to see if the girl is worth my attention. So, they are not innocent, and I am even doing this city a favor. My people have much different moral views than yours do but I am quite aware of them and will do my best to keep them in mind while it is practical.¡±
The young lord seemed surprised and a little bit awkward, ¡°That is good. I hope it will work out with her.
Lynx nodded and turned to the subject why they were here in the first place. He took out the stack of letters that he had copied from the messenger on his way here and handed them to the radiant soul while standing up.
Michael took them with a frown and started skimming over the contents getting more serious with every letter.
¡°Where did you get these and who sent them to whom?¡±
¡°I copied them of a messenger coming from one of Baron Redric Plon¡¯s estates. They were delivered to a man here in Lionsgate who brought them into the Palace. I can¡¯t say who he delivered them to or who he is, but I have a sketch of him,¡± Lynx explained and handed Michael another piece of paper with a very detailed drawing of the man who had received the letters.
Michael looked at the sketch with a weird expression for a moment that Lynx couldn¡¯t place but then shook his head. The man had a broad unassuming face as so many human males had but a small scar on his left cheek made him easier to identify.
¡°You are a good artist,¡± he remarked but Lynx didn¡¯t react, so Michael just continued. ¡°I don¡¯t know the man, he is either one of Duke Wulfen¡¯s men or the Archpriest, I presume. When did he deliver this?¡±
¡°He arrived three days ago, and the man entered the palace the same day,¡± Lynx answered shortly. He had wanted to simply leave a written report, but with his master staying in the den of the lion it would have been too risky. That didn¡¯t mean that he enjoyed the conversation though, he never did.
¡°Three days? Hmm, I wonder why they didn¡¯t use the letters in the meeting,¡± Michael said more to himself than Lynx, but he answered anyway. ¡°I do not know but I can try to break in and investigate. The palace defenses are dangerous though even for me, they are from another era entirely.¡±
Michael shook his head, ¡°No, there is no need for that. Keep doing what you have been doing, I will take care of this.¡±
Lynx nodded and after it was apparent that they had nothing left to talk Michael turned around and vanished together with his silent guard.
Silvia
The streets of Lionsgate had been her home since her mother had died. People always said that it was hard surviving in the wilderness far away from other humans, but Silvia couldn¡¯t believe that the lack of humans made things worse, the opposite was the case in her experience.
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Now again she was cowering in an abandoned alleyway peeking out from behind a mountain of trash, looking for her human pursuer.
¡°He gave up two alleys earlier,¡± a dark voice startled her from behind and she whirled around just to see the masked man standing behind her.
Silvia sighed in relief and leaned back against the wall.
¡°You wouldn¡¯t have had to run if you didn¡¯t let yourself get caught while stealing, girl,¡± he said but his tone didn¡¯t change even a little.
¡°I am sorry.¡±
He didn¡¯t acknowledge her apology and simply pulled out a small piece of paper and handed it to her. ¡°I have acquired a base of operations for us. Find it with these hints.¡±
He turned to leave but Silvia quickly said, ¡°I can¡¯t read.¡±
The masked man stopped and turned toward her, ¡°The first word is ¡®Jason¡¯, and the second line is ¡®Green Path¡¯.¡± With these words, he vanished and left Silvia alone in the alleyway.
¡°Wait,¡± Silvia called out, but he was already gone. ¡°What am I supposed to do with that?¡±
She stood there in silence for a while, not quite sure what she was supposed to do but decided that first she would need to find the ¡®Green Path¡¯, it was probably some kind of street and a much better clue than ¡®Jason¡¯.
Looking left and right carefully, she snuck out of the alleyway and put some distance between herself and where she last saw the angry baker before she started asking around for the location.
¡°I don¡¯t have money.¡±
¡°Fuck off, you street rat, before I beat your ass.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t have time for this.¡±
Silvia sat on the side of the street; it wasn¡¯t a ¡®bad¡¯ neighborhood, but it wasn¡¯t fancy either but a run-down girl like her would never be treated well no matter where she was. People never tended to treat those well that they saw beneath them, and Silvia had yet to find someone she was above.
¡°Hey you, girl,¡± an authoritative voice dragged her out of her self-pity. She looked up and saw a member of the city guard looking at her with an annoyed expression. ¡°What are you doing? You know that your kind is not welcome here.¡±
¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she answered quietly but then decided to try her luck. ¡°Do you perhaps know where the Green Path is, I am supposed to find someone there.¡±
¡°Huh? Well, sure. The Green Path is a tavern in the traveler¡¯s district close to the east gate,¡± the man answered probably wanting her to go there and out of his patrol area.
Silvia thanked him and quickly made her way there before the guard thought of motivating her to leave. It wouldn¡¯t have been the first time that those like her had to be forced out of better districts by force.
The traveler¡¯s district was a lower-class kind of area, mostly for adventurers and poor travelers, so crime and lowlifes were prevalent there. She would definitely fit in there better than here, but it was still one or two steps above the slums that she had called her home.
It didn¡¯t take her long to find the tavern even if there were multiple even in this street alone. It was a rundown place, but as every tavern in this district, it was filled with people.
Silvia entered and was instantly assaulted by the stench of alcohol and vomit; she was used to the fragrance, so she didn¡¯t care too much and made her way to the bar.
She had to dodge one or two drunk people and a hand that was grabbier than she liked but except for that she made it to the counter without problem.
¡°Excuse me,¡± she said, trying to overcome the ambient noise.
A tall and thin man behind the bar looked over to her and his expression instantly darkened, ¡°There is no begging here.¡±
¡°I am not here to beg,¡± Silvia protested.
¡°There is also no prostitution here either.¡±
¡°That is also not what I am here for. I am looking for someone,¡± Silvia said.
¡°Don¡¯t care. Either you buy something or get out,¡± the bartender said and grabbed one of the stone mugs threateningly.
¡°Please, I just ...¡±
¡°FRANK! Get this little rat out of here before she steals something,¡± the bartender yelled, and Silvia found herself on the ground outside of the tavern shortly after.
She scrambled back to her feet and looked back to the tavern where Frank told her to not come back or else, before he slammed the door in her face.
¡°Great, what now,¡± she murmured to herself and fell against the wall opposite of the tavern entrance. ¡°No one ever helps me ... except for him.¡±
She sat there with tears running down her face for half an hour until a familiar voice spoke to her. ¡°You gave up quickly, girl. Well, at least you found your way here.¡±
Silvia looked up and saw the masked man in front of her looking down with the empty eye sockets of his mask.
¡°How can I find out anything if no one talks to me because of who I am,¡± she complained and pulled her legs closer to her chest.
¡°Just stop being who you are,¡± he replied bluntly but then elaborated. ¡°You didn¡¯t put any effort in. There were many ways you could have found out, stealing some gold to pay someone off, asking some drunk who seemed like a talker, getting some better clothes to fit in.¡±
I disappointed him. Why can¡¯t I ever do anything right, she thought quietly.
¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she mumbled.
¡°I don¡¯t need you to be sorry. You just need to learn that the most important trait for someone in my line of work is to fit in anywhere without drawing attention. From your experience, I expect that you have seen why.¡±
Silvia nodded and then asked, ¡°I never saw you without that cloak and mask, how do you fit in?¡±
¡°With the people I converse with a mask and hood are not uncommon,¡± he simply answered. ¡°I walk different paths than you, but you have a wider field of access, girl.¡±
¡°My name is Silvia,¡± she corrected him, but he shook his head. ¡°Your name and identity will be lost; you can¡¯t leave behind any connection to your current life so your name must be lost to memory. You will receive a code name once you deserve it.¡±
It didn¡¯t hit her as harshly as it should that she was going to lose her name because she was ready to leave behind everything anyway.
¡°How do I call you then?¡±
¡°You may call me, Lynx, and now follow me,¡± then he turned around and walked away in the direction of a close-by house.
Silvia struggled to keep up with him and he didn¡¯t appear to care much if she followed but she did. Their destination was a small door in a side alley of an unassuming building leading into a similarly unassuming room. It was dusty as if no one had lived here for quite some time and the furniture was in complete disarray. There were two doors leading out of the room which must have been some kind of common room, but the doors were closed.
¡°What is this place,¡± Silvia asked while looking around.
¡°It was a safehouse for some criminal group that since has gone extinct. No one is using it so we will take possession for the time being,¡± the masked man answered shortly and walked straight for a corner where he picked up a broom and turned around to Silvia.
He handed her the broom and said, ¡°Clean up here. I will be back in a few hours.¡±
Silvia nodded weakly and he was gone before she had even grabbed the broom. She blinked a couple of times into the empty room and then sighed before getting to work.
Cleaning wasn¡¯t something she was used to, so she just did what she saw in taverns and started sweeping and cleaning the tables.
The masked man returned three hours later with a bag and a large barrel on his back.
¡°Welcome back, master,¡± Silvia greeted him, but he didn¡¯t reply. Instead, he took a short stroll around the room and inspected it.
¡°Have you ever learned to clean,¡± he asked.
She shook her head and avoided his gaze.
¡°You will have to learn but for now come here.¡± she came over and he opened the barrel, it was filled with clean water, and she stared at him unbelievingly. She easily fit into it and this man had carried it in as if it was nothing.
¡°Take a bath, then I will cut your hair and we will get you presentable. There is soap and sponges here and in the bag are new clothes for you. If you need anything I am in the next room.¡± He then left through one of the doors which she knew led into a room filled with a table and a chair but not much else. The other door led into a hallway and into more rooms.
She stared at the many things that Lynx had brought her and smiled, she never had gotten a gift since her ring.
Chapter 82.
Michael
The sound of wood clashing on wood echoed in the room. Furniture had been pushed to the walls opening up a space in the middle of the large room. It was a luxurious estate that Michael and Mira were using to spar.
They had come here after Michael had asked where they could train without being seen. It was disconcertingly easy to get here without being seen, Mira had led him through a hidden passage that brought them beyond the palace walls, and after that they had simply walked over to the royal estate. Michael had asked if such a tunnel should be brought to the palace guards¡¯ attention, but Mira deflected by pointing at Sir Antreos who was following them.
The building they were currently training in was one of the many houses that the royal family possessed, they were usually used to house guests when the palace got too full but most of the time it stood empty and forgotten.
It was a good place for training even if a softer ground would probably benefit Mira as hit the ground again.
¡°You are too indecisive. Either commit or don¡¯t if you doubt your every move then you can only fail,¡± Michael critiqued while leaning on his staff. Mira was doing well in his opinion, considering that she only started training a little over a month ago.
¡°Does it even matter? I can¡¯t fight for real anyway,¡± she grumbled as she pushed herself back on her feet with a depressed expression.
Michael had been basically dropping her to the ground continually for an hour now. He didn¡¯t want to do it that long initially but she just kept getting back up and demanding another turn so he had been curious how long she could take it. It was understandable that at one point she would get frustrated.
¡°Because of your low mana reserves, you mean,¡± Michael asked.
She made a funny expression that Michael interpreted as a yes.
¡°Alright, answer me a question. Why does anyone use normal soldiers with small mana wells?¡±
¡°What do you mean,¡± she asked confused.
¡°Sir Antreos,¡± Michael turned to the knight. ¡°How many not augmenting trained soldiers could you take alone?¡±
The knight pondered for a moment and then carefully answered, ¡°Depending on the arms and armament, the tactics and situation.¡±
¡°No ranged weapons, same length weapons as you, a basic formation, and an open field with solid ground,¡± Michael clarified.
¡°Fifty to a hundred would be my estimation. I never tried,¡± the knight guessed.
¡°Good, let¡¯s go with the low estimate of fifty. With fifty normal not-augmenting soldiers being defeated by one augmenter you can defeat an army of one thousand with only twenty augmenters. House Rowan can field twenty trained augmenters, not on Sir Antreos level but with the low estimate it will middle out, but House Rowan can¡¯t field one thousand trained soldiers. So, why does anyone bother to spend the time and resources on normal soldiers at all,¡± Michael turned back to Mira who seemed to put serious thought into the question.
¡°To tire out the augmenters,¡± she suggested.
¡°That is quite a bloody suggestion but not too far from the truth,¡± Michael said but let her ponder a little bit more.
¡°One thousand men can be in more places at the same time than twenty?¡±
Michael nodded; he was impressed that she actually gave good answers even if she never had any education in military matters. ¡°Also, true but not the main point I am trying to make.¡±
¡°The answer is in the question that I asked Sir Antreos. ¡®How many not-augmenting soldiers?¡¯ The thing is there are no not-augmenting soldiers, every human being has mana and the basic ability to augment, augmenters just have much more and are better trained in it, which is also why the names augmenter and non-augmenter are a little bit misleading but still mostly true. Now we come to the most important technique for someone like you who has barely any mana, it is called the Desperate Riposte. It is not always a riposte, to be honest, but the name just stuck.¡±
Mira listened intently while Sir Antreos looked a little bit uncomfortable, but Michael ignored it.
¡°A little bit of context first. When an augmenter fights a large group of non-augmenters, he has to be aggressive. If he tires out and his mana runs low then he will be in danger so to fight one versus fifty he will run in and throw all caution to the wind, relying on his greater speed or durability to react to any attack thrown at him, and that works well as long as no one augments.¡±
¡°This is where the Desperate Riposte comes in. The technique is quite simple, when facing an augmenter you pick one moment, maybe when he does a reckless attack or is focused on someone else. You then burn as much mana as possible to reduce the gap between you and the augmenter for just one attack and strengthen yourself to overcome their durability.¡±
¡°But if the augmenter knows that that is the only chance, won¡¯t he be more careful,¡± Mira asked unconvinced.
Michael grinned at her. ¡°Exactly! Now he has to be careful with every single soldier he fights which slows him down and tires him out.¡±
Mira nodded, slowly understanding what the point was.
¡°Sir Antreos, how many augmenting and trained soldiers could you take in a fight alone?¡±
¡°Twenty at maximum if they know what they are doing, and that can go wrong if I am unlucky or reckless,¡± he answered instantly.
¡°Suddenly twenty augmenters can only fight off four hundred soldiers and that doesn¡¯t take into account ranged weapons and spears. There will also be situations where an augmenter dies by some well-timed attack from behind, so I don¡¯t think that twenty augmenters could actually take four hundred men.¡±
Sir Antreos nodded in agreement and Michael kept going.
¡°Now both sides have augmenters and soldiers. When the augmenters clash then they can¡¯t always pay attention to a random soldier that suddenly decides to speed up and end the fight.¡±
¡°Why do we use augmenters then,¡± Mira asked seemingly a little bit confused.
¡°Because they are still more effective. You only have to arm one man even if it is better quality and have effectively twenty armed soldiers. Augmenters get more valuable with lower numbers too as the importance of individual strength rises.¡±
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¡°This is complicated, but I think I get it.¡±
Michael laughed and said, ¡°It would be great for the people and the treasury if we just fought with augmenters but the army with both is simply stronger, not to mention that you can¡¯t siege a castle with twenty men. Sure, you can try to sneak in and take it like that but apart from that you can¡¯t do much.¡±
Mira looked like her head was starting to smoke so Michael smirked and admitted, ¡°Sorry, I got carried away a little bit here. So, let¡¯s just try it out. I will attack you a little bit while burning mana and you will pick your moment for a Desperate Riposte.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea,¡± Sir Antreos stepped in with a concerned expression.
¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will be careful and mana depletion is not serious for people with small mana wells,¡± Michael brushed him off, but the knight insisted.
¡°It is alright,¡± Mira interrupted them after a while with visible anxiety.
¡°Milady,¡± Sir Antreos started but she waved him off. ¡°I will be careful, don¡¯t worry.¡±
Michael nodded and opened the floodgates to his immense mana reserves; his skin began glowing in an eerie light and the light sources around them got just a little bit brighter.
¡°Are you ready,¡± he asked, and Mira confirmed it after getting into a combat position.
The whole exchange was barely a moment. Michael dashed at her with wild abandon and shot his staff right at her throat, a quick killing blow in a normal fight. A moment before he reached, Mira suddenly sped up as well and raised her staff to block his attack. In a normal fight this situation would have left him wide open to a counterattack.
Michael knew that he could easily avoid her block and win the exchange nonetheless but chose to give her the win. It was a hard thing to train anyway because the Desperate Riposte relied on surprise.
His staff connected with Mira¡¯s and when she followed it up with an attack, he jumped back to avoid it. Being hit would make it too obvious that he let her win this once, she did the right thing after all so Michael didn¡¯t feel bad.
¡°Good job! Blocking an attack of an augmenter is the first step. You need to do the riposte in a situation where they are completely committed and can¡¯t turn back anymore.¡±
Mira had a talent for fighting in Michael¡¯s opinion, even if she had started training only something like one month ago, she was making great progress. Her talent was definitely not for the rigid knight¡¯s style or even the savage style of someone like Eydis. Mira was more of a flowing person, her talent as a dancer combined with her natural sense of the flow of combat.
Solon had told him about fighting styles which were very close to dancing and if Mira would learn one of those then she could become a great fighter. It was sad that her potential would forever be limited by her miserable mana well.
¡°Thank you,¡± Mira said and blushed at the compliment.
¡°Let¡¯s take a short break for your mana to replenish and go again. Fifteen minutes should be enough, right?¡±
The advantage of a small mana well, if you can even call it an advantage, is that it is full faster. While Michael would need hours to refill his mana reserves to its maximum someone like Mira only needed minutes. Of course, it also depended on the mana density in the area and the skill of the person but generally speaking, it is true that people with smaller wells refill their reserves faster.
They continued their training for a while longer until a young woman entered the house, she was breathing a little labored and came straight to them. It was Mira¡¯s handmaiden Julie, the third daughter of some count. She was beautiful with long golden hair, a sweet smile, and radiant blue eyes.
¡°Milady, the queen-mother is looking for you,¡± she said after catching her breath. She must have run all the way here which couldn¡¯t have been fun in her dress.
¡°Ups,¡± Mira replied with an awkward expression.
¡°Mira, did you have some other appointment,¡± Michael asked her, instantly catching up to her deception.
¡°I might have had embroidery lessons planned right about now,¡± she admitted shamelessly.
¡°By Idas, Mira,¡± Michael groaned and started walking but Mira stayed where she was. He then turned back to her with an expectant look and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±
¡°Do we really have to? I am gonna get yelled at anyway so there is no problem with just skipping the entire lesson.¡± Mira crossed her arms in front of her chest and Michael had to remind himself again that she was a somewhat normal child.
¡°Skipping out on lessons just because you don¡¯t like them is not something you should make a habit out of. Let¡¯s go back, you take your lesson and I promise that I will find the time to come training with you again when you don¡¯t have other plans already.¡± It felt weird talking to her like this, but it worked as her expression lit up.
¡°Alright, but you have to keep that promise,¡± she said with a happy expression and bounced past him.
¡°Only if you keep up your studies,¡± Michael called after her, but she ignored him.
Behind them, Eydis exchanged amused glances with Mira¡¯s retainers.
- Back in the palace, a few minutes later ¨C
¡°Miranne Cicilia Merland, where have you been,¡± the queen-mother asked loudly as Mira and Michael approached her. "I have been worried sick. You don''t come to your lessons and no one has the faintest idea where you are!"
Mira fidgeted awkwardly and refused to look her mother in the eyes, so Michael stepped forward. ¡°My deepest apologies, your Majesty. It is my fault that Princess Mira is late, she asked me to remind her when the time to leave for her lesson has come but I forgot. Please do not blame the princess for my failure.¡± He bowed deeply and the queen mellowed down.
¡°She should have thought of it herself but apparently you both have been caught up in your games. I assume I can be a little more understanding while you are here that my children want to spend time with you,¡± she said, and Michael could virtually grasp the pity in her voice. It was one advantage of his miserable situation, most people cut him a lot of slack.
The queen-mother then turned to her daughter with a stern expression. ¡°I expect that you manage your time better in the future, young lady.¡±
Mira nodded seemingly confused as to why she hadn¡¯t been scolded.
¡°Good, now get to your lesson.¡±
After that situation had been handled, Michael wandered the palace a little bit. It was such a grandiose estate that one could wander it for days and still find new and interesting things to see.
One of these things was a grand gallery of ancient paintings. Michael stood in front of one depicting the Betrayal, a group of hooded men standing around magical circles, and over them were the gods shedding tears of blood while being pierced by the weapons of small red creatures.
¡°Michael,¡± a questioning voice came from the side and Michael looked over to see Theodore approach him with a curious expression.
¡°Oh, hello Theodore. What are you doing here?¡±
¡°Just wanted to ask you the same,¡± the teenager said. ¡°I like spending my time here because barely anyone visits the gallery. I was always fascinated by the paintings as well, so it was two birds with one stone.¡±
Michael noticed the bag that the other boy was carrying, and his gaze shifted to the small easel under his arm.
¡°Are you a painter, Theodore,¡± he asked curious about this side of his friend that he didn¡¯t know.
Theodore flinched as if he had hoped that Michael wouldn¡¯t notice the obvious. ¡°Yeah, but please don¡¯t tell anyone. I went to great lengths to bribe the guards to warn me before someone enters, which they obviously failed in seeing you here.¡±
¡°I honestly just walked in, the guard was snoozing against the wall,¡± Michael replied with a cheeky grin at which Theodore shook his head disapprovingly. ¡°Why do you have to keep your painting secret though, seems like a nice hobby to me.¡±
¡°You met my father, didn¡¯t you,¡± Theodore replied dryly, and Michael instantly understood, the man would probably not agree to such a ¡®waste of time¡¯ for his son.
¡°Yeah, your father is ...,¡± Michael stopped not quite sure how to describe the man without insulting him.
¡°He is kind of a prick,¡± the large boy finished Michael¡¯s thought.
¡°You said that,¡± Michael clarified and they both chuckled for a while.
Michael turned back to the painting and Theodore followed his gaze. ¡°The Tears of the Betrayed. Made by the artist Geomero Hulien some nine hundred years ago,¡± Theodore explained.
¡°I can understand why everyone hates mages if you look at paintings like this.¡±
Theodore nodded in agreement before adding, ¡°A lot of paintings from that time feature the Betrayal with the public hate against mages being at its height. The mages were weak from the lack of mana and the Idas Church was on the rise, hunting down mages all over the land.¡±
¡°The echoes still reverberate today,¡± Michael said more to himself, and they fell silent.
¡°So, when are you leaving,¡± Theodore asked while starting to set up his equipment.
¡°I am gonna look for some qualified workers that want to move to Reen. My lands weren¡¯t known for their great expertise in metalworks and training new smiths will take too long,¡± Michael explained. ¡°So probably a few days yet.¡±
Theodore thought about it for a moment and then tapped his chin while lost in thought. ¡°I might be able to help you with that, can ask some of my father¡¯s contacts.¡±
¡°I would appreciate that. Do you mind if I stay and watch you paint a little bit, we can catch up,¡± Michael asked.
¡°Sure, nice to have someone appreciate my passion.¡±
Chapter 83.
Michael
¡°This is not a very nice place to find a good smith,¡± Theodore said with a raised eyebrow while looking at the rundown buildings.
¡°You brought us here,¡± Michael pointed out humorously. ¡°And I don¡¯t think it is that bad.¡± Just as he said that a man came out of a tavern, not quite sure on his feet, and vomited against a wall.
¡°Well, how did you find this smith anyway,¡± Michael changed the subject after giving the man a wide berth while passing. They had visited a couple of smiths already in the last three days and managed to recruit some of the journeymen who hoped to get out of their master¡¯s clutches.
¡°He is supposed to be a master smith but seemingly had a bad run-in with the smiths guild so he was forced to do his work for cheap because they bullied him out of the good markets. Sounds to me like quality expertise that you can get for cheap,¡± Theodore explained with a satisfied grin.
¡°Depends on why he had a run-in with the guild,¡± Michael commented and noticed that most people were giving him, Theodore, and their escort a lot of space. Seeing five knights and Eydis tailing them seemingly convinced even the most brash thug to stay far away.
¡°As far as I got told he wanted to open up a shop but the guild said that the district was already full, but he didn¡¯t care,¡± Theodore said with a shrug.
Michael raised an eyebrow at this, ¡°You mean he got shunned just because he wanted to open up his shop in the general district where other smiths had their smithy?¡±
¡°That¡¯s how the guilds work. They make sure that there is as little competition between their members as possible and to bully out any non-members. That is why it is so hard for a journeyman to become a master because one master would have to die to open up a spot in a city.¡±
Of course, Michael knew in essence what guilds did, but he seemingly hadn¡¯t grasped the dark side of them. He had thought that they were mostly a support system for their members and made sure that there was a baseline quality that every member had to meet. It was quite comfortable not having to compete with any other tradespeople, but comfort had rarely bred progress.
Michael decided to ask Solon about it later and look into the guild system to get a full overview. He was already going to reform vast parts of the systems and traditions in his lands so what was one more?
He pushed the subject to the back of his head for now as they approached a building that stood out from the rest. It wasn¡¯t beautiful in any sense of the word but at least it was clean and not overly damaged as most others around here were. A large sign with an anvil on it hung over the door and smoke came out of the chimney in the back of the house where Michael guessed the smithy was located.
Theodore had a slight look of disdain on his face as he saw the house. It was natural, he had lived most of his life in the palace so a rundown house in a bad district was definitely not his taste. Michael on the other hand came from a frontier town and lived a few years in it, he had a much higher tolerance for what constituted as rundown.
Michael stepped forward but then stopped when his whole escort followed him. ¡°Let¡¯s not frighten the poor man by having a whole war party rush into his store, okay,¡± he said with an amused tone.
So, in the end, only Sir Zeke, Eydis, and Theodore¡¯s knight, a gruff old knight by the name of Vorn, entered with their wards while Silas, Erhen, and Lance waited outside.
¡°I don¡¯t understand why you have to show off with such a large personal guard,¡± Theodore joked. ¡°Even my father doesn¡¯t travel around with five augmenters.¡±
Michael shrugged with a chuckle and said, ¡°I tend to get into trouble wherever I go.¡±
¡°Huh, when I think about it, the only time I nearly died in my life was with you,¡± Theodore said and looked at Michael who chuckled.
¡°That wasn¡¯t my only time,¡± Michael replied bluntly and stepped inside. The inside was a well-maintained showroom. It was small, nothing compared to the renowned craftsmen that line the market streets in the better parts of the city but there was not a spec of dirt anywhere. A counter split the room and behind it stood a bear of a man, nearly two meters tall and packed with muscles like most smiths.
The knights took position next to the door while Eydis browsed the display items. Michael was too focused on the smith, even if he was perhaps the largest man he had ever seen, the man looked nervous, very nervous.
¡°Welcome, milords. How can I help you,¡± he said with a slightly shaky voice. The smith was seemingly trying to keep his nerves, but Michael was still curious. It wasn¡¯t unnormal that people were nervous in the presence of nobles and definitely noble teenagers as they often tended to be spoiled brats who were yelling for heads as soon as something wouldn¡¯t meet their whims and wishes. It wasn¡¯t strange that someone was nervous, but a master smith living in Lionsgate not being used to nobles was odd.
Michael pushed mana into his senses, he had found that it was easier to judge people if you could pick up on all those small split-second expressions they made.
When Michael didn¡¯t start talking, Theodore quickly stepped forward and introduced them. Michael wasn¡¯t paying attention very much to the words but more to the man, he was still trying to force himself to remain calm.
The sound of straining wood reached Michael¡¯s enhanced hearing; it was quiet, too quiet for him to hear if he hadn¡¯t increased his senses. His eyes wandered to the door in the back left corner of the room and something metallic blinked at him, not overly surprising in a smithy.
The sound continued for a moment longer while Michael tried to see more but then was replaced by the crashing sound of wood moving out of an immensely tense position.
Michael¡¯s eyes widened, he reflexively fully opened the mana floodgates and started casting a light barrier. It would never finish before the arrow reached him, so he swung his right arm up to protect himself.
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The arrow collided with the enchanted armguard Michael was wearing and deflected to the left a little. A surge of pain went through him as the arrow pierced his shoulder, causing him to tumble back into the wall where the arrow dug deep into the wood and fixated him.
Michael groaned from the pain but did his best to keep his building sigil intact, he had experience with casting under stress. If he wasn¡¯t in a life-or-death situation he would have probably been reminded of the times when Kiran had stood behind him with a stick while practicing.
The second arrow followed only a moment later, but that moment was enough for the bodyguards to spring into action. Sir Zeke blocked the arrow with his warhammer, the loud echoing noise only reinforced what Michael already knew painfully well, the shooter was definitely an augmenter with an appropriate bow.
Sir Vorn had positioned himself in front of Theodore in a heartbeat, who was still trying to figure out what exactly was happening, as everything was unfolding in only a few moments.
Michael¡¯s barrier flickered into existence; it was angled to the roof in front of Sir Zeke. There was no doubt that this barrier couldn¡¯t stop an arrow of this kind of force but with the angle, it would easily redirect it into a harmless direction.
The third arrow never came, Eydis had already leapt over the counter toward the door, where the arrows had come from. She vanished through it and a moment later a small anvil returned, smashing into the counter with the sound of wood splintering.
The rest of his guards barged into the room at this moment, their weapons drawn and eyes jumping from side to side looking for the attacker.
¡°Restrain him,¡± Sir Zeke bellowed and pointed at the smith who was cowering in a corner mumbling something incoherent. He then turned to Michael while Silas covered them and inspected his wound.
¡°This is going to hurt,¡± he said and grabbed the arrow close to the wound.
¡°Just do it,¡± Michael growled back. He yelped at the pain when the knight broke the arrow off and pulled him off the wall. Michael immediately pressed a part of his cloak on the wound while Zeke inspected the exit wound.
¡°It cut straight through, you should be fine,¡± Zeke concluded and started bandaging up the wound.
¡°Michael! Are you alright,¡± Theodore yelled as he rushed toward him.
¡°Should be fine. I am much more durable than I look like.¡± He had already started pushing mana into his shoulder to stop the bleeding as soon as possible.
¡°Why is it that every time I go into the city with you, something dangerous happens,¡± the older boy complained at which Michael couldn¡¯t help but laugh a little.
¡°And how come that I am always the one that has to take the brunt of it? Can¡¯t you take the arrow next time,¡± he joked. Theodore looked at him incredulously for a moment then he said sarcastically, ¡°You are an idiot, Michael. I will try my best to jump in front of you next time.¡±
Even if Michael was putting up a humorous front for Theodore, internally he was trembling. The wound hurt like hell but the thought that he would have died if he hadn¡¯t deflected the arrow made his heart beat like the hoofs of a cavalry charge. This was way too close, if the smith had been a better actor, then Michael would have been pinned to the wall like some kind of trophy.
Eydis returned a few minutes later with a dissatisfied expression and signed, ¡°Couldn¡¯t get him. He is fast and strong.¡±
This concerned Michael even more, someone who could escape Eydis so quickly with such a small headstart was indeed dangerous. That such a dangerous individual was out for Michael¡¯s head didn¡¯t bode well.
At least the smith wasn¡¯t in on it, he said that the man had his family which was easily proven when they found them tied up upstairs. The man was handed over to the city watch anyway once they arrived for further questioning.
- A while later in the palace ¨C
¡°I promise we will not rest until the assassin is found,¡± Zen assured him while sitting on the side of Michael¡¯s bed. He had been forced into bedrest by royal order, but he estimated that with his own augmenting and the attention of the Order of Purity healer, he should be back to full health in a couple of days.
¡°Do you have any idea who could have sent the man,¡± Sir Gavin Strom asked. The room was full of people, not only Zen and the knight commander but also the three dukes, the rest of the royal family, Theodore with his father, and Archpriest Patheros with the mentioned healer.
Of course, Michael could take some guesses as to whom the assassin belonged to, but he would never voice those opinions, especially since two of the three most likely subjects were present in the room with Duke Wulfen and Archpriest Patheros. Of both of them, he felt like the clergymen was a more likely prospect but there was still his uncle to consider.
¡°I would assume that it is the same person who is responsible for the demise of the rest of House Rowan coming to finish the job,¡± Patheros suggested. ¡°I heard that Count Grim was the one that you and many of your vassals suspect of being the mastermind behind that, Lord Michael?¡±
¡°There is no proof for that and the accusations have been made in the heat of the moment,¡± Duke Wallsten quickly interjected before Michael could say something.
The discussion was nipped in the bud by this before it could really start and after Michael assured them that he had no idea who could be behind this they started to clear out one by one.
Zen left with Duke Wulfen and Commander Strom to check in on the progress of the search. Duke Wallsten, Greeich, and the queen mother left while deep in conversation. Count Gretten and Theodore left, and the count looked furious, if that was directed at Michael, Theodore, the assassin, or all of them Michael didn¡¯t know. Lastly, Archpriest Patheros left after the healer had determined his work done for the day.
In the end, it was only Michael and Mira who remained in silence. Michael didn¡¯t pay her attention; he was much more focused on his own thoughts that ran rampant. After the adrenaline had settled, he had started panicking more, the attempted assassination had pulled him back into the scenes from a few months ago in his own home.
¡°Are you okay,¡± Mira asked quietly.
Michael blinked and smiled at her to ease her concerns. ¡°Oh, I am fine. Not the first time that someone tried to kill me.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t lie to me please.¡± Michael was taken aback by the accusation, mostly because it was true, but he prided himself on being quite good at putting up a front.
¡°I mean it, I am fine. You don¡¯t need to worry,¡± he doubled down and gave her his nicest smile.
She looked at him sadly for a while and Michael could see that she didn¡¯t believe a word. After sitting like this for a minute she slowly shook her head and said, ¡°I can feel that you are not fine.¡±
She can feel it?
How would he even explain what he was feeling? Even if he found the words would he have the strength to speak them? Neither worked out for him in this moment so stayed silent.
After a few minutes of silence, Mira crawled onto the bed and plopped herself right next to him, shoulder to shoulder.
¡°You don¡¯t have to tell me about it,¡± she finally said and grabbed his hand. ¡°But you need to know that I am here for you, Zen and Theodore as well. I am gonna take a daring step and say that I do know a glimpse of what you are going through and even if it is rich coming from me, don¡¯t let it eat you up from the inside, talk to someone before you go to a dark place.¡±
Michael wondered what she meant by it being ¡®rich¡¯ coming from her, but the thought was quickly buried under the rest of his tumultuous mind.
¡°I am a little bit shaken right now but I will be fine,¡± he finally admitted.
Mira smiled and pressed his hand with hers. ¡°Of course, you will be, you are the strongest boy I ever met.¡±
Michael met her smile, without friends like the ones he had he would have certainly gone mad or stayed mad when remembering the days after the corpses of his family had been brought back.
Mira put her head on his shoulder, the not-injured one, and they stayed like that, telling stories of their families until Michael fell asleep from exhaustion and pain.
Chapter 84.
Zen
Zen was tired, he had been tired nearly every day since his ascension to the throne. Managing a realm to the best of his abilities had left the thirteen-year-old drained but he shook his head and tried to refocus on the council meeting.
They always dragged on as Duke Wulfen was a very thorough man and Zen struggled to muster any form of interest in the hundreds of small subjects that they had to take care of. He tried nonetheless, this too was a part of being a good king and he would be the best king that this part of the world had ever seen.
¡°That leads us to foreign affairs,¡± Duke Wulfen said and took out a bag with letters. ¡°First and foremost is an invitation of King Ignatius from the Perios Kingdom. He wishes to introduce you to your future wife and renew the alliance.¡±
¡°Is it wise for me to leave the kingdom in such tumultuous times,¡± Zen asked his advisors, he had read the letter already before but wasn¡¯t sure if it was a good time for this.
¡°With the Perios Kingdom renewing our alliance, there shouldn¡¯t be any big problems that will need your presence here,¡± Duke Wulfen put his concerns to rest.
¡°Fine, when is that gonna be?¡±
¡°The princess¡¯s birthday is in one and a half months, so King Ignatius has requested you to attend it,¡± Duke Wulfen answered, and Zen nodded.
His mother smiled broadly; she was of course also present as queen regent even if she didn¡¯t do much in the position due to Zen leading the affairs. ¡°A birthday, how nice. I am coming with you, right?¡±
Her tone was expectant but there was also a hint of fear in it, as if she was dreading that he would tell her to stay behind, which was probably the truth.
She had been like this since his father died, clingy and scared but trying to hide it. He couldn¡¯t fault her for it, each of them had adopted coping mechanisms for their grief, Zen threw himself into work, and Mira acted like she was fine and still the same child, but he knew that there was a lot of pent-up emotion, but his mother¡¯s was definitely the most concerning. She wasn¡¯t bad as long as they saw each other every day but as soon as one of them was away or busy she would start to get moody and if she didn¡¯t know where one of them was, she panicked.
¡°Yes, you and Mira are coming with me,¡± Zen quickly placated her, and a subtle wave of relief washed over her face.
¡°Is it wise to leave the kingdom behind without any member of the royal family,¡± Duke Greeich asked
¡°You heard, Duke Wulfen. Everything is fine and I am sure you and the rest of the council will have matters well in hand while we are taking care of the kingdom¡¯s future,¡± she snapped, obviously annoyed.
Zen sighed, Duke Greeich had implored him that they had to do something about his mother¡¯s increasing fear of loss but the few times he had mentioned it to her she had always gotten angry and stormed off, so he had given up. Was he a bad son for that? Probably. But he couldn¡¯t help her if she wasn¡¯t willing, and his time had better uses than being yelled at by this mother. She always apologized but still refused to talk about the subject.
¡°It is decided, Lord Greeich. Please make arrangements for our journey and let¡¯s carry on,¡± Zen ordered. Duke Greeich was visibly displeased but nodded.
The meeting concluded half an hour later and Zen left the chamber with Sir Gavin at his side. ¡°I am gonna die at twenty if I have to listen to one more argument between Lord Wulfen and Greeich,¡± Zen said while trying to hold back a yawn.
¡°Your father liked to say that the one thing nobles know how to do best is argue, closely followed by complaining,¡± Sir Strom said with a straight face. Zen took it as a joke nonetheless and chuckled, the knight was always like this when he was on duty.
¡°I wonder what Michael is up to,¡± Zen then said lost in thought. He had visited him in his room twice in the last couple of days and felt a little bit guilty that he didn¡¯t make more time for his injured friend even if Michael would never fault him for that.
¡°I believe he is in the main training yard. I heard that he requested to train with the initiates,¡± Sir Gavin replied.
Zen looked at the knight surprised and asked, ¡°Is he fully healed already?¡±
¡°I can¡¯t say, Your Majesty.¡±
Zen decided to go take a look himself and they found themselves at the edge of the main training yard watching a spectacle.
Michael was currently in a spar with three knight initiates that looked each at least two years older than Zen¡¯s friend, too young to be squires but definitely trained. That wasn¡¯t to say that Michael was having problems. He danced around them, dodging their attacks before retaliating and sending one of them to the ground with a strike against his knee.
The other two tried to intervene before he could do more, but Michael was already content with the damage he had inflicted and turned toward the other two. He didn¡¯t even give them any time to react and charged. They tried to hit him in a coordinated effort, but they were neither fast nor good enough to hit the young lord.
Michael ducked under a strike and retaliated by striking the smaller boy in the stomach with his fist. He went down while dry-heaving and was out of the fight for now.
A big grin was on Michael¡¯s face as he went into a close exchange with the last initiate, blocking and striking at a speed that was impossible for a non-augmenting human being to even follow. He kept it up until the initiate suddenly began to slow down. His head was bright red, and he was growling like an animal, but his fate was sealed. With the boy¡¯s mana reserves depleted, Michael surged forward and put the tip of his sword on the throat of the teenager.
He then glanced over to the other boys who were still on the ground, one holding his knee and the other one breathing slowly through his nose while holding his belly. Michael seemingly determined that the fight was over, which the knight in charge confirmed a moment later.
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Cheers and exasperated calls filled the courtyard as the adults present began to exchange small amounts of coins with some more and others less enthusiasm.
¡°That was impressive,¡± Sir Strom said, and his voice told Zen that he was genuinely in awe.
Zen looked at the veteran knight with surprise, it was not easy to impress the knight. Only a few of the kingsguard had even managed to impress him, so to have an eleven-year-old do it was indeed unique.
¡°Do you think I could do that,¡± Zen asked the knight curiously.
Sir Strom stayed silent while he thought about the question or much rather how to answer but when he finally spoke, he did so slowly. ¡°I believe you might be able to beat three initiates, maybe not in one hundred percent of the fights but you can do it. The impressive thing is not that Michael can beat three fighters who are physically stronger without enhancement and older than him, the impressive thing is that he made it look absurdly easy. He was basically playing with them.¡±
The knight looked uncomfortable, which is something that one also didn¡¯t see any day from the seasoned knight.
¡°I honestly don¡¯t think that I could have done that at his age. Most initiates won¡¯t reach the rank of a knight of course but they are not untrained kids, and those three didn¡¯t look like pushovers to me. Michael is truly a talent that only appears once in a generation.¡±
As Zen listened to the praise the knight commander laid on his friend a feeling rose in his chest that he was utterly unfamiliar with, he was jealous of Michael, jealous of the attention and praise he received.
He didn¡¯t like the feeling, so he pushed it down and approached his friend with a genuine smile. Michael was currently joking with the boys he had just fought.
¡°I really thought we could get you this time,¡± one of them said. ¡°I just wish I was as lucky as, Brennen.¡± He pointed at the boy that didn¡¯t get hit.
¡°Let¡¯s go another round, this time we will get you,¡± Brennen exclaimed but his two mates looked at him with a sour expression.
¡°Do you want to tire me out to win,¡± Michael asked with a smirk and the boy grinned awkwardly at being caught.
¡°Maybe we might get a shred of our dignity back if we hit you at least once;¡± he admitted.
¡°Oh no, your dignity is mine now and you will have to wait for another day to win it back,¡± Michael joked and hit Brennen in the shoulder softly.
They laughed together until someone noticed Zen approach and everyone quickly fell to their knees. Zen sighed silently; he would never be able to joke like this with the ¡®normal¡¯ people anymore. Even as crown prince, he had difficulty connecting with people on a personal level without doubting their acting but as king, he had lost any chance of real personal connections. That is why he clung to the relationships he had made before ascending the throne as he at least trusted them.
After telling everyone to rise and go about their business he reached the group around Michael.
¡°You seem to be doing better, Michael,¡± he said and clapped him on the shoulder.
¡°It¡¯s still a little bit stiff but having a dedicated healer fuss over you makes things quite easy,¡± Michael replied happily and rolled his injured shoulder. The other boys looked at them in shock as they talked so casually. They were the children of lowly nobles who tried to increase their influence by getting their sons into the knights of House Merland so the respect for the royal family, they most certainly had been instilled with, was running rampant right now.
Zen was happy that Michael hadn¡¯t changed how he acted around Zen, sure he was doing everything he had to once they were in an official setting but outside of those, he was still the same boy he had met years ago.
¡°I would appreciate it if you could stop needing medical assistance,¡± Zen admonished him with a good-natured smile. He then turned to the initiates, who were still standing there like statues, and addressed them.
¡°You all fought well, I look forward to having you stand at my side once you become knights,¡± he praised them.
¡°You are too generous, Your Majesty. We didn¡¯t even get a single hit in. We are ashamed that you had to witness that,¡± the boy named Brennen answered much more stiffly than he had talked to Michael before. Zen sighed internally but kept his happy facade up.
¡°Oh, nonsense. It fills me with joy that I have such competent vassals who can give even such talented prospects difficulties,¡± he said. Of course, it wasn¡¯t entirely truthful, they didn¡¯t look completely bad, but the only thing Zen had seen of them was getting lopsidedly beaten up by Michael which wasn¡¯t a good impression of their talent.
They accepted his praise nonetheless and left shortly after to continue their training while Michael and Zen talked. Zen wanted to challenge Michael to a spar right then and there, but an irrational part of his brain kept him from doing it, fearing that he too would be easily beaten and fearing that the ugly feeling from before would return.
¡°Now that you are back to good health you will leave soon, right,¡± Zen asked to get his thoughts away from his weird thoughts.
¡°Yes, we will leave in two or three days. I want to do some shopping before then though,¡± Michael said and started into a little list of what he was looking for.
Zen couldn¡¯t help but smile at Michael¡¯s excited shopping list and his thoughts of before were quickly forgotten.
¡°I wish I could accompany you but there is just so much to do,¡± Zen said in a break from conversation with a sarcastic chuckle. There was no way that Michael was gonna go out into the city with the assassin still running around.
¡°Sure, you can come along. The kingdom will not crumble from you being gone from the castle for a couple of hours.¡±
Zen laughed, being sure that he was joking, and said, ¡°With your tendency to get into trouble I don¡¯t think that my guards would be happy to see us leave the palace together.¡±
¡°That is the good thing about being the king, they don¡¯t have a choice,¡± Michael remarked with a wink. ¡°Anyone would be stupid to try anything with your and my knights being present.¡±
¡°I might be able to order my knights around, but my mother is another case,¡± Zen said without thinking but he regretted the sentence the moment it left his lips.
¡°Your mother,¡± Michael was obviously curious, and Zen cursed his attention to details.
¡°Ah, you know how it is, mothers worry, and we have a track record of getting into trouble,¡± Zen tried to brush him off, but Michael was clearly not buying it.
¡°You mean I have a track record of getting into trouble,¡± Michael corrected him with a suspicious expression.
¡°It¡¯s not you,¡± Zen gave up. Michael would think that Zen¡¯s mother disliked him or something if the conversation continued on like this and that was very far from the truth. As far as Zen was aware she had a good opinion of Michael even if they never interacted, the fact that she didn¡¯t enjoy childish behavior was also a positive for Michael who normally behaved quite maturely.
¡°She doesn¡¯t have anything against you, she is just concerned about us, and the fact remains that there is an assassin after you,¡± Zen explained, he thought about telling him about the extent of his mother¡¯s fears but decided that it would be disrespectful.
¡°She is not wrong,¡± Michael said placated, and scratched the back of his head. ¡°Gotta go alone then.¡±
¡°Wait, you are serious? I thought you were just joking about going into the city to go shopping,¡± Zen exclaimed unbelievingly which caused many to gaze at them with interest.
Michael shrugged, ¡°Sure.¡±
¡°Didn¡¯t I just say something about an assassin?¡±
¡°With everyone hunting him and with my guard being alert, I will be fine. It is not like I can just call the merchants into the palace that I wanna meet,¡± Michael brushed off his concerns.
¡°You know what, that is exactly what you are gonna do. I order you to stay here where it is safe and I will call in the merchants with the wares that you want to look at,¡± Zen said with a cheeky smile. ¡°That is the good thing about being king, you don¡¯t have a choice.¡±
Michael smirked but gave in. ¡°Guess I am gonna stay in the palace until I leave back home then.¡±
Chapter 85.
Geron
A hot summer breeze blew through the ramparts as Geron strolled across the castle walls. His mind was rushing through dozens of problems that he had to solve, he wanted to have at least some kind of plan when Lord Michael returned in a couple of days.
The messenger had arrived a week ago, telling them that his lordship would return soon, and with the orders he had carried everything had become a little more hectic. They were of course in a celebratory mood with the news of their lord¡¯s success but organizing the increased workload that fell on Reen¡¯s troops to provide the escorts for shipments, road construction, survey operations, and wood clearing efforts was straining his limited resources. Not to mention providing security for the nobles heading for the castle to attend the planned feast.
Especially the reduced number of knights was cause for concern for Geron, they had lost a couple in the attack and some more had left after, if House Rowan hadn¡¯t had an above-average number of knights before then they would have been critically understaffed even without the new demands.
The number of knights wasn¡¯t his only concern though, the mood in the brotherhood was sour. Two fronts had formed, one supporting either Geron and the lowborn initiates, and the other being vehemently against it. Geron had his hands full with so many things that he had barely any time to play babysitter for their petty fights.
Geron had never expected the mantle of the knight commander to be light but doubted that he could have taken it up at a worse moment than this one.
He descended from the wall and let out a sigh when he was out of sight for a moment. He made his way to the stables next to inspect the horses. The inspections were only a cover for him to clear his head a little bit of course but at least he was doing something useful.
Searching for some quiet seemed impossible though as he stepped into the stables just to find four teenagers about to fight. One was a large common born from his rough look and the other three were noble blood, of this Geron was sure. They were all initiates judging by their dress up, younger boys training to be knights but not yet squires.
¡°We¡¯re gonna show you why your kind doesn¡¯t belong here,¡± one of the nobles said with a disgusted tone.
¡°Tell that to the commander, you pampered dipshits,¡± the commoner spat back.
¡°He won¡¯t be commander long, the other knights said so. He should be happy to order around his betters as long as he can,¡± another noble initiate spat back.
The commoner seemed ready to fight until he spotted Geron standing next to one of the open pens, he froze up and his expression seemed to tell the others that something was very wrong.
They turned around and similarly stared at the knight commander with horror on their faces, not sure what he had heard.
¡°I do very much enjoy ordering around ¡®my betters¡¯,¡± Geron growled with annoyance, which led to the initiates looking even more scared. ¡°And you seem to enjoy fighting, so let¡¯s see how long you can last.¡±
He wouldn¡¯t beat them up himself, they were in Lord Michael¡¯s age and even if they annoyed him, they were nowhere near the level they needed to survive even a sparring match against him.
Even if he didn¡¯t dish out the punishment himself, he did bring them to Sir Godfrey and requested them to be put into matches until they couldn¡¯t even remember what they were fighting about.
Geron stayed there watching them fight against one initiate after another. The number of them was much higher than in the time Geron had started his path to knighthood so this would take a while.
¡°Hey there, grumpy,¡± Sola¡¯s voice just appeared out of nothingness right next to him and Geron had to suppress the urge to jump to not embarrass himself.
¡°I am not grumpy,¡± he replied nonchalantly as if he had known from the beginning that she was there. He should have but his thoughts were just everywhere except in the here and now.
¡°If you say so,¡± Sola replied with a chuckle. She stood next to him and watched one of the initiates being scolded by Sir Godfrey for his poor stance.
They stayed like this for another spar until Geron finally collapsed under Sola¡¯s curious aura.
¡°Are there a lot of knights and squires in your sermons,¡± he asked.
¡°Most of them attend, which you would know if you ever attended,¡± Sola replied sharply. They did have a couple of arguments about this already and Geron sighed at the prospect of having run into another. Sola sighed, ¡°I know that you like to follow your faith differently, sorry for being so difficult.¡±
Geron looked at her surprised, there was nothing that she valued more than her faith so to hear her apologize for her fervor was something new.
¡°You are a priestess, you need to be ... zealous,¡± Geron answered carefully.
¡°You wanted to say annoying, didn¡¯t you,¡± she looked at him with played annoyance.
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¡°I am not gonna comment on that.¡±
Sola shook her head with a smile and played with her sun brooch again, which she had been doing more often since she had taken over the congregation.
I am not the only one who is stressed with new responsibilities, Geron reminded himself. He wanted to put his arm around her, but they were in public, so he simply pushed a little bit of mana in her direction. He was not at the level of an aura knight, but he could already freely push mana out, he just lost control after. Sir Godfrey had said that he was on a good way to reach that rank in a couple of years.
Sola felt the touch of his mana on hers and smiled warmly. ¡°Me too,¡± she replied to his wordless message.
¡°So why are you asking about the knights?¡±
¡°Have you noticed that they are more combative lately?¡±
Sola thought about it and then nodded. ¡°There is a lot of tension between them. Many are not taking the changes well.¡±
¡°Sometimes I wish we were still clearing the mountains. Having something to smash seemingly took the fight out of them,¡± Geron grumbled.
¡°I feel like I am back in school. Forming groups who egg each other on to hate without knowing anything about the other,¡± Sola commented dryly.
Geron thought about what she had said, and something clicked in his mind.
¡°You gave me an idea,¡± Geron said with what constituted excitement for the stoic man, he squeezed her shoulder softly and then hurried away, leaving a confused priestess behind.
¡°What did I say,¡± she called after him, but he was already gone.
Kiran
The house has been so empty in the last two months, Kiran mused. Michael had tried to keep his lessons going at the same pace but that had quickly proven impossible with his duties and constant travels. So, Kiran had spent a lot of time in the mostly vacant house which he had shared with all of his lord¡¯s retainers for over two years. He missed that time already; it had felt like having a family again with all those young bloods running around.
A knock dragged him out of his thoughts and his gaze wandered to the door where he sensed two individuals who tried to conceal their mana.
His eyes narrowed, the only people able to conceal themselves like this were aura-level knights and mages, to be visited by either was unusual but by two at a time was concerning.
Before going to the door, he moved over to the water barrel in the corner and to open it, just in case when a raspy female voice barreled through the door.
¡°KIRAN YOU OLD GOAT, I KNOW YOU ARE IN THERE, SO LET ME IN BEFORE I DIE OF OLD AGE.¡±
Kiran took a moment to recompose himself upon hearing the voice and then redoubled his effort to quickly open up the barrel before opening the door.
In front of his door waited two women, the first one, to whom the voice had belonged, was a tall old woman with white long hair and a slightly wrinkled face. Her robes were practical and well-worn which gave her the appearance of a poor traveler but her whole-body language extruded power and authority. Mana flared together with her anger behind her eyes making them look almost red as she growled at him.
¡°Rayakan,¡± Kiran said but it sounded more like a sigh than a greeting.
¡°Finally, did you have to find your cane first or what, don¡¯t you know that it is impolite to make a lady wait,¡± she asked with a frown.
¡°You a lady? Don¡¯t make me laugh. I had to ready some water in case you decide to burn this whole house down, you old hag,¡± Kiran shot back while mirroring her frown.
The second woman was simply standing behind the first and looked completely unfazed by the exchange. She was young, maybe sixteen, a little bit shorter than Rayakan. She wore similar clothing as the old woman but also wore a hood with strange proportions, covering most of her features. Kiran noticed her yellow eyes that had a horizontal slit and her not-quite-human facial features.
¡°Why would I do something like that,¡± she argued and pushed past him into the house, looking around curiously.
¡°I remember quite well, you throwing fireballs at me the last time we saw each other,¡± Kiran replied exasperated.
¡°Ah pisch pasch, you deserved that for abandoning the magic society to sulk in some backwater village,¡± she brushed him off and looked through the door leading into the magical laboratory Michael and Kiran had built together in the extra room.
¡°Rayakan,¡± Kiran said threateningly, ¡°Do not downplay my reasons as sulking.¡± The atmospheric mana began to vibrate as Kiran released more and more mana into the air.
The strange girl moved in front of her master in a defensive manner and Kiran could feel air affinity mana surround her.
Rayakan swatted her student away with one hand and said, ¡°That is not a fight you want to take, Pan.¡±
She then turned her gaze back to Kiran and for the first time she looked serious. ¡°You weren¡¯t the only one who lost people back then, but I am not here to dwell on the failings of the past. I would much rather talk about the future.¡±
Kiran scoffed when she didn¡¯t elaborate with whom the failing lay, but he could guess.
Rayakan sat down at the communal table and looked at Kiran expectantly. He sighed and sat down, pouring her and her student a cup of the tea he was drinking.
¡°You always had such a great taste in tea,¡± the old mage complimented him after taking in the aroma of the tea.
Kiran stayed silent and waited for her to get to the point. The fire mage never had much patience for conversations anyway so he was sure that she would get to it eventually. The only thing she ever showed patience in was magic.
¡°I heard you took a new student.¡±
There it is.
¡°I can remember quite vividly you saying that you would never again take a student,¡± she continued with a victorious grin.
¡°Things change,¡± he answered dryly, and he saw annoyance flash on Rayakan¡¯s face at his lack of reaction.
¡°I also heard that he is a count,¡± she continued prodding and pocking.
¡°By the gods, Rayakan. Get to the point already,¡± Kiran bellowed.
¡°Fine, you really got grumpy in your later years. I just came to find out how your little lordling is positioned regarding the magical society and what your plan is with him,¡± she said with a happy expression at managing to get a rise out of him.
¡°I do not intend to pull him into our war if that is what you are insinuating. Michael simply wants to build a better world for all, no matter if they are mages or not,¡± Kiran answered with regained composure.
¡°You are not foolish enough to believe that. He can¡¯t have one without the other. If he tries to make things better for the mages, then he will inevitably be at odds with the church.¡±
Kiran knew that; Michael probably knew that, but they had never directly talked about it. Kiran was sure that Michael hadn¡¯t forgotten his promise and maybe the time to start working on it had finally come.
¡°And you intend to help, I assume?¡±
¡°First I intend to see what kind of boy you have found to be worth coming out of exile for,¡± Rayakan said with a dangerous smile.
Kiran didn¡¯t like it, but he knew that there was no way of stopping her once she chose to do something, especially when it concerned her dream of a magical society.
¡°I am warning you, Rayakan. I will protect that boy with my life,¡± Kiran declared sternly. He would probably have to give up his life if he intended to stop Rayakan and they both knew it.
¡°Now I am even more interested,¡± she replied with fire in her eyes.
Chapter 86.
Michael
The carriage rumbled over the road and made reading harder. Road improvements returned to the top of his priority list as he frowned and read the page again.
It wasn¡¯t really the road giving him difficulties though, even if that was what he told himself. His thoughts were much rather still hung up on the assassin situation.
It had been a few days since they left the capital and split from Duke Wallsten¡¯s party. Michael was continually on edge expecting another attempt from the archer, but nothing had happened yet.
These thoughts distracted him again, so he had to start the page all over again.
¡°Where are your thoughts,¡± Solon interrupted his third attempt at reading the same page. When Michael looked at him with a questioning expression he added, ¡°You have been on that page for a while already, and you usually are quite a fast reader.¡±
¡°I am just pondering why people try to kill me all the time. I am just trying to help people,¡± he said while putting his book down.
¡°You are trying to help people, but the people that want you dead only want to help themselves. What you are doing is threatening their plans, so they try to get rid of you,¡± Solon explained patiently even if Michael should know that.
¡°I know ... I just can¡¯t align this way of thinking with my own. I just don¡¯t see the point; it is such an egotistical approach.¡±
¡°Like keeping a mountain range worth of resources for yourself,¡± the dwarf asked with an amused expression.
¡°I am not keeping it to myself! I have a duty to protect and serve my own people first and foremost, so I will prioritize them,¡± Michael defended himself.
¡°And now reduce that view of your own people being you and your own house and you have a great understanding of what they think,¡± Solon concluded.
Michael stopped and after a moment nodded, ¡°That makes sense, I guess.¡±
¡°Things will become better once everyone settles into the new reality,¡± Solon tried to comfort him, but Michael wasn¡¯t. Somehow, he felt like things would just get worse with every new plan and change he implemented.
The carriage suddenly came to a stop and Michael could hear Zeke give orders to the rest of the knights. He instantly tensed up, expecting an attack to have finally come but nothing happened until Sir Zeke¡¯s voice appeared close to the carriage again.
¡°Lord Rowan, Kiran and two women are blocking the path. The mage asks you to come out to talk to him,¡± he said, and Michael could hear that the knight was very uncomfortable with the situation.
Michael on the other hand wasn¡¯t and instantly jumped out of the carriage to see exactly what Sir Zeke had reported. Kiran was standing at the edge of a small stream together with a hooded woman and an elderly one who was grinning broadly.
He approached them with a curious expression. He could hear Solon talk with Zeke and Eydis whistling for attention.
¡°Hey Kiran, what¡¯s the matter? Why are you meeting us out here,¡± Michael asked concerned at what the mage could say. There was no situation in which this was good in Michael¡¯s eyes.
Kiran averted his eyes and suddenly a torrent of water shot out of the stream and enveloped Michael, Kiran, and the women in a large area.
Michael watched all that happen with a frown, he didn¡¯t feel like he was in any danger, but he still didn¡¯t like where this was going.
¡°What is this, Kiran,¡± he demanded of the mage.
¡°Just bear with it please,¡± he answered apologetically. ¡°Pass her test and you will receive an ally who will be vital to your future plans.¡±
Michael stared at the old man when he finally looked back, and Michael nodded the moment that they made eye contact. ¡°I trust you,¡± he said and turned to the women.
Kiran
Kiran stepped through the dome of water he had created around Michael and the two other mages. His exchange with his pupil had only lasted a few moments but the knights were already charging the dome, ready to cut through it.
¡°Stay back,¡± Kiran bellowed with his mana-enhanced voice. ¡°Your lord commands you to stay your hand and let him deal with this.¡±
The knights threw searching glances at their leader, but Sir Zeke didn¡¯t seem convinced. ¡°Out of the way, Kiran! I don¡¯t trust this one second and I won¡¯t stand by until I know that my lord is safe!¡±
The knight wanted to continue his attack on the dome when Eydis stopped him by grabbing his arm. He stared at the barbarian woman, and she signed with one hand. ¡°Michael told you to do something, so you are gonna stay here and wait.¡±
¡°I won¡¯t trust the mage¡¯s word on this,¡± Zeke argued and the tension between the two of them visibly rose.
¡°If Kiran relayed the message, then I assure you that it is accurate,¡± she signed but let go of the knight¡¯s arm. ¡°He is one of Michael¡¯s inner circle and he trusts each of us with his life.¡±
Solon simply watched the whole ordeal, seemingly not willing to intervene as long as Eydis was managing things.
Zeke fell silent while thinking about Eydis¡¯s words and Kiran could feel the struggle vibrate through the knight¡¯s mana. A revelation went through the knight even if Kiran couldn¡¯t ascertain the nature of it and the knight relaxed.
¡°Stand down,¡± he said. ¡°Our lord is in good hands.¡±
The other knights were hesitant but followed the order quickly.
Kiran sighed relieved but still noticed the weird glances that Zeke was giving Eydis who had already turned to the dome.
¡°What are they doing in there,¡± she asked Kiran.
¡°He is being tested.¡±
Michael
Kiran left the dome behind Michael, but his eyes were glued to the strangers in front of him. While the old lady was looking very relaxed, the hooded woman was much more tense.
¡°My name is Michael Rowan, but you know that already. With whom do I have the pleasure,¡± he asked while not taking his eyes off them. They were definitely dangerous, but the old hag was especially giving him the creeps. Something about her grin was telling him that she was dangerous.
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¡°My name is Rayakan and this is my student Pan, we are here to see what you are worth,¡± the old woman replied.
¡°Kiran said you wanted to test me. What kind of test would that be,¡± Michael continued prodding.
¡°Oh, the test has already begun even if you haven¡¯t noticed,¡± Rayakan¡¯s grin widened as Pan suddenly raised her hands from underneath her robes, a magic sigil glowing in the daylight.
Michael hadn¡¯t felt the building magic at all, but he wasn¡¯t completely unprepared as a torrent of air plowed the grass down while barreling in his direction. Mana was already coursing through his whole body, and he dodged the attack with blinding speed.
¡°Not very mage-like,¡± Rayakan commented from the back.
However, Michael had little time to spend on her ramblings as Pan fired multiple small wind arrows at him with one hand while conjuring up another large spell with the other hand.
He drew his sword with one hand and formed a mana sword. It wasn¡¯t a true mana sword as he didn¡¯t achieve this effect by augmenting and pushing mana into the blade itself but rather by pushing mana out of his body and creating a layer around his blade. This was a clumsy attempt to replicate the greatest weapon of an augmenter but low maintenance and effective for this moment. He also began constructing a sigil in his other hand while blocking the air arrows with his improvised magical weapon.
¡°Smart but not without cost,¡± Raykan continued to narrate their fight. She was of course right, even if Michael managed to destroy the cohesion of the arrows the fragments of razor-sharp and fast-moving air still hit him. It was barely noticeable through his augmenting, but he was taking little bits of damage.
Pan unleashed the same spell as before, but this time she tried to cut off his escape by firing her arrows in differing arcs so that they arrived in all his escape paths simultaneously.
He had no intention of running though and a wedge of pure light formed in front of him, parting the gale like a rock in a river.
Rayakan let out a surprised gasp which made Michael smile involuntarily. ¡°It is true! You actually created a new sub-school of light magic?!¡±
Michael had no time to gloat though as he broke his barrier down and repurposed the light to fling two sharp discs at the wind mage. He had no illusions that they would be any danger to the woman, she was clearly a much better mage than he was, but he was sure he had an advantage in close quarters, so he charged her right behind the discs.
The discs of light shot at her with incredible speed, but Pan barely moved a muscle as another torrent of air redirected the attack in a harmless direction.
Michael was now nearly upon her, another disc of light in his hand. As he closed in, he met her strange eyes, they were yellow and had a horizontal slit as a pupil. He had little time to linger though as a shock wave erupted with Pan as the epicenter.
The pressure reminded him of his father¡¯s aura, but he was much stronger now. He dug in his feet and reformed the light shield into a wedge to part the wind better. Step after step he got closer to the air mage, but she still didn¡¯t move.
Just two more steps and Michael would be in striking distance when the pressure suddenly vanished and he tumbled forward surprised.
A flurry of fists made out of air, battered down on him and forced him back while he tried to regain his balance. A concerning thought crossed his mind while defending himself, he was sure that he couldn¡¯t hurt her, but he wasn¡¯t so sure if she was pulling her punches.
The punches kept coming as Michael regained his composure and began blocking them with sword and magic, but it was clear that he couldn¡¯t advance anymore. He was still taking damage so he would lose if this kept on going.
Michael dropped his sword with the tip first into the ground so that he could easily retrieve it if needed and began strengthening and widening his shield to cover his whole body.
The speed and power of the strikes battering against his shield were increasing with every moment that it held. She was testing him and his magic, so he decided to give her what she wanted and pushed more and more mana into the shield.
He wasn¡¯t just gonna take it though and prepared something in his backhand, that is when he noticed that her eyes were firmly planted on him. She wasn¡¯t even blinking or twitching while he cast.
A smile crept on his face even while he tried to suppress it and he changed his plan; with one hand he continued building his javelin while working on his shield with the other.
The javelin easily cut through the wind, but he hadn¡¯t been very subtle while doing it. Pan casually began ripping it apart while it approached her. It didn¡¯t take more than a second before the light javelin was gone but that moment was enough. Pan¡¯s eyes returned to him and in that moment the shield exploded toward the woman.
She screamed surprised, the first sound she had made in this whole fight, and covered her eyes reflexively.
Michael was already halfway toward her, with his sword back in hand, when she regained her composure and began blinking in his direction, still mostly blind.
His sword surged forward; he was so close when suddenly a massive amount of mana began moving in front of him. Michael¡¯s eyes widened as he grasped that she was about to blast him with all of her power.
¡°Enough,¡± Rayakan ordered, and building mana got ripped to shreds by a foreign power. Michael was breathing heavily; his whole body was throbbing slightly from the hundreds of small impacts. He was staring at the yellow eyes in shock. From this close up they reminded him of those of a goat.
¡°Just because he can use a special kind of magic doesn¡¯t mean he won¡¯t use the normal light mage tricks,¡± Rayakan admonished her student. ¡°You got too comfortable in your greater abilities and nearly killed the boy.¡±
Pan bowed her headfirst to her master and then to Michael, ¡°My apologies, I lost control.¡±
¡°It is alright, no one got hurt,¡± Michael answered, starting to regain his center.
¡°You seem to be more of an augmenter than a mage, boy,¡± Rayakan said, which sounded more like an accusation than an observation. She came closer to him and inspected him from head to toe.
¡°I try to blend the best of both worlds,¡± Michael replied, uncomfortable under the old woman¡¯s gaze.
She snorted and shook her head, ¡°The arrogance. Well, you pass my test ¡ barely.¡±
The dome of water fell a moment later and Kiran, Solon, and Eydis joined them while the knights stayed back at the carriage, throwing suspicious glances over to them.
¡°What the hells was that mana build-up, Rayakan,¡± Kiran complained. ¡°You said your pupil knows how to hold back.¡±
¡°Reflexes are difficult to suppress when a sword is coming for one¡¯s neck,¡± Rayakan shot back annoyed. Michael watched the exchange with interest as they bickered like an old married couple.
¡°Enough with your whining. It¡¯s time for me to properly introduce myself,¡± Rayakan cut Kiran off and pointed to Michael, Solon, and Eydis who are watching them with clear amusement.
¡°I am Rayakan de Frey. One of the most powerful human mages in existence and founder of the Brilliant Magical Society,¡± she introduced herself with an elegant bow that refused to fit her appearance.
¡°There is a full-on magical society,¡± Michael echoed surprised.
Kiran scoffed and clarified, ¡°To call it a society is like calling a group of bears living in remotely the same area a village. It is more like a group of mages that know each other than anything substantial.¡±
Rayakan looked sad at Kiran¡¯s words but didn¡¯t disagree. ¡°We tried to make something stronger, but the inquisition found out and set out to smash our efforts fourteen years ago. We had no support, so many died and the rest of us had no choice but to run and hide.¡±
Fourteen years ago? That was probably the reason Kiran went into exile, Michael thought but he knew better than to mention it.
¡°So now you plan to try again here. Under my protection,¡± Michael assumed.
The old woman nodded, ¡°I am playing with the thought at least. Being a mage is not against the law and the church will have difficulty pursuing us if the lord of the land is protecting us. The question is, are you ready for that? It will put you in confrontation with the church.¡±
¡°I was planning on doing something like this anyway, so yes I am fully ready to head toward confrontation with the church,¡± Michael answered instantly. Gathering mages into his service was his plan all along so having someone to vouch for him was just an advantage.
Rayakan seemed impressed by his resolve and said, ¡°Good. I am not saying that I am convinced yet, but you are handling yourself better than I expected.¡±
Kiran
¡°So, what do you think of his abilities,¡± Kiran asked his old friend and rival. They were trailing behind the carriage at a reasonable distance to not be overheard.
¡°His talent for magic is average at most. His casting speed is good, and his mana well is absurd, but he lacks control, complexity, and imagination. He would be a reasonably good earth or fire mage, relying on throwing huge spells around but you need fine control to make light magic work on higher levels,¡± Rajakan said. Kiran nodded; her observations mostly overlapped with his own.
¡°His special type of magic is intriguing though. It is strange that someone that lacks fine control over his magic could do something that not even that monster Grandel Thule could do,¡± she continued. ¡°He seems to know more about the workings of light than others and his battle sense is much sharper than most people I saw.¡±
¡°What do you think of his future,¡± Kiran prodded when she fell silent deep in thought.
¡°I don¡¯t think that he will ever be a great mage, but he will be a monster of an augmenter as soon as he manages to get a firmer grasp on his new ability,¡± she concluded.
Chapter 87.
Michael
Michael stretched with a big yawn while strolling through the corridors of Reen Castle. They had arrived here a couple of hours ago, prompting a great welcome gathering.
I really have had too many of those lately, he thought. I need to get it into their heads, that they don¡¯t have to gather every time I return from a trip.
It is just a waste of time; the last thing he wanted was to socialize after being stuck in a carriage for days. The constant headache from reading in the shaking vehicle didn¡¯t help his mood either.
He was back home though and these last hours catching up to what happened in his absence had been very refreshing for him. He mulled over the documentation system that he, Solon, and his aid Parcival had implemented. There were of course still kinks in the process and he made some mental notes which would help in keeping everything manageable while he was gone.
So lost in thoughts was he that he nearly missed the polite bows from a trio of barons who he came across. He smiled and nodded his head toward them; he had no bad memories about these three which was probably due to them being from the far reaches of Emall and rarely anywhere close to him.
Michael had decided to invite all the important people in his realm to the castle to celebrate the successful negotiations as soon as they had concluded. Not that most of those invited had anything to do with that but the nobles were pretty mad at him already for keeping them out of the mountain clearing so the least he could do was celebrate with them to make them feel like they were a part of this.
That was a thing for later today though, first, he had a more pleasant meeting to attend to. Sir Zeke pushed the door to the council chamber open and Michael walked in, taking stock of who had arrived already.
The chamber was already filled with people. His inner circle, consisting of Eydis, Sola, Geron, Solon, and Kiran.
The other council members, Viscount Telp, Steward Eckbert Oligan, and Townwatch Commander Irem Stanes.
Rayakan and her student Pan, who Michael was pretty sure was a satyr or some other kind of goat person.
The dwarven brothers Farel and Waren Karnson together with the leader of the survey party Zinnel Panson.
The knights Sir Zeke Tomp and Sir Godfrey Pyke representing their parts of the knighthood, meaning the personal guard of Michael, the initiates and squires.
And lastly the dark-skinned merchant Grur Parak. He had already started making good on his promise and relocated parts of his business here. Michael had heard that he was buying a lot of warehouses and spots to build new ones here even if the trade with the dwarves was still quite slow.
¡°Good everyone is already here,¡± Michael said with a smile as he stepped past them toward his seat at the head of the long table.
After sitting down, he looked at each of the people he had gathered here, it was starting to become quite a diverse set of people with dwarves, mages, and humans of differing cultures.
¡°I have called upon all of you to talk to you about the immediate future and our plans for it now that the mountains have been secured. The most important thing we have to do is get the mines up and operational. Connected to this will be the construction of a great foundry and forge with the help of our dwarven friends. We will need a lot of money to fulfill the promise that I have given the king.¡±
He nodded toward the present dwarves, and they looked very excited at the prospect that their work could soon begin. Lord Oligan on the other hand visibly shared the opinion that it wasn¡¯t possible to reach the goal his lord had set but Michael chose to ignore his doubtful expression.
¡°The thing that we are missing most in that regard is manpower. With that in mind, I have decided that I am gonna start freeing the serfs in my direct jurisdiction, making them free citizens of the county.¡± Many of those who knew him better took the news quite well, but the three nobles present were staring at him with shock on their faces, he just continued explaining before he could be tied down in arguments.
¡°They can rent the land that they are living on now to continue farming and nothing will really change except for them having a fixed amount that they have to pay which will endorse a better work ethic and ingenuity due to their ability to actually earn money and expand their farms by renting more land.¡±
¡°This should lead to a centralization of farmlands around the successful farmers and mean that fewer farmers will work on the same land. Right now, many farmers have so little land that one farmer could easily work the land of four or five others.¡±
¡°The second advantage with this is that the freed serfs can move easier to places where work is needed. If someone can¡¯t make it as a farmer, then he can move south to the mines and work for a living there. Or come into the city to work. This should at least alleviate the manpower problem if not outright solve it in the future.¡±
Viscount Telp waited patiently for a break in Michael¡¯s explanation before speaking up. ¡°But milord who will you call on in times of war or for other work projects?¡±
¡°We will pay them for their work, and we will implement a structured conscription law that will manage the duty of the citizens to serve in times of war. Don¡¯t forget that they will still have to pay taxes which means that if the population gets richer our income will also increase even if projects become more expensive,¡± Michael explained.
¡°And what about the nobility? I don¡¯t think that they will be too glad about this breach of tradition,¡± the viscount added. It was clear that he was more concerned than actually against the idea which Michael appreciated.
¡°I am not ordering the release of all serfs but just my own, so those that would be most vehemently against it will probably be happy about me ¡®losing power¡¯ rather than angry about a breach of tradition.¡±
The viscount seemed to be somewhat placated but still not quite sure about it totally.
¡°Let¡¯s move on. The other main projects I want to focus on is going to be the infrastructure, mainly a main road leading to the mountains and toward the trade post, and an improvement to the main road leading north. This will help our trade mainly and should invite more commerce.¡±
Especially Grur Parak seemed happy about this topic but as it wasn¡¯t really controversial there wasn¡¯t much more to be said about this.
¡°Now come the two points that will lead to the most contention. Firstly, I plan to invite mages into the capital to establish a magic academy. The Inquisition will also not be allowed to conduct their business in my lands without my direct permission,¡± Michael jumped to the next subject which instantly worsened the mood around.
Sola was the first to protest. ¡°Standing against the church like this is foolish to the extreme. Not to mention that you plan to invite a host of destructive criminals. Of course, there seem to be good ones, Kiran is a good example, but the vast majority of them are thugs and heretics.¡±
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¡°Hard to believe in a faith whose servants hunt you on every occasion. Makes it hard to hold down a regular job too,¡± Rayakan countered with a sneer.
¡°If your people stop burning down villages, robbing caravans, and stealing from the innocent then they might not be hunted this much,¡± the priestess shot back with a hostile expression.
Michael sighed as they continued verbally attacking each other, he had hoped that Sola¡¯s time with Kiran had blunted her prejudices against mages but apparently that had been a fool¡¯s hope.
¡°Stop, just stop,¡± Michael interrupted them. ¡°I don¡¯t believe that mages are born evil. There are evil mages, there are evil non-mages, there are even evil priests of Idas.¡±
Sola tensed up but stayed silent while Rayakan nodded along.
¡°Mages that break the law will be persecuted and punished at the full extent of the law but if we give them a home, work, and a safe environment then I am sure that the rate of crime will not be much different than that of normal citizens. The advantages that we will have from employing a cadre of skilled and trained mages on the other hand will be immense. Be it the most obvious appliance in the military or something more mundane in having earth mages assist in construction. The gain is far greater than the risk.¡±
¡°Greater than being shunned by the faith and possibly called and treated like a heretic,¡± Sola challenged him with fire in her eyes. Geron tried to softly grab her arm, but she shook him off. ¡°You are heading in a dangerous direction, milord!¡±
Michael gave her a hard stare, but she didn¡¯t relent. ¡°My faith in Idas stands strong, but I will not throw away a path to the betterment of our society for the benefit of a millennia-old hatred and dusty dogma. Being a mage is not a crime! It will not be treated as such in my lands, and I am breaking no laws here. Dark mages will not get the courtesy extended to them so the church may condemn me, but they have no legs to stand on regarding law and what is right.¡±
Rayakan was visibly unhappy about dark mages being excluded but she had the sense that it was better to not speak up about it. Better to sacrifice a limb to save the whole body.
¡°I can¡¯t say that I agree with this decision,¡± Sola replied.
¡°We won¡¯t agree on everything, that is just life. Even if I hope to convince you of my point of view in the end it is my decision. I will listen to your opinions on the matter, but I have given it much thought and am confident that this is the right decision,¡± Michael¡¯s voice went softer, but he could see that Sola was still angry and she would probably stay like this for a while.
This statement had obviously hammered the point home that this was not the time to discuss this, but he was sure from the expression of not only Sola that this would be a subject for the future.
¡°The last thing will be that we will build a tax collecting institution. I have decided to take the duty of collecting the taxes away from the nobility and place it in the hands of a dedicated organization.¡±
To Michael¡¯s surprise, no one said a thing. Maybe they had decided that Michael was not in the mood for discussions, but he could see the thoughts on their faces.
The nobles are not gonna like this at all. The good thing was that Michael had tried to keep away from them to the best of his abilities and even if he was sure to get push-back, maybe even of the violent type, House Rowan had always been a militaristic type and much stronger in that sense than any other house in the two counties. They wouldn¡¯t dare to try anything overtly aggressive; they would probably try to subtly pressure him or organize themselves to strike as one to change his ruling.
This would take time though, time in which he could strengthen his position through trade, tax, and the mountains while they get drained of resources by not being able to steal from the taxes.
The subject would probably also be a part of discussions in the future, and he had no delusion about everything he had said today reaching the ears of the nobility. There were too many people here, and not all of them were fully loyal to him. Which was also why he wouldn¡¯t share all his plans with them today.
¡°Viscount Telp, I would like to place you at the head of the effort to create this new branch. Of course, I will take part in the planning, but I think it is important to have someone with the skills and focus necessary for such a project, which I cannot spare with multiple subjects draining my attention,¡± Michael announced with a smile.
If Lord Oligan was mad about him not getting the task of creating a tax office even though he was the steward he didn¡¯t show it on his face. Michael didn¡¯t fully trust the man, he had gone over the books already and had found nothing indicating any kind of wrongdoing, so Michael didn¡¯t doubt his professional trustworthiness, but his political faith in the man was not as firm.
Viscount Telp seemed a little bit surprised about this new task but took it with a graceful nod. ¡°I will do my best to rise to your expectations, milord.¡± He seemed oddly alright with the curbing of noble privileges. Michael didn¡¯t know why but he decided to just be happy about it for now.
¡°Okay, these are the subjects. I will call other meetings in smaller councils for each of these subjects at a later date. For now, I would like to focus on the festivities today and recuperating from my journey.¡±
- Several hours later ¨C
The festivities were already in full swing. Reen Castle didn¡¯t have a real ball hall, but the great hall was enough for the frontier nobles of the region.
Michael stood with Lord Ragar and a couple of other younger nobles talking about the latest news from the capital when he saw the man that he was looking for.
Baron Redric Plon, the head of the faction of nobles most vehemently against him and the man behind the slanderous letters that Lynx had copied.
He excused himself from the conversation and approached the baron. ¡°Lord Plon, how nice to see you,¡± Michael greeted him with a fake smile.
¡°Milord, it is an honor to be invited to this great feast,¡± he replied, his smile was similarly fake but much less convincing, but Michael acted like he didn¡¯t notice.
¡°I just wanted to make sure that you are enjoying yourself. I am counting on your continuing support in the years to come so that our realm and people can prosper,¡± he said with enthusiasm. It might be a fool''s errand to try to show himself as a trusting person toward him, but it was worth a try and the man might be condescending enough to think of him as a dumb child even after everything.
The condescending expression on the noble''s face gave him cause for hope in this regard but he wouldn¡¯t count on it.
¡°It would be my pleasure to be included in your plans. My highest duty has always been to serve,¡± the man replied, the first part was probably true while the rest was an obvious lie.
¡°I am happy to hear it, Lord Plon. I am not gonna take up more of your time, enjoy the rest of the festivities,¡± Michael continued acting, not sure if he was overplaying his part.
The noble didn¡¯t show any sign of having seen through him though and thanked him for his generosity before leaving.
Michael followed the baron with his eyes while he moved over to a group of men that Michael knew were also part of his faction until Geron stepped next to him.
¡°Why are we playing this game, milord? We could just arrest the whole lot right now, you have proof of corruption and the letters,¡± the knight asked him in a low voice.
¡°We don¡¯t know enough yet. If I move against the nobility then I need to cull them thoroughly, in the best-case scenario they won¡¯t be able to challenge me ever again afterward. Baron Plon is not doing anything overly dangerous right now and he will do me the service of gathering all those who are against me into one group,¡± Michael explained his thoughts.
¡°I understand. Please be wary of leaving them be too long, or they might become a real danger in the future,¡± Geron advised him with a stern expression.
Michael smiled at the knight¡¯s care; it was so strange that the hardest men on the outside were so often those who cared the most on the inside.
¡°What do you think about Dittrich Plon, will he stand with us or his father when the time comes,¡± Michael asked as he saw the knight approach his father.
¡°He will stand with his family, that much is sure,¡± Geron replied without any hesitation.
¡°Then his head will roll with all the others. Just make sure that he doesn¡¯t poison the minds of the other knights while he is still of use.¡±
Geron nodded simply but Michael could feel a certain amount of excitement from his knight at the thought of putting Dittrich into his place.
¡°I have started pairing up the nobles with commoners on all ranks of the knighthood to the best of my ability. I hope we might be able to turn some of them to our side through exposure,¡± the knight explained but at the end, he hesitated a little bit as if he wanted to say more.
¡°Don¡¯t you think that there is a risk of some turning toward the enemy side?¡±
¡°Commoners will hardly turn onto the noble side that want to throw them out of the knighthood and the noble knights on our side are mostly veterans that have spent much of their time at your father¡¯s side. They won¡¯t turn on us,¡± the knight seemed proud of his plan and Michael was inclined to agree. If even one of the noble factions turned toward them it was a victory with their number of remaining knights.
¡°Allow them to leave if they can¡¯t deal with it. I can¡¯t trust those who are so vehemently against my path,¡± Michael ordered. ¡°Those that don¡¯t go on their own will be culled with the nobles once the time comes if they don¡¯t change their minds.¡±
The knight nodded with a stern expression, but Michael could feel the tension in him as if he wanted to get to work right now.
Michael smiled into himself while his gaze wandered over the crowd, from today on many things would change.
Father, I will take care of them, Michael thought.
Chapter 88.
A warm spring wind rustled the leaves, the full moon¡¯s light throwing shadows everywhere. The forest was not still though, a cacophony of sounds echoed through the dense foliage. The howling of wolves, hooting of owls, and chittering of a myriad of other small critters.
The noise of nature easily overshadowed the movement of the two hooded figures stalking through the underbrush.
They tried to keep quiet as they approached an invisible line and the taller of them both put his hand on the other man¡¯s shoulder causing them both to take cover behind a tall bush.
Peering around it they could see a group of soldiers with torches crossing maybe a dozen meters in front of them. The tabard with the two crossed swords on a black field identified them as House Grim soldiers.
¡°Why are we here, Sev,¡± the smaller man whispered to his taller companion.
¡°Don¡¯t you feel it? I thought you were attuned to the mana of the world,¡± Sev replied with a crooked smile.
The other man frowned and turned back to the patrol. ¡°There are no augmenters here,¡± he said after a few moments, but it sounded more like a question than a statement.
¡°They have become weak,¡± Sev grinned even more. ¡°And we will exploit their weakness to take our revenge.¡±
As the two men conversed a presence lingered, not quite there but still present, completely unnoticed by the scheming men.
Michael
Michael awoke shortly after sunrise. With a big yawn, he stretched and turned his head through his room toward the window from which the first sun rays were falling in. His room had become even more bleak lately, when before at least his small table was filled with paperwork now it was empty as he only returned here to sleep.
He forced himself up and over to a bowl of water in front of the window to freshen up a little bit. The sight he now had had changed a lot lately. It has been a little over two years now since his family had been murdered and he had taken over the reins of the counties of Reen and Emall, but many said that they weren¡¯t recognizable anymore.
The town of Reen for example had grown considerably, more than doubling in inhabitants. This was because of the freeing of Michael¡¯s serfs in connection with the increasing need for workers in the town.
Grur Parak had moved most of his mercantile operations to Reen which meant a lot of hauler and guard jobs, and he wasn¡¯t the only merchant expanding into the south either. To the south-east of the town, a large construction side was claiming the land calling for hundreds of workers and also for smiths and other laborers for the already operational parts.
Wide roads lead in all directions away from the town, which was much more of a city by now, and all of them were used a lot by work crews, patrols, travelers, and merchants.
Michael frowned when he gazed down at the layout. While the fringes of the city looked rather organized, due to his insistence on planning for the city¡¯s rapid expansion, the center was still a mess due to the organic way it grew and the resistance of the inhabitants to rebuild and organize their homes.
The now thirteen-year-old count finally dragged himself away from the view and quickly got dressed. He pushed a little bit more mana into his body to stave off his lingering exhaustion. Michael had gotten used to only four to six hours of sleep in the last year even if no one seemed to agree with his sleep schedule.
With his insetting puberty, his mana well had exploded in size, and he had already overcome both Sola and Kiran, which meant that between his reserves and their regeneration, he was able to constantly burn it on a low flame to focus his mind and body without scratching it much.
After putting on some clothes he grabbed his father¡¯s longsword from its place next to his bed and fastened it to his back. He had started wearing it only a few months ago but since then he never went anywhere without it because it gave him the feeling of having his father¡¯s strength at his side.
It was a little bit of a hassle to carry a sword that was more than two-thirds of his actual height but with his mana-infused strength and having it on his back, he managed it quite easily. He was still looking forward to being able to wear it properly on his hip as all the knights did.
After checking his overall appearance, he opened the door to be met by Silas and Erhen waiting in front of his door.
¡°Good morning, milord,¡± Silas greeted him and smashed his fist to his chest, the salute mirrored by the younger knight.
¡°Good morning,¡± Michael replied with a smile and quickly went on his way with the knights following close behind.
It wasn¡¯t just the city that had changed, the castle was undergoing a similar development. Before it was a proper castle, simple designs, filled with nobles and knights with a certain calm to it that only places of privilege could have.
Now the castle was in constant motion, messengers running through the hallways with stacks of paper, signs of construction everywhere as quarters were turned into open-space scribe and planning halls and nobles were rarely seen in these parts of the castle.
That is not to say that the castle was cramped, the contrary was the case, Michael had started reorganizing the whole structure which simply meant that the administrative and governing parts were separated from the noble quarters. For him, it was an efficiency reason but at the same time, it had signaled that the nobility wasn¡¯t connected to the administration on the highest level anymore.
No one stopped for him as he walked to the hallways, it had taken a lot of time and a firm stance to get it into their heads that they didn¡¯t need to stop and fall to their knees every time they met him.
They didn¡¯t give up so easily though, so a new tradition had quickly taken over, the non-military personnel placed an open hand on their heart and bowed their head while the military personnel slammed their fist on their chest without lowering their gaze. Michael had accepted it because it didn¡¯t take much time and they were able to salute like this without stopping what they were doing most of the time and he didn¡¯t want them to unlearn to show respect to their superiors in station.
Michael nodded back whenever he noticed someone saluting him and made his way straight to his office. In front of the doors were two guards placed and Michael¡¯s gaze fell on their new heraldic.
It had been an easy decision to not keep the twin sword heraldic, as it celebrated the bond between his father and uncle and after all that happened, he didn¡¯t feel that it was right to keep it. None of his subjects had complained about this change but Duke Wallsten had not been happy, and Michael guessed that his uncle wasn¡¯t glad either.
The new sigil on his guards was a metallic mountain with a black wyvern overhead on a red field. It kept the red and black of the family and added the mountains which symbolized the future for Michael together with the strength of the flying beasts.
His office had also expanded, Michael had finally started seeing it as his own space and so he had changed it to his liking which meant a lot of expanding. There were multiple rooms in his office now for him and the multiple aids that had joined Parcival in his duties of maximizing the efficiency of Michael¡¯s time.
It was Parcival as well who greeted him the moment that he entered with his palm to his heart and his head bowed. ¡°Good morning, milord. I hope you had a good night¡¯s rest.¡±
¡°Greetings, I slept well enough, thank you,¡± Michael smiled at the man without stopping on his way to his office.
Parcival fluently fell into step with him, and Michael just kept talking, ¡°What is on the schedule today?¡±
¡°You have an appointment with Mister Farel and Waren in the smithy in two hours, magic training at the magic academy, martial training followed by a council meeting, and then lessons with Mister Solon,¡± Parcival quickly listed the work for today without even looking at the small book he was carrying around. ¡°All in all, a quiet day, milord.¡±
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They stepped into the office, it had, of course, changed as well, he had kept the desk and chair his father had used but the large table that was normally filled with maps was gone and the walls were covered in shelves filled with scrolls and books, they weren¡¯t nearly filled yet, but Michael was sure he would get there. The room was smaller because they needed space for the other rooms of the office, but it looked more inviting in Michael¡¯s opinion.
¡°A lot of time to work on some projects then,¡± Michael replied and sat down behind the desk that was still a little bit too large for him, he had still refused to get rid of it even just temporarily. There was so much that was changing so he clung to everything that he could keep the same.
Parcival came to a halt next to him and handed him a scroll with a small yellow dot on the end of it.
¡°There have been problems in Emall again, three wagons of tools have gone missing on their way to the road construction,¡± Parcival said with an unhappy tone.
Michael sighed and rubbed his eyes, ¡°Send some trackers, they will turn up in a couple of days anyway.¡±
It was always the same over there. The faction opposing his reforms was stronger in Emall with the distance and Viscount Telp¡¯s absence, so there were many of these small delays. Wagons going missing for a couple of days, materials arriving at the wrong place, laborers finding better jobs.
The nobles were paying them off just to be annoying, but he couldn¡¯t prove it most of the time, even if they were just small infractions as they always stopped shy of anything truly illegal.
¡°And once they turn up have them interrogated. If they took bribes to delay then have them flogged publicly, that will at least drive up the bribes the nobles will have to pay them,¡± Michael added with a sour expression. It was good for him that the nobles were still just trying to be a covert hindrance and not actively aggressive but that didn¡¯t mean Michael was happy about their antics.
He continued with his paperwork until it was finally time to leave for his first appointment in the growing smithing complex of the city.
The city was much more alive than Michael had ever seen it, especially since the market was completely overrun, they had to expand it already and now that Michael rode past it he felt like they would have to expand it again.
Maybe we should have a separate market on the fringes of the city for external trade, Michael pondered while steering his horse down the road toward the eastern gate.
Eydis and the rest of the guard had joined him in his venture out of the castle, but Michael didn¡¯t pay them much attention. It was nice not to have to pay much attention to his surroundings sometimes, but he hadn¡¯t really needed them for the last few years. All in all, it had been surprisingly peaceful especially when looking back on the months after his ascension.
The thoughts quickly faded away as they made their way through the gate and toward the great smithy. It was an expansive project; Michael had given the dwarves free reign and they had opted to make sure that the place was large enough to handle the throughput of the mountain''s riches for decades to come.
Michael was rather sure that right now Reen wouldn¡¯t even have enough inhabitants to work the finished project and still be functional, but it would take years for it to be completed and until then the predicted growth of the city would easily manage.
He was always in awe when he visited the great forge, huge crucibles, great stores of material, and hundreds of workstations were planned and that was the mundane part of the forge. He found the brother dwarfs in the artificer part of the forge where a huge opening separated it from the rest. Soon a winged door was going to be settled here, covered in runes that prevented ambient mana from leaking in. Artificing was an extremely accurate form of mana manipulation and even the smallest discrepancies could diminish the power of an artifact according to Farel.
As Michael entered, he could see Farel standing with a group of eight humans of differing ages, he was currently hammering on a piece of Blacksteel while explaining what he was doing. Michael could feel the mana flow through his hammer which felt like the slow ripple of earth mana while he worked on the magical ore from the distance and admired the skill of the dwarf for a while.
It wasn¡¯t only the hammer that caught his attention, but the anvil was also an artifact. It was covered in lines that glowed in the soft silver hue of pure mana and the lines were woven in intricate patterns until flowing into four recesses in the corners of the anvil. A monster core was resting in each of the recesses, powering the whole process and being gradually drained of power.
Behind him burned a silvery flame in his furnace which was also powered by some low-level monster cores. The color didn¡¯t seem to be consistent though and increased or decreased in intensity.
Waren was a little bit to the right of his brother, standing at a table with another dwarf and three humans while looking over schematics and plans. He noticed Michael first and waved him closer.
¡°Welcome, Lord,¡± Waren greeted him as he stepped closer to the table, he was taller than the dwarves by now but still appreciated their smaller tables.
¡°Good to see you, Master Waren. It¡¯s this time of the month again,¡± Michael replied with a genuine smile.
The dwarf scratched the back of his neck and nodded, ¡°Then let¡¯s get to it. The artificer¡¯s workshop warding has been delayed again. Miss Rayakan seems to be very busy all the time. I am getting the feeling that I should just do it alone even if it will turn out worse.¡±
Michael pulled an annoyed face that that news, Rayakan had a double affinity with fire and pure mana and thus would be a great help at putting in place warding to drain atmospheric mana for the dwarven artificer who had no affinity.
¡°I talked to her, and she said she would make it a priority two weeks ago, but that seemingly didn¡¯t happen,¡± Michael replied and Waren simply shrugged.
¡°I will talk to her again and make sure that she understands the urgency,¡± Michael sighed. He thought of it for a moment more and then added, ¡°It might help if I promise her that you will build her a better null magic chamber for her academy.¡±
¡°Fine, whatever it takes to get these wards in place, everything we produce here is tainted and I really don¡¯t want to go ahead with construction of the finer tools before we have this whole area warded and drained,¡± Waren agreed, looking as annoyed by the old mage as Michael felt.
¡°In other news, the construction of the water canal from the stream to the site has been successfully concluded and we are already fitting the first waterwheels to the bellows. I estimate that in two to three weeks we will be able to increase our ore throughput by at least sixty percent.¡±
They continued discussing the different advancements and challenges that had presented themselves in the last month of work. Michael had never insisted on such regular meetings, the dwarves had proven themselves as the most trustworthy and accurate project overseers that Michael had. Their cost estimates were always quite accurate except for unpredictable situations and delays were rare and never the fault of planning. It was quite nice to have these meetings nonetheless, not because Michael needed to do much but rather because he adored the project, and watching it grow always excited him.
The presentation didn¡¯t take long because of the scale and timetable of the project, not much could happen in a mere month. Much more interesting was the produce of the foundry and forge complex, even if it was not nearly done it had already become a large portion of the county''s income, not as much as trade tariffs and taxes but closing in quickly on the tariffs at least.
The silver excavated from the mines had taken them through the first year of construction but now weapon production was starting to take a similarly large part of the revenue. Magical artifacts would blow them both out of the water of course as soon as they could be produced in a higher quantity, and if Michael decided to sell them.
Farel was focusing on that part of the project, the smiths that were standing with him were just a couple of the smiths that had come to work in the forge, more specifically some of those that showed talent with artificing. There were also a whole lot of younger apprentices but teaching already trained smiths the basics was a quicker way to get some magical tools and weaponry even if they would be simple and not the best quality. There were few masters here but many more journeymen who wanted to escape their former masters so they would take more training.
¡°Greetings, lad,¡± Farel addressed Michael after dismissing his students to their workstations where they put into practice what they had learned. ¡°You are still carrying this lump of metal around with you? I can make you something much better, you know? How about a sword that can go aflame? If I can get that hag Rayakan to help me.¡±
Michael chuckled while Waren gave his brother an angry stare. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Master Farel, I fare quite well this lump of metal.¡± Michael didn¡¯t take the dwarf¡¯s words to heart; he knew that the man appreciated every form of artisanal craft even if he tended to have a nonchalant way of addressing them.
Waren grumbled something into his beard in dwarfish but didn¡¯t comment further on his brother¡¯s lack of manners.
¡°How are your students, Master Farel,¡± Michael asked with genuine interest.
¡°Two left hands and no idea what they are doing, but with their hearts in the right place. I think they will do fine,¡± Farel proudly exclaimed loudly but Michael wasn¡¯t sure if his students appreciated his praise.
Farel was a smith who exceeded all those in his lands that much was true. ¡°Why is it that Garekha even let you go, I wonder? I can¡¯t imagine me wanting to let any skilled artificer go without a fight.¡±
Waren and Farel gave each other searching gazes, in the end, Waren explained. ¡°You humans are not the only ones that have regressed and suffered since the cataclysm. Magical resources have become exceedingly rare and much weaker. This means that new artifacts are prohibitively expensive if they are any good because of the high material cost. Which meant that fewer people wanted them which meant that the profession had less work.¡±
Of course, low demand will lead to less supply, Michael realized.
¡°Artificer clans began to become poorer and poorer with many abandoning the craft. Most clans nowadays have only one or two skilled artificers in their service because there simply isn¡¯t more material,¡± Waren continued. ¡°Not only that but due to the low strength of artifacts that artificers can make, because of only the weakest magical resources still being active and the low mana levels, most clans just don¡¯t care which led to a decline in skill as well. Me and my brother are nothing compared to the mana artisans of the older days.¡±
Michael played with the ring that Minister Valmick had gifted him and wondered how expensive that must have been with its intricate effect.
¡°But now things are different,¡± Farel interjected. ¡°Magical resources are resurfacing and even the stronger kinds will be available in a couple of years if the old texts are to be believed. You hit quite the opportune moment, lad. Clan Grapper would have probably fought you for us in a couple more years.¡± The ginger dwarf laughed loudly at that, and Michael couldn¡¯t help but smile at the happy man.
Chapter 89.
Michael
The next stop was the magical academy. The name was way too grand for it though, it was basically Michael¡¯s old house in the city which had been remodeled yet again.
There were also just twelve students ranging from nine to sixteen. Michael knew from his own intel and Kiran that at least a dozen other mages had moved close to the city and even more had made their home in other parts of his lands. Most of them were still watching to see if he kept his word or if he would crumble under the church¡¯s pressure.
He had received a couple of angry letters from different parts of the clerical hierarchy but surprisingly it was the Inquisition that held still for now. Michael doubted that this grace would be afforded to him indefinitely, but he would relish it as long as he could.
As they reached the house they entered the side alley toward the yard between the two buildings. Lance and Erhen opened up the gate for them and Michael rode in.
A pebble instantly flew in his direction, straight at his head. He snapped out of reflex and his mana flared up, creating a plate-sized shield of light in front of him and the pebble bounced off the hardened light.
It had taken him over a year to get this comfortable with his new type of light to be able to even create such a small shield through action casting. He was quite proud of it.
¡°Jeremy! What did the mistress say about casting outside of the classroom,¡± Pan admonished the small boy who had thrown the pebble. He and the two girls that had been playing with their magic looked guilty as they all intoned, ¡°No magic outside of the classroom until you reach the second circle.¡±
Michael jumped of his horse and handed his reigns to one of his guards.
¡°You are getting stronger, soon I will have to strengthen my barriers against you,¡± Michael praised the boy who instantly glowed up.
¡°Lord Michael, you shouldn¡¯t praise them after they broke the rules,¡± Pan admonished Michael as well. She was still wearing her hood when she wasn¡¯t inside of the academy, but Michael had seen her without it already and his gut feeling had quickly been proven right that she was a satyr.
¡°Well, I can¡¯t help it when I see promising young mages,¡± he replied and ruffled the boy¡¯s hair. ¡°Now bugger off, you little rascals.¡±
The three kids bolted away and instantly started throwing small pebbles and water droplets.
¡°You are not good for the children¡¯s discipline,¡± Pan complained.
¡°Your master is not a paragon of discipline either. I thought she would take care of the wards at the forge,¡± Michael changed the subject.
To her credit, Pan didn¡¯t even flinch, ¡°The mistress is very busy. She will get to it eventually.¡±
Michael smiled at her and shook his head. ¡°Your loyalty is very commendable, Pan, but we both know that Rayakan is just lazy when it comes to anything not pertaining her school.¡±
Pan looked like she wanted to protest but she wasn¡¯t one to lie so blatantly so she just made a noncommittal sound and pulled the hood a little bit lower.
¡°You don¡¯t have to wear that hood in your own home you know that right,¡± Michael commented. ¡°You are safe here.¡±
¡°I simply don¡¯t like showing that I am ... different while others can see me so easily,¡± she replied hesitantly.
¡°Well, I think that you not being like everyone else makes you more interesting but do what makes you comfortable, I just wanted to let you know that you have the option.¡±
Pan smiled warmly at him, and Michael got a little red. ¡°Thank you. I appreciate your friendship.¡±
¡°So, do I.¡± Pan and Michael had spent a lot of time in the last years training together. Pan was leagues ahead of Michael in her training and talent of magic, but they resonated well with each other and their teachers had noticed greater growth when they worked together.
¡°So, where is Rayakan,¡± Michael returned to the previous subject
¡°She is working with the older students in the combat ring right now,¡± Pan pointed at the old warehouse.
Michael thanked her and went over to the large building while Pan helped his guard with the horses.
The sight that presented itself to Michael when he entered was something one could not see often. Rayakan was standing with three students at the edge of a ring of metal poles that hummed with power. Inside were the two oldest students, a boy and a girl, throwing magic at each other.
The girl lashed out with a whip of water aiming at the leg of the boy, he stepped back and flashes of lightning evaporated the whip in a moment.
¡°Keep up your control, Steffen. Magic without control is just a random natural disaster,¡± Rayakan corrected him.
Steffen visibly took a deep breath, his blond hair sticking to his forehead with sweat.
¡°Vera, your performance lacks any kind of commitment. I know you can do better,¡± Rayakan addressed the chubby brunette girl who winced at the words.
The fight didn¡¯t go on for much longer, the boy was much more confident and aggressive than the girl and overpowered her quickly.
¡°Review the fight and what you did wrong while I talk,¡± Rayakan ordered her students and turned to Michael. ¡°What can I help you with, Lord Rowan?¡±
She smiled as if she didn¡¯t know what this was about, causing Michael to frown at her. ¡°You know quite well what this is about. You were supposed to take care of the warding of the artificer complex together with Waren but now I hear that you have continually avoided exactly that.¡±
¡°Oh, you know I am very busy,¡± she replied and hunched a little bit as if her duties were wearing her down.
¡°Rayakan ... I remember that as part of the deal allowed you to put up your school here and receive financial support from me, that you and your students would offer your assistance but now you do whatever is in your power to avoid that. I feel a little bit used.¡±
¡°Oh, don¡¯t be like that. It takes a lot of time to take care of the little buggers ...,¡± she trailed off and Michael interrupted her rambling.
¡°Enough with that. Don¡¯t treat me like some kind of imbecile. We are not gonna start into some kind of relationship where I have to hound you every step of the way or shower you in gifts and promises just so that you do your part of the deal,¡± Michael snapped at her. He had thought to offer her a null magic chamber, but her attitude made him reconsider.
Rayakan looked at him, surprised by his sudden outburst.
¡°I can¡¯t and won¡¯t deal with you if you can¡¯t behave like a functioning part of this society. So, either get you shit together, or I will have to rethink our arrangement,¡± Michael added.
The initial shock quickly vanished from Rayakan¡¯s face, and the old mage laughed loudly. ¡°I nearly felt threatened there, milord. Alright, alright no need to get mad at an old lady. I promise that I will go over to the forge tomorrow and start the work on the warding scheme.¡±
Michael calmed down and looked for any signs of deceit in the woman¡¯s face but couldn¡¯t find anything. ¡°Alright, I will send a messenger to Waren to let him know,¡± he then concluded and turned away from her without another word. He couldn¡¯t say why but this woman infuriated him to no end with her attitude.
¡°Have a great day, milord. And visit us again sometime,¡± Rayakan called after him with an amused chuckle.
Michael grumbled and left the building. He was still annoyed while he pushed past Pan.
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¡°Everything alright,¡± she asked.
¡°Your master is just being herself,¡± Michael replied shortly but didn¡¯t stop.
¡°I see.¡±
Michael entered the main house through the back door and went straight for the study room. He came past the remaining students cooking in the main room and returned greetings.
Kiran looked up when Michael entered the study room. ¡°You don¡¯t look happy.¡±
¡°Rayakan is just being difficult,¡± he replied and then recounted the whole incident.
Kiran looked at him for a while until slightly smiling. ¡°Rayakan is not a bad person, and she certainly is not stupid enough to antagonize you without a reason. What she is is a teacher and not your subordinate.¡±
Michael frowned while thinking about it then he groaned. ¡°I will be right back.¡±
He got back up and walked all the way back to the warehouse. Pan threw him a questioning look and he simply said, ¡°Your teacher is a horrible person.¡± Her chuckle followed him into the warehouse.
The moment he entered Rayakan¡¯s eyes were on him. Michael approached her with a sigh.
¡°I am sorry for my outburst. I understand that you are not one of my subordinates and I have no right to order you around without explanation,¡± Michael started, Rayakan watched him in silence.
¡°We need the warding to start production of precision artifacts. This will also help this school as I plan to build a real null magic chamber for it, for example. Your assistance would guarantee a superior warding scheme so I would like to ask for your help.¡±
Rayakan nodded and replied genuinely, ¡°I will be glad to help. I will make an appointment with the dwarf as soon as possible.¡±
The old mage inspected Michael for a moment longer before adding, ¡°I am glad that you are a quick learner. Many nobles have the flaw that they expect everyone to jump at their every whim but respect, especially to people that aren¡¯t your direct subjects, will make everyone much more willing to follow your requests and orders.¡±
She was of course right. Being in a position of power with every command being followed without question would always put him at risk of expecting everyone to just do what he said.
¡°Thank you for this reality check. You could be a little bit less smug about it though,¡± he commented.
She simply gave him a crooked smile and replied, ¡°What would be the fun in that?¡±
Michael left them to their training while shaking his head and finally fell into a chair in the study room a minute later.
¡°Are you ready for our lesson now,¡± Kiran asked with an amused expression.
¡°Yes, I am done.¡±
¡°Good. Today I think it is finally time that we start taking a closer look at the arcane paths of magic. Life and death, time and space, and blood and pure mana,¡± the mage started.
¡°Am I ready for that,¡± Michael asked surprised.
Michael had of course read some things about the arcane schools of magic before, but Kiran had kept away from them for the express reason that he didn¡¯t want Michael to try to unlock one without having a firm grasp on his own element. It was very dangerous to bring another type of mana into one''s body if you already had an affinity and could lead to injury or even death.
¡°Yes, but I still expect you to stay away from attuning yourself to any of them. You are not ready for this kind of conflict but if you absolutely can¡¯t resist then talk to me or Rayakan about it. It is safer to do it under observation than doing it behind my back.¡± Kiran looked at Michael with a piercing stare until the young lord nodded. He was of course interested in unlocking new paths of magic as he was about most sources of knowledge, but he would heed his master¡¯s advice over his own curiosity.
Kiran leaned back in his chair and took a sip of his ever-present tea before starting his lecture. ¡°Affinities for these are earned not given by understanding the principle behind the mana you try to gain the affinity for. The outlier to this rule is blood magic, you do not need an affinity for blood magic due to its nature of using the mana of other creatures to cast spells but more on that later.¡±
¡°The arcane paths are fundamentally different than the elemental in that they are less straightforward and much more tangled. Elemental magic is generally more potent in combat due to that while arcane magic has more different sub-schools and areas of application.¡±
¡°A death mage for example can summon the souls of the dead to converse, raise undead minions, just throw around balls of death energy, or other things that even I have never heard about. As such all of them have many different ways to go, some have more discovered than others. People rarely master more than one of these sub-schools but of course, some people try to meddle in many just to a lesser degree of mastery.¡±
¡°As with the elemental paths, the arcane paths are different in difficulty and usefulness. The pure mana magic and blood magic are the easiest to achieve. Blood because you just need the right rituals and knowledge but no affinity. The pure mana affinity is the easiest to achieve due to the prevalent nature of mana all around us, we are constantly in contact with it which makes it easier to understand and attune to.¡±
¡°Life and death are the middle concerning difficulty. It is easy to observe and learn about the processes of life and death as they are happening around us all the time. We do not learn a lot passively like with pure mana though.¡±
¡°The last pair and with a huge gap the most difficult to learn are time and space. Their usefulness is also rather questionable, so there are very few that bother and even fewer that manage to achieve any kind of proficiency.¡±
Michael frowned, he had expected that mastery of time or space would be vastly powerful. ¡°What do you mean with questionable usefulness? I imagine that a time mage could see the future or rewind time or something like that. That seems very strong to me.¡±
Kiran nodded sagely, ¡°It does in theory, I agree. In practice though the things such a mage can do are very underwhelming. Having a time mage look into the future is little more than a slightly more trustworthy fortune teller, as time is always in motion, and separating the untold number of futures to find the most probable one is difficult, to put it mildly. Space mages are even worse off, their magic focuses on the barriers between our world and other spheres and realms. They might become stronger with the rising mana but as it is now, there are few that can muster the power to make even a small hole into the veil separating us from the closest realms. The creatures on the other side can¡¯t even survive on our side so the only thing they can even try is to converse with them. It is a lot of work to have a chat with something that might not even want to talk.¡±
¡°I see, but with the rising mana, shouldn¡¯t it be more reasonable to invest effort into them,¡± Michael pressed, not being willing to just write them off.
¡°Oh certainly. There are records of immensely powerful practitioners of these paths, but they are very few and very far between. The problem is that, aside from them being the most complex paths, they are also the ones that are most dangerous to the mage with the highest mortality rate,¡± Kiran explained patiently.
¡°Why is that? I can¡¯t really imagine that it is more dangerous to study time and space in comparison to playing with say fire,¡± Michael argued.
¡°The magic itself isn¡¯t that much more dangerous than any magic is to the wielder.¡± Kiran stopped for a moment seemingly thinking about how he should explain it. ¡°The pillars of our universe are Time, Space, and Death. Time and space are the paths that walk the fine line between what is acceptable and what meddles with the laws of time and space too much. A breach of these laws will incur the wrath of the guardian of the respective pillar, a creature that exceeds the power of gods by an unknown margin.¡± Kiran spoke with a certain sternness in his voice that brought across the point that there is no screwing around with the guardians.
¡°What about death magic? Won¡¯t the guardian of death also strike back when you accidentally break the rules,¡± Michael asked curiously.
Kiran frowned deeply and said, ¡°You can¡¯t break the rules of death by accident. The one rule is that you can¡¯t bring anyone back to true life after his soul has passed from its body and become dead. It is such a difficult thing in of itself that you will have to do it on purpose and then suffer the consequences.¡±
Kiran waited for him to ask further but Michael didn¡¯t say anything, so the mage continued.
¡°Good back to the topic, when you achieve the affinity, you will notice because your internal mana will change to that affinity and your mana well will innately convert all mana inside you to that affinity which leads us to the problem of having multiple affinities.¡± Kiran unrolled another scroll which showed a human body with the mana well highlighted by blue colors. Without even moving, Kiran made a drop of water from a small cup on the table float over the well.
¡°The problem is that different affinity mana don¡¯t play well together inside of your body because one affinity will try to turn all your mana into, say fire mana while the other will try to turn it into life mana. You would think that they would simply balance each other out but they will turn violent because affinity mana will resist being tempered with like that just as it will if someone else curses you. It doesn¡¯t recognize your other affinity mana as yours. Different types of mana work better with each other than others for multiple affinities but that would be going too deep right now.¡±
Kiran let another drop float over to the scroll, this time out of his cup of tea. Normally they would just mix but through the mage¡¯s control, they began rippling and pushing against each other in a furious display, until one of them overcame the other.
Michael followed the explanation and then asked, ¡°Does that mean that a pure mana affinity will work because it doesn¡¯t turn violent as it is just basic mana?¡±
¡°You catch on fast as always. The pure mana affinity is the one that works best for having multiple affinities because of the reason you said but it is not completely safe as it will try to turn your other mana back into pure mana which causes some conflict,¡± Kiran explained.
¡°So how do you manage to do it then? Is there a way to stop them from fighting, something like smoking a beehive?¡±
¡°It is a good idea but not how it works. You separate them by creating a wall within your mana well. It is much more complicated than it sounds but it is basically that. The problem here is that you only have parts of your mana for either affinity, depending on where you put the wall,¡± Kiran explained.
¡°So Rayakan can¡¯t even use all of her mana for fire magic,¡± Michael asked incredulously. He had seen her cast a couple of times and the amount of energy she could move at once was incredible.
¡°Rayakan has probably five percent or something to that effect walled off for her pure mana. She mostly uses it for anti-magic which generally doesn¡¯t need a lot of mana for personal use if you know what you are doing,¡± his master explained which sounded about right.
¡°What affinity would you say would fit with me best,¡± Michael asked with a cheeky grin.
Kiran sighed audibly before replying, ¡°Pure mana is always a good choice but, in your case, it is probably the only choice if you even try for any. I don¡¯t want to pull you down or anything, but I don¡¯t see you managing to obtain another affinity.¡±
¡°I see,¡± Michael mumbled disappointed.
¡°Don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t have a second affinity either and I am doing quite alright,¡± Kiran tried to cheer him up. Michael gave him a reassuring smile but internally he was still thinking about the different affinities.
Chapter 90.
Michael
Michael¡¯s head hurt slightly as he got off his horse in the castle¡¯s courtyard. There was so much new information in his head after his session with Kiran and he was looking forward to just slug it out with someone in the training ring.
The number of trainees had swelled massively in the last years, Sir Godfrey Pyke had been busy recruiting those with talent and will to become augmenters of the realm. So, they had to move the training fields outside the castle walls.
Michael strolled over the large open space and watched the different groups of initiates, squires, and soldiers train together. Geron had insisted on breaking down the divide between the normal soldiers and augmenters to teach them how to work together and against their counterparts.
Sir Godfrey was on a small podium in the middle of the training field together with two other veteran knight, overlooking the nearly fifty training augments and double the number of local guardsmen. Most of these were also new recruits taken from the freed serfs.
Not nearly all of these augmenters would ever reach the level of a knight, most of them just had a stronger mana well than normal people but not enough to become a knight so they would be integrated into the guard. They were however special enough to receive a similar training to the knight prospects because it was often hard to know when the growth spurt of the mana well would set in.
Geron had estimated that half of the hundred should be able to become knights and the rest would still become stronger guardsmen. That of course depended on if they would make it through the training.
It had become harder to differentiate between trainees of noble or common origin. Those of noble origin who couldn¡¯t deal with commoners being their equal to an extreme degree had been weeded out. Geron had consciously allowed those against it but only verbally to stay because from his explanation they caused the commoners to put in more effort to prove their words wrong.
Surprisingly there had only been one knight that resigned from Michael¡¯s service in the last years even if the noble-supremacy faction was proportionally larger in the knighthood than the initiates and squires. Michael was of course very suspicious of them, but he couldn¡¯t risk reducing his military might further in this precarious time, especially because many of those against his decisions still valued honor and their vows.
Michael shook off these thoughts and made his way over to a corner of the field where Geron was waiting for him.
¡°Good, you are here,¡± he said after smashing his fist to his chest. ¡°We are gonna continue with your mana sword training. Try focusing on the mana movement and making your sword a part of your body for today.
Michael nodded and returned to the same spot he had stood at for three months already, the ground was more worn there already but the three target dummies that stood there fifteen meters in front of him were still unharmed.
He had questioned why he was already trying to achieve the mana sword rank because that was normally what elevated someone from a squire to a knight and he was way too young to be a knight, but Geron and Sir Godfrey had agreed that he was ready for it. Michael was sure that he was far ahead of others at his age but normally squires achieved this rank at around twenty. Sure, some talents managed it earlier like Eydis, Geron, or his own father but that was normally at eighteen or something like that.
To be expected to reach this at thirteen was a little bit much in his opinion but to be fair he started his martial training and mana training earlier than most other augmenters and he had a lot more mana to train with so maybe they were right. However it might be, Michael always trusted his teachers and he would not doubt them now.
With that thought gone, he turned inside and began moving his mana again, it was a nearly unconscious act by now, so it felt like concentrating on a muscle contraction.
It was no less difficult to get his mana to his hands than it was to lift his arm, but this was where the easy part ended. Letting your mana flow out into an object and still controlling it was the core of the mana sword technique and much more difficult than it would appear.
Even if it sounded like magic, it was entirely different because one couldn¡¯t rely on an affinity or any kind of casting to achieve this milestone. The important thing wasn¡¯t to move the mana, everyone could do that, but to connect your astral body to an object.
How well this worked and how much mana an augmenter could put into the technique depended largely on the weapon though. As with living things, most materials were able to take in mana but all to a differing degree, which meant that weapons made out of mana-conductive materials could be used for more devastating attacks and were also easier to use with the technique. Magical materials were unsurprisingly those that had a very high conductivity and sometimes even drew in mana on their own.
All that didn¡¯t help Michael right now though, he was still trying to make a connection with the sword. Sure, he could just let his mana out and then bind it to the sword as he would with a spell but that took effort and concentration, in a bind it was fine, but augmenting had always been about speed and fine mana control. So, he continued training, but it would take a while longer until he achieved this next step in his training.
Eydis
Eydis stared at Geron while they exchanged blows with their bubbles of mana. They were both close to reaching the aura level, some would argue that they had already, but Eydis lacked fine control and Geron raw power to be considered proficient at the art.
They have been training together for a long time now, both extruding mana and wrestling with each other trying to overcome the other¡¯s barrier by means of power or finesse. Eydis had never been one for finesse but, even more than physical combat, this kind of combat was not kind to those who just rushed in without any thought.
To others, their fight would look like two people staring at each other while visibly straining to an invisible exertion but for Eydis it felt like a fierce battle. On one side was a huge host of soldiers, great in numbers but unorganized, and on the other side an organized castle with a small but potent garrison.
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Eydis was on the offensive, like she was so often, as small groups of soldiers assailed the walls from all sides with ladders. She didn¡¯t expect this assault to achieve a breakthrough but rather used it as a measure to gauge the defenses placed before her.
As expected, the assault was rebuffed by the disciplined defenders, but she had already found what she was looking for, a weak point.
She wouldn¡¯t just charge in there; it would reveal the weakness to the lord of the castle too quickly to make use of it. She rather send a detachment of two hundred soldiers to another part of the castle to attack a stretch of wall far away from the weak point while quietly assembling her true attack.
Arrows, rocks, and more quickly began to fly off the ramparts while more and more heads appeared over the battlements at her feigned attack. As soon as she was sure that she had gotten enough of a reaction she sprung her trap.
Eydis¡¯s soldiers unveiled their battering ram and an army of one thousand soldiers surged forward toward the gate.
Again, arrows surged over the walls toward her forces, but the counterattack was much less vicious than what her distraction force had endured. Her forces quickly reached the gate and smashed into it with the ram. The gate splintered but held the first strike, it wouldn¡¯t hold a second time though.
She grinned as she pressed her advantage but right before she could break into the gate, the sound of hooves interrupted her glee.
A detachment of knights appeared out of nowhere and ripped through the back line of her assault. Her troops being cut off from reinforcements and orders fell to the renewed aggression from inside of the castle. The knights didn¡¯t turn on her troops though they took a sharp right and charged at her camp.
With widening eyes, Eydis noticed the hole she had left in her own defenses by pouring so much manpower into the attack. She scrambled to put up a line to stop the knights, but it was too little and too late.
A gust of wind, caused by the aura attack ruffled her brown hair and she staggered back a step as the mana dispersed.
¡°I thought I was tricking you, but you were trapping me all along,¡± she signed at the knight.
Geron smiled slightly and replied, ¡°I was concerned that you would just blow me wide open with the first charge, but I guess it worked out this time. You are getting better though, that feign caught me off guard for a moment.¡±
¡°I will beat you yet,¡± Eydis grinned as she rebuilt her aura, ready for another round.
They spent most of the time that Michael was training alone like this. The old Godfrey had said that even if you would nearly never actually fight someone one-on-one with just your aura, it was still the best practice to enhance one¡¯s abilities and learn all the tricks you could do with it, without having to throw too much mana into it.
Eydis respected the old warrior immensely. She had sparred with him a couple of times already, but she had yet to win against him or even land a good hit. She wondered how badly she would do against him with both his arms still attached as she never had the chance to try. The even more daunting thing was that Godfrey was adamant that the late Cedric Rowan was even stronger than him.
She could believe it from her short fight with his brother, considering that Cedric was unanimously considered to be the stronger warrior. Eydis was a lot stronger now than she was back then though and a part of her was sad that she would never have the chance to face one of the strongest warriors this kingdom had ever possessed.
A surge of mana hit her lazily constructed barrier and she would have instantly lost if Geron hadn¡¯t pulled his punch.
¡°Come on, pay attention,¡± the knight admonished her.
She gave him a competitive grin and they began their fight anew.
Michael
Mana sword training wasn¡¯t his entire pastime, of course, sparring was a large part of his martial training as it always had been. He had long since graduated from fighting initiates though and was now mostly sparring with the older squires and even with the knights from time to time.
He enjoyed fighting the knights due to the challenge they posed, he had of course never won any spar where the knight took him seriously, which most of them did by now but it was still the most enjoyable part of his training.
¡°Failure is an infinitely greater teacher than success is,¡± Solon had once told him, and he couldn¡¯t agree more. It did take a certain self-reflection to gain all that failure could teach but if one had it then it was a good tool.
Right now, he wasn¡¯t sparring with a knight though, he was currently fighting an eighteen-year-old squire with a broad statue and a nasty habit of breaking weapons due to his strength.
They were using magically enhanced wooden training weapons that the artificers-in-training had made them. It was nice for the knights and older squires to be able to use more of their strength in training but for Michael, it wasn¡¯t great.
He kept his distance from the man, a direct contest of strength could never end well for him. The squire was careful though, they all knew what Michael could do and they certainly had watched him fight more often than he had watched them.
Careful didn¡¯t mean defensive though and the squire swung at him again and again, trying to get him close but Michael didn¡¯t let him. He watched the man, looking for an opening when the squire slipped a little bit farther than he had intended.
Michael intended to capitalize on this error without hesitation and a grin began to form on his face when darkness suddenly replaced his sight.
He didn¡¯t know where he was, but his weapon was gone, the sound of training was gone, and the feel of his exhausted muscles had vanished as well.
A pair of ice-blue eyes appeared in the darkness and fixed themselves on Michael who stared back.
¡°Ferrekxan is that you,¡± Michael asked cautiously.
The rumbling voice of the dragon answered as if it came from all around Michael. ¡°Yes, young Michael. I wanted to give you time to come back to me on your own, but I can¡¯t wait any longer. Something is approaching from the west, and we need to talk.¡±
Michael hadn¡¯t visited the dragon again since the first time. He told himself that he was busy and had this or that to do every time he thought about it but in truth, he wasn¡¯t sure about the dragon. He still didn¡¯t like the way the dragon had tried to influence his life and to be honest he was somewhat afraid of the great beast.
¡°What is approaching,¡± he asked the dragon with a frown.
¡°Come see me and we will talk.¡± the voice got quieter and quieter as if it was moving away from him.
Michael awoke with a nasty headache. He was lying on the ground with Geron, Eydis, and Zeke standing around him with concerned expressions.
He groaned and grabbed his head while getting up into a sitting position. ¡°What happened?¡±
¡°Take it slow, milord,¡± Geron said and stopped him from standing up. ¡°You took a hit to the head and blacked out for a minute.¡±
Michael looked past Geron to see the squire he had been fighting standing a little way away with a group of others, he was nervously shifting his weight back and forth.
¡°Ah, I am fine,¡± Michael said and forced himself to his feet. He didn¡¯t black out because of the strike but rather blacked out and got hit because of it. ¡°He does have quite the punch though,¡± Michael added and grinned at the nervous squire.
The man came over and quickly fell to his knees, ¡°I am sorry, milord. I thought you would block it and didn¡¯t react fast enough. I deserve to be punished!¡±
¡°For what? Winning a spar? I spaced out and got hit nothing wrong about that,¡± Michael replied and patted the squire on his shoulder. ¡°You did react well enough, or my head would have cracked.¡±
After assuring the squire a few more times that he did nothing wrong Michael sent him on his way and the audience dispersed after some harsh words from Sir Godfrey.
¡°You should get yourself checked out by Sola. Head injuries are not a joke, especially if you blacked out,¡± Geron suggested with a worried tone.
¡°I will go there straight away, we were basically done anyway,¡± Michael agreed. ¡°Before that though I need to change a little bit of my schedule for the next few days. I need to visit our friend in the mountains, so make preparations for the trip, we leave as soon as possible.¡±
Even though they were surprised, no one argued, being more inclined to get him to Sola than argue his travel plans.
Michael was concerned about why Ferrekxan was reaching out to him now after nearly two years and he would get his answers as quickly as possible.
Chapter 91.
Michael
The southern mountains had transformed since the last time Michael had visited Ferrekxan. Roads and smaller paths covered the lower and middle regions of the mountains and small mining towns had emerged as the starting point of these paths.
The forest that covered most of the lower and middle parts had been thinned out around the settlements and mine entrances to give the undergrowth a better environment to grow and prevent landslides. The forest wouldn¡¯t be completely cut back for the same reason, which had the nice side effect that, with the relentless hunt for monsters by the adventurers, the mundane animals returned to the mountain forest.
They came across quite some traffic on their way to and up the mountains; groups of workers, trains of carts transporting tools and supplies into the mountains or raw resources out, and of course patrols of the new mounted outriders.
They were a rather recent addition to the guard, lightly armored and armed with bows and spears they specialized in patrolling the rough terrain of the borders. With the reduced threat from both the eastern and southern borders, they had decided that foot patrols were too slow and manpower intensive, so the outriders had taken their place. This meant fewer men and forts were needed to cover the less dangerous borders. The northeastern edge of the border inhabited by the boar clan was still patrolled heavily by the previous forces though. It had become somewhat of a crucible to refine the troops against serious threats and prevent complacency as the boars were still actively raiding into the kingdom at every opportunity.
That wasn¡¯t important right now though. Their group didn¡¯t attract much attention next to all the other activities, so they silently continued on up the mountains on horseback as far as possible.
¡°You humans really are quite industrious if you want to,¡± Solon commented from the back of his donkey while inspecting a group of men pulling out tree stumps with the help of some oxen.
¡°Humans need one thing above everything else and that is direction,¡± Zeke commented. ¡°If you give us a goal and a reason to be motivated then I am sure we could easily move this mountain ten kilometers north by hand. Lord Rowan has given the people a goal and by releasing them of their bonds he gave them motivation.¡±
Michael listened to them only half-heartedly he had been pondering the words that Ferrekxan had imparted to him in their very brief conversation and what exactly the dragon could have meant. There were of course many different conclusions he could reach, from an invasion by his uncle to something coming that he didn¡¯t even know existed yet. He knew it was a futile line of thought, but Michael couldn¡¯t help it.
¡°It has been quite the achievement. Though we have been very lucky to even have access to this because of him,¡± Solon replied and directed that answer more in Michael¡¯s direction.
Michael now emerged from his thoughts and turned his attention to his compatriots. It was a small group, just his guard and Solon. The dwarf had been adamant about wanting to meet the mythical Ferrekxan himself and find out the true intentions of the dragon. It was a mix of wonder and mistrust that Michael had not yet seen in his mentor before. Michael of course had no objections to it and so Solon had joined them.
¡°It is but this is just the beginning. We are on a good way but still far away from reaching our goal and we have just a little over three years left,¡± Michael noted.
The ascend became more laborious as they approached the end of the tree line which marked the beginning of the upper region, as Michael had agreed, there had been no efforts to colonize this region and due to that, there were no roads leading to the edge either.
They left their mounts behind at the last outpost they came past and traversed the wilderness on foot. This time they weren¡¯t beset by harpies or even saw one, the wyvern had been obviously active in hunting them down and driving them out of this region. They were however greeted by two wyverns who were relaxing on a huge boulder.
Michael wasn¡¯t sure at first if these were the same brown and greyish ones that they had met the last time but just a moment later he could feel the recognition echo through the mana of the beast. Even if he didn¡¯t recognize them, they clearly recognized him.
¡°Have you been waiting for us,¡± Michael asked and eased up on smoothing out his mana. He had started practicing his control over the ripples that went through his mana since Ferrekxan had told him that one could read the thoughts of it, but the wyvern and many other magical creatures could only communicate through it.
The brown wyvern rose from his spot in the sun and reached out with his head to Michael. He patted the scaled beast and said, ¡°Long time no see, right?¡±
He opened his mouth a little and his tongue fell to the side in some kind of smile, not for the first time Michael felt that the behavior of the wyvern resembled puppies. Huge and murderous puppies mind you but puppies, nonetheless.
Together with their guides, they climbed the remaining way up the mountain to the familiar cave entrance. Solon¡¯s eyes darted around continually as he inspected every part of the tunnel they took down into the mountain.
¡°It is quite common for mana refuges to have a high quantity of precious resources,¡± the dwarf commented. ¡°That is why adventurers hunt for them, but I have never seen one with such riches.¡±
¡°There is a dragon here after all,¡± Michael replied, and Solon nodded in agreement.
¡°I never thought that I would see one, you know? Dragons are so high up the ladder of magical beasts that it is said that they dwell only in the deepest parts of the earth and ocean. Places where no mortal could even reach, and then you find one on a mountaintop. Quite ironic,¡± Solon said and smiled into himself.
¡°A dragon was the last thing I expected to find here. To be honest, back then I didn¡¯t even know what I expected.¡±
¡°And still you followed a voice in your head all the way here,¡± Solon stated dryly.
Michael scratched the back of his neck as he grinned awkwardly. ¡°Yeah, I did.¡±
They finally reached the dormant volcano a few minutes later and Michael relished in the look of wonder that his master had on his face. Michael was sure that he didn¡¯t look much different the first time he was here, and he still felt the same now, but it was nice to see that even Solon, who had seen so much in his life was still awestruck by this sight.
The most eye-catching thing about this place was as before the great iron-scaled dragon in the center of the cavern. Ferrekxan was already awake and ready as they entered through the tunnel.
¡°I bid you welcome Michael and also his companions,¡± the dragon¡¯s rumbling voice echoed through their thoughts. He cocked his head a moment later and said, ¡°It seems that you didn¡¯t appreciate me being able to see your surface thoughts through your mana. You have gained quite an impressive grasp of your mana in such a short time.¡±
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¡°My thoughts are the one thing that should be mine and only mine. A privilege that has been denied too easily and often in my case,¡± Michael answered calmly. He wasn¡¯t actually afraid of the physical threat that the dragon posed, there was nothing he could do about that anyway, but much rather about the influence on his mind he might have. Michael had little experience with mind magic but both Kiran and Rayakan had said that it was very rare and even more dangerous.
¡°Fair enough,¡± Ferrekxan replied and then let his eyes wander to Solon. ¡°Greetings son of Thorm, what brings one of your kind to my humble home.¡±
Solon stroked his beard and stood there silently observing for a few seconds before saying anything. ¡°First of all, I thank you for inviting us into your home, great dragon. I do find it quite interesting that you could tell my lineage at a glance, or has Lord Michael told you before?¡±
¡°I knew both Yoren and Thorm when they created your kingdom and even if you seem much more composed than Thorm ever was I do see some of his traits in you,¡± Ferrekxan answered with a certain curiosity ringing along with his words.
¡°Very interesting. I would love to talk more about the esteemed founders of my home once we have taken care of what we are here for,¡± Solon replied, his eyes were burning in curiosity and Michael knew the feeling well.
Ferrekxan lowered his head in a slow nod. ¡°I will be glad to converse with you, son of Thorm. It has been a long time since I had the opportunity to relish in old memories with someone else.¡±
Michael and Solon took a seat next to the dragon so that he could make himself comfortable while Eydis and the rest began setting up the camp some fifty meters away.
¡°So, what is this about? You said something was coming from the west,¡± Michael asked. His worry had finally hit its peak as he waited for an explanation.
¡°I ¡ can¡¯t quite tell,¡± Ferrekxan replied slowly. ¡°I do feel that a massive amount of animosity is gathering past the western border of your kingdom. I fear that if you do not act then those that wish ill onto your home will burn and pillage for many kilometers.¡±
¡°Maybe the Rangda tribes have banded together. It has happened before mostly to defend themselves but also for revenge. It is called the Kirhen, the Call of Unity. I can¡¯t think of any other large threat from that direction that might harbor animosity toward the kingdom,¡± Solon suggested, meaning the human barbarians that lived in the wilderness to the southwest of the kingdom, Eydis people.
If it is the Rangda people then they will hit my uncle, no doubt, Michael thought and for a moment a part of him wanted to just ignore it and let it happen. His better judgment won over him quickly though and he dismissed that thought, silently being disappointed with himself. If his uncle fell to such an invasion, then the whole kingdom would be shaken, and who said that they would stop in Grent?
There were so many more reasons why he shouldn¡¯t let his personal feelings interfere with his judgment. Starting with the bet he had made with the king which would be near unwinnable if one of the counties of Praanen got razed and ending with common human decency and his duty to protect the people of the kingdom.
¡°Dammit,¡± Michael cursed and then turned to Solon. ¡°Is there something else in that direction that could be meant?¡±
¡°That direction is mostly wilderness for hundreds of kilometers, there are other races of course but I think we would have heard about it if a large migration of other races displaced the Rangda tribes,¡± Solon concluded solemnly after a few moments of contemplation.
¡°Maybe it is the Firn Kingdom to the northwest,¡± Michael asked to check off any other likely possibilities.
¡°My knowledge about borders is quite spotty but I believe that this kingdom is too far away for my senses at the moment,¡± Ferrekxan answered.
Michael sighed and then answered his own question, ¡°I don¡¯t see the Firn Kingdom attacking us anyway with our alliance with the Perios Kingdom intact.¡±
¡°So, what are we going to do about this,¡± Solon asked carefully, having pinpointed Michael¡¯s thoughts exactly.
What are we going to do about this, indeed, Michael pondered. He should send a warning to his uncle and Duke Wallsten of course but what else? Should they prepare to help or simply move forces to their borders to prevent any of the catastrophe spilling over into his lands?
Michael could feel a push from the back of his conscious in the direction of taking a more active stance in helping to prevent disaster and he agreed with the old man. It wasn¡¯t about his uncle; this was a selfish decision to keep harm away from his home and his people.
¡°We obviously can¡¯t let this happen,¡± he said after contemplating. ¡°I am gonna inform Duke Wallsten as soon as we return to Reen and then we will prepare to respond to anything that could happen.¡±
¡°You should warn Duncan as well. Despite your history, this is a matter of survival, and I am sure you don¡¯t want to put your aunt and cousin in danger,¡± Solon told him sternly. It was a rare moment where Solon directly told him what to do but Michael was way ahead of that.
¡°I will go to Grent personally with a small force to scout out the situation while Geron prepares for a larger mobilization here, if necessary,¡± Michael shared his decision, now finally firm on it.
Solon frowned at that and asked, ¡°Is it wise to go yourself? You are not on the best terms with your uncle.¡±
¡°He isn¡¯t foolish enough to pull anything in a situation like this. It might even be a chance to get some clues into my family''s murder,¡± Michael shrugged the argument off.
¡°What about you, Michael? Will you be able to resist the urge for revenge if you had the chance? A battle can be chaotic, and a well-placed attack made from behind can kill even the strongest,¡± Solon pressed the point.
Michael had learned to live with what happened back then, that didn¡¯t mean that he had forgiven anyone, but he would push his personal desires back to a time when they didn¡¯t interfere with his duties. His position had become everything to him, his life¡¯s meaning, and he wouldn¡¯t risk it for vengeance which he could achieve more safely at a later date.
¡°I can control myself. And hey, maybe he just dies in the fighting, that would make things easier,¡± Michael replied with a dry chuckle which earned him a disapproving stare from Solon.
¡°I¡¯m sorry, Solon. I know you don¡¯t believe that he did it, but you knew him nearly twenty years ago before he tasted power as a noble. Neither of us is impartial in this and I won¡¯t apologize for hating the person that I believe killed my whole family,¡± Michael added and struggled to keep his voice calm.
It was clear on Solon¡¯s face that he wasn¡¯t one hundred percent sure that Michael wasn¡¯t right and neither did he look like he wanted to push the discussion.
¡°It is quite a good opportunity to gain more influence and improve your reputation. If you were to save your uncle, then he would be in your debt. He also still is part of your family, and you have a claim on his position should something happen to him. He only has a daughter after all,¡± Ferrekxan noted, changing the subject back.
Michael narrowed his eyes at the comment and stared at the dragon. Ferrekxan certainly didn¡¯t care about the human lives at stake here just the advantage that the situation could have for his plans. This was exactly the kind of manipulation that Michael was concerned about. He was not looking for power or advantages, he only wanted to do what was best, not for Ferrekxan but for his people. The implication that swung with the dragon''s comment about usurping the County of Grent didn¡¯t sit right with him either.
¡°Is there something else you would like to talk to me about,¡± Michael asked sharply.
¡°No, this would be the most immediately pressing matter. Though I do hope that you will take some time for us to talk. I am here to share my knowledge and guidance with you after all,¡± he said, his words flowing like honey into his mind.
Michael felt that he wanted to say more, to give him advice and push him to do something but Ferrekxan didn¡¯t voice it, clearly feeling Michael¡¯s disapproval. ¡°Good, we will rest for the night, no reason to stumble through the dark down the mountain and depart at first light. Let me just get some food into myself and then we might talk about what wisdom you intend to impart to me. As long as it doesn¡¯t pertain to any schemes and other trickery.¡±
Ferrekxan nodded, still happily eying the young count, and Michael walked away with Solon at his side.
¡°I think I am going to stay here for a while,¡± Solon said bluntly.
Surprise on his face, Michael looked down at the dwarf and asked, ¡°You are?¡±
¡°I would like to talk a little bit and find out more about the past of my people from another point of view. You will be gone for at least a couple of weeks anyway, so I think this is a good time for that. I also do not trust him and would like to investigate his motivations,¡± Solon explained.
¡°Very well. Should I leave a guard with you?¡±
The dwarf shook his head and smiled. ¡°That is not necessary. I have traversed this world for nearly a hundred years, I will be quite alright without a guard.¡±
¡°I guessed as much,¡± Michael smiled back but then his smile wavered as he added, ¡°Make sure to be careful.¡±
Chapter 92.
Michael
The way back to Reen was a silent one. His guard must have noticed his distant attitude and kept quiet, they even used Eydis¡¯s sign language to give orders and call out potential problems. Michael noticed little of all that, he was too preoccupied with his own thoughts and mental preparations for what he had to do once they reached Reen.
Michael did not share with the others what Ferrekxan had said, he didn¡¯t even know how to say it. If what they predicted was true, then that would mean that he would go to war with Eydis¡¯s people and he didn¡¯t know how she would take that.
He watched her out of the corner of his eye and multiple possibilities ran through his imagination, most being bad. She would find out soon anyway but not yet.
Eydis had other ideas though and looked at him with suspicion. ¡°Enough of this. What is the problem,¡± she signed at him.
¡°What do you mean,¡± Michael asked surprised.
She raised an eyebrow and shook her head. ¡°You have been stealing glances at me since we left the mountains. What did the dragon tell you and why are you thinking so hard?¡±
Michael smiled, there probably wasn''t anyone else who knew him as well as Eydis did. They had spent nearly every day with each other for years after all.
¡°Can you give us some privacy,¡± Michael asked the rest of his guard loudly. Silas and Erhen immediately fell back a few meters while Lance and Zeke sped up to put a few more meters between them. No one argued or even questioned it, but Eydis seemed even more curious now than before.
¡°Things are about to get hectic. I have been thinking about how to break this to you because I am honestly not sure how you will take this,¡± he started.
Eydis frowned and signed, ¡°Stop lurking around and just spit it out.¡±
¡°Ferrekxan told me that something is going to attack the kingdom from the west. We think it is going to the Rangda tribes,¡± Michael explained and watched her reaction.
Her frown deepened as she thought. ¡°If they do, they will attack your uncle, so why do we care?¡±
¡°I can¡¯t just let them run rampant in the kingdom¡¯s territory. I intend to go to Grent to help,¡± Michael said.
Eydis rode next to him while staring at the road ahead, Michael waited for a reaction for a whole minute before he added, ¡°You don¡¯t have to come along, Eydis. No one is gonna blame you if you refuse to fight your own kin. At least no one who¡¯s opinion matters.¡±
¡°What? No way,¡± she signed with a smirk. ¡°My family is dead, and the rest of my clan are spread as far as slavery can take them. There are no kin for me left to fight in an army of Rangda tribes. So, let¡¯s just go over there, bonk some heads, and if we are lucky, we can catch your uncle alone with his pants down or something.¡±
If someone just read what Eydis was saying they would probably think that she was very cavalier about the whole thing, but Michael was present and saw everything she didn¡¯t say. He might not be able to judge her true thoughts from her voice, but the voice isn¡¯t the only thing someone could read a person¡¯s true thoughts out of. Eydis was not a good liar, never had been, she had trouble controlling her expressions, and while she was grinning broadly the smile didn¡¯t even remotely reach her eyes. Her hand movements were fast and imprecise as she tried to convince him as fast as possible that she had no grievances about fighting her people.
Michael knew her about as well as she did him so he knew that she would never admit to any of this if he pressed her for answers. She would deny it harder than a murderer on trial and become more stubborn about it the more Michael pressed. He knew all this so he wouldn¡¯t try right now, he would wait for a good moment or maybe she would even come to him first if he gave her time.
¡°Alright then but you will have to promise me not to jump my uncle and try to gorge his eyes out the moment you see him,¡± Michael answered and continued watching her reaction. His gaze of course didn¡¯t get past her, and she probably knew that he didn¡¯t believe a single word he was saying.
¡°No problem, I met him before and didn¡¯t try anything, didn¡¯t I? A little bit of trust please.¡±
Michael just hoped that the stress of the whole situation wouldn¡¯t push her over the edge or at least that he would be present to pull her back from a cliff she could never return from.
- A few hours later -
They arrived at Reen Castle close to evening and Michael instantly went to work in calling an emergency meeting with everyone that meant anything for this kind of emergency. Ferrekxan hadn¡¯t been able to give him a timetable for the invasion but he had told him that the dark emotions were still gathering from many kilometers around so they shouldn¡¯t be ready to strike just yet.
A response had to be made as soon as possible though, even if the Rangda took a month or more for their attack every moment they had to prepare would increase their odds of getting out of this with only minimal damage.
The council had gathered as quickly as possible, an order marked with red, meaning an existential threat to the county or duchy, was unprecedented since the start of the color system so everyone hurried as if their life depended on it, which, as far as they knew, it could.
Michael sat at the head of the great hall on his long chair looking down at his subjects while one after another his council members, knights, nobles, and other important figures entered the room. He wouldn¡¯t wait for everyone to arrive, people like Rayakan and Kiran or Irem Stanes would take a while to even get the message in the town, not even mentioning getting up here.
As most of the castle-bound attendees had reached the council chamber Michael started talking, with Parcival and two more servants to his right writing down what he was saying to hand out the information to the latecomers.
¡°Welcome everyone. I apologize for the sudden call, but something has been brought to my attention by one of my sources that cannot be ignored. To get straight to the point, we predict a massed assault by a confederation of Rangda Tribes on the western borders of the kingdom, and while we do not share the best relations with our western neighbor, we will not shirk our duty to defend the kingdom even if it means fighting alongside House Grim.¡±
Shock, worry, and a multitude of other emotions spread throughout the knights, nobles, and guards. Michael was glad that he preempted any discussion about helping because he saw exactly the same argument in the eyes of multiple men present.
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¡°What is our plan, milord,¡± Baron Uger asked, he was as often present in Reen because of the proximity of his own estate not even a full day¡¯s travel to the north.
¡°We will prepare for war, of course. Geron, I want you to start a partial mobilization. Get everything ready to fully mobilize if the threat shows itself to be real.¡±
The knight commander nodded dutifully and began scribbling something onto a piece of paper.
¡°Milord, you said if the threat shows itself to be real. How likely is an attack and what kind of scale can we expect,¡± another noble asked with clear worry in his voice. He was a smaller local noble out of Emall that had come to complain about something, what exactly Michael had forgotten or not heard yet. This meant though that his property was much closer to the threat than most.
¡°My source is trustworthy, so the likelihood is very high. As for the size of the attack, I can¡¯t be too certain. The theory is that the clans are gathering for a so-called Kirhen, which is an alliance of all the clans to combat a certain threat. We can say with some certainty that this will not be an easy fight and definitely not one that Grent can take on its own, royal intervention might even be needed,¡± Michael answered. His explanation did little to quell the rising concern in the noble, maybe it even achieved the contrary but right now it would be good for them to panic just a little bit if it stops them from doing something stupid.
Michael turned his attention back to Geron and the knight asked, ¡°How much are we going to mobilize for this campaign?¡±
¡°We should prepare to bring everything to bear what we can. We will of course have to keep our borders toward especially the boar clan secure, but we will suffer for years to come if we don¡¯t achieve a decisive victory.¡±
Murmurs went through the gathered audience as they silently discussed what could be done.
Geron was the first to speak up and he did so with a deliberately stern voice, ¡°We will start gathering supplies for a campaign to the west and pull troops from the town garrisons and borders, then. We are the primary military power in the region, and no one can stand against us if we put all our weight into a fight!¡±
This declaration seemed to lessen the doubt and concern in many and Michael could even see the fiery determination of the knight infect some of the other men.
¡°Very good. The forges will focus on arms and armament production for the time being. I want messengers sent out to the nobles informing them of a likely call to arms soon. Lastly, I will go ahead with a detachment of knights to Grent to inform House Grim about the impending threat and scout out the situation. Viscount Telp, you will be in charge while I am gone of civil matters and Geron of military matters,¡± Michael quickly threw out multiple orders.
After quickly giving everyone an outline of what was going to happen, followed the much more longwinded discussions and planning phase in which different people took responsibility for different tasks. Of course, Michael had to again defend his decision to go on ahead to Grent instead of just sending a messenger and even if he could argue it either way, he just had a deep feeling that he needed to do this himself. He was at least sure that the feeling wasn¡¯t Ferrekxan pushing him, so he didn¡¯t feel too bad about following it. His father had always led from the front and Michael would be damned if he would hide in his castle while others fought.
The assembly quickly began splintering into multiple discussions as people got assigned to duties that fit their skill sets.
¡°No, let¡¯s keep everything but the forge going as normal. There is little reason for us to throw normal proceedings overboard because of a threat to our neighbor,¡± Michael shook his head at the group he was currently talking to.
¡°I agree. The implementation of the new tax system is a slow and continuous process if we interrupt it for every unrelated issue then we will never get it done,¡± Viscount Telp added.
The tax reform had quickly proven to be the biggest undertaking of all of Michael¡¯s plans even overcoming the other behemoths of the mining project or the great forge. Viscount Telp had, as Michael had expected, shown a great deal of logistical skill in implementing it and they were ahead of schedule for now. This of course didn¡¯t mean that they were done yet, training tax collectors, taking census of the population, writing tax codes, and building forts to hold the collected taxes were all time-consuming undertakings. And of course, the nobles were doing their best to trip them up at any opportunity at all, which meant that the initiative is much more developed in Reen than it is in Emall as any project that doesn¡¯t agree with the faction of nobility that opposed him.
Michael took these delays with little concern though, they were still doing well mostly due to the already planned delays and the statistics don¡¯t lie, every region in which the new tax system had been established saw an uptick in tax income. The first signs also indicated the estimated rise in wealth for those regions, if that is because of the freed serfs, the new tax system, or both is hard to tell though. They would probably only see conclusive results after a decade after the implementation.
He had been kind of surprised by some of the nobles following his example in freeing their serfs after a couple of months. Lord Ragar had been the first after he had come to Michael to have a long discussion about the subject and many of the other members of the loyalist camp had followed suit in the year after that.
Through them, Michael¡¯s opinion of the nobility had started to rise the more he conversed with them, they were mostly the younger nobles, but Michael appreciated them, nonetheless. Of course, there were still the incompetent, corrupt, and plain evil ones around, but he would deal with them soon enough, and then only the somewhat competent should remain.
Michael¡¯s gaze wandered to the doors as Kiran, Rayakan, and Pan finally arrived at the meeting. He quickly excused himself from the discussion and hurried over to them.
¡°What is happening, Michael? Everyone seems to be unusually on edge,¡± Kiran asked while glancing at the different groups.
The young count quickly explained what was going on and the same kind of brooding expression quickly settled on the old mage¡¯s face.
¡°I am gonna need your magical expertise for this. Normally the kingdom counters mages with augmenters but we both know that that is more of a bandage than a cure,¡± Michael said, and Kiran nodded.
¡°Of course, my primary duty is to assist you. Going into battle is nothing new for me,¡± he replied and looks over at Rayakan with a questioning look.
The old woman seemed deep in thought for a few moments before she slowly began shaking her head. ¡°My primary duty is to my students, and as long as they are not directly threatened, I will not leave. Do you think the clans will reach here?¡±
¡°No, they will raze Grent, and maybe attack Emall if everything goes a little too well for them, but they will not reach here,¡± Michael answered truthfully.
¡°I thought so, then I will not join the army. I am no soldier; I am a teacher.¡±
Kiran looked like he wanted to protest but Michael waved him off. ¡°I understand. I hope you will help if something happens here in my absence though.¡±
¡°Of course, I might be a cranky old hag sometimes, but I do appreciate what you have done for us. I will do what I can to defend what is dear to you, from here.¡± Michael smiled at her genuine words; it wasn¡¯t too often that she dropped her ¡®cranky old hag¡¯ persona but every time she did Michael became a little more comfortable with her.
¡°I will help,¡± came an unexpected proclamation. Three pairs of eyes focused on the hooded Pan as she fixated Michael with her yellow eyes.
¡°The hells you will,¡± Rayakan rumbled, her softness having vanished in the blink of an eye. ¡°You are way too young to go to war, you are also still my student, and I forbid it!¡±
¡°Master, we both know that I am advanced enough that most mages would already consider my training finished. I will have to leave the barrow at some point, and I think leaving to help my friend is a noble reason to do so,¡± Pan argued.
¡°Being noble is a sham,¡± Rayakan spat back. ¡°The only thing being noble gets you is dead.¡±
Michael looked over to Kiran, but the mage obviously wouldn¡¯t have any part in this discussion and so Michael decided that it would probably be wise to follow his example.
¡°Master, we are not lurking in the shadows anymore where compassion and helping people can get us discovered and killed. I don¡¯t want to sit around and hide anymore! If I have to go and help Michael protect not only his people but us as well then, I am gonna do it with or without your blessing,¡± Pan retorted with so much steel in her eyes that Rayakan had to back down.
The old mage scoffed and turned away a little, ¡°Fine! Do what you want but don¡¯t come haunting me if you end up dying.¡±
Pan smiled softly at her master; she knew her too well to be insulted by her antics. The satyr then turned to Michael and declared, ¡°I am with you, just tell me where you want me.¡±
¡°I am glad to have you, Pan. You will join me in the vanguard, having some more magic support should prove helpful in our task,¡± Michael said with a genuine smile.
¡°Good, because I am way too old to rush and sneak around,¡± Kiran grumbled which caused the two younger mages to laugh.
Chapter 93.
Eydis
Everything was proceeding as fast as she was used to from the military of House Rowan. They were a disciplined bunch not remotely like the rowdy types that filled her old clan. Sure, they could be disciplined in battle but everything outside of that was mostly beyond them.
The mute woman shook her head annoyed; thoughts of her people wouldn¡¯t help her situation in the least. Michael knew that she didn¡¯t know where she stood, they both were aware, but Eydis refused to admit it. It took her long enough to be not looked at with suspicion by every man and woman in this castle and she would be damned if she showed any kind of uncertainty on which side she should stand.
Twenty knights were assembling in front of her in the courtyard nearly the full complement of knights that House Rowan had. A mighty force to discourage anyone from doing something foolish in this time of danger and still be small enough to move fast and quietly if needed.
Eydis sighed as she watched the knights prepare for the mission starting tomorrow, she didn¡¯t care for most of them, not in the same way she did for the members of her clan. Sure, she liked the other members of Michael¡¯s personal guard, and she definitely thought of the rest of the inner circle as something akin to family but was that the same or just feelings born of necessity?
It isn¡¯t the same, she thought, I haven¡¯t grown up with them, learned everything I knew with them, but does that mean that it is less important?
It was hard to deny, she didn¡¯t know what she should do, fight for the family she once had or for the one she has now. Eydis didn¡¯t know for certain who was still alive from her clan, she knew that her mother and father were dead but apart from that it was hard to say. She only remembered the soldiers coming into her house and killing her parents and then her rage after that she couldn¡¯t remember anything.
Maybe I should have gone looking. Michael would have let me go; I know that now but back then I couldn¡¯t be sure that it wasn¡¯t a trap. Why did I never go?
Thoughts like that had plagued her since the day before, since the moment Michael had told her about the impending Rangda threat. She had been content with forgetting about the past and not dealing with it but now it came back to haunt her.
Heavy footsteps approached her, and she looked up to see Sir Zeke Tomp coming to a stop in front of her. The veteran knight inspected her with a neutral but hard expression and then said, ¡°I have been chosen to lead the knights in this journey which means I won¡¯t be able to put my full attention on protecting Lord Rowan. I just wanted to inform you of this so that you can make changes to the formation if you need to.¡±
Eydis nodded at him, their relationship was a little bit strange. Eydis was officially the leader of Michael¡¯s guard, but Sir Zeke was defacto organizing the other knights, it helped that they looked up to him more than they did to Eydis. This was completely fine for her; she wasn¡¯t a leader, but she was the best fighter of the group so if the knight concentrated on managing things, then she could concentrate on doing what she had to. Without him present things were a little bit more annoying but they had worked together for a long time already, so everyone knew what to do.
Sir Zeke didn¡¯t leave after though his face became harder as he added, ¡°It is important that we aren¡¯t distracted by other matters when we are on duty. There is nothing more important than Lord Rowan¡¯s life.¡±
Silence fell between them while Eydis stared at the knight and the knight simply looked back. It didn¡¯t take any people skills to understand that this was a warning aimed at her.
¡°I don¡¯t know what to do.,¡± she admitted, the knight knew anyway, and his advice had helped her before. She just wished Solon was here, she could use his wisdom right now. ¡°Loyalty is very important in my culture but who should I be loyal to right now? The people of my birth or the people that have taken me in?¡±
The knight¡¯s expression softened but he still shook his head. ¡°I can¡¯t tell you what to do. I was born and raised in these lands. My parents moved down here in the expansion over fifty years ago. I never had divided loyalties, I served a local baron before the rebellion and after it, with the creation of Reen County I became Lord Rowan¡¯s knight.¡±
Eydis pulled a face at that, she had hoped he could tell her at least something. Zeke seemed to notice her disgruntled expression and added, ¡°Listen, I asked my father once if he missed his home after he moved south in the expansion with my mother, he said he couldn¡¯t think like that. We were in the frontiers now and he had to give his whole to his new home to make it better for me and my siblings and not dwell on a past that he won¡¯t go back to.¡±
Zeke looked at her with an empathetic gaze that she was neither used to from the knight nor expected from him in this situation, she was pondering her loyalties after all. ¡°The moral is I think that you will have to answer the question if you will ever want to return to the Rangda or if Reen is the home you want.¡±
Eydis couldn¡¯t give him an answer and the knight simply patted her on the shoulder. ¡°Think about it, you will have to live with your decision for the rest of your life after all.¡±
He left her with her thoughts and returned to the knights. Eydis couldn¡¯t say if she was closer to an answer after this conversation or as far as she had ever been, but she would have to make a choice there was no way around that.
Farel
Forges were living entities. They ate, breathed, and spoke. That¡¯s how Farel felt about them at least, he had spent most of his life in forges ever since he had been old enough to drag sacks of coal around. He had seen many forges in his time, and they were like people with their own appearances and temperaments.
The new forge he was in felt young as it was, unsure of its power but powerful, nonetheless. Every tool he used was fresh, every forge clean, and the anvils unscarred. The forge didn¡¯t know what it was capable of yet, but Farel would teach it, and it would gain confidence.
Waren always glanced at him as if he was crazy when he told him about a smithy¡¯s personality, but Farel didn¡¯t care. He would have expected that someone who built things for a living to understand but sometimes expectations are just that, an imagined thing.
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Lord Rowan had made his promise true and had given them whatever he could to make the best possible forge and while it was far behind the scale and sophistication of a dwarves'' smithy in the capital for now it rivaled them in the artificer¡¯s workshop, and not too soon it will exceed them of that the dwarven smith was sure.
The help of Mage Rayakan had been invaluable and even if they were still ironing out the kinks in the warding scheme even a flawed one reduced the amount of mana pollution that the artificers had to deal with. Normally he would be completely swamped in making specialized equipment now that the wards are in place, but fate had smiled upon the smith. Farel liked making things, but he loved making weapons and armor. There was just a certain weight to making things that so directly influence life-or-death situations.
He smiled as he turned the helmet he was currently working on to the side. It was a project he had been working on in his free time. Making armor was a long and complicated process even if one made mundane armor, but when making artifact armor then the effort was astonishing, which was probably the reason why they were ordered to focus on weaponry first for the knights and elite guards.
This armor was a personal project meant for the lord of the land as a little thank you for what he had done for the dwarfs. Farel sighed as he stretched and looked at the candle that indicated the time, it was two in the morning already.
¡°Guess I am not going home today,¡± Farel said to himself with a smirk. He was alone sitting in one of the enchanting booths and the only light was his. The last enchantments of the helmet were everything he had left for the armor to be usable; it wasn¡¯t perfect, and many enchantments were still missing, but he still wanted to give it to the young lord before he went to war.
Rushing enchantment work while tired never was a good combination but Farel was good enough to deal with it or he would pay the price for his hubris with a couple of fingers or maybe his hand.
He refocused his mind on the piece of beautiful metal in front of him. It was a nasal helmet adorned with intricate details of runes that pulsed with arcane power each time the dwarf let his mana touch the metal. It was better than a closed helmet for someone who was supposed to yell orders but of course, there was a chainmail hood with an attachable piece to cover his neck and lower face in battle.
It was Blacksteel, infused with mana to the brim in the mana-powered flames, just with that it would be the most durable helmet in this county if not duchy, but Farel wasn¡¯t done yet. He fixated the helmet in a specialized clamp so he could get a better angle at the script embedded on the inside of the helmet.
Artificing was a lot like magic at least as far as Farel understood it, the statement of intent was just much more permanent in an artifact than a mage could ever make it. The script Farel was embedding in the helmet was something inspired by augmenters, it would focus the mana in the helmet at the spot where the helmet was hit like augmenters would selectively focus their mana.
This wasn¡¯t the only enchantment he wanted on the helmet but the only one he could manage without an assisting mage with the right affinity. For example, it should have a voice-enhancing enchantment in the future, but he needed an air mage for that, and he couldn¡¯t really ask Pan to spend the night before her departure with him in a dimly lit workshop. Miss Rayakan would probably burn the forge down if he did.
Farel smiled at the fiery nature of the fire mage; she reminded him of his late mother who liked to throw metal pliers when she was mad at their father. She was one hell of a woman and an even greater smith. Ah, the good old times ¡ he got lost in memories for a while until he forced them down again. As much as he would like to reminisce about better times he had work to do and little time to do it.
So, he put the magnifying glass back up and resumed carving small runes into the magic metal.
Michael
Michael glanced out of the window, it was long dark, later than he should be awake in all honesty considering the time they were supposed to leave the next day. However, his office was perfectly illuminated by a small light sphere hanging above him.
He stopped for a moment while signing a letter and then said, ¡°You took a while.¡±
In front of his table stood a petite woman, her face covered in a mask resembling a silver fox and her body completely covered in black cloth. The only reason Michael knew that she was a woman and not just a small man was that he knew who was behind the mask.
She had grown little since Michael saw her running out of the bakery back in Lionsgate, but her posture was definitely much better than he would expect from a person born and raised in the gutter.
¡°My apologies, Radiant Soul, I have been on a mission and saw you signal just a few minutes ago,¡± the woman answered with a deep bow.
Michael sighed; he had only met two of Lynx¡¯s students but they both had insisted on calling him that strange name no matter what he had said. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I want you to tell Lynx to shift his focus to the West. The Rangda tribes are assembling to attack the kingdom, and I need everything there is to know about their numbers, leaders, tactics, and loyalties. This new order trumps standing directions and is his new priority.¡±
He hadn¡¯t seen the masked master of the self-proclaimed Officio Umbra in a long time but one of his students was always there in a few hours once he lit a candle in a specific window.
The woman who called herself Silver bowed deeply again and replied, ¡°We have heard. Your wish is our command, Radiant Soul. Should we cease our effort to watch the nobles for this new target?¡±
It was a reasonable question, there was always the chance that the nobles tried something while he was distracted by the current crisis, but Michael doubted that they would do anything that would risk the campaign''s success. Neither Duke Wallsten nor Zen would let it slide if a part of their domain got ransacked just because of some noble¡¯s petty schemes. It would mean heads on pikes, no doubt.
¡°Not completely, keep some eyes on them but I want Lynx¡¯s attention on this first and foremost,¡± Michael instructed.
¡°It will be done,¡± the fox-masked woman said and vanished through the door. Michael smiled a thin smile; he knew how uncomfortable the agents were with using the regular door but after he nearly skewered a bull-masked man with a lance of light the first time he appeared through the window they got the point. It didn¡¯t stop Lynx from doing it though, even if Michael could detect him.
Michael leaned back in his chair while pondering the situation. Even if he was confident that the nobles wouldn¡¯t do anything too overt there was still the possibility of them using the opportunity to strike at him personally.
There wasn¡¯t much of a danger there, his guard was completely loyal as far as anyone he employed could tell and there weren¡¯t enough members of the knighthood with such questionable loyalties that they could overcome them. Maybe two or three whom Michael had such a low opinion of that they might throw away all their vows, the most eye-catching being Dittrich Plon. Michael had been so sure that the man would leave the knighthood at some point but his staying made him even more suspect in Michael¡¯s opinion.
The problem was that he couldn¡¯t really kick him out because the knight was careful not to do anything that would draw any ire and it would enrage the nobility if he dismissed him without any cause, strengthening the opposition.
He would also be part of the forward force as most of the knights were and Michael made a small note to instruct Sir Zeke to keep an eye on the knight.
Michael sighed again; he would very much like to leave Dittrich behind, partially out of personal animosity to the man, but he just couldn¡¯t afford it. Every knight in the castle except Sir Godfrey and Geron were accompanying him while the few out on patrol or the borders would join the main army. The danger of his uncle trying to assassinate them was just so much higher than a single knight and he needed all the strength he could bring.
¡°I really wish I could have cleaned up properly before having to go into battle,¡± he said to himself. So many things he wished he could have already accomplished before his first war. ¡°No plan survives contact with the enemy, huh,¡± he chuckled not quite knowing where he had heard that phrase from.
Chapter 94.
- Somewhere in the wilderness of Emall ¨C
Nervous. That is the word that so perfectly described the man in the Rowan¡¯s coat of arms as he looked around again and again in the darkness. He stood alone in a small clearing waiting for something or someone.
His wait wasn¡¯t for long though as another man, covered in a much more mundane cloak appeared from the dark. The figure approached casually; his face was broad with a small scar on his left cheek.
¡°I hope you haven¡¯t waited too long,¡± the scarred man said much more casually than was expected in front of a member of a noble family.
¡°Speak with some more respect when you address me, commoner,¡± the knight spat back.
The other man chuckled a little bit and in a split second, he was next to the knight with his hand opened wide in front of his face. He stopped just before touching him, but the threat was clearly sent and received as the knight only reacted after the man had stopped moving.
¡°You are a third-rate knight from a third-rate family, Dittrich, so I would advise you to keep your tongue in check. You can be happy that I am even working with you clowns and that my employer has deep pockets,¡± he scowled before returning to his nonchalant tone of voice and taking a step back.
Dittrich swallowed hard before asking, ¡°What am I here for?¡±
¡°Your father has decided that this is the best chance you are gonna get. He wants you to kill the little lordling.¡±
¡°What?!¡± Dittrich exclaimed they should be far enough from the camp for no one to hear him. ¡°That is suicide! I won¡¯t even reach him behind his guard and even if I do, they will kill me right after.¡±
¡°I suggest you get a little bit creative then or should I tell your father that he should rather send your younger brother to do the job,¡± the other man replied with a cruel smile. ¡°The chance of success would definitely be higher with him but considering that your father would never sacrifice your younger brother so easily he might not agree.
Dittrich gritted his teeth but prevented himself from bursting out in anger. ¡°How am I supposed to achieve this goal?¡±
The other man simply shrugged at that. ¡°Not my problem, I was just asked to deliver a message. What you do with it is entirely your problem.¡±
Dittrich seemed lost in thought though little of it was focused on his task and much more on how he deserved to be in this situation at all, so much so that they stood silently for nearly a minute before he asked, ¡°Are you going to help me with this?¡±
¡°Not my job, except if you can pay my fee?¡±
Dittrich stayed quiet, without his family there was no way he could pay what a man like that would ask for in payment and they both were aware.
The knight shook his head defeated and turned away, ¡°I got to get back before anyone notices me missing.¡±
¡°I look forward to hearing about your great success,¡± the scarred man called after him with a wide smile.
He remained standing there until Dittrich was gone and then shook his head while smirking. The knight would certainly fail and die if he even had the guts to try but he might make a nice little distraction.
Michael
Twenty augmenters on the level of a knight were a force to be reckoned with. To enter the lands of a neighboring country with this kind of force would be viewed as a declaration of war if arriving unannounced and even when doing the same with a member of the same country it was perceived as extremely threatening in the best of cases. Especially in this case where the knights outnumbered the forces that could contest them probably two to one at least, there would be little House Grim could do if Michael decided to order his knights to burn down the countryside until they raised enough troops to overwhelm them.
He of course had no reason to do so, quite the contrary, but it was still a thought to keep when preparing for the meeting with the local nobility, they were fools if they didn¡¯t feel majorly threatened by now.
Michael had sent a messenger, but the man had only gotten a day''s head start, and augmenters traveled fast. Michael wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if they overtook the messenger at some point, but they would only know on arrival at the fortress that was the center of the County of Grent.
Greyhold was much more of a defensive structure than even Reen Castle was. It was an old ruin that had been claimed by the first settlers and later rebuilt by the first lord, which meant that at least parts of it were still of the much superior craftsmanship of long times past. It was mostly built of stone which made it unique this far south and while Reen was mostly a city with a castle attached, Greyhold was definitely a Castle first and foremost.
Three tall towers covered each point of the triangular complex on the cusp of an especially large hill, their top having been rebuilt with wood due to them collapsing in the centuries of abandonment, the rock they and the walls were mostly made of gave the whole thing its name with a dark grey color.
They barely managed to gaze at the castle from afar when they were met by a patrol of House Grim soldiers headed by a stern-looking knight that Michael was sure he had seen before.
¡°Lord Rowan, my name is Sir Helbrect, commander of the knights of House Grim,¡± the knight introduced himself with a tone as cold as ice. He was looking the part too with a large scar parting his brown hair on the right side of his head and his burly statue. Michael noticed that the heraldic of the twin swords on gray ground had not changed on the tabard.
¡°I was tasked to bring you straight to his Lordship and ensure your safety.¡± The knight gave Michael¡¯s escort a short glance and then added, ¡°The second part seems less vital.¡±
¡°Well met, Sir Helbrect. I thank you for your hospitality and would also like to meet with Lord Grim as quickly as possible,¡± Michael replied, and the knight turned his horse around with a nod.
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Grent was a frontier county through and through, its development being more on par with Emall than with Reen. Most of the county was covered by dense and old forests only clearing up where the humans had made their farms. Michael knew that Grent wasn¡¯t especially rich, but their hard way of living bred a type of human that made excellent soldiers that stood shoulder to shoulder with the elites of even House Rowan, with the caveat that they were fewer in numbers.
The town that had formed around Greyhold was small, mostly just the families of soldiers, craftsmen, and some of the surrounding nobles living here. As they made their way through the town, Michael could see many of the inhabitants throw them hostile gazes. He didn¡¯t quite know why though; it would have been understandable if it were the other way around, but the only reason Michael could think of was that his uncle had spread rumors about them.
Michael decided to ignore the stares, and they quickly reached the gate of Greyhold on top of the hill. The hostility didn¡¯t fade as they entered the castle proper though even if the soldiers were more disciplined than to stare at them too blatantly.
What the hells is wrong with these people, Michael thought, frustration welling up inside of him.
¡°Your knights may be housed in the barracks, and we would ask you to limit your guard to two men. You are safe here and I swear on my honor and soul with Lord Idas as my witness that no harm shall befall you from any of the servants of Lord Grim or him personally,¡± Commander Helbrect declared loudly not only for Michael but also the guards and knights of House Grim to hear.
Michael nodded at the declaration; he didn¡¯t trust these people further than he could throw them without augmenting but to have the commander swear on his soul with Idas as a witness was a show of faith that Michael could accept.
He decided on Lance and Silas as his guards, Zeke was busy organizing the men and horses, and he would like to keep Eydis away from his uncle as much as possible.
They followed the knight commander through the dimly lit halls of the fortress until they finally reached the audience chamber. It was an elongated room with a fire pit on both ends of the room and a long table moved against the wall which could be moved in the middle to plan. Right now, the room was relatively open, and the focus was on the man who sat in a highchair at the end of the room.
Lord Ducan Grim looked bad, he was ungroomed, his skin was pale, and he looked like he had neither trained nor slept in a long while. Michael had to muster a lot of self-control not to gasp at the sight of the once so-imposing man. Was it sickness or guilt that had made the man into a shadow of his former self?
He perked up a little bit from his slumped posture when Michael entered, and Michael could see a glint of hope rush over his face which was quickly crushed by Michael¡¯s anger he had difficulties suppressing.
Lord Grim rose from his chair and looked even thinner than before. ¡°Michael, I welcome you to my home. Your messenger arrived only a few hours before you but didn¡¯t inform us as to what the nature of your visit will be.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry it is not a social visit,¡± Michael replied coldly. ¡°I have come to learn of a threat to the kingdom. The Rangda tribes appear to be mustering for a coalition against you and I can¡¯t just sit by and watch that happen.¡±
Lord Grim frowned and glanced at Sir Helbrect. ¡°Our scouts haven¡¯t reported anything to that effect. Sure, the tribes seem to be more active lately but that is probably due to ¡ other reasons.¡±
¡°It was more of a prophecy than a scout report, you should be familiar with those,¡± Michael retorted. ¡°Which is why I am here to find out the validity of the threat before mobilizing fully.¡±
Sir Helbrect growled at the obvious insult but Lord Grim cut him off with a raised hand. ¡°If the threat you are describing turns out to be real then we will be grateful for every aid you can grant us. I will instruct my patrols to keep an eye out and inform us about any unusual activities from the savages.¡±
Michael took a deep breath to reign himself in, he was here to help and not insult those he tried to aid. ¡°That sounds like a good plan. You should probably also prepare for the worst while I take my men to scout into the Rangda territory.¡±
¡°You wish to journey into clan territory yourself? I cannot allow this, your father would ¡,¡± Lord Grim started and then stopped with an expression of dread coming over his face and he sat back down heavily.
¡°I am not asking for permission but rather simply informing you as the lord of these lands,¡± Michael growled at the guilt his uncle was showing. ¡°I would very much appreciate all the information you have about the tribes and their holy sites, those being the most likely place to assemble such an army. I would also appreciate your hospitality for the night so we can rest and resupply for our mission.¡±
Lord Grim looked at him for a few seconds before nodding. ¡°Our hospitality is yours and I will personally join you in the scouting mission.¡±
Sir Helbrect looked at his lord for a moment but then reassumed his silent vigil, Michael couldn¡¯t read the man at all, but he assumed that the knight wasn¡¯t happy about his master¡¯s decision.
Michael wholeheartedly agreed with the knight, he wanted to protest but he honestly couldn¡¯t think of a good reason why they shouldn¡¯t come along except for his personal feelings about the subject so he hesitantly agreed.
They spent an hour planning their expedition before Michael returned to the barracks, he didn¡¯t want to be too far from his men just in case. He found most of them still lurking around in the courtyard having a kind of standoff with the local knights and guards.
Michael could see relief on their faces when he finally exited through the door. He smiled a little bit at their readiness to torch the entire castle if he didn¡¯t return.
¡°Stop wasting time here and get some rest, we are not staying long,¡± Michael ordered with an approving smile and the knights began to file into their allocated part of the garrison slowly.
Michael stayed and basked in the sun for now with around half his men also remaining outside doing one thing or the other.
Sir Helbrect was on the other side of the yard reprimanding his men for lingering around halfheartedly when a group of riders entered through the gate, in front was a teenage girl with fiery red hair and a scowl on her face.
Tara had grown since Michael had last seen her, the same as he had, but she had also lost a lot of her baby fat and looked athletic in her practical pants and shirt. A bow wiggled at the side of her saddle and her overall outfit screamed hunting as did her three retainers.
Michael¡¯s cousin was off her horse before the animal even had the chance to stop. She looked around frantically until she finally spotted Michael. Tara stomped over to him with an even deeper scowl and stopped barely an arm''s length in front of him.
She would hit him that much was sure but what Michael didn¡¯t expect was that just before she lunged mana vented into the air around her. Her arm flickered as it shot forward with inhuman speed right in his face¡¯s direction. Tara was definitely fast, and her augmenting did surprise Michael, but she wasn¡¯t fast enough.
Michael grabbed her wrist in the middle of her strike and forced her to a halt, his hair ruffled by the air following her strike.
¡°It is nice to see you too, Tara,¡± was the only thing Michael could say before shouts drowned out everything else.
The knights and guardsmen of House Grim were shouting for him to release their lady and Michael¡¯s knights were ordering them to stay back. Michael and Tara simply stood in silence, staring at each other while several emotions ran through both of their eyes.
After what felt like an hour but couldn¡¯t have been more than a few moments, Tara surged forward and pulled Michael into her arms. Michael followed suit with a smile and enclosed his cousin in his.
¡°I will hit you later,¡± Tara muttered quietly while squeezing him harder.
Michael laughed and retorted, ¡°I might even let you if you don¡¯t burn mana for it.¡±
They stood there for a while until she finally let go of him and took a step back. Michael glanced at the men surrounding them and said loudly, ¡°What are you looking at? Got nothing better to do?¡±
With the onlookers taken care of Michael turned back to Tara, ¡°You look adventurous.¡±
Her expression turned into a mixture of sourness and pride as she patted the dust of her cloak. ¡°I didn¡¯t have much of a choice really.¡±
Michael frowned questioningly and she said, ¡°Come on, let¡¯s talk in private. You should at least know why you deserve to be hit.¡±
Chapter 95.
Michael
Tara didn¡¯t elaborate until they finally reached the privacy of her room where she sat down at a small table and beckoned him to do the same. Her room was surprisingly large for a fortress built with defensiveness in mind and filled with high-quality furniture and pelts. Michael had always wondered why Tara had no siblings and how growing up like that would be, since that fateful day he knew how lonely it could be, and he pitied his cousin.
Michael waited patiently for Tara to get started which didn¡¯t take long. ¡°How much do you know about what has been happening in Grent as a whole?¡±
¡°Nothing really. I talked with your father, but he only mentioned the Rangda being a bit more active,¡± he had to admit. Michael had focused heavily on his own lands and ignored most of everything that was happening in the rest of the kingdom, except for truly important events of course. Now he got the feeling that he might have missed something important after all.
Tara nodded slowly and seemingly resolved herself to explain from the beginning. ¡°Things have not been well since you accused my father of orchestrating the murder of your family, which I still think you are wrong about.¡±
Michael scoffed at that, the guilt he had seen in his uncle only strengthening his belief that Lord Grim had something to do with what happened. He couldn¡¯t really fault Tara for defending her own father though, especially since no one had found any real evidence of who was responsible for the heinous crime.
He had spent many hours thinking and researching, especially into the strange behavior of the captured assassins. He had theories about that ranging from mind magic over magical blood pacts to some kind of divine curse that prevented them from disclosing anything about their employers or the operation in total. Each of them had their points but also things that made them unusable in this situation, in most cases it narrowed down to finding anyone with the strength and knowledge to do these things where most theories fell apart.
Sadly, none of the captured were still alive, falling either to the strange phenomenon that caused them to bleed out of every orifice of their heads when pushed too hard, dying in the interrogation, or simply suicide.
¡°Anyways,¡± Tara continued, ¡°Of course, there were those even in our land that believed in your accusations, they make some sense after all, which led to reduced support from the nobility and unrest among the people. What followed were just a hundred cuts from situations that could have been resolved more cleanly with their full support. Barbarian raids that some interpreted as some kind of divine punishment, monsters becoming more active, and even some unrest in the populous.¡±
Michael took in the information with a deep frown, he hadn¡¯t expected his accusations to destabilize the region in any form. News normally didn¡¯t travel too fast, especially not to the normal people who rarely left their homes. Michael obviously didn¡¯t know the full extent of the chaos but if enough people believed his uncle to be a kin-slayer then it would make sense.
On the one hand, it was somewhat satisfying for Michael to see his uncle get repercussions for his actions but on the other hand, he wasn¡¯t too happy about having a destabilized neighbor. It was only a good thing if one intended to capitalize on it and Michael was in no position or even willing to take over Grent.
¡°Okay I understand but why exactly do I deserve the blame for any of this? I still stand firm on my accusation and thus this situation is the result of his own actions from my point of view,¡± Michael pointed out.
¡°The only reason that I am talking to you is that you fully believe it to be true. You are not a bad person and if I were in your position I might think the same, but you are simply wrong,¡± Tara shook her head at him with a sad expression.
¡°Where is the proof, Tara? I at least have a motive, the chance, and him lying multiple times when questioned. You can¡¯t offer me anything but that you trust in your father¡¯s innocence which is admirable but just not enough.¡±
¡°I am not sure that proof exists,¡± Tara admitted. ¡°Father tried to find the shaman that had given him the prophecy but when he got there, she was already gone with no trace. He tried to track down any information on the assailants and even ran down rumors but there was nothing to find.¡±
That is quite convenient, Michael thought but held his tongue, there was no reason for him to upset Tara further by rubbing salt in the wound, so he tried to stay diplomatic. ¡°I am sorry, in that case, I will stay with the solution that seems most logical to me.¡±
¡°Yeah, we didn¡¯t come here to discuss that anyway. The problems continued, you began clearing out your parts of the Ereic Mountains shortly after taking command and began driving out the monsters and ogres. Most of those that you didn¡¯t slay ventured west and began contesting the territory of monsters in our parts which made them more aggressive in moving into our lands. We began losing men in the emigration that your actions caused. Father was still too busy looking for a way to prove his innocence and didn¡¯t act himself which led to more casualties, even some knights fell to the beasts.
¡°This caused more dissent in the nobility which festered more and more. After not finding even a trace of what he was looking for my father began to lock himself into his room. He refused to speak to anyone, and his plate always came back nearly untouched. You have seen him, he is barely himself anymore, he is a mess.¡±
There was little to argue here, Michael hadn¡¯t cared much about where the displaced ogres and monsters ran off to, so he was somewhat at fault for the emigration that brought so much chaos and destruction over his border. He didn¡¯t believe the story about his uncle looking for clues and getting depressed because of that though, it was much more likely that the man had seen his folly and was now depressed because he killed his brother and his family for nothing. It all sounded a little bit like divine retribution when listening to everything that went wrong for him and Michael wondered if his uncle believed that too.
¡°I had to do something, so I did my best to fill the hole that my father left, organizing the knights, learning to fight and hunt, and going out with the knights to slay beasts. It¡¯s been ¡ difficult. With father depressed and mother being so hopeless that she cries herself to sleep every night ¡¡±
Tara stared at her calloused fingers as her voice petered out. Michael remembered that she used to have such smooth skin and always reprimanded him for not taking care of his hands. He gazed at his own hands and smiled slightly at the dots that covered his hands, a reminder of his fight with the dungeon guardian for which she would have scolded him in the past.
We have both been thrust into a position to lead our people long before we were ready or even thinking about having to do it. I wonder what is worse, losing your family in a single day or watching them wither over years with no way of helping them.
¡°I am sorry Tara. I completely left you alone with this. My animosity toward your father shouldn¡¯t have reflected onto you so badly. I should have stayed in contact at least,¡± Michael admitted with a guilty expression.
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¡°You should have but this road goes both ways. I was angry at you for a long time until I finally understood the pain of losing your family and the hatred one could feel toward the culprit. Now I understand you better.¡± Her expression was distant as some kind of weight seemed to fall off her shoulders.
Michael smirked and said, ¡°Let¡¯s just say that you forgiving me is the favor you still owe me.¡±
Tara looked at him confused before realization hit. ¡°Oh, the tourney, I completely forgot about that. Those were good times. Do you remember when Lira and I cut a hole into your pants so that you walked around the whole day with your buttocks exposed and no one said anything?¡±
¡°I remember,¡± Michael laughed. ¡°I also remember that I was so mad that I spread a rumor that you and Lira were in love with the same servant boy.¡±
¡°THAT WAS YOU?¡± Tara exclaimed scandalized.
¡°Served you right,¡± Michael replied, and they continued sharing stories of the happier days.
- The next morning in the Greyhold courtyard -
Michael studied the map that he had been provided, it was surprisingly thorough in the border regions but of course deeper in clan lands it was basically nonexistent.
Around him was a flurry of activity with the knights of House Rowan and Grim preparing for departure. Five knights were joining them together with Lord Grim who looked a little more alive today than he did the day before. Michael guessed that they must have at least three or four more, but no one had given him a straight answer when he asked which was fair. He just hoped that they would be more forthcoming if they had to plan for military action.
¡°Why can¡¯t I come with you,¡± Michael heard Tara¡¯s voice from the other side of a group of horses.
¡°You are too young to be going off into enemy lands,¡± Lord Grim¡¯s voice answered calmly, a little bit of the authority that Michael remembered of the lord in his voice.
¡°Michael is the same age as me and I have been taking care of everything around here for over a year,¡± she argued.
¡°I already said that I do not approve of him coming along but contrary to you I do not have the right to order him around, do I?¡±
Michael smirked at the exchange, it remembering him of arguments between him or his siblings with their father. It took only a moment before the amusement turned into a cold stab in his heart at the memories. He sighed and thought, I wish I could just be happy about the memories I shared with them.
Tara huffed and Michael could hear her stomping away before her father rounded the horses and spotted Michael.
¡°We should be about ready to leave. It should be about two days'' travel to reach the planned campsite,¡± he explained after stepping over to Michael.
Michael nodded, they would move together and once they settled into their main camp split into groups to scout different points of interest and try to ascertain the scope of the approaching danger.
The journey wasn¡¯t much to talk about, the roads toward clan land were even worse than the rest of Grent¡¯s infrastructure, being more of a forest path than real roads, but nothing dared to approach them. They didn¡¯t expect trouble either with the number of knights in their group.
Michael spent a lot of time inspecting the surroundings, these forests weren¡¯t much different than those in Emall due to their proximity and he might spot something useful here that was also there. As he did so he noticed more and more that his uncle seemed more alive, but his aura echoed in nostalgia that Michael could only guess the source of.
After two days they reached the general area where they wanted to make camp. It was already in clan territory, but Sir Helbrect assured them that the clans wouldn¡¯t be this close to the border this time of year.
They made camp in the shadow of a rocky cliff that stood five meters tall. It protected them from three sides being crescent-shaped but forced them to be cramped together a bit with only one fire in the middle.
Most of the knights not on guard duty had gathered around the fire. There was a lot of tension between the knights of Rowan and Grim but due to the polite manner in which Michael and his uncle had interacted with each other, they weren¡¯t overly hostile.
Michael didn¡¯t join them, rather staying in his tent studying the map to prepare for the mission on the next day but due to his enhanced hearing, he was able to listen to the conversations around the fire even if he didn¡¯t pay close attention.
¡°That armor your lord is wearing is quite impressive, and so are your weapons,¡± one of the knights of House Grim noted.
¡°Indeed, we heard of the dwarven craftsmen you managed to employ, that was a good move,¡± another agreed.
¡°It is not only that but also the mines that give us the resources to make all these artifacts, without them we couldn¡¯t make nearly as much,¡± a young knight answered proudly but Michael could basically feel the disapproval and harsh looks he got from the other knights for his comment.
¡°You could rival the Kingsguard with your equipment that much is for sure.¡± That was Lord Grim¡¯s voice. ¡°It reminds me of a ruined keep my father and his band of adventurers explored a long time ago. We found records which said that back in the past whole armies were outfitted from head to toe in magical gear.¡±
¡°Right, you were an adventurer before becoming nobility, milord?¡± Erhen asked.
¡°Yes, I was. My brother and I, together with our father, uncle, and some of their mates. Later Cedric and I joined the late King Johann Merland when my uncle killed my father over some artifa ¡¡±
Silence fell heavily on the campsite as the count stopped abruptly for over a minute before the sound of tent cloth broke it and Michael appeared out of his tent with a hard expression on his face. Anger was boiling in him that he could barely contain. It was so hard to control himself lately, Sola had pointed to puberty for his worsening self-control while Geron had called it ¡®being pissed off by stupid people¡¯.
¡°Why don¡¯t you continue telling us the story of how one brother stabbed the other in the back over power, seems like we could learn something from that,¡± Michael sneered.
The knights avoided his gaze even those of House Grim as waves of mana echoed from Michael¡¯s tumultuous mana well. His huge reserves were nearly visible right now as they vibrated with his emotions.
Lord Grim on the other hand was looking straight at him with the same depressed expression that he had worn in their first meeting. It didn¡¯t make Michael feel bad for him though, but only fanned the fire from anger to fury.
¡°What kind of a joke is this?¡± Michael yelled. ¡°Why are you looking like a kicked puppy?¡±
He didn¡¯t get an answer, but he could see the emotions rising in the knights of Grim as they gritted their teeth and Sir Helbrect had to put his hand on the arm of another to stop him from jumping up.
Michael scoffed and turned around to stomp off into the dark when he heard steps behind following him.
¡°Michael,¡± came the weak voice of his uncle.
He spun around before Lord Grim could say anything else and simply unloaded on him, ¡°How is it that you are falling to pieces while I have to stay strong?! What kind of a cruel joke is it that I have to push through the pain while you, the cause of it, can wallow in your guilt and self-pity?! I don¡¯t know what makes me hate you more, that you destroyed my family or that you are destroying your own because you can¡¯t live with yourself!¡±
Duncan Grim stood there and looked at Michael, one of the two remaining sons of his brother but he couldn¡¯t seem to find his words. Was that pity in his eyes that Michael saw? Was he pitying him?
¡°SAY SOMETHING FOR IDAS¡¯ SAKE,¡± Michael screamed, and his voice broke a little bit.
A weak sigh escaped Lord Grim¡¯s lips, and he finally spoke, ¡°I didn¡¯t do it. But if hating me makes you go on and live then I will take all that hate. You can hate me all you want but nothing will change the fact that you are my brother¡¯s son, the one thing I have left of him, and I love you.¡±
The words hit Michael like hammer strikes. How dare he, Michael thought as his rational thoughts were muddied by his flaring emotions. Am I wrong? Have I been wrong this whole time? No, he is trying to manipulate me. I can¡¯t be wrong because if I were then ¡
Michael couldn¡¯t formulate a rational thought right now. He didn¡¯t want to doubt himself; he hated the thought of being manipulated, but was he wrong? He always depended on his own mind but also on the competence of others, was it really manipulation if his uncle told the truth? There was sincerity behind the layers of grief and regret, but he had lied before.
His anger was urging him to scream to rage to do something that would hurt his uncle. His rational mind was doubting itself which added to the confusion as it tried to argue with itself about what to believe. In the end, something pushed his anger over the edge and a hard expression fell on Michael¡¯s face.
¡°What happened to your uncle after he killed your father,¡± Michael asked, his voice as cold as ice.
It took a few moments of confusion for Lord Grim to answer, ¡°Cedric killed him.¡±
¡°Maybe we do have something to learn from history after all,¡± Michael spat at his uncle, the words stabbing like knives.
With those words Michael turned away and stomped into the darkness, leaving a frozen count and a bunch of speechless knights.
Chapter 96.
Michael
The night had not been a good night, the morning had not been great either with everyone avoiding his eyes and the knights of House Grim giving him overtly hostile stares, which didn¡¯t help his mood after not sleeping all that much. His brain was jumping from thought to thought, everywhere but where it should.
Now he was stomping through the forest, glad of being rid of most of the others and just surrounded by his guard and Pan. She had mostly kept to the background and away from House Grim to avoid any problems with her race or talents.
Michael wasn¡¯t the only one with a bad day though. Their target for the trip was Eydis¡¯s old village, Michael had been against the idea of them going there but he could barely argue against the logic that Eydis knew the area best, and when she also agreed he had no leg to stand on. He knew there was next to no chance that the army or anyone was in that village and that he was mostly directed there because it was safe. It felt like something Eydis needed though even if she didn¡¯t seem certain behind her facade.
Their march was quiet, they were on a mission, so the knights weren¡¯t in a talking mood and Pan wasn¡¯t the small-talk kind of person on the best of days. Michael and Eydis had their own things to chew on so they both appreciated the silence.
Pan was the first to speak up as they approached their destination, ¡°The mana around here is stale. I don¡¯t think that anyone has been here in a while, and definitely not an army assembling. We should look out for increased monster activity though.¡±
It wasn¡¯t a surprise. The clan that had lived here was dead so there was little reason for the Rangda to assemble here.
¡°Alright, let¡¯s get to the village and take a look around before heading back,¡± Michael replied, his own thoughts pushed into a dark corner.
They reached what must have been the village an hour later, even after years of abandonment it was still quite clearly recognizable. The palisade had been barely damaged in the attack, but the houses had been burned down. The village was a sorry sight with the burned-out husks of the houses that were overgrown, and it was clear that nature was taking back what was hers. It was also clear that not many had been here in a while if any.
¡°Let¡¯s spread out,¡± Michael said and deliberately joined Eydis on her exploration.
He stayed in the background as she took a straight path to one of the burned houses. There she stood gazing at the ruin without any reaction.
Michael finally stepped next to her and asked, ¡°Your home?¡±
She nodded, ¡°We moved a lot, in winter we would stay here, closer to the border, and in summer we generally retreated deeper into our territory. Many good memories were born here with my parents and siblings around the fire.¡±
¡°I am sorry what happened to your family, Eydis,¡± Michael said empathically, grabbing her hand.
She smiled and took his hand firmly. ¡°Thank you. I have had a lot of time to come to terms with it but actually being here after so many years hurts,¡± she signed with one hand.
¡°I know what you mean,¡± Michael answered, and they stood there in companionable silence until Lance¡¯s voice broke them out of it.
¡°Milord, I found relatively fresh graves over there,¡± he said after a quick salute.
¡°Multiple?¡± Michael inquired and the knight nodded. They went over and found a neat row of graves in a large space between two buildings. They weren¡¯t exactly fresh but definitely newer than the devastation that had befallen this village.
¡°I doubt that my lord uncle or his men would have bothered to bury the dead of this village,¡± Michael said more to himself than anyone else, but Zeke answered anyway. ¡°I agree, milord, which means that someone else must have done this. Maybe survivors of the clan?¡±
The knight looked over to Eydis who inspected the graves and the little sticks that indicated who was buried there. Her face got darker when she found who she was presumably looking for, Michael guessed parts of her family.
She then got up and took a quick glance over the other markings before suddenly hurrying back to the center of the settlement.
Michael shrugged at the questioning looks from Zeke and simply followed her. He managed to catch up when she stopped at the toppled totem which symbolized Father Death and Mother Life, the gods of the Rangda people. It showed a beautiful woman with long hair and a middle-aged man in a loving embrace.
Eydis was climbing over the totem, seemingly looking for something and when she didn¡¯t find it on top, she stuck her head down under to see better.
¡°What are you looking for?¡± Michael questioned her but she wasn¡¯t able to answer with her hands preoccupied. With his question unanswered, Michael resigned himself to wait until his friend had found what she was looking for.
It took a few moments before she finally sat up from her position lying over the totem with a thoughtful expression.
¡°So, what did you find?¡± Michael asked again.
¡°I know where they are,¡± she signed with a distant look in her eyes.
Michael peered down to the spot she had been inspecting but couldn¡¯t see it without ducking down. ¡°Was there some kind of message down there?¡±
Eydis nodded and replied, ¡°My father once told me that if the clan was scattered then they would carve directions to find them into the main totem pole. Someone has been quite diligent about updating it.¡±
¡°So, where are they?¡±
¡°The last message says that the remains of my clan have ventured to the sacred grove. That is where the clans meet to exchange news and decide things so it makes sense that the army would assemble there. It is even possible that they haven¡¯t even decided on attacking the kingdom yet, the message is quite fresh,¡± Eydis explained and looked into the distance.
The sacred grove had been near the top of their list for likely staging grounds of the clan army. It was the center of their faith where the druids communed with their ancestors and gods. Eydis had described it as a ring of the oldest trees in the whole forest with another small ring of boulders in the clearing and one large crystal in the middle which was used as a podium. Michael wanted to see it from the moment he had heard about it even if that prospect had always been an unlikely one.
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¡°No unit has been sent so deep but with this new information, we will have to scout it out to find out the stage at which the Rangda are,¡± Zeke said while thinking. ¡°It will be more dangerous to get a squad this deep into enemy lands without a fight though.¡±
¡°Maybe it would be better to send someone alone or multiple someones. Makes them harder to spot and more maneuverable,¡± Lance suggested.
¡°Would also put them at a bigger risk if they get confronted though. Five augmenters can fight their way out of most situations if needed but one alone not so much,¡± Silas interjected with a grim expression.
¡°We will discuss this later at camp with the rest of the force,¡± Michael decided and then turned to Eydis to ask her if there was something else, she wanted to do here. He didn¡¯t get to it as he saw her expression which told him that she had something to say.
¡°There is another way,¡± Eydis signed slowly. ¡°I will go. If there are people of my clan then I will easily be able to infiltrate them and maybe even convince them to not attack.¡±
A wave of hesitation rolled over all of the knights and even Michael didn¡¯t know what to say for a moment.
¡°Is that ¡ wise?¡± Zeke asked carefully but everyone knew what he meant. Should Michael allow someone with intimate knowledge about the kingdom and shaky loyalty to go to her own people?
¡°Obviously not,¡± Silas said much less diplomatically. ¡°Lord Rowan you can¡¯t allow this, it is too risky.¡±
¡°Are you doubting my loyalty,¡± Eydis signed angrily but the knight didn¡¯t even pause.
¡°I am doubting that you are in the state of mind to make the right decision,¡± he instantly shot back. ¡°Or are you going to tell me that you weren¡¯t agonizing over the decision if you should return to your people for the whole of our journey here?¡±
Eydis was taken aback by the heaviness of the knight''s words, Silas had never been one to hold back but right now he was not caring in the least about her feelings. The thing was that Eydis couldn¡¯t even deny his question, it would be an obvious lie, and lying now would not help her in seeming more trustworthy.
Michael jumped in before she could regain her composure, ¡°Eydis, do you want to go there to gather information for us or do you want to return to your people? If it is the second option, then I will not be angry about it. If you want to leave, then you can, I always made that clear.¡±
He obviously didn¡¯t want her to leave, she was like a sister to him and even if it would break his heart, he would not break hers because of his selfishness. It wasn¡¯t easy to keep his displeasure about the situation away from his face, but he managed it somehow.
¡°I want to see my people again, just to see who is still alive and tell them that I am still alive too, but I don¡¯t want to leave. I have made an oath, and you have treated me like family so I can¡¯t leave you. So, my main goal will be to convince them to not attack the kingdom and gather information,¡± Eydis finally replied, she seemed a bit firmer on her opinion, but Michael could sense that she still wasn¡¯t sure.
They looked each other in the eyes for a couple of seconds before Michael sighed, ¡°Fine.¡±
¡°Milord,¡± Silas protested but Michael looked at him with an exhausted smile.
¡°What do you expect me to do? Lay her in chains? Again? Order her to walk away from her people?¡± The knight was taken aback and didn¡¯t reply so Michael simply continued talking. ¡°No, I trust Eydis.¡± He turned toward her, ¡°I trust you. Do what you have to, whatever that might be.¡±
Michael smiled at her broadly and she smiled back, though weaker.
Erhen
Everything happened fast after this. Eydis got some extra rations, gave away parts of her armor and weapons that would be too easy to recognize, and was gone in a matter of minutes.
Erhen hadn¡¯t really understood what happened as he missed most of the discussion, but he understood that the others were very unhappy about Lord Rowan¡¯s decision, and even Lord Rowan seemed to be on the fence about what just happened. Erhen wasn¡¯t, he hadn¡¯t spent a lot of time with Eydis apart from their duties, but he knew that she had always been trustworthy and single-minded in her pursuit of keeping Lord Rowan safe. Of course, Erhen hadn¡¯t stated that opinion, Silas always had a short temper, but he seemed to be even more on edge now than usual.
They hadn¡¯t stayed long after Eydis had left and now were stomping through the forest on their way back to the camp. Erhen was walking behind Lord Rowan who was flanked by the satyr mage whose name Erhen just couldn¡¯t keep and Lance, while Sir Silas and Lord Zeke made up the front.
Erhen sighed heavily, all this walking for maybe twenty minutes of searching. He was glad that nothing else happened, he was no coward, but he also didn¡¯t understand the thrill people got from life-or-death situations. He would be happy if nothing happened at all, and the barbarians were just gathering for a party or something.
Lord Zeke raised his hand to signal them to stop and Erhen instantly cursed himself for tempting fate. He could hear what had caught the commander''s attention, something big was moving through the underbrush in front of them. Lance stepped forward to be side by side with the other two knights and they slowly advanced toward the thicket which the noise had come from.
Silas poked it with his sword and a lone dear jumped out of it startled and rushed away from them.
Erhen relaxed as the others put away their weapons and similarly lost their tension. Lord Zeke turned around and then looked around in confusion. Erhen also did but found nothing out of the ordinary until the other knight asked alarmed, ¡°Where is Lord Rowan?!¡±
The young knight blinked confused and turned his gaze to the spot right next to the satyr mage who also turned to the side just to see that there was no one there.
Erhen¡¯s eyes widened as he began to stutter and frantically look around, ¡°I-I ¡ I have no idea h-he was just there!¡±
¡°How in the thirteen hells could he just vanish from right under your nose, boy!¡± That was Sir Silas roaring with a head red as a tomato.
¡°Silence,¡± Lord Zeke snapped at him and closed his eyes to listen. A couple of tense moments passed in which Erhen could only hear the normal noises of a forest before the commander opened his eyes with a frustrated expression.
¡°I hear nothing, no one could have snatched him from right between us without leaving a trace!¡±
Sir Silas looked like he wanted to rip Erhen¡¯s head off for losing their lord, so the young knight looked over to Lance for help, but the other knight was busy looking up and checking the ground to rule out some kind of tunneling or airborne monster.
¡°Miss Pan, did you notice anything,¡± Lord Zeke asked the mage who was obviously called ¡®Pan¡¯.
The satyr hummed for a moment and then shook her head frantically. ¡°This is impossible. The only beings that are making a noticeable disruption in the atmospheric mana around here are us five. It is as if Lord Rowan had never been here with us.¡±
¡°An illusion?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t think so our mana is calm and focused, there is no sign of anyone messing with our senses.¡±
Lord Zeke thought for a moment before concluding, ¡°Lord Rowan is gone, we need to find him. We are just an hour away from camp, Erhen I want you to run back there and get everyone available back here to help us search as fast as possible. The rest of us will get started right now.¡±
Erhen nodded, ignoring the comment Sir Silas made about his competence, and ran. He ran and ran like he never run before.
Michael
It took only one blink, and he had been alone, in this forest which completely different from the one he had just been in. Here it was autumn already with leaves falling from the thick ceiling of branches.
He had no idea what happened to him or to the rest of his party, were they here somewhere, and where was here?
There was no answer to his question at least none that he could think of. That was not completely correct as he inspected his mana well to check if he might be caught in an illusion or some kind of curse that was working on his senses but if there was then he couldn¡¯t detect it.
Michael didn¡¯t know where he was, but he certainly knew where he needed to go as a clear path lay before him through the dense and thorny bushes all around him.
¡°Don¡¯t really have much of a choice, do I?¡± he said to himself as he stepped forward onto the path and followed it.
As he traversed it, he noticed that while he could see the ceiling of branches and leaves for hundreds of meters in both directions, he couldn¡¯t see a single tree trunk supporting them. There was just the path and the thorns beneath them.
This place can¡¯t be real,¡± he thought as he continued following the path.
It was a winding one and he was sure that he changed direction in such a way that he had to run in circles at least two or three times but after an hour of walking he stepped into a clearing. The same bushes surrounded the clearing, and the ground was covered with yellow and orange leaves. In the middle stood a small hut, something that a hunter would build in the wilderness ¡ or witches had in fairytales.
Chapter 97.
Michael
A fairytale, a dream, an illusion, or a hard reality? Michael couldn¡¯t discern which of them this world and the little hut were. Right at this moment it didn¡¯t even matter all that much.
The hut was a small thing maybe five by five meters with a window that he couldn¡¯t see through, a closed door, and a chimney that spewed a thin stream of smoke into the air. It had a certain dichotomy of being inviting and screaming danger at him.
Michael stepped closer with his hand on the grip of his sword and raised his other to knock but the door swung open before he had the chance to. Just like with the window, he could only see blackness past the threshold which even his augmented eyes couldn¡¯t piece.
He swallowed hard; his body was urging him to turn around but something else was inviting him from inside of the hut. Before he could think about it clearly his legs were already stepping into the hut with the door closing with a quiet squeak behind him.
Warm light surrounded Michael as if he had stepped into another world. The hut seemed much bigger on the inside than it had from the outside but was still a modest size if compared with what hunting lodges of nobility looked like.
The difference with them was that this one looked much more like an herbalist''s home than a hunter''s. There was a fire bustling in the fireplace with a cauldron above it, different herbs were hanging from the walls all around, and Michael could identify multiple alchemical and magical instruments.
All this would have caught his attention if it weren¡¯t for the old woman with silvery skin and white hair sitting at a wooden table, her black eyes focused directly on his.
¡°Welcome,¡± she said, her voice seemingly coming from everywhere but her mouth.
His hand gripped his sword even tighter as he spoke, ¡°Thank you but where am I?¡±
¡°You are at my home,¡± she replied matter-of-factly.
¡°That is not what I mean, and I think you know this.¡±
¡°What is it that you mean?¡± A smile played around the old woman¡¯s eyes as she toyed with him.
¡°This world. This forest. This hut. Is all of it an illusion, another realm, or a mana refuge? It can¡¯t be real,¡± Michael explained himself even if he was sure the woman was just having fun with him.
¡°Real or not real, is there really such a thing? Does a spider¡¯s web exist before it catches the fly or is it the fly¡¯s fear that makes it real? What is real really?¡±
That made little sense, Michael thought, he had spent a lot of his time with Solon discussing philosophy, but he never liked the parts of it that delved into completely impractical subjects.
¡°Real or not real, I would very much like to leave and return to my people. Can you tell me the way out,¡± he asked without moving away from his spot in front of the door.
¡°I certainly can,¡± she answered shortly.
Michael waited but she didn¡¯t continue. He knew what she was doing, she was playing with words.
¡°I have no time for this,¡± he said while rolling his eyes and turned around to leave.
She huffed behind him and complained loudly, ¡°The lack of patience must lay in the family. Just like your uncle.¡±
Michael stopped his hand before it reached the door and slowly turned back to the woman with silvery skin.
¡°You know my uncle?¡± he asked but it dawned on him before she could say more. His eyes widened and a clump started to form in his stomach ¡°You are the shaman that he spoke about, the one that told him of the future.¡±
¡°Shaman, hag, witch, mage, monster, savior. So many names and one more false than the previous and at the same time they all fit. You may call me Nayk,¡± the hag replied, and her laugh echoed from all sides, a chittering noise accompanying it that Michael couldn¡¯t place but he didn¡¯t have the head to care either.
¡°Why have you brought me here?¡± Michael asked weakly.
¡°Because fate has decreed for you to be here. I have something that I am supposed to show you, so take a seat, young Lord Michael Rowan.¡± Nayk pointed at a chair on the other side of the table she was sitting at, her movements awkward which could probably be accounted to her obviously high age.
¡°What do you want to show me?¡± Michael asked, his voice nearly a whisper as he stepped forward slowly and sat down. Between them was a bowl of water, large enough to serve as a bowl at a royal feast.
¡°The worst day of your life,¡± Nayk said and gently swung her hand over the bowl causing color to appear in the water. Michael stared at it, unable to pull away from what he was seeing.
- On a fateful night ¨C
Wounded and surrounded stood Lord Cedric Rowan in the darkness. Nine men lay in the dirt already but three dozen more surrounded him. In normal circumstances, he wouldn¡¯t doubt his chances, but he could feel the paralytic poison from the knife wound running through his body. He had been betrayed, stabbed in the back by someone he trusted, believed to be on his side.
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The poison wasn¡¯t the only reason why this fight was unwinnable though, his mana held the effects back as well as possible so even with some augmenters and mages in the enemy ranks, if one could call these thugs that, he would stand a chance. He wasn¡¯t alone, he couldn¡¯t just rage and try to recklessly reduce their numbers, he had to protect Mylia.
She stood behind him, holding a sword and covering his back. She never was a great fighter, but he had taught her how to defend herself and against some common thug it would be enough but even if his assailants were thugs, common wasn¡¯t the word for them.
Even with them being outnumbered, him poisoned, and having to protect her he might have been able to get her out of this at least, if it weren¡¯t for that archer.
Normal arrows couldn¡¯t hope to do any significant damage to an augmenter of Cedric¡¯s caliber, you would need at least a war bow to hurt him in a noticeable manner, but that archer was an augmenter himself with specialized equipment. Cedric could see the smile on the broad face of the man, he had already placed two arrows into the count which made it harder to move.
Cedric sighed, there was no way out of this for them. Right now, the men surrounding them were hesitating, but they wouldn¡¯t wait forever.
¡°Love,¡± he said calmly. ¡°I think this is the end of the line.¡±
Mylia took in a sharp breath; Cedric expected her to panic. He had honestly expected her to panic the whole time, but he could only feel an unshakeable trust from her.
¡°Well, I always knew that you would die in a blaze of glory, never thought that for myself though,¡± her voice shook as she fought to stay brave.
Cedric gritted his teeth and looked around as he had done a dozen times since this fight started already for something he had missed, an opening he could create for her.
The children can¡¯t lose both of us, at least one must survive, he pleaded but it was all the same as before. The moment he left her side either the archer or one of the assassins would pick her off and if he stayed then he would be slowly whittled down with magic and arrows until he ran out of mana.
¡°It is okay, darling,¡± her voice becoming pained. ¡°Go and take as many of these bastards with you as possible. I will find you in the next life ¡ I promise.¡±
He turned his head to her just to see her fall with an arrow in her chest, he had not noticed it at all. Cedric¡¯s eyes widened as her lips moved to say her last words but the blood rushing through his ears made him deaf. Mylia Rowan, Lady of the Counties of Reen and Emall and mother of four dropped to her knees with a pained smile and died. It wasn¡¯t glorious, it didn¡¯t have any meaning for the world, it was just death plain and simple.
The assassins had closed in while Cedric was distracted by what had happened, trying to capitalize on the count¡¯s shock. It wasn¡¯t their approach that dragged the count out of his frozen state but a loud laugh from the archer in the back. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t get distracted in the heat of battle, milord.¡±
Eight men approached Cedric Rowan and tried to strike him down before he regained his composure. A moment later four heads were separated from their respective necks and the lord was gone from the encirclement.
Mana flared brightly as the sun and his muscles began to ache and rip but he didn¡¯t care. The poison ran free in his body, but he didn¡¯t care. He was past the second row of assassins before they even realized with one man losing part of his skull and another having his neck snapped.
Cedric¡¯s target wasn¡¯t these small fries. He could see surprise and fear in the archer¡¯s expression as Cedric suddenly traversed fifteen meters in a moment. His sword soared up, his muscles tense to the point of ripping, just one more step.
At the last step, his body finally gave way to the inhuman treatment Cedric had given it and a muscle in his leg ripped with a loud snap. His sword fell but came up just a centimeter too short, blood flew as the tip of Cedric¡¯s sword ripped a small gash into the archer¡¯s left cheek.
The man jumped back over eight meters with a single vault, but Cedric couldn¡¯t stand anymore, his legs were ruined.
I am sorry my love, my arm was just not long enough, he thought as the paralytic poison began to overcome his resistance now that his mana was nearly spent. His breathing slowed down and his vision became blurry.
¡°Holy hells man, that was really scary,¡± the archer said and poked at his wound. ¡°That¡¯s gonna leave a scar. I would say I am gonna kill you for that, but I don¡¯t think that is necessary anymore.¡±
Cedric raised his head laboriously and looked at the man with a weak smile.
¡°What are you smiling at, dead man,¡± the archer asked while frowning.
¡°Just looking from one dead man to another,¡± he answered between heavy breaths.
¡°That¡¯s cute. Who do you think is gonna avenge you? We are currently killing your whole family.¡±
¡°You better aim well then, because if even a single one of my children survives this then you will beg that you were never born.¡±
The archer growled and wanted to reply something, but the life had already left Count Cedric Rowan¡¯s eyes but on his face was a mocking smile.
- Back in the present -
Tears ran down Michael¡¯s face as he stared at his father kneeling in the dirt. The vision began to fade and the color in the bowl returned to an incomprehensible mess.
¡°Who stabbed him in the back?¡± Michael asked. ¡°Was it my uncle?¡±
Nayk waved her hand over the bowl without a word and another scene appeared. Lord Grim riding as if his life depended on it, the sun was coming up in the distance as he cleared a hilltop to see the estate of Viscount Telp with smoke coming up from all over.
¡°You are lying, you are trying to trick me,¡± Michael yelled and stood up, his chair falling over from the sudden movement.
Nayk looked at him calmly. ¡°I am not here to convince you of what you have seen, I was meant to show you but what you do with that is your own decision.¡±
¡°It can¡¯t be ¡ I-I ¡ what have I done,¡± Michael stammered while staring at the picture of devastation that was his uncle¡¯s face.
He refocused, his pain and anger leading him back to the first vision. ¡°How was it then? Who betrayed my parents, who is to blame?¡±
¡°That is an answer that I cannot give you. I have shown you what I was able to peer from the web of time, the identity of those you ask for remains shrouded to even my vision,¡± Nayk explained emotionless.
Michael gritted his teeth and grabbed the hilt of his father¡¯s sword. ¡°Look again,¡± he growled and fixated on the old witch.
Nayk smirked at the threat, ¡°Adorable. Our time here is now over, I have done what I was supposed to, and you need to return to your world.¡±
¡°Hold on a minute,¡± Michael tried to stop her, but she simply flicked her wrist, and Michael was back standing in the normal forest.
I didn¡¯t even feel her doing anything, Michael thought but he couldn¡¯t keep that observation in the forefront of his mind for long. The revelations of this meeting were too heavy for him to bear.
¡°I need to get back. I need to fix this,¡± Michael muttered to himself and looked around to find the way. Luckily, his guards were focusing on leaving no tracks when returning to the camp, but that precaution had apparently gone out of the window the moment Michael had vanished, judging by the clear path someone had made.
He took a step forward in that direction, but a noise stopped him. Someone was approaching, maybe a search party?
Michael¡¯s eyes narrowed as Sir Dittrich Plon stepped out of the underbrush and spotted Michael, his expression turning into something sinister.
¡°Hello there, demon spawn,¡± the knight said. ¡°It seems that Idas is favoring me today.¡±
Chapter 98.
Michael
¡°Dittrich,¡± Michael greeted him, carefully ignoring the knight''s remark. ¡°I assume you are looking for me?¡±
Dittrich nodded while still smiling and came a little bit closer, ¡°Oh yes. Everyone is looking for you. Of course, no one is looking here anymore.¡±
Michael held his gaze firmly on the knight, his demeanor made his intentions clear as day, he would have never dared to call him a demon spawn if he expected Michael to walk away from this alive. Michael had three choices, scream, run, or fight. Screaming was a win-or-lose situation, if someone was near then his survival was basically ensured if not then he would prompt the knight to kill him right now.
Running was a good option; he had more mana and was generally quite quick on his feet but Dittrich was at least twenty centimeters taller than him so he would probably be faster. He could also not defend himself well while running away, which was bad if the knight managed to catch him.
Fighting had little chance of success. Michael had never won a fight against a knight, of course, his life had never been on the line but neither had theirs.
¡°I would recommend you think about what you are about to do,¡± Michael said, trying to stall for time while thinking. ¡°You will not get away with this.¡±
¡°Oh, I have been thinking a lot about it. I have been thinking about it since that commoner dog Geron threw me off the wall all these years ago and he will be next. Don¡¯t worry, I will make it painless and then just leave your corpse for the animals, if you are lucky then the others will find you before the animals or monsters do. Either way, I will be long gone before anyone comes to check here again.¡± Dittrich laughed loudly with a tad of madness in his tone.
Michael wasn¡¯t sure if his daring to laugh this loudly meant that he didn¡¯t care or that there weren¡¯t any knights nearby.
¡°You are not risking it all for some petty revenge. You are too smart for that.¡± A little bit of flattery couldn¡¯t hurt right now
¡°Heh, of course not. You are not worth the risk but with you gone no one will be left to inherit your throne and we will be able to take everything you owned,¡± Dittrich boasted, ever the idiot.
¡°So, it is your father¡¯s plan,¡± Michael concluded. He doubted seriously that Baron Redric Plon would be able to sway a vote in his direction for the inheritance, but he didn¡¯t know what kind of leverage the baron had on his fellow nobles. Everything was probably better for him than having Michael be his superior.
¡°It is OUR plan,¡± Dittrich snarled from between fletched teeth.
Inferiority complex huh, Michael thought and a plan formed. He didn¡¯t like his chances of calling for help, but he would of course do it because why not? Running and fighting were both risky, but he could try to increase his odds.
¡°Really? I would have taken Lord Plon for someone to keep his plans to the trustworthy people and not someone who would spill it to the target at the first opportunity,¡± Michael acted thoughtfully.
¡°You are gonna die anyway,¡± Dittrich retorted but Michael could see him getting angrier.
Michael smirked. ¡°You sure about that? You always were awfully slow.¡±
The knight looked like he was about to burst as his muscles tensed up, he would attack, and he would do so recklessly. Michael had one shot to injure the knight and then make his escape, he would like a leg injury, but he couldn¡¯t be picky.
Dittrich grabbed his sword as Michael did the same and both of them exploded into movement. As Michael had guessed Dittrich could traverse the distance faster than he could have and his sword fell like a meteor onto Michael¡¯s head in an attempt to split him in half.
Michael¡¯s scream echoed through the forest strengthened by his mana as he snapped his fingers to create a shield of light to block the knight¡¯s downward swing. The quickly conjured plane of light could never hope to stop Dittrich¡¯s attack but it could look like an honest attempt and also take the knight¡¯s line of sight.
The blade crashed through the shield as if it wasn¡¯t even there and Michael could see the look of triumph on Dittrich¡¯s face which quickly changed into confusion when he saw Michael having angled his head to have the sword bounce off the rounded top.
A mundane helmet would have been smashed in by an augmenter of his strength even with just a normal sword even if the sword wouldn¡¯t have survived, so it was reasonable for him to think his magical sword could do the same to Michael¡¯s magical helmet, but Michael knew who had made this particular piece of armor and he would put his life into Farel¡¯s capable hands every day.
Michael struck with the confusion still being fresh, but Dittrich was still a trained knight. He instantly jumped back to avoid a fatal wound, but Michael wasn¡¯t looking to wound him fatally. His sword found Dittrich¡¯s upper leg and cleanly tore through the normal metal to draw blood.
His head was ringing from the impact against his head which was still massive, but he had gotten enough strikes against his temple in the past to push through it. Michael was already four meters away before Dittrich had even come to a proper halt.
He doubted that Dittrich would be able to catch him with that wound on the leg and a grin came onto Michael¡¯s face. He took two more steps while reveling in his victory as something heavy suddenly hit the back of his head.
Michael stumbled as fragments of wood flew all around him and the next thing, he knew was his face planting into the ground.
¡°You nearly had me there, but you spent a little too much time in the training ring and too little on an actual battlefield to run from me,¡± Dittrich noted with a grin as he followed the improvised projectile and followed it up with a kick to Michael¡¯s ribs which send him flying two or three meters. ¡°Now I would really like to take my time with you, but you just had to scream. I don¡¯t think anyone is close enough to save you, but I still have to put some distance between me and this.¡±
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Michael pushed himself up, staring at Dittrich as he approached. He had lost his sword either from the fall or the kick after. He was standing with his back to a tree and Dittrich was just in front of him
With a snap he conjured a shield on his one arm and began constructing a sword made of light in his other, ready to fight. If he could survive right now he could be saved, or maybe find another opening to run even if that was less likely now that his enemy knew of his intention.
¡°Oh, come on,¡± Dittrich chuckled.
With a loud crash, someone broke through the underbrush, a tall man, covered in armor and a haunted expression on his face. For one moment, Michael saw his father charging in to save him but then realized that his uncle Duncan turned his gaze at them and looked at them confused.
Dittrich blinked at the count with clear surprise on his face and seemed uncertain what to do.
¡°What in Idas¡¯s name is going on here,¡± Lord Grim growled, completely understanding what was going on, that much Michael was sure of.
¡°He is trying to kill me,¡± Michael yelled before Dittrich could lie.
Lord Grim¡¯s eyes narrowed as he began sizing up Dittrich with his eyes who took a step back and said, ¡°Now hold up, milord. We can end what you started two years ago, just let me kill him quickly and leave. No one will know that we were involved.¡±
Michael laughed hysterically at that which turned into a series of coughs, ¡°Is this a bad time to reveal that my uncle had nothing to do with the deaths of my family? Oh Dittrich, you are such an unlucky fool.¡±
¡°Wait wha¡?¡± Dittrich asked but didn¡¯t manage to finish his sentence when Lord Grim closed the distance between them in a heartbeat. He might be weaker than in the past with little practice, but he still was one of the strongest augmenters in the kingdom, having been just a step behind Michael¡¯s father, and Dittrich was barely average.
Lord Grim crashed into the unprepared knight like an avalanche and instantly knocked him off balance. Dittrich defended himself with the desperation of a deer being attacked by a wolf, mostly blocking and swinging wildly. It took so much focus that he didn¡¯t notice the block of light that Michael had sent behind him, over which he promptly tripped and fell.
¡°Keep him alive,¡± Michael quickly shouted as his uncle jumped after the falling knight, ready to finish him off. He hesitated for a moment and then simply stomped his foot down on Dittrich¡¯s face. The knight bounced off the ground with the sound of air escaping and came to a rest a moment later.
Lord Grim kicked him slightly once and then nodded before turning to Michael. ¡°Are you alright?¡±
¡°Uncle.¡± Michael simply stared at him, the adrenaline was falling off and the emotions returned. ¡°Uncle, I am sorry. I have been so wrong. How could I have believed ¡ I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry.¡±
Duncan stepped forward, grabbed Michael, and pulled him into a tight hug. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I never blamed you. I have made so many mistakes, but you did nothing wrong.¡±
¡°How can you say that? I cursed you, blamed you, threatened you, and worst of all I left you alone with your grief, no I even added to it,¡± Michael yelled into his uncle¡¯s armor. It all felt like the few instances when his father had held him.
¡°You are just a child. You might be the weirdest child that ever existed, but you are still just a child thrust into the most horrible situation. Everyone makes mistakes even you, Michael.¡±
Michael fought free of the embrace and looked at his uncle with tear-filled eyes, ¡°I will make up for what I have done.¡±
Duncan smiled, let go of him, and said, ¡°I expect nothing less from Cedric¡¯s son.¡±
Michael also smiled and then remembered how he had come to that realization. ¡°Uncle, I have a lead on who really killed them,¡± Michael exclaimed excitedly.
Lynx
The hooded augmenter jumped back, dodging a fan of knives. He turned and shot an arrow from his magically resonating bow, but Lynx had already ducked behind a thick tree. When he reemerged from it, he saw the long cracks from where the projectile had impacted.
If that hit me, I am going to be in trouble, Lynx thought and inspected his prey. He had seen him before, he was the man with the scar on his left cheek, the man who had taken the fabricated letters and brought them into the palace. Lynx also suspected from their short fight that he was the assassin who had made the attempt on Michael¡¯s life two years ago in the capital. Lynx intended to question the girl Eydis about this at some point, which might prove to be unnecessary depending on this fight.
¡°What the fuck do you want from me, you masked creep?¡± the man yelled at him and drew another arrow.
¡°Who do you work for?¡± Lynx repeated the same question he had asked multiple times already.
The man sighed before answering, ¡°Fine. I work for your mother; she wants to know if you will come to dinner today.¡±
Lynx didn¡¯t react to the childish mocking of the man; jokes were nothing that resonated with the Faceless.
¡°You asked what I want from you, but if you do not speak truthfully then I will have to turn to a more violent form of questioning,¡± Lynx answered calmly. Normally he wouldn¡¯t grace the man¡¯s remarks with an answer, but it was always good to keep men like that talking, they thought themselves smarter and because of that revealed more than they should.
¡°More violent than throwing knives at a total stranger in the woods? I don¡¯t know who you are, but that mask must have grown into your brain.¡± The man let his shoulders slump but then suddenly shot an arrow from the hip to surprise Lynx.
Lynx wouldn¡¯t be tricked so easily; he had spent more time learning the mannerisms of other races than this man had been alive.
¡°You don¡¯t seem like a man who would give anyone his loyalties, so I would presume you are an adventurer or mercenary,¡± Lynx tried to pry some additional information from the conversation.
¡°Impressive guesswork,¡± the mercenary answered honestly.
It wasn¡¯t hard to come to that conclusion, this man was good, very good but he didn¡¯t show any sign of formal training, and his personality would put him at odds with any superior.
¡°How about I pay you for the information then? That is how this works, is it not?¡±
The man laughed loudly. ¡°Now you are speaking my language, man. Sadly, I doubt that your pockets are as deep as those of my current employer.¡±
Someone rich. That is not quite new information, whoever it is managed to get this mercenary access to the palace and there were few with that kind of power that didn¡¯t also have vast wealth. It would narrow it down if the man knew that I am backed by the Radiant Soul but there is no way to find out without spilling the secret in case he doesn¡¯t.
¡°How about you tell me your price and we can find out just how deep my pockets are.¡±
He could see a short glimpse of curiosity in the mercenary¡¯s eyes but he extinguished it quickly. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. I have wasted too much time with you already as it is. I have things to do, people to kill.¡±
Lynx couldn¡¯t gather much from his expression, but he would be surprised if it didn¡¯t have something to do with the Radiant Soul, probably another assassination attempt or something even more sinister. He would need to send one of his students to warn him once he was done here, there could be more assassins lurking around.
¡°Enough with the words then,¡± Lynx said and rushed to the side, multiple knives appearing in his hand for just a moment before being flung at the archer.
He dodged faster than an unaugmented eye could follow but he didn¡¯t shoot back, he rather turned and ran into the forest.
Lynx cocked his head as he began to pursue, he hadn¡¯t taken the man for someone who would rather run than fight, but he was an archer so maybe he should have.
He dashed around an especially thick tree his dagger raised to ward off eventual surprise attacks. As expected, a projectile came flying his way just as he did, and he blocked it easily with his dagger before even realizing what it was. Ceramics broke and a liquid flew at him which ignited while still in the air and clung to him like mud.
An alchemical grenade?
To use something like this in a forest was beyond risky but it did its job to stop Lynx. Most others would have been in trouble right about now, but he simply pushed out his mana and with it the muddy substance. He formed his mana into a ball and choked out the fire.
All this took a mere few seconds but when Lynx was done, the mercenary was already gone.
¡°Hmm, very dangerous indeed,¡± Lynx mumbled before turning away and carrying the alchemical substance to a source of water to dispose of.
Chapter 99.
Michael
¡°How did you know where I was, by the way?¡± Michael asked as he and his uncle walked back to the camp.
¡°Oh, that? I returned to the camp after most had left to look for you and heard what happened. The only thing powerful enough that I could think of that could make someone vanish from between a group of strong augmenters and a mage was Nayk and her strange place of residence,¡± Duncan explained. ¡°I honestly didn¡¯t have a better idea.¡±
¡°Do you have an idea what that forest of hers is?¡±
¡°No idea. I am not a mage, but I always had to step through some kind of gateway to get to her so if I had to guess I would say another realm.¡±
Michael frowned at that; making a hole into the fabric that separated different realms was incredibly hard if your only goal was to converse with something on the other side but to make a gateway to enter was something that shouldn¡¯t be possible for a single human mage at the moment.
No wait, that would be for a human mage from our realm. If you live in a mana-rich realm then the possibilities could be much grander, he concluded.
¡°What would you have done if I wasn¡¯t there?¡± he asked his uncle.
¡°I didn¡¯t think about that. As I said I had that one idea and if that proved to have been wrong, I would have come up with another idea,¡± Duncan said with a shrug.
¡°Lucky me then,¡± Michael replied and looked at the unconscious Dittrich hanging over Duncan¡¯s shoulder.
¡°So that man with the scar? What do you know about him,¡± Duncan asked.
¡°Not much. I saw a sketch of him once, I know that he has connections in the royal palace, and I am pretty sure that he was also the assassin that made an attempt on me in Lionsgate two years ago.¡±
¡°Hmm, either a personal assassin or a mercenary then. If you can provide me the sketch I can see if any of my adventurer contacts know more about him,¡± his uncle suggested.
Michael nodded but his mind was elsewhere. They walked for a few minutes in silence until Duncan finally said, ¡°Out with it.¡±
This startled Michael out of his thoughts, but he understood what Duncan meant. ¡°How can you forgive me so easily?¡± Michael wanted to elaborate further but he knew that there was no need for that.
Duncan smiled again and replied, ¡°Because I know what I was like at your age, and you handled all this much better than I have even with the years I have on you. If I were in your situation one of us would have been dead by now.¡±
Michael didn¡¯t share his uncle¡¯s humor so the man added, ¡°You will feel guilt for what happened, maybe for a week, a month, a year, or the rest of your life, but that is something you will have to deal with on your own. Guilt always comes from oneself, and I have forgiven you a long time ago.¡±
¡°I see,¡± Michael replied but, in his mind, he was cursing. Another thing he had to do alone, he knew that his uncle was right, but it would have been so much simpler if he could just receive forgiveness and leave these feelings behind.
They arrived at the camp a while later and found it mostly empty with only two knights having stayed behind to guard the place. Duncan quickly sent them out to share the word that Lord Rowan had been found and for the rest of the expedition to return.
It took over three hours for everyone to be found and brought back, but as the sun set, they were all sitting around the fire. Michael had explained roughly where he had vanished to and made up a lie about Dittrich being hurt while fighting off some monsters. His treachery would become public but not yet. Sir Zeke and Pan were informed about it though. Zeke because he needed to know and Pan because she would have to concoct something to keep the knight knocked out for a while.
Now they were gathered around the fire at Michael¡¯s request waiting for what he had to say. The lord of Reen and Emall stepped in front of them with a solemn expression.
¡°I have made a grave mistake which I need to share with you,¡± he started. ¡°For over two years now I have been blaming my uncle Duncan Grim for the death of my family, but I was wrong. I clung to the one theory that had even the faintest amount of evidence and because of that, I gave a man a stigma that he didn¡¯t deserve.
¡°I am not trying to shift the blame on my despair or my age, so I am gonna say it clearly, I made a mistake. Lord Duncan Grim had nothing to do with the death of my family, on the contrary, he was rushing to save them just as he had claimed.¡±
Silence surrounded the campsite as everyone took in what they had heard. The knights of House Grim had expressions of surprise and triumph, while the knights of Rowan looked more empathetic and resigned.
¡°My accusation has done much damage, and I promise to support Grent with whatever I am able to, not only in this crisis but also in the time after that. I do hope that we can mend the damage I have caused and return to the bonds we once shared,¡± Michael finished his announcement.
It took a moment but then Sir Helbrect scoffed, ¡°So we are supposed to just go back to being happy comrades after all the chaos and death that you caused? Are you going to compensate us for the men we lost against the monsters you pushed into our land? Are you going to compensate the people who lost everything?¡±
Several of the knights of House Rowan wanted to protest but Michael silenced them with a hand and a stern gaze. Duncan didn¡¯t make any attempt to reign in his knight captain either.
¡°Your anger is understandable and the answer to your questions is yes,¡± Michael simply replied stunning the veteran knight.
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°Of course. It is my mess so I will clean it up. How exactly that will look like is a subject for the future, but I will honor this promise.¡±
The knight didn¡¯t seem convinced, but he didn¡¯t voice his objections further.
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¡°I for one would like it if our Houses and realms would return to the way they were,¡± Duncan announced for everyone to hear. ¡°But for that to happen we will need to survive the coming crisis first.¡±
- Hours later in the middle of the night ¨C
Michael didn¡¯t sleep well. Every time he did, he was plagued by dreams of his family calling for justice and for him to find their killer. The calls were bad enough but their contorted faces and the disappointment he felt was worse. His father¡¯s last words haunted him, he had to make them come true one way or another.
He nearly jumped out of bed when he woke up again and finally decided to give up. Michael didn¡¯t strictly need to sleep for another day or two as long as he circulated his mana, but it would have been better to.
With a sigh, he rose from his bedroll and threw over a thicker coat before leaving his tent. The moon was high in the sky, it would be at least five to six hours before the sun would chase away the night.
The camp was filled with the noises of sleeping men and Michael tried to escape it by walking over to the edge where one of his knights was sitting on the fallen tree keeping watch. His name was Sir Blane Highrup, the fourth son of a minor noble in the north of Reen.
¡°Anything to report,¡± Michael asked after the knight noticed him approach.
He shook his head. ¡°Everything quiet, milord. ¡ Uh, Erhen went out a while ago. He should be a few dozen meters in that direction I can hear him.¡± The knight pointed into the forest and Michael focused more mana into his ears until he heard a thump of something piercing into something else.
¡°Alright, I will take a look,¡± Michael replied. The knight wanted to rise to accompany him, but Michael waved him off. He clearly didn¡¯t like it, especially after Michael had vanished once already earlier but there was little he could do to stop him.
Michael followed the sound of thumps until he found the young knight. He was standing straight, his arm raised and an arrow lying calmly on his hand holding a bow. He looked steady and confident as he put the arrow right next to the first few in a grouping that would make most hunters jealous.
¡°You make a great archer, Erhen,¡± Michael said and caused the young knight to nearly throw away his bow.
He took a moment to steady himself and his uncertain personality was back. ¡°Thank you, milord,¡± he said while rubbing the back of his neck.
Michael watched him out of the corner of his eye while he walked over and sat on a rock beside him.
¡°So, what is wrong?¡±
¡°N-nothing. Everything is perfect,¡± Erhen stuttered his answer making it less than believable.
¡°You are standing in the forest well past midnight, ruining arrows by shooting them at a tree. If that is totally normal for you then I will gladly leave you to it,¡± Michael said with an audible smirk.
Michael inspected the youngest of his guards while he squirmed for an answer, he could guess what this was about but if the knight didn¡¯t want to talk then that was his right.
¡°It clears my head, milord. After today I couldn¡¯t really sleep,¡± Erhen finally managed to explain himself.
¡°I vanished from right in front of you and I doubt that the others were happy with you about that,¡± Michael nodded. ¡°I assume you got the worst from Silas. He is outspoken on the best of days; I can¡¯t imagine that he took what happened with a calm and professional demeanor.¡±
¡°He did calm down after you returned and explained what happened,¡± Erhen quickly jumped in to protect his senior.
¡°Did he apologize to you?¡±
¡°Well, not exactly.¡±
¡°That¡¯s what I thought,¡± Michael said not surprised in the least. ¡°The world is a hard place, Erhen. My father never took to coddling his children so I have experience with this, and I have to tell you that just taking it will never solve the problem. I won''t get involved as long as everything stays civil; Silas is a good knight even if his character is sometimes questionable, but he is not as bad as my brothers were. You too are a good knight, but as long as you just stand there accepting the bullying, nothing will ever change.¡±
Michael could see Erhen¡¯s knuckles whiten as he gripped his bow tighter. ¡°Am I a coward, milord?¡±
That question surprised Michael, and he didn¡¯t answer immediately. It was too weighty of a question to just answer out of his gut, so he began to think back.
After a few moments, he finally shook his head and said, ¡°No. Whenever you are forced into a confrontation you move with purpose and without fear. You are not a coward in my opinion, but I do feel like that you do not enjoy confrontations like most of my other knights do.¡±
Erhen brooded over his words and then suddenly raised his bow to show Michael. ¡°My grandfather showed me how to use a bow when I was a kid. He loved to go hunting and said that ¡®the bow and arrow are a weapon for the skilled in a way that people who swing around metal could never understand¡¯.¡±
Michael got a little bit of whiplash from the sudden change of topic, but he was sure that Erhen would get to the point of it if he just listened.
¡°He took me hunting with him for years until he died when I was around twelve. It was just a few days later that my father took away my bow and handed me a sword. ¡®The sword is the weapon of knights and nobles, boy. Even a peasant can shoot an arrow¡¯ he said. I was forced to train with the sword day in and day out, but I never enjoyed it much. I still miss going out into the woods with my grandfather even if I was too small to hunt something myself. I just wish he could have been there when I killed my first stag.¡± Erhen¡¯s eyes glimmered with a mix of joy and sadness.
His story had been a little bit roundabout, but Michael had gotten the point.
¡°So why are you not using your bow now?¡± Michael asked him.
Erhen looked at him confused. ¡°A bow is not a knight''s weapon.¡±
¡°Why not?¡±
¡°It just isn¡¯t.¡±
¡°Erhen, use whatever suits you best. What your father said ¡®that the sword is the knight''s weapon¡¯ is just plain wrong. Do you know why most knights of House Rowan and Grim wield swords instead of maces and hammers like Sir Zeke? It is not because they are better weapons.¡±
¡°Because your Lord Father and Lord Grim use them,¡± Erhen answered.
¡°Right, also Sir Godfrey, he trained most of the knights. The thing all of them had in common was that they all had artifact swords and the strength to plow through armor. You guys didn¡¯t have that until recently and once magical armor becomes more commonplace, which it will, swords will become worse again.
¡°The main advantage a sword has over other weapons for an augmenter is that it is easier to use the mana blade with it, most of the rest comes down to tradition and the wish to imitate the idols,¡± Michael explained. Erhen probably knew all that, he was a trained knight after all, but Michael had seen a lot of young knights clinging to the blade just because his father had wielded one without even considering other weapons.
¡°But you are also using a sword. I have of course seen you train with other weapons, but you always carry a sword around,¡± Erhen argued.
¡°It¡¯s hypocritical, isn¡¯t it?¡± Michael laughed. ¡°I already told you the main reason though, imitate the idols. Even if I wanted to, I could never put my father¡¯s sword down for another weapon. It is the only way I can still feel close to him, to all of them.¡± He fiddled with the hilt of the weapon for a few quiet moments before he added, ¡°It does help that it cuts through most mundane armor like though thick cloth.¡±
It wasn¡¯t the full truth, he also harmonized best with a sword for its versatility which was mirrored in his special type of magic but that was beside the point in this conversation.
¡°I see,¡± Erhen mumbled and looked down at his bow.
¡°So, you see, I am also not using the best possible weapon just because I feel a connection to it. I personally think that should count as something.¡±
Michael slapped his hands on his thighs and got up. ¡°Just think about that.¡±
He began walking away before he turned around for just a last thing, ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t know if anyone told you yet. There was nothing you could have done or seen. I understand that you felt guilty at that moment, but it was never your fault, and lingering on it will not help you. If you want to do something, then become strong enough that you could actually do something about a situation like this.¡±
With those words, he walked away. His continuous hypocrisy didn¡¯t escape him as he told his knight to not dwell on the past while it was exactly what had kept him awake. The good thing was that even if his reasoning might not help him sleep, it might help Erhen with his crisis.
Chapter 100.
Eydis
Why did I do this? Eydis thought as she trudged through the forest a dire mole strung over her shoulder. They will never trust me again after this.
She had been roaming the forest for two days already, firstly moving on foot through the underbrush filled with monsters wasn¡¯t fast but more importantly, she didn¡¯t exactly know where to go. She knew the general direction, but she had only been at the grove once and that was over ten years ago.
Her being lost wasn¡¯t what was on the forefront of her mind though. Ever since she had split from the rest, she was doubting her decisions.
Well, they might trust me again if I actually inform them about the tribes, she admitted. It was quite obvious, she just had to do what she announced she would do and then no one could doubt her, but Eydis didn¡¯t know if she could betray her people like that, especially now that she knew that there were survivors from her clan, and they would probably be a part of the army.
Eydis sighed as she continued westward, always keeping an eye out for tracks that could show her where to go.
The rustle of someone approaching dragged her out of her thoughts a while later and her hand rushed to the axe hanging from her hip. The visitor was a woman, who weaved through the clutter of bushed elegantly until she spotted Eydis standing in the woods.
She was short, with brown hair, a round and slim face, and a smile forming on it.
¡°I finally found you,¡± she called out and hurried over to a confused Eydis. Eydis quickly drew her axe and narrowed her eyes at the woman, who in turn raised up her hands, trying to placate her.
¡°Peace, servant of the Radiant Soul,¡± the woman urged with a cautious expression. ¡°I am from the Officio Umbra and have been sent to assist you in your duties.¡±
Eydis frowned and relaxed slightly. ¡°Who sent you?¡± Eydis signed at the spy.
¡°The grandmaster, with the agreement of the Radiant Soul. You will have difficulties communicating with anyone on your own. Sending intentions through mana is all well and good, but the value is in the details, especially when considering espionage.¡±
The spy seamlessly switched from Remurian to Tangrah, speaking as if she were a Rangda herself, ¡°I do speak their language and am familiar with the Rangda culture so I will not give us away.¡±
Eydis frowned as she looked the woman over, she was dressed like a peasant of Telios, but she didn¡¯t look like one. There was no way she could have learned about the culture and language in this short time since this all began, so maybe she is a native?
¡°Maybe we should go over our story and what information we want to focus on,¡± the woman pressed when Eydis didn¡¯t react.
In a flash of power, Eydis lunged forward and grabbed the woman by the collar, smashing her against a tree and growling at her.
¡°What is your real goal here, spy? Are you supposed to keep an eye on me, to see if I will stay loyal? Maybe even silence me if I do not,¡± Eydis signed with one hand, her mana pressing in on the squirming woman.
To her credit she was keeping it together quite well, there was clear fear in her eyes, but she was still keeping up a calm fa?ade.
¡°I have been given no such order,¡± she groaned. ¡°I swear, the only thing I am supposed to do is support you and help you get your intel back to our lord.¡±
Eydis stared at her for a few moments while simultaneously inspecting her mana with her own. If she was lying then Eydis couldn¡¯t tell, which was not surprising, the woman was a professional spy after all even if she couldn¡¯t have too much experience.
She released the spy and took a step back. The woman rubbed at her neck and eyed Eydis warily, ¡°I hope that means you are not gonna rip me apart?¡±
¡°Not yet at least,¡± Eydis answered.
¡°Good, you may call me Freya for the time of our cooperation. We are very close to the grove; I was planning how to blend in there when I got the message that you would join me. That is gonna make this whole thing much easier, so thank you,¡± Freya began happily babbling. ¡°Oh, is that dinner you have there? I am starving!¡±
- A while later ¨C
Freya and Eydis approached the guards that stood vigil at the main entrance toward the grove.
¡°Remember, keep your mana and expression calm, I got this,¡± Freya reminded Eydis for the third time.
She smiled brightly as they came to a final stop in front of the two gruff-looking men, armed with spears and tall shields.
¡°We finally made it, thank the Mother and Father,¡± Freya sighed loudly.
¡°State your business, woman,¡± one of the guards said with a bored expression while the other eyed Eydis and her weapons.
¡°We came for the gathering,¡± Freya replied with another beaming smile.
¡°You are a little late for that,¡± the first guard laughed. ¡°And we definitely aren¡¯t gonna let anyone in, so who do you belong to?¡±
Freya looked over to Eydis, feigning uncertainty, and then back. She was playing her part very well, in Eydis¡¯s opinion.
¡°She is part of the Rescar Clan, and my Clan was the Surren.¡±
The guards looked at each other and one of them asked, ¡°Isn¡¯t the brat that called this thing the head of the Rescar Clan?¡±
¡°Who cares? Everyone can say that they are part of a clan that basically doesn¡¯t exist anymore,¡± the other one replied. ¡°Do you have any proof that you belong to the Rescar Clan?¡±
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¡°If you find another member then they should be able to vouch for us,¡± Freya tried but the guard simply laughed. ¡°If you think I am gonna run down someone to prove your story then you are dumber than you look. Now screw off and come back with something better.¡±
¡°And on whose authority do you turn away the children of the great Mother?¡± a calm voice came from behind the guards. A moment later a middle-aged man with brown hair, green eyes, and covered in druidic tattoos stepped out of the opening in the wall of bramble that surrounded the grove.
His eyes lingered on Eydis and Freya for a moment before he looked back at the guards. ¡°This is the land of the gods, and you have no right to turn away their faithful.¡±
Both of them quickly lowered their gaze in respect and one of them answered, ¡°I am sorry, great Ill¡¯irian. Chieftain Eddor ordered us to make sure that no one interrupts the gathering who isn¡¯t part of it.¡±
¡°And does Chieftain Eddor hold dominion here? That would be new information for me and certainly also for the other druids. Should I announce that Chieftain Eddor of the Murrion Clan lays claim to the Sacred Grove?¡± the druid didn¡¯t raise his voice, on the contrary, there was a hint of amusement in his voice as he watched the guards wince under his words.
¡°There is no need for that, Clan Murrion would never dare infringe on the gods,¡± the smaller of the guards replied hastily and took a step back.
¡°Good, then I would suggest that you focus on what you are actually supposed to do. Namely guarding this entrance, rather than hassling your brothers and sisters.¡±
He then turned toward the two women watching all of this happen and made an inviting gesture. ¡°Come, you have had quite the journey, and you are in need of some rest.¡±
They followed him quietly into the grove. Eydis had seen this man before, he was one of the high druids that took care of the Sacred Grove and Eydis met him the last time she was here. As far as she knew he was a kind man and a powerful mage, but how that ¡®powerful¡¯ would measure up to Kiran and Rayakan she didn¡¯t know.
She watched him carefully as they quietly strolled through the trees filled with tents and people. His robe was long and beige, and the only thing that differentiated him from normal people, apart from his tattoos, of course, was a sickle with a gnarled wooden handle that caught Eydis¡¯s attention through its subtle hum of mana.
Eydis couldn¡¯t keep her attention on the man, though. Too much were the sensations, sounds, and smells of her people surrounding her to keep focused. The sound of rough laughter, the smell of fire, and smoking meat. None of these were unique to the Rangda people, but somehow, to Eydis, they were, and a heavy feeling of belonging fell upon her.
Is this where I should be? Have I longed for home so much? she thought. Great Mother, Great Father grand me clarity!
Of course, there was no answer. The gods rarely worked in such a direct manner and certainly not for nobodies like her.
They reached a boulder in which a small open cave had been carved. The druid entered through the blankets in front of the opening and Eydis and Freya followed behind him.
The cave was homely, with a large pelt covering the ground and more in the corner serving as a bed. In the left corner was a large stone slab which served as a table and all around were different herbs and other ingredients. The center of the cave was taken up by a large cauldron with an air vent in the ceiling above it.
¡°Have a seat,¡± Ill¡¯irian said and pointed to the ground where a low table was standing on the fur.
¡°Your story must be quite a tale, Eydis,¡± he continued after sitting down.
¡°Yes, I do remember you, I have rarely seen a girl with a temper such as yours. You seem to have mellowed down though, not that I can blame you for that,¡± the druid continued after seeing Eydis¡¯s surprised expression. He then turned to Freya and frowned, ¡°You I definitely don¡¯t know. I am certain you are of Rangda origin, if only partially.¡±
Eydis shook her head and opened her mouth to show the stump of her tongue at his comment.
¡°Oh, I see. There is not a member of your clan that doesn¡¯t carry the scars of what happened to you and the gods feel your loss.¡±
Eydis nodded thankfully and Freya spoke up next.
¡°You are not wrong, I do have Rangda blood in my veins but also the blood of the Remurian. My mother was a member of the Sirren Clan and became a slave for some Telios noble. I was born there but my mother always kept our culture alive.¡±
¡°Sirren? I wasn¡¯t aware that anyone of that clan still remained,¡± the druid replied lost in thought.
¡°My mother believed herself to be the last,¡± Freya said bluntly.
Eydis inspected the small woman closely. How much of that story was true? It would explain a lot if it actually was true, but Eydis somehow doubted it.
¡°Both your stories interest me greatly,¡± Ill¡¯irian admitted while throwing some dried berries and fruit into a jug of water.
¡°Oh, mine really only became interesting once Eydis here came to the estate, before that, I mostly only kept my head down and tried not to catch the attention of the lord¡¯s son,¡± Freya explained with a haunted expression which she quickly shook off.
¡°Eydis got in trouble wherever she went, she didn¡¯t understand the language and had no way of communicating but sometimes it seemed like she went out of her way to get into trouble. I stayed away from her for the first year she was there but when the son of the lord finally came for me, she was the only one who stood up for me. We became friends and I would even go as far as to say that we wouldn¡¯t have survived without each other.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t overdo it,¡± Eydis signed, and the spy smirked.
¡°What was that?¡± Ill¡¯irian asked curiously.
¡°Oh, that is a sign language we invented to be able to talk to each other and she said I shouldn¡¯t be so dramatic,¡± Freya smiled at Eydis warmly as if remembering fond memories, they had made together despite the fact that they had met only hours ago. She was good, to a scary degree.
¡°Ha, don¡¯t worry, every story deserves a little dramaturgy and as a keeper of history, I have to know,¡± the druid chuckled.
¡°Things were better for a while until the lord died and his son became lord, after that we knew that we had to get out. We took the next best chance and escaped with all those who were willing, eleven of us left that night. We didn¡¯t know where exactly we were and we couldn¡¯t really ask for direction, so we were mostly lost heading westward, hiding and dodging patrols and hunters. Out of the eleven we started with only Thore, Eydis, and I made it to Grent.¡± She made a small pause before finishing the story. ¡°And only Eydis and I made it across the border.¡±
Empathy virtually overflowed from the druid as he placed his hands on each one of theirs. There was not even a hint of suspicion that Eydis could detect, the druid had taken the lie he had been served and just swallowed it without even chewing.
¡°You made it. Now you are safe,¡± he said with a smile.
Before either of them could reply, a bird flew into the cave and chirped happily. It was a Thrush, Eydis believed, with a white belly, black spots, and a brown back. More interesting was the young man who entered the cave behind the bird with a polite expression.
¡°High Druid, you have called for me,¡± he said with a small bow before looking at the other two present and stopping at Eydis. His eyes went wide and his mouth fell open as he just stood there staring.
He was tall, having put on a significant amount of muscle, and a couple more scars since the last time Eydis had seen him. She was on her feet and upon him before he fell out of his stupor and smashed into him with her whole body, wrapping her arms around him.
¡°Eydis? You are alive?¡± the man said and quickly embraced her as well.
¡°She can¡¯t talk, Sev,¡± Ill¡¯irian said sadly.
¡°I see,¡± Sev answered his eye twitching and his jaw clenching.
Eydis just hoped that her clan mate would eat their story as readily as the druid had.
Ill¡¯irian
Ill¡¯irian watched the three youngsters leave his cave frantically chatting. Well, two were chatting and one was signing.
His familiar, Orph the song thrush, chirped at him while sitting on his table and picking at some seeds.
¡°Their timing is a little bit too convenient; don¡¯t you think?¡±
Another singing chirp.
¡°Yes, I also get an odd feeling about them. Something doesn¡¯t fit with their story,¡± Ill¡¯irian answered while absentmindedly following the lines of his tattoos with his finger.
¡°Please do me a favor and keep an eye on them. I feel like there is something behind the mask that they have shown to us.¡±
The thrush chirped again and after gulping down another seed, he took to following them.
¡°Hm, very odd indeed.¡±
Chapter 101.
Michael
Michael very much preferred the comforts of a well-maintained home to the harshness of nature. It wasn¡¯t like he hated being on the road, but a comfortable chair was still preferable, like the one he was sitting in right now waiting for the meeting to start. Tara was sitting next to him with a shit-eating grin.
¡°Do you have something to tell me, Tara?¡± Michael asked her with a slight smile.
¡°Nono, I am just gloating. Don¡¯t even pay me any attention,¡± she replied. He had already received a punch in the gut from her the moment he told her the story. With that out of her system, she had turned to what she was doing now. It was neither nice nor mature, but Michael couldn¡¯t blame her if it helped her get over the pain of the last two years.
¡°Alright, I will be ignoring you then,¡± he replied and turned back to the letter in front of him.
Tara seems to be happy with that. She had been jovial since her father and Michael returned as if a weight had dropped from her shoulders. It probably helped that Lord Grim had taken up his duties again in the last two days. It wasn¡¯t only Tara either, the mood in the whole castle notably improved and even Aunt Helena had emerged from her chambers. She was cold towards Michael, for which he didn¡¯t blame her either.
Right now, little of that mattered. He had already publicly admitted fault and from here the news would travel. Mending his private and diplomatic relationships would take time and effort. He would start right here in the meeting with Lord Grim, his knights, and nobles.
The room was strangely quiet as everyone who entered simply sat down and at most whispered with their neighbors.
¡°Let us begin,¡± Lord Grim spoke up and silenced the whispers.
He stood from his highchair and let his gaze wander over his vassals and allies.
¡°Firstly, we have confirmed that there is a credible threat coming from the Rangda. Through a hidden message, we have learned that the tribes are meeting to discuss a possible Kirhen, which is a unified attack on us.¡±
The nobles of Grent in particular seemed concerned about this news. Most of the rest knew already after all.
¡°We have a specialized team watching the enemy which will inform us about the enemy''s decision and their movement. Nevertheless, we will have to start our preparations now and not later. It is vital that the information that we know doesn¡¯t reach the barbarians so keep this information to only those who need it and can keep it.¡±
¡°What kind of strength can we expect from them?¡± one of the Grent nobles asked.
¡°That depends on how many of the bigger clans join. If they all come then we might be faced with two to three thousand warriors,¡± Lord Grim replied sternly.
The private discussions became louder until Tara asked, ¡°How many do we have?¡±
Sir Helbrect cleared his throat to gain the assembly¡¯s attention. ¡°House Grim can muster around one-hundred-and-fifty men-at-arms and knights combined. We should be able to raise a few hundred more in militias and levies if we have to.¡±
It was a good number of trained soldiers, even with them certainly having had some losses recently. Both House Rowan and Grim could field many more than most other counts due to their military focus. Michael could even bring more than Duke Wallsten if they both only raised their houseguards.
He refocused on the discussion and just caught the tail end of a quiet discussion between the Grent nobility. A baron named Willbrok Namer was the one speaking for the rest. He was an older man, maybe in his late fifties, with greying hair and a determined face.
¡°The nobles can match that number, though with more parts levies than knights and men-at-arms,¡± he said. ¡°You have our full support, milord.¡±
Lord Grim nodded in thanks. These men were used to aggression from the West and would not shirk away from putting their full weight behind their liege in defense of their property. At least now that he wasn¡¯t an alleged kinslayer anymore.
¡°What kind of support can we expect from you, Lord Rowan?¡± his uncle turned to Michael.
¡°The knights I have already brought, of course. They will also help by hunting down monster nests while we wait and prepare. I have also already sent a messenger home to order my House guard to join us here,¡± Michael explained. His uncle knew all this already, so he was explaining it to the rest of the assembly rather than him.
¡°The number of men-at-arms that we can afford to send should be around three-hundred-and-fifty. Due to most of our augmenters being here, we can¡¯t send more.¡±
¡°Those are all trained soldiers and not levies, right?¡± Lord Grim followed up.
Michael nodded, ¡°Yes, if the situation proves to be critical, and if we have enough time, I will call on my banners and also raise levies to support. With us not even knowing if an attack is coming and how strong it will be, I can¡¯t justify either to my nobles and citizens to call them to arms right now.¡±
There was also the point that he didn¡¯t want his nobles to hang around here waiting and asking questions due to the Dittrich situation. Having a civil war right when the Rangda attack wouldn¡¯t be optimal
¡°Releasing all your serfs must make it harder to raise levies anyway,¡± one of the nobles commented.
¡°It does, but it also means more money and workforce to raise men-at-arms,¡± Michael countered. It was somewhat a lie as the positive effect of releasing his serfs was still growing and the additional taxes didn¡¯t have a huge impact on military spending.
¡°That won¡¯t be nearly enough to face them,¡± Sir Helbrect concluded. ¡°If we are generous, we will reach something barely over one thousand men, with levies mind you. It will prove difficult against an army of twice or thrice that size in hardened barbarians.¡±
¡°Our knights should outclass their augmenters in general though,¡± Sir Zeke noted.
¡°Yes, but they also have mages which will probably negate that advantage. I am aware that we will have two ourselves, but they will have multiple times that number,¡± the knight commander pointed out with a grim expression. ¡°It would be a different story if we had some Idas Spellbreakers here, but the closest one would be the one stationed with Duke Wallsten.¡±
¡°Then shouldn¡¯t we ask the duke for assistance?¡± Tara asked.
¡°Praanen is even farther away than Reen. It will take more than a week to get a messenger there, then a while for them to muster, and at least three weeks to march here on foot. We will of course request assistance but doing so preemptively without confirmation of an attack coming would cost our liege a fortune,¡± Lord Grim explained.
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¡°But we are risking everything with hesitancy! Isn¡¯t it better to be safe instead of trying to avoid some cost?¡±
¡°We are sending regular updates to Praanen, but how Duke Wallsten reacts to them is his decision. I am not saying that we do not want his support just that we can¡¯t ask for it until we have a confirmed threat,¡± the count clarified, and Tara now seemed to understand. It was economics and politics. Vassals had the right to call on their liege for protection, but doing so without a threat manifesting could have dire political and economic consequences.
Michael of course hoped that Duke Wallsten would follow his example and preemptively come to their aid. He was pretty confident that the duke would come if the situation in his counties allowed it.
Sir Helbrect took up the conversation again as he turned back to Michael. ¡°When can we expect your reinforcements, milord?¡±
¡°With the travel time of the messenger and the army, I would say three weeks give or take depending on the weather. It would help if you could provide some guides to welcome them at the border and guide them here.¡± The knight nodded appreciatively.
¡°That should be good enough if the Rangda are still deliberating.¡±
The meeting continued with strategy discussions, logistics, and similar things for two hours.
Tara yawned loudly as they exited the chamber together. ¡°That logistics debate nearly put me to sleep,¡± she complained.
¡°Logistics is the most important part of any military operation. You can have a million soldiers but if you can¡¯t feed them then you won¡¯t have an army for long,¡± Michael replied while smirking.
¡°Yeah, sure but I would prefer it if I didn¡¯t have to be there when they plan that,¡± Tara rambled on. ¡°I really need to get some action. You wanna come along on a little hunt?¡±
That isn¡¯t such a bad idea, Michael thought. He didn¡¯t really have anything to do here anyway. His uncle was mostly busy catching up with the happenings in his land and reinstating his authority, but Michael was just sitting around and waiting for news.
¡°Sure, but we shouldn¡¯t be gone too long. Also, I have one more thing to do before.¡±
¡°Yeah, fine. I am in no hurry,¡± Tara shrugged.
¡°Okay, I shouldn¡¯t need more than an hour or two,¡± Michael agreed.
¡°Alright, I will get everything organized and we meet in the courtyard in exactly two hours,¡± Tara confirmed their plan and then quickly left him behind.
- Half an hour later in a remote chamber -
¡°He should wake up in a few seconds,¡± Pan explained and took a step back from the bed.
Michael looked down on Dittrich as he began to stir. The knight wasn¡¯t bound but Michael¡¯s guard stood around him with disdain clear on their faces.
¡°What? Where am I?¡± Dittrich groaned as he tried to shake away the dizziness of the alchemical concoction Pan had fed him.
¡°You are in Greyhold, Dittrich,¡± Michael said calmly from the foot of the bed.
Dittrich instantly tensed up as he heard Michael¡¯s voice and blinked until the count became focused.
¡°Why am I alive?¡±
¡°Why shouldn¡¯t you be?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t play games with me, devil spawn!¡± Dittrich spat, which earned him a slap from Sir Zeke. He growled at the knight and wanted to get up, but a blade came to rest on his chest.
Sir Silas looked at him and said, ¡°Give me a reason.¡±
Dittrich slowly eased back into the pillow with a hate-filled gaze at the other knights.
¡°Why am I still alive?¡± he repeated the question.
¡°Because you still have value,¡± Michael replied. ¡°Arguably more than before you tried to kill me.¡±
¡°Now I have a question for you. Your father ordered you to kill me. Who else was part of that conspiracy?¡±
Dittrich chuckled dryly. ¡°There is no conspiracy. I did all this on my own, out of my interests, and with no order from anyone. Wanted to kill you for years now and when I had the chance I took it.¡±
¡°That is a different story than you told me in the forest.¡±
¡°I never said anything else,¡± the knight reiterated.
¡°Playing it like this won¡¯t save you nor will it save your house. Your family is done that is a fact, but you can still change your own fate.¡±
¡°They had nothing to do with this. I don¡¯t know what you want from me.¡± Dittrich glared at Michael. He was surprised that the knight was denying everything, he would have picked Dittrich to be a person to flip on anyone to save his skin.
¡°Even if you were telling the truth, which you are not. I will use your attempt to dismantle the noble faction. Staying loyal to them is standing on the losing side of history,¡± Michael explained but the knight wouldn¡¯t have it.
¡°You can¡¯t do that! The other nobles will never accept such an act of tyranny!¡±
¡°We will see about that. Your assassination attempt gives me a lot of leeway but I think you will need more time to come to that realization. Either way, I thank you for your assistance, Dittrich.¡±
Michael turned around and walked toward the door.
¡°YOU CAN¡¯T DO THAT! COME BACK HERE, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!¡±
His screams followed Michael as he left the room. It would take his guards a little effort to get Dittrich to swallow the next batch of narcotics and Michael didn¡¯t have to see that.
- Later in the courtyard ¨C
Michael stood in the courtyard and watched as the horses were being checked a final time by their escort. Tara was with her horse a few meters away, the animal looked quite skittish.
¡°Milord, I can¡¯t say that I approve of this,¡± Sir Zeke said. Michael had decided only to take Silas and Erhen with him to the dismay of the veteran knight.
¡°So, you have told me. Having these two and the knight of Grim with us will be sufficient. I need you to organize our hunting expeditions.¡±
¡°At least take Sir Lance with you as well,¡± Zeke pleaded.
¡°No, we will be more useful joining the other knights,¡± Michael replied and this time the gave the knight a look that told him to drop it. He had his reasons for taking these two.
¡°Very well. Please be careful, milord,¡± Zeke finally conceded.
¡°I always am.¡±
Michael could see from the twitch of Zeke¡¯s face that he didn¡¯t agree as always. The young count smirked a little as he turned away to join his cousin by the horses. The knight was used to Michael being not the easiest person to guard when outside of the castle.
¡°Any specific target for our hunt?¡± Michael asked as he stepped next to Tara and her horse.
¡°Oh yes. We are going north. There is something I want to show you,¡± Tara replied, her eyes twinkling with excitement.
Michael narrowed his eyes at the happy girl with a follow-up question, ¡°What exactly?¡±
¡°Would ruin the surprise a little if I just told you, wouldn¡¯t it?¡±
¡°I do like surprises about as much as the next person but please don¡¯t tell me it is something like a four-skull monster to hunt,¡± Michael groaned.
¡°Oh, nono. It is nothing dangerous. Well, at least if you aren¡¯t being stupid, it isn¡¯t.¡± Tara tapped her chin as if she was deliberating on whether what she wanted to show Michael was actually dangerous or not.
¡°This is gonna be great. Maybe I should take more guards with me after all.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t be such a wuss, Michael! If we take too many people then we won¡¯t see them,¡± Tara chided him in good humor, but all Michael could think was, Them?
¡°Fine, I am gonna trust you this once,¡± Michael teased her and began making his way over to his horse.
¡°What do you mean this once?¡± Tara called after him, but he simply smiled and kept walking.
Erhen and Silas were waiting for him on his horse. The younger knight had a bow slung over his shoulder and kept glancing nervously at Michael.
¡°Ah, I see you have taken my recommendation,¡± Michael commented, and Erhen nodded. Silas seemed to have no reaction to that and was mostly looking bored.
¡°Then let''s get going,¡± Michael ordered and grabbed his saddle to sit up. This was when he noticed a small piece of paper sticking out of a saddle bag.
He pulled it out and quickly glanced at the content before anyone could notice.
Our operatives have gained entry into the enemy camp. Will continue to observe and report.
- Lynx -
So, they made it, Michael thought. This would have obviously happened a while ago due to the time the message took. Probably not as long as one would expect with Lynx¡¯s mysterious ways of doing things, though.
Michael just hoped that everything would go well and that Eydis would manage to maintain her cover. Of course, there was also the part of him that was praying for her to remain loyal to him. He didn¡¯t know if he could do it himself if he were in her situation, but he could wish for it, nonetheless.
¡°Come on, Michael,¡± Tara came to a stop next to him with her horse. ¡°If you take any longer then we won¡¯t get anywhere before it gets dark.¡±
Michael quickly swung himself into his saddle and motioned for her to get going.
This hunt would hopefully get his mind off Eydis¡¯s situation and help him relax.
¡°May Idas, the Mother, and Father all be with you, my friend,¡± Michael mumbled under his breath while grabbing his sun pendant. It probably was in bad faith to speak of these different gods in the same sentence, but he wanted her to have all the aid she could get.
Chapter 102.
Michael
The northeast of Grent was mainly covered by a spanning forest, in contrast to the western part, which had been cut back significantly at the border facing the clan lands. The forest also reached Emall and the southern parts of Duke Wallsten¡¯s counties.
As far as Michael had heard, it was a dangerous place for normal people. There were no villages there, so the monster spawn rates were high. It was mostly used for hunting and herb collection as everything in there had slightly higher mana concentrations due to the high number of monsters.
Now Michael was standing behind Tara and Erhen as they were looking for tracks. Silas was right next to him while the knight of Grim was keeping watch.
¡°I heard what happened between you and Erhen on the day when I went missing,¡± Michael said nonchalantly.
Silas regarded him with a short glance before speaking. ¡°I would assume you had, milord.¡±
¡°I feel like it is my responsibility as your liege to ask what this whole thing is about. You seem to be much harsher on Erhen than you are on Lance. Is there some kind of animosity which I should know about?¡±
¡°None, sir.¡±
Michael let out a long sigh at the short answers. ¡°Then why is it that you pick on Erhen so often?¡±
¡°Because he needs it. The boy needs to toughen up a little,¡± Silas replied bluntly.
¡°So, you are doing this for his benefit,¡± Michael asked. He was actually curious and there was no blame in his voice.
¡°For the most part, milord,¡± the knight confirmed.
¡°Only the most part?¡±
¡°I do have a bad temper, sir,¡± he flatly explained which caused Michael to laugh.
¡°It is not that bad, most of the time. But back to Erhen, you think that Erhen needs to be pushed until he finally pushes back?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t you? I have seen it so often before, men who were forced into service by their families. They rarely have the grit that it takes but Erhen still did it. He just needs a stronger spine. We would never fight if it was his choice,¡± Silas explained his thoughts.
¡°No. I don¡¯t think that Erhen needs harsh treatment. I am not saying that there aren¡¯t people that benefit from this approach, I myself am a good example but Erhen is not like me. I was afraid of fighting back because I feared being hurt. Erhen is not scared, the moment he can¡¯t avoid a fight he is fully committed. I talked to him, and he simply doesn¡¯t like fighting, which is why he tries to avoid it. He doesn¡¯t like the bloody scraps with his life on the line and only pain as a reward.
¡°He is much more a calm hunter. So going with an aggressive approach with someone who doesn¡¯t like direct confrontation seems unlikely to work.¡± Michael looked over to Erhen who was currently showing Tara a track and explaining some trick he had learned to determine the age.
¡°You might be right,¡± Silas said after following his gaze. ¡°It is not like I got anywhere with my approach in the last years.¡±
¡°If you want to help someone you should really talk to them. Things can look one way from the outside but a whole different way from the person¡¯s own perspective.¡± Michael smiled as he watched Silas think that over.
¡°So, what should we do to help the kid get some confidence?¡±
¡°I think he would benefit from positive reinforcement. Praise him if he does something right, listen to his opinion, and if he does something wrong, then tell him it is wrong and explain how to do it right,¡± Michael replied and then added with a smirk, ¡°Also not calling him a kid and treating him more like a squad mate would probably help.¡±
Silas frowned and then sighed. ¡°I was afraid it would be something like that. I am not the supportive type.¡±
¡°You don¡¯t have to throw him a party for every achievement,¡± Michael laughed. ¡°A shoulder clap or a ¡®well done¡¯ should suffice. Just don¡¯t scream or berate him for doing something wrong, he will never defend himself, that much I can promise you.¡±
Silas nodded slowly.
¡°I do have one more question, sir.¡±
¡°What is it?¡±
¡°How the fuck did you get so smart?¡± Silas said and then quickly added, ¡°Respectfully I mean. When I was your age, the only thing I could think about was girls and beating up other boys.¡±
Michael couldn¡¯t help but smile. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I was never normal, and neither was my childhood. Some people are just anomalies, and I guess I am one of them.¡±
¡°I just wanted to say that I respect you deeply, sir. I can¡¯t even imagine what kind of man you will become, but I am looking forward to seeing it,¡± Silas said. He left a speechless Michael behind and stepped up to Erhen and Tara.
Michael didn¡¯t expect to get this from their conversation, but it was heartwarming to see the knight place his hand on Erhen¡¯s shoulder and say something. These were the people Michael sought to build a good place for, they had their own faults, but most had a good heart.
Erhen glanced over his shoulder with a mildly confused expression toward Michael. Michael simply smiled warmly and nodded at the knight. Erhen turned back and began explaining his tracking trick to Silas as well.
The only thing left was to hope that Silas could keep up with this direction and then see them both grow.
Michael wiped his sword with a rag from the blood of the Iron Boar he had brought down. It had been a whole group of them, but they were only unevolved two skulls and not very smart ones at that.
The fight had been short, Michael had been surprised by the destructive power Erhen could put out with his bow even though it wasn¡¯t enchanted.
I need to get this man an enchanted bow soon, Michael thought. It would be more difficult than other weaponry because the only artificers that they had were smiths, but they would make something work.
Tara had also surprised him. He had known that she was strong and at least above average in mana capacity, but he hadn¡¯t expected her to stop a charging boar in its tracks by hurling a spear at it. The poor thing had been impaled nearly halfway through. This was even more impressive when one considered that their name ¡®Iron Boar¡¯ didn¡¯t just come from their coloring.
Michael and the two remaining knights had then reaped a bloody toll on the beasts as they closed in, the magical weaponry of Michael and Silas carving them apart easily. A direct hit from the boars would have been dangerous even for them but the boars were single-minded and easily baited and dodged.
¡°We should burn these after collecting their mana cores,¡± Tara said and knelt next to one of the beasts.
¡°To prevent other monsters from feasting on the remains?¡± Michael guessed and Tara nodded. Even if most of a monster¡¯s mana was stored in their core, there was still a lot in the rest which was why monster parts of higher-skulled monsters were valuable for alchemists and artificers. Of course, not all monsters had a core formed already but in general, those had such a low mana level for one of their kind that their parts weren¡¯t very interesting.
This batch wasn¡¯t very far in that regard. Only two of them had a core and even those were so small that they were virtually worthless.
¡°You are really good at this,¡± Michael commented to Tara while the knights gathered up the carcasses into a pile where they could be burned safely.
¡°And you sound surprised,¡± she replied. ¡°My father taught me well and the last two years have given me a lot of experience.¡±
¡°I may be a little surprised that you learned how to fight when you were younger. I assumed you only started two years ago,¡± Michael admitted.
¡°I am my father¡¯s heir. Our lands are valuing martial prowess so not learning how to fight would make me a laughingstock among the nobles.¡±
Michael nodded embarrassed; it should have been obvious but his own experience with noble education still told him that this was an exception rather than the norm.
¡°I always wondered. Why don¡¯t you have any siblings?¡±
¡°Oh, that? My mother nearly died at my birth and our priest back then told my father that her chances of survival were minimal if she became pregnant again. So, my father said, ¡®I have my two girls, what else could I need?¡¯ At least that is how he tells that story. Somehow my mother always has to laugh when he does but she never told me anything different.¡±
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That must have been only a few years after father¡¯s first wife died. From what Michael had heard his uncle and aunt were much closer to her than they had ever been with his own mother. It must have been crushing to lose her and then absolutely horrifying to have the same thing nearly happen to his aunt too.
¡°It must have been lonely to grow up without any siblings. I could have done without the twins, but the castle feels just so empty without them,¡± Michael said while falling into memories.
¡°It was sometimes,¡± Tara admitted. ¡°But everyone always took care of me. To be honest I was quite overwhelmed oftentimes when I came to visit you guys. Even so, I would have liked to have you more often.¡±
¡°Things sadly rarely go as we want them.¡±
¡°Yeah, but I see you as a brother or at least the closest thing to it, even if you are an idiot sometimes,¡± Tara bounced back from the somber mood.
¡°Then you already understand how siblings work,¡± Michael smirked.
They continued their journey shortly after. Even if they took out every monster they came across, it didn¡¯t feel like they were on a hunt but rather that Tara had a specific destination in mind.
¡°How much farther is it?¡± Michael asked as they climbed a little hill. He was already looking around to see if there were any good camping spots.
¡°Just a few more-,¡± Tara¡¯s voice petered out as he finally reached the top of the hill and gazed down on the other side.
The view was straight out of a fairytale. A clear pond opened up between the trees, reflecting the sun in hundreds of different colors. The vegetation around the water looked more vibrant than anywhere else in the forest Michael had been, and flowers covered the shore.
¡°This is beautiful,¡± Michael said lost in thought.
¡°Look there,¡± Tara poked him, and he followed her pointing.
A large herd of deer was currently drinking on maybe a fourth of the way around the pond from them. Even though they were far away, Michael could see them clearly. It took him a moment to realize that that wasn¡¯t because of his enhanced senses but rather because of the ridiculous size of the animals. The stags were easily as large as a horse.
¡°Are those monsters? That can¡¯t be. Monsters of that size wouldn¡¯t move in groups,¡± Michael said to no one in particular. If these were indeed monsters, then the whole county could be in a lot of trouble.
¡°They are not monsters. They are magical beings,¡± Tara explained, looking back and forth between Michael and the magical deer.
Magical deer? Somehow that thought seemed ridiculous to Michael even if it really shouldn¡¯t. He had seen a dragon and some wyverns after all, and those were more fantastical than some large herbivores.
¡°They are really cool. They don¡¯t mind humans very much as long as you don¡¯t bother them and I heard they can cast a magical shield to protect themselves, haven¡¯t seen that though,¡± Tara rambled on excitedly.
¡°A shield?¡± Erhen asked with a confused expression.
¡°Not sure how they do it, but a hunter swore that they blocked his arrows with some kind of mana shield. That story is what brought me out here,¡± Tara explained.
Michael frowned and focused his vision on the mana. If the pond had been glowing with the reflection light before then now it was positively radiating light.
¡°No wonder everything looks to be livelier here,¡± Michael mumbled before saying a little louder, ¡°The pond is full to the brim with mana.¡±
¡°What? With mana you say?¡± Tara asked and looked over to the water with newfound excitement.
¡°Yes, and that is probably also why the deer are so easily found here. They have to come back to refill their mana wells, or they wouldn¡¯t be able to exist with the current level of atmospheric mana.¡±
¡°But where does the mana in the pond come from,¡± Erhen wondered.
Michael couldn¡¯t do anything but shrug. ¡°You would have to dive down into it to find out. It is probably the same place where the deer came from.¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡± Tara looked at him a little puzzled.
Magical creatures were kind of an obscure path of study due to them nearly completely vanishing since the cataclysm, so it wasn¡¯t a big surprise that Tara didn¡¯t know exactly how they worked.
¡°Magical creatures are not like monsters; they can¡¯t just appear in mana-rich areas. In the seasons of low mana, a magical creature has three things it can do. Firstly, it can go home to its plane of origin, like elementals or demons. Secondly, they can hibernate in mana refuges or deep underground where the mana is thicker. And thirdly they can starve to death.¡±
Michael paused for a moment and then added, ¡°Well, technically they could take a page out of the monster book and consume over sources of mana like the deer are doing. I imagine this wouldn¡¯t be a long-term survival strategy due to the dropping mana levels in everything.¡±
¡°So, what you are saying is that the deer must have either come from a different plane or some mana refuge,¡± Tara continued asking.
¡°It is unlikely that they are from another plane. It is quite hard to open up a pathway on purpose and if it happened on accident then you would have noticed.¡±
Michael had read a theory that mundane creatures could also evolve into magical beings by being exposed to high levels of mana for a very long time, but that theory was neither proven nor was the timeframe for such an evolution much longer than this mana pond could have been here.
¡°Come on, let¡¯s get closer,¡± Tara said and began descending the hill.
¡°I don¡¯t think that is a good idea, sir,¡± Silas interjected but was quickly brushed aside.
¡°Tara said they were friendly as long as we don¡¯t threaten them so it should be fine.¡± Michael¡¯s curiosity had been piqued and he would not let himself be stopped by anything from studying these creatures more closely.
They closed in and the closer they got the more Michael could appreciate the sheer size of the things. The females were smaller, maybe the size of a smaller horse but the stags were positively huge. Michael had guessed them at the size of a horse from a distance but from closer up he sightly adjusted his estimation to the size of a warhorse breed.
The antlers of the stags drew Michael''s attention even more than their size. They were of a crystalline substance that reminded him of monster cores and sparkled to his mana sense.
Michael and the others were quickly noticed by the magical deer, but they didn¡¯t scatter like Michael would have expected. The only reactions they gave the group of humans were a few curious gazes and one of the stags stepped toward them.
He was definitely one of the biggest in the herd and he walked toward them with the confidence of someone who was at the top of the food chain.
The knights tensed up as the stag came closer. The stag looked at them and stopped around twenty meters away.
¡°Calm down. He can feel your tension,¡± Tara told the knights and stepped forward.
¡°Milady, please not again,¡± the knight of Grim pleaded with her.
¡°Oh, come on Gerald. They are peaceful. Just stay here you are making them skittish,¡± Tara replied and motioned Michael to follow her.
Michael and Tara approached the stag carefully. ¡°Always keep calm, they can read your aura so if you get agitated, they might interpret that as aggression.¡±
Michael nodded with a smile as Tara explained the principle of communication via mana to him.
The stag watched them with strangely sentient eyes. It might not be as smart as one of the truly sentient races, but it was not a dumb animal, of that Michael was already certain.
Tara reached the stag first and slowly reached out her hand to the animal. The animal reached out and put its head against her hand.
Michael continued to watch as the mountain of mana-infused muscles moved underneath its skin.
Magical creatures were different from mundane ones. Their whole body was infused with mana down to the smallest parts. This made all these parts stronger as if they were augmenting the whole time and they could do that on top of it. That meant that if you had two outwardly identical creatures the one that was a magical being would be stronger in any case.
The disadvantage of course was that they were dependent on mana, and the more they adapted to it, the more they needed to sustain their great power.
Ideas began to form as Michael watched Tara pet the powerful animal.
¡°Did you ever try riding one of them?¡± Michael suddenly asked.
¡°What? No,¡± Tara replied confused.
¡°Then let¡¯s try,¡± Michael said and softly pushed Tara to the side of the stag. He simultaneously sent an echo of calmness through his mana to the animal which continued to eye them curiously.
¡°Michael, why would I try that?¡±
¡°What was it you said? Don¡¯t be such a wuss. It will be fine trust me,¡± he said and conjured a few steps of light to allow Tara to climb up.
The stag blew some air, and Michael could feel it get a little agitated. ¡°Calm down big boy. I am just helping her up, nothing to be concerned about.¡± He softly slapped the side of the stag a couple of times and felt it relax.
¡°You don¡¯t even know if it will allow me to get on,¡± Tara argued even while climbing the steps of light.
¡°He knows exactly what we are doing. If he didn¡¯t want this then he would have left already,¡± Michael retorted and gave her another shove.
¡°Milord, please don¡¯t do this,¡± Erhen called over from where the knights were standing.
¡°Just stay there. You will frighten him,¡± Michael called back.
Tara finally sat down between the mighty shoulders of the stag and adjusted her position.
¡°Where do I even hold on to?¡± she asked as she let her hands follow the muscles of her mount.
¡°Have you never ridden a horse bareback?¡±
¡°No? Should I have?¡±
¡°Then this is gonna be interesting,¡± Michael smirked. ¡°Just sit further forward and get your legs along the crease between the barrel and shoulder muscles.¡±
She scooted forward a bit and then looked at Michael with a less-than-confident expression.
¡°And now?¡±
¡°Now you hold on for dear life,¡± Michael laughed and clapped the stag on the butt.
The stag instantly jumped forward and Tara bearhugged its neck while screaming in panic.
¡°Don¡¯t panic or you will make him nervous,¡± Michael called after her and only heard part of the response.
¡°HE IS NERVOUS?! I AM, AHHAH.¡±
¡°Milady!¡± Sir Gerald yelled after her as the stag charged toward the pond. The knights stopped next to Michael and watched the heir of House Grim get smaller in the distance.
¡°The stag is moving well,¡± Michael commented as he watched it begin to turn around the pond.
¡°Lord Rowan! How can you let the lady take such a risk?! It will be my head if something happens to her,¡± Sir Gerald turned at him with a red face.
¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry. This is not a horse, he will not throw her off,¡± Michael placated the knight without turning his head.
At least I hope he won¡¯t, he added in thought.
¡°What do you think? Is he as fast as a warhorse?¡± Michael asked.
Silas watched for a few moments and then nodded. ¡°I would say that it could match a charging horse¡¯s speed and it probably could go faster if it wanted to.¡±
The knight surely understood where Michael was going with his question.
It took a few more minutes until the stag returned and Michael could hear Tara yell, ¡°Please stoooop!¡±
The stag dug in its huffs the moment that the plea had finished and came to a sudden halt. Tara got pushed further forward against his strong neck and stayed like this for a few moments even after the stag had completely stopped.
¡°Nice riding, cousin,¡± Michael commented.
¡°You dumb ...,¡± she growled but stopped herself. ¡°Can you please help me off?¡±
The stag huffed in an amused way and Michael couldn¡¯t help but also smirk.
Sir Gerald was faster than Michael at the stag¡¯s side to help his ward off. ¡°Please never do something like this again, milady,¡± he said while lifting her off.
¡°Am I a dreamer or do they have potential?¡± Michael asked Silas.
¡°I believe so if they can be controlled and their mana problem solved,¡± Silas agreed.
Hmm, something I will have to bring up to my uncle. They are in his lands, after all, Michael thought and held his open hand to the stag. If I survive Tara¡¯s vengeance, that is. It sniffed at the monster cores he was offering and quickly devoured the extra mana with a crunching noise.
Chapter 103.
Eydis
It didn¡¯t take long for Sev, Freya, and Eydis to reach the campsite of the remaining members of the Rescar Clan. What followed was a flurry of hugs and overall happy exclamations.
Maybe two dozen left of the clan had numbered in the hundreds before that disastrous night. Eydis didn¡¯t know most of them very well, since mostly those who were either hunters who were rarely home or never lived in the main settlement from the beginning remained. Either way, fewer had survived than Eydis had hoped.
After all the greetings, Eydis, or rather Freya, told their story. It hurt Eydis to lie to them like this, but there was no way to tell them the truth and come out unscathed.
¡°That is our story. What about you people? We heard that the clans are deliberating a Kirhen,¡± Freya asked casually.
¡°There is no deliberating left,¡± a woman named Samira said with a wide smile. ¡°Most clans will join us on our march to vengeance.¡±
¡°Oh, so the meeting is over already,¡± Freya said surprised.
We are too late, Eydis thought and signed at Freya, ¡°We need to know more, maybe I can still talk them out of it.¡±
¡°You are right, it doesn¡¯t really matter. Eydis is wondering about what happened to you guys after that day?¡± Freya completely ignored what Eydis had signed and changed the subject.
What is she doing? Isn¡¯t this exactly why she came here?
¡°Mostly working for this day, to be honest,¡± Sev replied with a shrug. ¡°We did a lot of mercenary work for other clans, trained, and made friends.¡±
They started telling stories of the last years and that quickly turned into reminiscing about past times.
Eydis was subsumed by the feeling of home and shared some happy memories of her childhood, as others did the same.
Freya mostly kept out of it, only faithfully translating for Eydis and listening in. It was hard to push down the feeling of guilt for Eydis for having brought a spy into their midst, but she managed to by just embracing the conversations.
The hours melted away as they drank, ate, and talked until the woman named Samira said, ¡°You must be exhausted after your journey and here we are keeping you into the night.¡±
Sev quickly picked up on that and added, ¡°Oh yeah, how the time flies. Let¡¯s get you two settled for the night and we can continue tomorrow.¡±
Eydis wasn¡¯t that tired, she was an augmenter after all, but she could see that some of her clan members were, and even Freya was starting to look a little bit sluggish.
Their resting place was a simple piece of fabric put up between a few trees and some blankets on the ground. It was still quite warm even though the night had already arrived in full force a while ago so sleeping this exposed didn¡¯t matter to Eydis. She had done similar in the last couple of days anyway even if a bath and warm fireplace would have been appreciated.
Sev put some extra wood on the low-burning fire and bid them a good night a little bit later.
They shared the place with two other women who helped them get settled and then quickly went to sleep. Eydis couldn¡¯t do that right now though and nudged Freya. The spy turned in her blankets and looked at her with a questioning expression.
¡°Why didn¡¯t you translate my words?¡± she signed.
¡°Because they were foolish,¡± the spy replied in sign language. ¡°You don¡¯t just arrive at a place and start asking important questions or try to force your opinion on other people. That is an easy way to make people suspicious. We need to integrate ourselves at least slightly before we even touch that subject.¡±
¡°We don¡¯t have time for that! The decision has been already made. If we do not change their minds now then they will attack the kingdom and hundreds will die,¡± Eydis¡¯s form suffered under her frantic movements and Freya frowned as she tried to correctly understand her.
¡°Calm, Eydis. It will take at least a month before the clans assemble fully. We have enough time to integrate us for a couple of days before starting to ask questions and feel out our possible avenues of action.¡±
¡°So what? We are just gonna play happy family until we can stab them in the back?¡± These kinds of situations were when Eydis missed her ability to talk the most. You just couldn¡¯t be as sarcastic or emotional while relying on sign language in her experience.
¡°Yes. Tomorrow I will send word back that the attack is indeed coming and then we will just lay low for a while,¡± Freya replied, completely ignoring Eydis¡¯s comment. ¡°You must understand that we are not here to reconnect with people. We have a job and if that means burning every bridge, we have ever made then that is what I will do.¡±
Eydis wasn¡¯t there for that, and she was sure that the spy knew that too. There was no trust between them, they barely knew each other after all. But even if they had known each other for years already, Eydis wouldn¡¯t have been sure if she deserved trust right now. She didn¡¯t know where she stood herself so why should anyone trust her?
¡°Isn¡¯t it too early to send notice? Shouldn¡¯t we gather more information before we risk our cover by contacting the others?¡±
Freya raised an eyebrow at Eydis and smirked. She could feel the heat rise in her chest at the expression that a parent would give to their child. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. We will be at no risk.¡±
Eydis wanted to ask how she could be so sure but bit back the question. The spy didn¡¯t trust her that much was clear so she would never tell her something that could threaten her organization anyway.
¡°I was wondering about the story you told about us,¡± Eydis changed the subject. ¡°How much of that was true about you?¡±Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
¡°Nothing.¡±
¡°It didn¡¯t feel like nothing.¡±
Freya chuckled happily. ¡°Then it was a good lie, wasn¡¯t it?¡±
Eydis frowned at the spy but didn¡¯t reply.
¡°Let¡¯s go to sleep. We will need our energy tomorrow,¡± Freya finally signed and snuggled into her blankets. Eydis turned away from Freya and pulled her own blanket up.
Why did I have to be stuck with someone like her of all people? This is all confusing enough without having a shadow that censors everything I say. Maybe she is a way back? Someone placed with me to remind me of the life I am risking?
Those and many other thoughts plagued Eydis until she finally rolled herself to sleep.
The next morning came way too soon and even though Eydis could push away the exhaustion with a little mana she didn¡¯t want to face her own doubts. There was little she could do though; the sun was up and the activity in the camp around her meant that she wouldn¡¯t get any more rest.
With a sigh, she forced herself up and over to the rest. They sat around a pot on a fire and laughed while having breakfast.
¡°Good morning, sleepyhead,¡± Sev said with a smile from his tree trunk.
Sleepyhead was not really the right word for her right now considering that she barely got an hour of continuous sleep. Eydis simply nodded at the others and took a spare spot at the fire. Samira, the woman from yesterday, handed her a bowl of stew.
Eydis gladly took it and eyed the woman while eating. She was tall and athletic, with tanned skin and a hard expression. Her brown curly hair was bound back in a tight braid but still somehow looked wild. She was pretty.
¡°So, is there something to do today?¡± Freya asked from the other side of the campfire.
¡°Not much, we are preparing to go home but it will be a couple of days yet. We will join up with the parties of the closer clans before marching to the village,¡± Sev answered between two bites.
¡°Home? Where is that now?¡± Freya translated Eydis¡¯s question.
¡°The same as it has been. Our old village has been decided to be the staging for our army. Something about a symbolism,¡± Samira said while stirring the pod.
Home, Eydis thought, and a pang of pain ripped through her innards. Was it really home? It was the place where she grew up every winter and left as spring came.
She wasn¡¯t sure. Even if her people tended to value places with a long history, Eydis never cared for places. Home wasn¡¯t a certain area of dirt; home was where she felt safe.
¡°Yeah, it is only right that we start our vengeance from the place where we were wronged, don¡¯t you think?¡± Sev added with a smirk.
¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe they just want to find peace and not be pulled out of their graves by vengeful thoughts,¡± Eydis signed but again Freya didn¡¯t translate her words correctly.
¡°It does have a certain poetic justice to it,¡± Freya said. ¡°I think you made a good decision on the staging ground.
Eydis couldn¡¯t help but scowl at the spy. Of course, she thought it was a good idea. She now knew when and where the clans would gather. A place that Michael knew as well.
That wasn¡¯t why she was annoyed, though. Freya was just doing what Eydis was supposed to. What really vexed her was that she continued to censor what Eydis was trying to say. This was not how she imagined her homecoming to be.
Sure, everyone was happy for her to be here, but she felt a strange distance from them. Whether that was because she couldn¡¯t directly talk to them or something else, Eydis couldn¡¯t tell.
She shook her head to get rid of those thoughts. She only got here and of course; everything wouldn¡¯t instantly go back to the way it was.
¡°Ha, you really think you could take Eydis? This calls for a little reality check, right Eydis?¡± Freya laughed.
¡°What?¡± Eydis signed back, having missed the last few seconds of the conversation.
¡°Sev here is saying that he became quite strong in the last years, and he is the strongest in the clan,¡± Freya explained with a grin. ¡°I told him that you would thrash him, so that title should belong to you.¡±
Eydis glanced over to the man. He had an amused expression on his face. ¡°I am not sure if the training you would get as a Telios servant helped you improve in combat. I am sure you can beat me in where to put my fork though,¡± he taunted her in a companionable way.
The other clan members chuckled and looked over to Eydis to see her reaction. A wide grin plastered itself on her face as she began to sign, and this time Freya translated to the letter.
¡°You would be surprised.¡±
Eydis and Sev stood panting in a cleared ring. Both of them were drenched in sweat and focused on each other.
¡°What the hells were you? A battle servant or something like that?¡± Sev asked between two heavy breaths.
Eydis grinned at the man but didn¡¯t even think about signing a reply. Sev would use that chance to beat her down without an ounce of remorse.
They were in their sixth round already. The first round had been a near instant win for Eydis, due to Sev not considering her a threat. After that, they had proven on much more equal footing.
Now though they were both working on fumes. The three fights after the first had been spectacular with both of them going all out but now there was barely any mana or strength left in their limbs.
Multiple moves blinked through Eydis¡¯s mind but each of them was risky in her current condition. It would be a gamble either way. She would just have to go for it.
Eydis fell into a low stance in a moment and readied to charge. She would throw her ax at him and then duck under his block and blind swipe to get behind him.
Before she could even take the first step a gentle wave of mana stopped her.
¡°I think that is enough for now,¡± Ill¡¯irian said with a fatherly smile. ¡°This victory would mean nothing in your state and if either of you hurt yourself that would be a great loss.¡±
Eydis looked at Sev who slowly nodded and let his shield fall to the ground. Eydis followed his example by putting away the training weapons and then stepping over to him.
¡°You are still as fierce as I remember,¡± Sev said and reached out his hand to her.
¡°And you still fight like an arrogant idiot,¡± Eydis signed back and grabbed his arm. He smiled when Freya repeated her words.
¡°A draw then.¡±
After cleaning up they were joined by the elder druid.
¡°What brings you to us today, Elder Ill¡¯irian?¡± Sev asked.
¡°Oh, I just wanted to see how our lost relatives are being welcomed. I must say I didn¡¯t expect you to fight to the death already,¡± the druid explained.
¡°I was just testing her a little. She is alright,¡± Sev said with a smirk.
¡°We can finish what we started if you wanna find out.¡± Eydis cracked her knuckles, and everyone probably knew what she signed even before Freya spoke the words.
¡°Haha no, I am fine. Everything hurts already,¡± Sev deflected. He then turned back to the druid and said, ¡°It is nice of you to check in on us but that is not all you came for.¡±
Ill¡¯irian smiled and nodded. ¡°Indeed. I wanted to ask if I could join you once you leave for your old village. You are the only group that will go there directly after all.¡±
¡°You are joining the war?¡± Samira perked up.
¡°I get the feeling that the gods want me there, so I will follow.¡±
¡°We will be happy to have you, Elder Ill¡¯irian. It will be a couple of days until we leave but we will keep you informed,¡± Sev said politely.
¡°Good,¡± Ill¡¯irian said, stepping closer to them. ¡°Now come here and let me help.¡±
Warm mana flowed through Eydis as the druid blessed them. It wasn¡¯t the same warmth as Sola¡¯s mana had, it felt more alive. Eydis guessed that it was life affinity as that was somewhat ¡®common¡¯ among the druids.
A poke pulled Eydis¡¯s attention toward Freya. The woman was watching her carefully and signed, ¡°You held back on him, right?¡±
Eydis shrugged and replied, ¡°He is good.¡±
¡°But not that good,¡± Freya continued her sentence, but Eydis simply shrugged again.
¡°I think it was a good idea not to bruise his ego overly. Makes the next weeks easier if he is more intrigued than pissed,¡± Freya signed on.
Everything was about the mission. Maybe it was good that Freya was here with her. It meant that Eydis could focus the next weeks on understanding where she stood between Reen and her clan, while the spy did what she was supposed to.
Eydis watched the clan members joke and laugh and memories of Geron, Sola, Michael, Solon, Kiran, and all the others came to mind.
I will decide before anything else happens, she told herself. I have to.
Chapter 104.
Michael
Michael watched from the wall as his army approached Greyhold. It was an impressive sight, one that he had never seen. Even when assaulting the Ereic Mountains his troops had not been gathered like this.
Tara and Duncan Grim had joined him on the wall and gazed at the soldiers clad in the red and black of House Rowan.
¡°I had heard that you changed your house banner,¡± his uncle noted and strained his eyes to make out the metallic mountain on a black ground with the red Wyvern overhead. He must have seen it before on the knights or Michael, but this was the first time that the count had mentioned it.
¡°Yeah, seemed like a good idea back then,¡± Michael started but his uncle interrupted him before he could finish.
¡°It looks good. Cedric and I never had an eye for aesthetics.¡±
¡°So, you don¡¯t want me to return to the old one?¡±
Duncan looked at him with a smirk. ¡°No. They looked horrible, and we are not ancient families who can¡¯t deal with some improvements.¡±
¡°I see. I will probably add the swords back in though,¡± Michael agreed.
Duncan nodded gratefully and turned his gaze back to the approaching army.
¡°There are more than you promised,¡± he said after a few moments.
He was of course right. In between the colors of House Rowan were two more.
¡°It seems like House Ragar and House Tengel are marching with my men,¡± Michael said. He hadn¡¯t gotten any prior notice about this but due to both houses belonging firmly to the loyalist faction, he didn¡¯t mind. It also helped that he considered their patriarchs to be friends.
¡°If they chose to do so then I will not complain.¡± Duncan shrugged. ¡°Did we hear more from your spy?¡±
Unsurprisingly his uncle did not trust Eydis, and he had clearly stated that he wasn¡¯t happy with Michael¡¯s decision to let her go. But even he couldn¡¯t argue that the information they got from her was good.
¡°They continue to gather in the old village of Clan Rescar. About a third have already arrived when the message was sent and more should follow soon. My source is certain that they will not back down,¡± Michael recounted the information from the last letter.
¡°A week or two then. That should be all we have left,¡± Duncan concluded.
¡°How is Eydis doing with all of this?¡± Tara inserted herself into the conversation.
Michael hesitated. The reports had all come from the operative with the code name ¡®Rat¡¯ and her estimation of Eydis¡¯s loyalty had been less than encouraging.
According to the spy, she was integrating well, showing a sense of belonging, and might even have gotten close with one of the clan members. Overall, Rat was warning about her probably changing sides.
How much of his faith in Eydis was coming from wishful thinking? He couldn¡¯t tell. If he thought about it logically, he would conclude that she would probably turn, but he still wanted to trust her.
¡°She is doing fine as far as I could gather from the notes. She had no problem infiltrating them and no one is suspicious of her,¡± Michael replied after the pause.
Michael could see his uncle¡¯s thoughts on his face, but the man remained silent.
¡°That¡¯s good. I hope she will be okay,¡± Tara said with a smile.
¡°Me too.¡±
- Some time later in the Greyhold courtyard -
¡°Samuel, Richard! What are you two doing here? And that with a whole detachment of soldiers,¡± Michael called out to the two barons as he approached them in the courtyard.
Samuel Ragar reacted first, bowed, and then reached out his hand toward Michael. ¡°Milord. We got your message to be ready for a call to arms. After hearing what this is about and that the House Rowan guard is moving out, we decided to join you immediately.¡±
Michael grabbed his hand and gave it a good press before turning to Richard Tengel.
¡°Ah so you don¡¯t want to miss your part of the glory,¡± he said and also clasped hands with the slightly older baron.
Older was only related to the nineteen-year-old Samuel in this case. Richard was only in his late twenties, after all.
¡°Of course, milord. You know that I always itch to throw myself into the thickest of battles if I am not held down by ten horses,¡± the man joked.
¡°I expect nothing less,¡± Michael said with a smile and let his gaze hover on both of them for a proud moment.
They couldn¡¯t be more different even if they tried. Samuel was a fighter while Richard was much more of a scholar. Samuel was lean and tall, and Richard was shorter and a little corpulent. Samuel was blond and Richard had black hair.
Even with all those differences they had become friends due to their holdings being right next to each other. Probably also because they were both friends with Michael and came to Reen regularly.
¡°So, what have you brought?¡±
¡°Fifty battle-ready men-at-arms and five knights including Samuel,¡± Richard replied.
¡°I am not a knight,¡± Samuel corrected his friend.
It was true that Samuel was a good augmenter but hadn¡¯t achieved the mana sword yet, so he couldn¡¯t technically be called a knight.
¡°Okay so four knights and Samuel,¡± Richard repeated with a humorous roll of the eyes.
Richard sadly didn¡¯t have much in the ways of mana. He did get lucky though. All six of his siblings were girls, which was probably the only reason he ever managed to inherit his father¡¯s title. Michael wouldn¡¯t complain, the man was a refreshing conversation partner.
¡°Either way, I am happy to see the both of you,¡± Michael said with a smile.
Michael then saw that Samuel was looking at something behind him. He turned around to see what it was. Sir Godfrey Pyke and his uncle stood a few meters away deep in conversation.
¡°I assume you heard about my uncle,¡± Michael guessed and turned back to the nobles.
¡°Just about everyone has by now,¡± Richard nodded. ¡°No one can blame you for what you believed. Most of us believed the same.¡±
¡°I am sure the noble faction will anyway. Either way, I will have to make it up to him.¡±
¡°And this sense of responsibility is why we are glad to have you as our liege,¡± Samuel assured him.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
¡°That is nice to hear. Let¡¯s get you in now. You both must be looking forward to some comfort,¡± Michael said.
¡°Idas knows, yes. If I have to sit in a saddle for one more minute, I am gonna throw myself into a river and refuse to swim,¡± Richard complained and walked toward the castle.
He would of course not get the comfort right now. First, they would have to introduce themself to the lord and lady of the castle, then take care of their men''s provisions and housing, and after that, they could get a semblance of quiet.
Michael left them shortly after they started planning the logistics and went over to his retainers who had arrived with the army.
Sola and Geron stood together with Zeke, and Kiran was in conversation with Pan at the edge of the yard. Michael headed for Geron and Sola first.
¡°Michael,¡± Sola called out and hugged him. ¡°How are you doing?¡±
¡°I am fine thanks.¡±
¡°Really?¡±
Michael smiled. ¡°I am good enough.¡±
¡°That has to suffice for now,¡± Geron said. ¡°Where is Eydis by the way? I haven¡¯t seen her yet and would like to talk about training.¡±
¡°She went back to her people to gather intel for us,¡± Michael explained. If there was anyone who could understand his decision, then it would be them.
¡°I see,¡± was the only thing that Geron managed to say. Geron and Eydis had a rocky start or rather a rocky first few years, but Michael knew that he trusted her.
¡°She will be tempted, but I think she will come back to us,¡± Sola declared confidently.
¡°You are probably right,¡± Geron said absentmindedly.
¡°Did any problems arise in my absence?¡± Michael asked to change the subject.
Geron and Sola exchanged glances before Sola answered. ¡°Not much. Viscount Telp has everything under control. The mood of the nobles is a little bit tense though. Mostly because they aren¡¯t sure how to handle our new relationship with Grent.¡±
Michael frowned and looked at them puzzled. What was there not to understand?
¡°To put it bluntly some think that you have been manipulated and are still certain that your uncle is at fault for the death of your family,¡± Geron explained.
¡°That is ridiculous,¡± Michael scoffed but then thought about it more. Maybe it wasn¡¯t so ridiculous if all one got were rumors. ¡°Anyway, that is a problem that should be easily solved after we return home.¡±
¡°I agree,¡± Geron said. ¡°It is nothing but typical politics.¡±
¡°You shouldn¡¯t dismiss the mood of a powerful group of people so easily,¡± Sola admonished him.
¡°I would be busy the whole day if I even tried to keep up with the noble¡¯s moods,¡± Geron replied with a smile.
Michael left them to bicker while Zeke watched passively and walked over to Kiran and Pan.
¡°A forced dimensional shift, you say?¡± Kiran asked with a concerned expression.
¡°Yes, he simply vanished from in between us and I couldn¡¯t find a trace. Michael told me later that he thought he had gone to another plane or dimension,¡± the satyr mage confirmed.
¡°It is as she said,¡± Michael spoke up and instantly had the burning attention of the old mage. ¡°The being called Nayk abducted me to show me scenes of the past.¡±
¡°Not only potent space magic but also time? What kind of creature did you meet?¡± Kiran mumbled to himself. His mind was visibly working as he tried to come up with any theory about this strange magic user.
¡°I don¡¯t know but I doubt she was human.¡±
¡°I agree,¡± Kiran nodded. ¡°At least none of our time.¡±
Michael wanted to ask him what he meant by that, but the mage had already started rummaging through his pack and consulting books,
On the other side of the yard, he spotted someone he hadn¡¯t expected to see. He excused himself as quickly as he had arrived and walked over to the part-giant woman.
¡°Ho adventurers,¡± Michael called out as he approached Clara, the silver-ranked adventurer who he had hunted with in the Cleansing of the Ereic Mountains and her group.
¡°Ho, little lord, who is not so little anymore,¡± the tall woman answered with a warm smile. ¡°Just a little more, and you might even be able to look me in the eye.¡±
¡°Let¡¯s not get ahead of ourselves here. But what are you guys doing here?¡± Michael knew that the actual reason for the mobilization was something that was kept vague so they couldn¡¯t know about the impending invasion.
¡°Heard that you made up with your uncle, and so we thought let¡¯s check out his lands after the number of adventurers shot up in yours. Less competition,¡± she explained.
¡°Makes sense. We did have some problems with Rangda if you were interested in some extra work,¡± Michael offered.
Clara shook her head though, ¡°Sorry, not getting involved in wars and politics if we can avoid it. We generally try to avoid fighting people. We aren¡¯t mercenaries, after all.¡±
¡°I get it, so then good luck in monster hunting but please make yourself familiar with the laws here. A certain magical creature was put under the lord¡¯s protection just a few weeks ago,¡± Michael explained, which garnered him an interested expression.
¡°I mean it, you will not only get a problem with the Grent authorities if you harm any of them,¡± Michael added.
¡°We don¡¯t want any trouble in our home zone, so no worries,¡± Clara waved him off and then looked around a little. ¡°Where is little Eydis by the way? She should be with you, right?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t let her hear you call her little Eydis.¡±
¡°Ah, she likes it.¡±
Michael raised an eyebrow but didn¡¯t prod any further. ¡°She is out on a long-term scouting mission.¡±
¡°Scouting mission, so so,¡± the adventurer said but it was obvious that she had gotten suspicious in just a moment.
¡°Well, I will see you guys around, I expect,¡± Michael said and left them behind.
The day continued with much to do. Getting five hundred men settled took a certain amount of effort, negotiating, and goodwill.
Lord Grim decided to host a small feast as a welcome to their allies so Michael ended up sitting at his table watching the knights and nobles drink and eat.
It wasn¡¯t bad though. He didn¡¯t have to care much about the Grent noble¡¯s scheming and the only ones that were here from his lands were friends. This was also more of a soldier''s feast than a noble''s party which meant loud laughter, war stories, and songs.
¡°I really hope they don¡¯t drink too much, or this will end in a brawl,¡± Tara said while shaking her head.
¡°Your father is not drinking so I think they will behave,¡± Michael noted and pointed toward Duncan with his head.
¡°He did enough of that in the last two years. It is only right that he takes it a little bit slower now,¡± Tara brushed it off and let her eyes wander.
Michael did the same just to see a group of chanting knights around Geron and Sir Helbrect as they were arm-wrestling, presumably with the honor of both knighthoods on the line.
They seemed to be quite evenly matched as both of them started to get red-faced from the strain.
¡°They are going to tear a muscle,¡± Michael said but didn¡¯t get an answer.
Just as he wanted to turn to Tara to see what was distracting her, the table let out a loud crack and crashed through. Geron and Sir Helbrect both crashed into each other and the remains of the table as their support was suddenly gone.
Loud laughter echoed through the hall as the knights helped up their commanders. Sola was with them, her clear laughter cutting through the hall like the ringing of bells.
Michael couldn¡¯t help but smile at the scene and then turned over to Tara. The girl was watching something else entirely, too distracted to notice Michael. He followed her gaze, and his heart began to warm.
Tara was watching her parents who were sitting a few spots to their left. They were chatting like a young couple in love.
¡°They seem to be doing better,¡± Michael commented and startled Tara out of her stupor.
¡°Yeah,¡± was the only thing Tara could say before she looked away to hide her smile. ¡°It is embarrassing though; they are old so they should act like it and not like teenagers on a summer night.¡±
¡°Teenagers on a summer night? Where did you catch that?¡± Michael asked with a raised eyebrow. That phrase somehow seemed familiar to him, but he couldn¡¯t quite place where he had heard it before.
¡°Just thought of it,¡± Tara blurted out, but her face began to redden.
¡°Wait isn¡¯t that the name of that romantic song that the bards sing up and down? About the two teenagers from the hostile families that ¡ª,¡± Michael started but Tara physically stopped him.
¡°I said, I just thought of it. Do you understand?¡± she stared him in the eyes threateningly until he laughed and surrendered.
The evening continued but Michael didn¡¯t feel like staying much longer when people started to get seriously drunk, so he excused himself and left only to be joined by a tipsy Sola.
¡°Finally managed to catch you alone,¡± she said as she slowed down to match his step a little bit unsteady on her feet.
Michael looked at her with a curious expression. ¡°Was there something you need?¡±
¡°I just wanted to talk a bit. You know how it is; men tend to act strong when others are around, so I just wanted to see how you are really doing,¡± she shrugged casually.
¡°A leader can¡¯t show weakness, or he will lose the unwavering faith of his subordinates. Something like that?¡± Michael asked.
¡°Something like that,¡± she confirmed.
¡°Well to be truthful, I am not doing great,¡± Michael didn¡¯t even hesitate to open up to the priestess. She had always been his moral rock. ¡°I was too sure of myself. Maybe that was because I had nothing else to cling to but now, I find myself doubting my own judgment, especially when judging people. Every time I do I think, ¡®What if I am wrong again?¡¯.¡±
¡°This is about Eydis, right?¡±
¡°It is. I am scared that she will leave us,¡± Michael admitted.
¡°You know her better than any of us. What does your heart tell you?¡± Sola looked at him with a comforting smile.
¡°I don¡¯t trust my heart right now,¡± Michael said.
¡°You made a mistake, and I am not going to beat around the bush it was a bad one. You were not the only one to make the same one and you had your reasons for it, but it was a mistake no matter how you look at it. That doesn¡¯t mean that you can disregard all of your intuition and gut feelings just because you were wrong.¡±
Sola stopped him and looked him in the eyes.
¡°You can¡¯t sacrifice trust because suspicion has failed you.¡±
Michael stared at her and something inside him clicked.
¡°You are a guiding light in the darkness, thank you,¡± Michael said and smiled.
¡°Glad to help,¡± she said and suddenly began to sway again.
¡°Sola, how much did you drink?¡± Michael asked worried.
¡°Oh, not that much or a lot. I don¡¯t quite remember,¡± she replied happily.
¡°How did you just give me life-changing advice while being this drunk and I didn¡¯t even notice?¡±
¡°All a matter of practice, my sweet summer child,¡± Sola began to clap his shoulder and then fall in his direction.
¡°This makes no sense,¡± Michael complained as the priestess turned from moral support to physical burden in a matter of seconds.
Chapter 105.
Mira
¡°Deep breaths, Mira. Remember, people take you more seriously if you are calm and polite,¡± Mira said to herself while standing around the corner to Duke Wulfen¡¯s office. She did just that and then turned around the corner with a confident stride.
Two knights of House Wulfen stood guard, and their eyes locked on the princess the moment she came into sight. After bowing the one on the right asked, ¡°The Duke has been expecting you, Your Highness.¡±
Mira nodded, doing her best to appear regal.
¡°I will announce you. Please follow me,¡± the knight replied, bowing again and then vanishing into the office.
¡°Wait here,¡± Mira ordered Sir Antreos and then entered the office.
The office was a large room, one side covered with shelves, the other by a large tapestry depicting a map of the kingdom. A seating area with a small table and two couches stood to her right and a fine carpet covered the ground.
None of this was of much interest to the princess though, she had been in this room before if not that often. She was much more distracted by concentrating on her expression and stride toward Duke Wulfen.
The man was standing behind a massive oak table. It was filled with paperwork and letters but still orderly. Behind him was a large glass window that let light into the room.
The knight quickly announced Mira and then left as she crossed the room slowly.
Duke Wulfen gave her his full attention from the moment she entered. As she approached, she could see that he had an unfinished letter in front of him, but it seemed forgotten now.
¡°Princess, I thank you for taking some time for me,¡± Duke Wulfen started as she sat down.
¡°Of course. In my brother''s absence, you keep the kingdom running, and I assume this is important,¡± Mira replied with a polite smile.
¡°Oh, it isn¡¯t very important, I am sorry if I have worried you, Your Highness. I was just wondering about the multiple messengers that have left the palace in quite a hurry in the last few days. The guards told me that they had permits granted by you, so I thought it might be something important after all,¡± Duke Wulfen mirrored Mira¡¯s smile.
Of course, he would like to know. The news of the impending Rangda invasion had reached them two weeks back but all the council was doing was deliberating. Unluckily Zen had gone on a pilgrimage with their mother in their allied Perios Kingdom and would only return in a couple of weeks, so Duke Wulfen had been given the authority of regency.
Mira knew that the chancellor couldn¡¯t just raise the banners and march down without a plea for help but that didn¡¯t stop her from doing anything.
¡°Just some letters to some friends,¡± Mira said.
Duke Wulfen sighed and looked at the map of the kingdom.
¡°Let¡¯s not start lying to each other, Your Highness. From the direction the messengers left the city from I would assume that these letters went to Duke Greeich, who returned home while the king is gone, and House Mandale in the south-east of the Duchy of Regia. Both quite good friends with Count Grim if I am not mistaken,¡± he deducted.
Mira said nothing and simply waited for the duke to continue. She had known that her actions wouldn¡¯t go unnoticed but there also was nothing wrong with them, so she didn¡¯t really care.
¡°It is quite a good move if you allow me some judgment. If the royal family intervened, it could be seen as an insult or overreach but if friends of Count Grim stepped up then no one could complain.
¡°I just wished you had informed me about this then I could have added my signature to give your plea more weight.¡±
Or delay it for a little longer, Mira thought while thinking about what to say.
¡°My apologies, chancellor. I felt like expediency was more important in this, especially since I feel like the confidentiality of my mail has been questionable for a while. Waiting for the whole palace to know of the letter would have given interested parties more time,¡± Mira explained innocently.
She was pretty sure that most of her letters were being read by someone before being delivered and even though she suspected the duke, she couldn¡¯t be sure it was actually him. There were many different political camps in the capital after all.
¡°That is quite disconcerting to hear. Have letters gone missing or been changed?¡± Duke Wulfen asked while frowning.
¡°They have not. I do believe that some have been read by someone who wasn¡¯t the intended recipient.¡±
¡°Hmm, I can organize additional security around your mail if you wish.¡±
¡°That is very kind of you. There generally is nothing too important in them but should I need it I will let you know.¡±
The duke had shown no inclination of knowing about this subject, but he was an experienced politician. Which meant that Mira didn¡¯t know more than before.
¡°Was that everything you wanted to talk to me about?¡± Mira asked.
¡°It was. I do wish you would trust me more. It is quite difficult to keep a government going when people keep secrets,¡± he replied.
Mira rose from her chair and nodded, ¡°Of course, chancellor.¡±
This meeting was a warning that Mira¡¯s actions were being watched and she somehow got the feeling that the duke had given it for her benefit. Duke Wulfen wasn¡¯t the only one watching after.
Michael
Another day, another meeting. This one was different from the dozen he had been in since arriving at Greyhold, though. It was already past noon because most of the attendees had to nurse their hangovers from last night''s feast.
They were a much smaller assembly this time though. Besides the obvious attendees, Lord Grim, Tara, and Michael, were Geron and Sir Helbrect as the commanders of the knighthood, Baron Willbrok for the Grent nobility, Samuel Ragar for him and Richard, Kiran for magical expertise, Sola and the house priest of Grim a man in his thirties named Ned, and lastly Irem Stanes and a veteran called Dellan for the men-at-arms.
There was such a vast amount of military knowledge gathered around the detailed map that Michael couldn¡¯t see how they couldn¡¯t find a solution for their current predicament, namely, how to deal with an army that outnumbered them three-to-one.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
¡°As all of you already know, we are facing a Rangda attack on a scale we have not yet seen. Our sources speak of three thousand warriors or more. Our goal today is to decide how to deal with this threat,¡± Lord Grim explained.
¡°We have already requested aid from Duke Wallsten, and we expect him in two weeks. We do know that the Rangda are gathering a little under a day''s march from the border in the former winter quarters of the Rescar Clan. At least a thousand warriors have already arrived, presumably more.
¡°In total, we have a little over a thousand men-at-arms and levies, and forty-five knights. Even with Duke Wallsten¡¯s reinforcements and Lord Rowan¡¯s remaining vassals, we will be greatly outnumbered. I can¡¯t guarantee victory in an open battle.¡±
The lord of Grent let his gaze wander over all those present. His expression was hard and even if his words didn¡¯t invoke certainty his eyes screamed with determination.
¡°Now, let us begin,¡± he finished.
¡°What about royal reinforcements, milord? Or Duke Greeich? Have our neighbors been informed?¡± Geron was the first to speak up.
¡°We have sent situation reports to the capital, but I am afraid that they won¡¯t be able to send aid in time. We expect the Rangda forces to be ready in a week or two. Even reinforcements from Duke Wallsten might be too late,¡± Michael replied.
¡°To add to this is that the king is currently on a pilgrimage and not in the capital. Duke Wulfen is in control in his absence, which doesn¡¯t fill me with much confidence for any assistance,¡± Lord Grim added.
¡°If the kingdom gets threatened then he might help. At the latest once we request aid. I can¡¯t see him deny that,¡± Michael disagreed.
¡°Hmm, be that as it might. There is little chance that any reinforcements will arrive from the rest of the realm before the clans get here.¡±
¡°There is always the possibility of holding out in our castles until aid arrives,¡± Dellan, the commander of the House Grim men-at-arms, said. ¡°I do not like it, but someone has to add that option to the discussion.¡±
¡°That would mean the devastation of the entire countryside,¡± Baron Willbrok pointed out.
¡°And it might even spill over into the neighboring counties,¡± Samuel added with a concerned expression.
¡°I have of course considered this as well,¡± Lord Grim said. ¡°The surest way to win in a battle would be to wait for reinforcements from either Duke Greeich or the king. But as you said, they would pillage every village and town from one border to the next and then simply leave once their scouts spot our reinforcements. Which means that we will have to come up with another plan if we do not want to be forced into this one.¡±
He allowed them to think for a while until Sir Helbrect gave the first suggestion. ¡°We could try to ambush them once they enter our territory. They will not expect our increased numbers and if we plan our ambush well, we could mitigate their advantage.¡±
¡°We would need to know their exact route and timeline though,¡± Commander Stanes argued. ¡°They would also be on guard while moving in so the advantage might not be as great as we need.¡±
They might be able to pull it off with the information from the Officio Umbra but the fight that would result from this might still not go their way when outnumbered this badly.
¡°We could stretch the ambush out. Multiple smaller attacks starting in their territory. Make every step hurt and once they are weakened enough, we can consolidate and hit them with everything we have,¡± Geron suggested.
¡°I am not sure if we are able to achieve the mobility for that, the oathbound would catch us. The knights might work out, but we do not have enough of those to whittle down an entire army,¡± Dellan dismissed that idea.
Oathbound was the term the Rangda used for their high-level augmenters, basically the same as Telios did with knights. It came from them swearing oaths of allegiance and protection to their clans.
¡°So, if using normal soldiers for hit-and-run tactics won¡¯t work then why don¡¯t we just use the knights? I do agree that we do not have enough to deal enough damage before they reach Grent but we could evacuate the border regions and pull most soldiers into the castles. With the knights out and about, the barbarians won¡¯t be able to fan out to raid as much or risk their smaller groups being caught,¡± Samuel explained, gaining more confidence as he spoke. ¡°It would still mean devastation, but it would reduce the damage that the county would take while increasing the enemy attrition.¡±
They argued over the plan for a while until finally, Lord Grim interrupted them again.
¡°It is a good plan, but it is not one planning for victory. It is one planning to mitigate our defeat,¡± he said calmly.
¡°Is there a path to victory, milord?¡± Sir Helbrect asked. ¡°Do you have a plan already?¡±
¡°I do. I wanted to see if anyone would come up with anything I had overlooked without being narrowed in by a sense of hierarchy preventing anyone from voicing a differing plan to mine,¡± the lord of Grent explained while rising from his seat at the head of the table.
¡°I like the ambush plan because it is proactive, but why wait for them? I suggest we attack them where they will never expect us.¡±
Lord Grim took the small wooden figurine that symbolized the combined troops gathered at Greyhold and slammed it down next to the Rangda army.
¡°You want to ride out to fight them on their home soil?¡± Count Willbrok exclaimed. ¡°We are struggling to find a way to win against them here where we have the advantage.¡±
¡°But we are planning with the full three thousand enemies,¡± Michael said while inspecting the map. ¡°If I understand correctly, you are planning to hit them as soon as possible before they can assemble?¡±
¡°Indeed. Our last intel tells us that not even half have arrived yet. If we march on them now, we will fight not with three-to-one but more like two-to-one at most. We will also have the element of surprise on our side which will deny them the time to get organized and make up a battle plan,¡± Lord Grim confirmed.
¡°We won¡¯t be able to ambush them though. They will notice us at least a few hours before we get there. So, it will be a contest of strength,¡± Sir Helbrect said. ¡°It¡¯s probably the best we are gonna get though.¡±
¡°I think so too,¡± Lord Grim said and the others agreed one after another.
Michael though was still focused on the map. His eyes began to shift out of focus as a picture got shoved into his mind.
It was dark but he could hear slight movements. A single glint of metal reflected the scarce light of the moon. He heard a hushed order then everything returned to the silence.
Michael blinked as the vision or memory or whatever it was left his mind. He knew that it wasn¡¯t his own but it also didn¡¯t feel like Ferrekxan.
Thank you, old man, Michael thought internally and then returned to the discussion.
¡°The clans are not a coherent army. Many groups have been forced together before a real chain of command could be established if we attack them like this. Even if they see us coming, they won¡¯t be able to coordinate enough, so we might be able to scatter them,¡± Lord Grim said.
¡°What if they didn¡¯t see us coming?¡± Michael asked and everyone turned to him.
¡°That would be a slaughter, but I don¡¯t see a way how we could ever get our whole army through all of their scouts, hunters, and patrols without being spotted,¡± Geron replied.
¡°I think it is possible,¡± Michael said and that caused multiple people to frown while others looked at him with curious expressions. ¡°You did it before, uncle.¡±
¡°They didn¡¯t expect us then, and it was in the middle of the winter so few were outside of the village who could have spotted us,¡± Lord Grim replied.
¡°They don¡¯t expect us this time either and the time we need to get there is much shorter because we do not fight through the snow. Now the only thing we need is fewer patrols. So, we march at night,¡± Michael explained with a smile on his face.
¡°March through the night and hit them shortly before dawn. That could actually work and if the first inkling of what is happening is the screams of dying men, then our victory is basically assured,¡± Commander Stanes said while inspecting the map.
¡°Stumbling through the dark is bad enough but doing so in enemy territory while trying to avoid detection with be damn near impossible,¡± Baron Willbrok said, he sounded more like he was thinking about how to do it rather than arguing against it.
¡°We need to send advanced units anyway to eliminate any patrols or scouts that remain even after dark. They can mark the path for the main force,¡± Sir Helbrect suggested.
¡°If they catch wind of this we will be in a horrible position. Caught in unfamiliar lands surrounded by darkness,¡± Samuel noted. ¡°We also won¡¯t get reinforcements from either Duke Wallsten or the nobles of Reen and Emall in time.¡±
It was an unlucky happenstance, but it couldn¡¯t be changed. Michael would have loved to call his banners earlier, but Lord Plon¡¯s plot had made that impossible. Right now, everyone thought that Dittrich was out on a long-term scouting mission, and no one had questioned that. But if his father arrived here and started getting suspicious that his son might have already tried his luck then Michael would have a civil war at hand very quickly.
Now it was too late, and they would have to make do with what they had.
¡°We will need to be careful and decisive at the same time. Our forward squads will carry the weight of this whole operation, it seems,¡± Kiran sighed, knowing fully well that he would be a part of that.
A loud laugh pulled them all out of their contemplation and everyone looked over to Lord Grim who was grinning broadly.
¡°This is our path to victory. It is risky but this is war and those who take no risks have already lost. Brace yourselves we have a lot of planning to do and not a lot of time,¡± he announced loudly.
Chapter 106.
Freya (Rat)
Freya left the command tent with a sweet smile toward one of the men inside and quickly made her way away from it into the dark.
Her expression fell the moment she had left their eyesight. As she walked, she began scribbling on a small piece of paper and nearly missed a man in a long robe stepping in front of her.
She put on a friendly smile and greeted the man, ¡°Oh, Elder Ill¡¯irian. How nice to meet you. What brings you out here this early?¡±
It was early, very early. The sun would probably show its first tendrils in an hour or two, and the camp was still very much asleep. The command tent was a little bit of a different matter as most chiefs were oathbound, so they slept less and also had to take care of patrol routes and similar.
Freya had befriended one of the chiefs, an old man named Thooben. She was glad that the man looked at her more like a daughter than something more troublesome.
That didn¡¯t matter now though, she first had to focus on the druid in front of her.
¡°Ah, what a coincidence to find you here, Freya. I, too, am quite the early bird, but normally, I tend to go out to pick some herbs around now,¡± the man explained with a genuine smile. How about you? You are a little bit too early to join any patrols.¡±
He looked past her toward the command tent. It was clear to Freya that he knew exactly where she came from.
¡°I have been thinking about scouting out the border in the next few days and talked with Chief Thooben about it,¡± Freya lied. She had indeed talked with the old chief about it but only to get a look at the patrol plans. It was harder than she liked because the clans were not much on documents and more verbal in their planning, but she made it work. She always had a talent for guiding conversations.
¡°That would be very helpful, especially with your knowledge about the kingdom and their language. You could even cross the border and visit a village to see if they are even remotely expecting us,¡± Ill¡¯irian said thoughtfully.
¡°Hm, I don¡¯t know. I would rather not return to the kingdom without an army,¡± Freya replied playing hesitant.
¡°Understandable. Will young Eydis join you on your scouting mission? I heard that she was integrating well. You both, to be honest.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know. Eydis wants to catch up on the time she lost with her friends. I get that, I wish I could do the same. But that means I don¡¯t know if I can convince her to leave,¡± Freya shrugged.
Ill¡¯irian stepped forward and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. ¡°Give her time. I know it must feel bad to seemingly be left out, but you will find your place soon enough.¡±
Freya smiled at the druid. He had no idea what this was really about.
¡°Well, you go on then. The camp is about to rise, and I want to be gone before all of them fill the pathways,¡± Ill¡¯irian said with a wink and then turned away.
Freya didn¡¯t pay him much mind after that and made her way back to the Rescar part of the camp. It was closest to the ruined village and a little way away from the center.
The camp had grown significantly in the last weeks. Around two thousand warriors were present, and the rest were expected in the next week.
She had continually sent updates back to her superiors but she herself knew nothing of what was happening on the other side of the border. It made sense for security reasons, but it still grated on her nerves to see their enemies gather and prepare without knowing if the Radiant Soul and his allies would be up to the task.
It took her a couple of minutes, but she finally reached the camp. As expected, it was mostly barren with only a few sunrays starting to creep over the horizon.
I could nearly call it peaceful, if this wasn¡¯t a camp of savages intent on burning down half the kingdom, Freya thought as she sat down next to the central campfire and began to stoke it. Might as well make some breakfast.
Another half an hour later the first members of the clan began to rise from their tents.
Eydis was among them coming out of the tent they were sharing with Samira and another woman. Freya could see Samira still lying on the furs grasping at the newly emptied space next to her.
¡°Slept well?¡± Freya asked Eydis with a judgmental gaze.
¡°Better than you apparently,¡± she signed back while looking into the pot.
¡°You are getting a little bit too familiar with the natives, don¡¯t you think,¡± Freya now also signing.
¡°Just blending in. Besides we enjoy each other¡¯s company is that a problem?¡± Eydis replied and gave Freya a hard look.
If I die then it will be because of her, I am sure about that, Freya thought but dropped the subject. They had had this discussion too often already for Freya to still bother.
One after another the remaining residents of their part of the camp woke up and joined them. Samira was pointedly sitting down close next to Eydis and gave Freya a friendly smile, which Freya returned.
Getting emotionally attached in the middle of a mission. I don¡¯t know what the higher-ups were thinking, allowing her to come out here.
The meal went over without anything notable happening. They were a happy bunch, a lot of laughter and teasing.
Sev especially was always in the middle of any banter. He seemed like a nice and happy man, but Freya didn¡¯t trust him one bit. She had seen men like him before, burying all the anger and pain under a facade of humor.
Freya wondered what would happen if this man survived and achieved his revenge. Would he just cease to exist with his only goal in life achieved? Or would he start living for something better than revenge?
Those musings had kept Freya occupied lately. There wasn¡¯t much happening, and the clans had been too welcoming sometimes for her taste. There was no challenge here. Well, except for Eydis. With every passing day, Freya became surer that this woman would be a problem but no matter what she reported she always got the same answer.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
¡®Keep an eye on her and continue as is.¡¯
¡°I¡¯m gonna go pay my respects, anyone wanna come with?¡± Sev asked, which caught Freya¡¯s attention.
They did that regularly. Visit the graves in the village to say some prayers and ¡®talk¡¯ to the deceased. In the end, it was Samira, Eydis, Freya, and Sev who went this time.
¡°Eydis, this is a good chance to talk to them about abandoning their quest,¡± Freya signed. She was being careful with the signs she used, due to Eydis teaching Sev and Samira a little bit of the language.
¡°Now is not the time,¡± Eydis blocked her off, but Freya didn¡¯t stop.
¡°You are running out of time. Once the rest gets here then it will be too late. You need to do it now if you intend to convince them at all.¡±
¡°I will. I just need the right time.¡±
Freya sighed. ¡°Many of them will die if you don¡¯t¡±
Eydis ignored her and caught up to the other two without saying another word.
At the cemetery, they did the typical. Talking to the graves, praying, and generally being miserable. Freya didn¡¯t really understand this practice, but she knew it was important to act accordingly.
¡°It feels like they are still here after all these years,¡± Samira noted quietly.
¡°Their spirits call for revenge. They will not rest until they have been avenged,¡± Sev replied and a hint of the anger he was hiding showed itself in his clenched fists.
¡°They will rest, they just need time,¡± Eydis signed but Freya hesitated to translate her words. After a short moment, she decided to give the woman a push.
¡°She said: What if our desire for revenge is what is keeping them here,¡± Freya said and kept eye contact with Eydis while doing so. She could see her eyes twitch and her lip quiver.
Freya knew that she hated it when Freya didn¡¯t translate properly but the spy didn¡¯t care. She had to get this going or they would just live a happy life until reality hit, and any action would be too late.
¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Sev asked tensely.
Freya continued to fixate on Eydis¡¯s eyes. There was no doubt that the spy would push it if Eydis didn¡¯t, and she knew it.
¡°Is seeking revenge really in the best interest of the clan? We might lose the few people we still have,¡± Eydis replied reluctantly, and Freya translated faithfully.
¡°What else are we supposed to do? Forgive and forget?¡± Sev chuckled as if Eydis¡¯s reply had been a joke. ¡°We will pay them back a thousandfold for what they have done to us.¡±
Freya could see on Eydis¡¯s face that she didn¡¯t like being dismissed like that. She had to force down a smile as she could see the fire start in her compatriot¡¯s eyes.
Thanks for the assist, Sev, Freya thought.
¡°You won¡¯t find those that killed our people, Sev. They won¡¯t meet us in the open until their whole kingdom responds and then we will be outnumbered badly.¡±
¡°There are more ways to take revenge than to kill them directly. If they won¡¯t come out to fight us then we will take our wrath to their lands until they do,¡± Sev shrugged.
¡°And what is that gonna solve? We are gonna go there, they will hide in their castles. We slaughter the innocent people that had nothing to do with what happened to us and then leave once the rest of the angry kingdom gets there?¡± Eydis asked with a deep frown.
¡°There are no innocents. They didn¡¯t care when they razed our village about innocents so why should we? We will get our revenge for the fallen, one way or another,¡± Sev still didn¡¯t seem to notice that his dismissive attitude only fanned the flames of Eydis¡¯s temper.
¡°And then what? They will seek vengeance and burn down even more villages. How many will survive after that? Don¡¯t you see this is an endless circle?¡±
¡°It will end when every one of them is dead,¡± Sev''s voice became harder, and he began to visibly get annoyed.
¡°And you think that is gonna be the outcome? Are you completely out of your mind? They have more people; more soldiers and they have one leader! We attack them and kill some, then they will come and kill some of us and on repeat until no one from our side is left,¡± Eydis signed back.
Maybe I should mellow it down a little bit, Freya thought but Eydis caught the hesitancy instantly and Freya could feel her aura push in on her.
¡°You started this, so you will translate every word, or I swear I will rip your throat out, and then you can see how it feels to be purposely mistranslated.¡±
Freya raised her hands in surrender and wondered if she might have pushed her too far.
¡°What is your great plan then? Let our fallen wallow in agony because we are too scared to fight!¡± Sev was starting to get red in the face.
¡°Better than seeing our clan end in a senseless search for vengeance,¡± Eydis shot back.
¡°We will be long gone before they can match our strength and they wouldn¡¯t even dare to follow us that deep into clan lands,¡± Sev argued.
¡°Oh, I have heard that one before!¡± Freya knew that Eydis would regret that one, but she wasn¡¯t about to be pummeled to death for stopping her.
Sev took a step back as if he had been hit straight in the face. Eydis instantly lost all of her anger as she realized what she had just thrown at him.
¡°Stop it, both of you,¡± Samira finally stepped into the discussion after silently watching until now. ¡°Don¡¯t say anything more that you will regret.¡±
¡°I¡¯m sorry, Sev. I didn¡¯t mean to,¡± Eydis tried but Sev shook his head.
¡°No, you are right. Those words were what I used to convince the clan of the raid which ultimately caused our downfall. I was arrogant but things are different now. I am no longer a young fool, and we are no longer just one clan.¡±
¡°Then you should at least listen to what I am trying to tell you,¡± Eydis tried again.
Sev simply shook his head. ¡°Even if I wanted to, I couldn¡¯t. I made an oath and the Rescar don¡¯t break their oaths.¡±
I am ready to break mine for you, was basically written on Eydis¡¯s face but Freya doubted that the other two barbarians would be able to discern the expression¡¯s meaning.
¡°It is late already, I have to get to the command tent,¡± Sev said and began to walk away.
¡°I don¡¯t want to lose you again,¡± Eydis made Freya call after him, but he didn¡¯t react.
¡°You are not gonna convince him to change his mind, you know? He only has his revenge left,¡± Samira said as she stepped next to Eydis.
¡°What about you?¡± Eydis asked.
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°I mean, what do you think about what I said?¡±
¡°This is everything we have been working toward for years. You can¡¯t expect us to just give it up,¡± Samira replied but then sighed. ¡°To be honest, I don¡¯t really have anyone left. My parents were dead long before the attack, I only had my grandmother, and she died shortly after the attack. I just went with it for most of the time because what else was there?
¡°I am not saying that you are now my reason to live or something romantic like that. I do see where you are coming from though. Sev does not care if we make it out of his revenge plan.¡±
Eydis looked at the other woman with expectant eyes until she finally groaned.
¡°Fine, I will see how the others feel about this but only because you have such adorable eyes,¡± Samira caved.
Freya would have been impressed by Eydis¡¯s manipulatory abilities if she wasn¡¯t sure that the woman had meant every sign she had made.
¡°Come on, let¡¯s go hunting, we need to bring something nice back, over which I can get a conversation started,¡± Samira said and began walking away.
Freya smiled at Eydis and waved. She only returned a hard gaze that clearly got across what she thought of Freya¡¯s stunt.
The spy didn¡¯t care though, she was quite happy with the situation. Either she had managed to start putting a rod between Eydis and her clan mates or she had helped her get them to stand down, either way was fine.
She watched them disappear and then made her own way back to the camp. She had to prepare a note to pass to one of her contacts with the patrol routes she had been tasked to get.
Freya passed through a group of warriors on her way and suddenly stopped. She had felt a small tug on her pants. It took only a moment to find the little piece of paper someone had placed in her pocket.
She frowned as she read it, took a look around, and then made her way straight to the edge of the camp.
Ill¡¯irian
The druid sat in a small gathering of trees breathing slowly while feeling the life mana all around him. Life affinity was probably the second most common atmospheric type as traces of it existed in everything living even if only very few not blessed with the affinity could detect it.
This meditation was a daily ritual for him. Life magic revolved mainly around living things, so being able to feel and understand them was vital to him.
A chirp alerted him to his companion just a moment before it landed on his folded hands. Ill¡¯irian slowly opened his eyes and looked at the little thrush.
¡°What is it, my friend?¡±
A few more chirps caused the druid to frown.
¡°Freya got a message and then hurried out of the camp? Curious,¡± Ill¡¯irian mumbled to himself. He had kept an eye on the two new additions to the Rescar clan and though he couldn¡¯t find any evidence of wrongdoing, this Freya seemed too interested in integrating with the chieftains.
¡°Show me the way. Let¡¯s see what she is up to,¡± Ill¡¯irian decided and pushed himself to his feet.
Chapter 107.
Ill¡¯irian
For over an hour, Ill¡¯irian had been following Freya through the forest. It wasn¡¯t hard to keep behind her, the woman didn¡¯t seem to be very adept in avoiding tracking, and with a bird on her heel she never stood a chance
Ill¡¯irian wondered where she was going exactly. First, he had expected her to move toward the Telios border, maybe to meet with someone, but then she had turned west. The druid wondered for a moment if his suspicion had been unfounded and if his gut feeling had been completely wrong.
This is why I haven¡¯t accused her of anything, he thought. I will see where she goes and once, I have evidence of anything sinister I will apprehend her myself. No reason to destroy a promising young life without certainty, is there?
It took a little bit longer until Freya finally came to a halt in a little opening. A tall linden tree stood in its center with its voluptuous crown and pale green leaves. A white piece of cloth hung from one of the lower hanging branches, it looked like it had been there for a long time but now Freya was reaching up to it. Something was tied to the cloth, but Ill¡¯irian couldn¡¯t see it well from where he stood.
Ill¡¯irian continued to watch from a hidden place between an oak and an especially large shrub. This all felt more like a meeting of secret lovers than a meeting of spies or criminals. He sincerely hoped that it was just that.
¡°You can come out, Ill¡¯irian,¡± Freya said loudly while having her hand hover just below the white cloth. ¡°I noticed you following me a while back.¡±
Hmm, maybe she is not as inadept as I thought, Ill¡¯irian thought. There was little use trying to hide now if she even used his name.
¡°What a coincidence. I was gathering herbs and saw you sneaking through the forest. Can¡¯t blame me for worrying,¡± the druid said as he stepped out into the open with a welcoming smile.
¡°Oh, that is what you saw?¡± Freya asked surprised. ¡°You sure it wasn¡¯t me reading this and then hurrying out of camp?¡± She held up a small piece of paper and blinked at him innocently.
¡°You lured me here,¡± Ill¡¯irian realized and instantly became tense. The mana all around them began to shift as he flexed his power.
¡°To be honest, I was so sure that no one had caught on to me and Eydis. You were all so nice and welcoming. Sure, I had my suspicions about you, but I thought why would you just do nothing if you suspected me, you weren¡¯t doing nothing though, were you?¡±
Ill¡¯irian didn¡¯t reply, he rather began to mutter a spell chant under his breath.
¡°Well, even if I wasn¡¯t aware that you were onto me, you can¡¯t fool the grandmaster. The grandmaster is really suspicious,¡± Freya continued rambling as if the mage wasn¡¯t currently preparing a spell to throw at her.
Ill¡¯irian held the spell in place and inspected the woman in front of him. ¡°The grandmaster? Who is that? Aren¡¯t you working for Lord Grim?¡±
¡°What? No, we do not work for Lord Grim. And about the grandmaster, why don¡¯t you find out yourself?¡±
Ill¡¯irian could feel multiple figures close in on them. Six in total with Freya added to the count. They were all wearing different kinds of animal masks.
He couldn¡¯t sense too much mana from any of them and even if they had him surrounded, he was still a mage and six on one were good odds.
¡°So are you the grandmaster?¡± Ill¡¯irian asked a woman with a fox mask. She was definitely the strongest of the assassins. The fox-masked woman cocked her head but didn¡¯t reply.
¡°She is not,¡± Freya said and reached up to the object hanging from the white cloth. It turned out to be a mask and once she had donned it, he recognized it as a rat.
Fitting, he thought but focused mainly on identifying their leader.
¡°Why don¡¯t you turn around and greet our master,¡± the rat-masked assassin suggested, her voice no longer jovial but frighteningly dull.
There is no one behind me, Ill¡¯irian thought but still gave it a look. He could feel all the assassins so turning his eyes away from them would only invite them to be reckless.
Just as he turned, he froze in place. Behind him a few meters away stood a tall figure. Its body was covered in a long mantle to such an extent that Ill¡¯irian couldn¡¯t even discern if it was a man or a woman. A lynx mask hid its face, with the rest of its head being covered by a hood.
Its presence was completely hidden from Ill¡¯irian, no not hidden, it didn¡¯t exist. There was not a speck of life affinity mana anywhere in that creature. It might as well have been a crafted statue.
¡°You play with your prey too much, Rat. It is not necessary to share so much with our target, even if he is not going to return to his people,¡± the deep disconcerting voice echoed through the clearing.
¡°My apologies, grandmaster,¡± the assassin named Rat replied.
Sweat began to run down Ill¡¯irian¡¯s brow. He was confident that he could take on the six assassins he had initially noticed, but that man, that thing, scared him to the core.
I need to warn the others, he thought and sent an intent to his thrush companion who was sitting on a nearby branch.
The sound of a wet noise and then something hitting the ground drew his attention over to the tree line where he saw his thrush lying on the ground with a throwing knife firmly embedded in its center.
¡°You shouldn¡¯t be so overt with your mana, druid. It betrays you,¡± the deep voice came again and Ill¡¯irian looked back to the lynx mask. He had his arm raised in the direction of the thrush. Ill''irian hadn¡¯t even noticed him move at all.
¡°I guess I will have to fight my way out then,¡± Ill¡¯irian declared and let the spell he had been holding this whole time escape his grasp. Roots shot out from around him at the assassins in all directions.
¡°You may try,¡± the grandmaster said calmly before also blurring into motion.
Eydis
Eydis lay awake on her blankets with Samira sleeping deeply right next to her. She was thinking about their conversations with the other clan members. It had been a sad affair for Eydis, most were totally ready to die for vengeance, and the few that didn¡¯t have feelings that strong would be going with what the majority would do. It would take some time to convince anyone if it was even possible.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
Do I want to watch them all die? They will meet much stronger resistance than they have the faintest idea of, but would their plan change even if they knew?
If I stay, then I would basically either fight against Michael and the others or become part of a suicide pact. That is not the life that I want.
Her thoughts move on to her other family, the one she had left behind to come here.
It wasn¡¯t a mistake to come, she decided. But maybe it is a mistake to stay.
This thought had come to her multiple times on this night already and it was always partially balanced out by her guilt and wish to belong with her people.
The important question is if I think I can change their minds, because if I can¡¯t then I won¡¯t be running into a senseless end with them.
A rustle broke her out of her pondering, and he noticed Freya return to their tent. Eydis frowned and pushed herself up on her elbow.
¡°Where have you been? It has been hours,¡± Eydis signed with one hand hoping that the other woman could see enough in the darkness.
It really had been long. So long in fact that sunrise would come in maybe an hour or two.
Freya crouched down next to her and began to sign quickly, ¡°Follow me.¡±
¡°Where to?¡±
¡°Just come.¡±
Eydis could feel a change in the spy, so she got up but didn¡¯t make any effort to follow her.
¡°Where?¡±
Freya pulled an annoyed expression, something that Eydis had never seen from the normally so controlled woman.
¡°We need to leave now. I don¡¯t have time to discuss it, it is an order from the Radiant Soul,¡± Freya signed but this time waited for an answer.
Why would Michael call them away? Did something happen? Do I want to leave?
¡°Why? You are hiding something from me, I know it,¡± Eydis signed back. She had gotten at least a little bit familiar with the spy.
¡°Fuck,¡± Freya mumbled and then returned to using sign language. ¡°They are gonna attack this camp, okay? Full-on assault and they do not want us to be here when that hits.¡±
Eydis stared at the spy in the dim light star and campfire light coming into the open tent.
They are gonna attack the camp? Hundreds will die. Her gaze wandered to the sleeping Samira and then to the other woman sleeping in the tent. They will die.
¡°When?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±
¡°Bullshit.¡±
Freya narrowed her eyes at Eydis. ¡°Fine, I know but I am not gonna tell you.¡±
¡°We need to get them out,¡± Eydis signed and turned to the others.
¡°Wait,¡± Freya hissed quietly.
Eydis turned back.
¡°If you do that then the attack will be revealed.¡±
¡°I can¡¯t just let them die!¡±
¡°And you are gonna sacrifice your friends for them? People you just met again after years? If you try to save them and reveal the attack, then it won¡¯t be just Lord Grim and his men that you put in danger. It will be Michael, Geron, Sola, Kiran, Erhen, Lance, Silas, Zeke, and all those others that you know.
¡°The people that took you in and accepted you as part of their family. Are you ready to bury all of them for these people?¡± Freya looked at her with a disbelieving expression as she moved her hands.
¡°These people are my clan,¡± Eydis shot back angrily but she couldn¡¯t deny that she was hesitant.
If I just get them to leave with me without revealing the attack then everything will be fine, she told herself knowing fully well how unrealistic that was.
¡°Fine, I guess we are doing this,¡± Freya signed and then theatrically threw her hand up. ¡°They don¡¯t give a shit about you, Eydis. Sure, they are happy that you are back, but they wouldn¡¯t even hop over a puddle to save you if it risked their revenge.¡±
¡°What are you even talking about?¡± Eydis seemingly dismissed her, but she couldn''t help but be curious.
¡°You really haven¡¯t noticed? They never came looking for any of those abducted. They talked about fighting for that clan, making friends with that guy, earning the respect of that druid, but I never heard even one of them mentioning slipping over the border to look for survivors.¡±
¡°That ... They couldn¡¯t it would have put them at too great of a risk,¡± Eydis argued.
¡°Right, the risk. You know I didn¡¯t want to come here to get you,¡± Freya was visibly upset now. ¡°I reported again and again that I expect you to turn on us, that you are a liability, that you could not be trusted. And you know what I got as a reply?¡±
She took out a piece of paper from her pocket and threw it at Eydis. She caught it easily and looked at it with strained eyes against the darkness.
¡®Get her out before the attack. Tell her everything. I trust her.¡¯ The handwriting was definitely Michael¡¯s.
¡°Who would you rather belong to, the people that didn¡¯t even look for you because it would risk something fleeting like revenge or those that would risk everything because they trust you?¡±
Eydis bit down on her lip. She knew what the right answer was.
¡°If I leave like this now, they will die,¡± Eydis signed slowly.
¡°And if you warn them then the others will probably all die. You need to decide who to save. You can¡¯t have it both ways,¡± Freya looked at her with a sad expression. If that was honest or just meant to manipulate her Eydis had not the mental space to ponder right now.
Eydis stood there for a long while pondering.
¡°If you wake up before I return get them to safety, please,¡± Eydis finally signed.
¡°Wha-,¡± Freya said just before Eydis reached her and knocked her out cold.
She put the spy onto her bedroll before heading out of the tent.
I hope she makes it out in time, Eydis thought. Even if she thought the spy to be annoying, she had never done anything to Eydis that would cause her to wish death on the woman.
Eydis had to be fast, she guessed that the attack was close, if only to reduce the damage that Eydis¡¯s betrayal could inflict should she choose the other side. Freya¡¯s insistence to leave immediately only strengthened her suspicion.
It took her only a few moments to reach Sev¡¯s tent. If she managed to convince him to leave right now, then she could get them all going before anything happened.
He wasn¡¯t there.
Eydis hurried out of their section toward the main part of the camp. If he wasn¡¯t in his tent, then he might be in the command post. If she couldn¡¯t find him there then she would be screwed.
Hurrying through the still-sleeping camp she made sure to move quietly. Eydis didn¡¯t intend to make a ruckus and wake everyone.
She reached the command tent quickly and barged in before the guards could stop her.
Sev was indeed here, and he wasn¡¯t alone. Three other chieftains were with him, all of them looking up at her as the guards stormed in behind her.
It took only a moment for Sev to dismiss them and pull Eydis over to a corner of the tent.
¡°What are you doing here?¡± he asked.
Now was the moment that Eydis realized that she had no good way of communicating with him. Sure, he knew a couple of signs, but she actually needed to argue with him.
There was no time for anything else, so she simply pointed at herself and him and then at the exit.
¡°You want us to go outside?¡± Sev raised an eyebrow at her gesture.
Eydis pointed outside in a more pronounced movement to show that she meant farther than just outside.
¡°Is this about earlier again? I told you I can¡¯t just leave this campaign,¡± Sev caught on fast. Eydis sent a quick thank you to the gods.
She tried to convey a feeling of safety and pleading with her mana and looked at him intently.
¡°Let¡¯s not do this right now. We can talk later with Freya. This is senseless,¡± Sev shook his head.
He wanted to turn away, but Eydis grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him to look her in the eyes.
A faraway noise reached her ears. A scream? Something else?
Sev seemingly heard it too as he cocked his head to better listen, but Eydis shook him to refocus him on her.
She pointed at herself and at him and then outside and put all the urgency into the movement as she could.
¡°What is wrong with you tonight?¡± Sev asked. He looked completely confused and Eydis couldn¡¯t really blame him.
Out of sheer desperation, she did something that she hadn¡¯t done for years. She opened her mouth and ever so slowly pushed out some words. They were muddied and mispronounced, everything people without tongues could manage but they were words.
¡°Please, we need to leave.¡±
Sev stared at her lost for words when a single blaring horn cut through the night, followed by a second blow just a moment later.
¡°Enemy attack?¡± one of the other chieftains exclaimed with an uncertain voice.
The other two seemed to grasp the situation more quickly and hurried to grab their weapons.
Sev on the other hand continued to stare into Eydis¡¯s eyes. ¡°You knew.¡±
Eydis couldn¡¯t deny it. It wouldn¡¯t even help if she did.
Sev fell back from her with a mortified expression. ¡°Traitor!¡±
The other chiefs gave her a short glance but quickly seemed to decide that the enemy attack was much more pressing than whatever happened between the two clan mates.
Eydis wouldn¡¯t let that happen though. She moved between them and the exit with preternatural speed pulling an ax from the weapons rack.
¡°You are betraying your people,¡± Sev yelled at her.
Eydis hesitated for a moment and then shook her head.
¡°I chose new people,¡± she said slowly. Eydis didn¡¯t care if they could understand her drooling speech, it was more of a declaration of her decision than something anyone needed to know.
Chapter 108.
Geron
Geron¡¯s world had become blood, steel, and screams.
It had taken a lot to get to this point. Some would say fortune had smiled on them, but Geron believed that planning and the skill of execution had been a much more vital factor in their successful ambush.
The markers on their path guiding them to their destination.
The intel over the enemy patrol routes, paired with the ruthless assaults of the knights.
The tireless advance of the soldiers no matter the darkness or exhaustion.
They all felt exhausted from an entire night of marching. Mana did much to alleviate its toll, and no one was holding back. It was no use conserving mana; this fight would be over within the hour, one way or another.
All those acts of skill and determination had brought Geron into the middle of the speartip. Thirty knights, the might of the Houses Rowan and Grim, backed by the elites of their respective men-at-arms.
It had been a slaughter from the moment they had left the darkness. The guards were first prevented from raising the alarm by well-placed arrows and then trampled into the dirt by armored boots.
Their objective was simple, charge and fight. Don¡¯t stop for anything until you reach the target, and the target is the enemy command tent.
They would cut their way straight into the middle of the enemy camp, splitting them apart and killing as many leaders as possible.
However, the tactics didn¡¯t matter much right now as blood and screams were all that mattered.
Geron was near the front of the assault, Lord Grim to his left and Zeke to his right. The enemy resistance was disjointed for now, with small groups of inexperienced warriors charging them and being cut down in a spray of blood.
The more experienced enemies were pulling back from them, probably gathering into a larger force further inside of the camp. Geron hadn¡¯t noticed any oathbound on a knight¡¯s level yet, but mages were prevalent.
Fireballs, wind blades, and vines erupting from the ground were the most common forms of magical attacks that the wall of knights had to face. It would have slowed them down to a crawl if they had to face all that alone.
Kiran and Pan were running right behind the first line of knights. The two mages had become a deluge of mana as they labored to keep the formation from being disrupted by enemy spell attacks.
Geron had mostly managed to ignore these attacks, fully trusting in their support to take care of them while the knights advanced. It was risky but if you couldn¡¯t trust the man beside you to do their job then the war was lost from the start.
Another greenhorn warrior threw himself into the way of the knights. He might have been imagining himself heroically sacrificing himself to stall the kingdom¡¯s attack, but reality was seldom so forthcoming.
Geron¡¯s sword cut through the youngster¡¯s ax with frightening ease and split the man open from shoulder to his stomach. The difference in strength and equipment was too vast.
He didn¡¯t even pay the man a moment of attention more as he simply stepped over him, trusting someone behind him to finish the lad off if needed.
Lord Grim next to him was a sight to behold. His sword danced as he dissected anyone foolish enough to step in front of him. A wicked smile was on his face as his aura surged out to put three men off balance. They would never manage to regain it.
Killing was easy right now, but it wouldn¡¯t be for much longer as a wall of shields formed a few dozen meters in front of them.
Michael
The magical circle hummed between his hands as Michael gathered the light of a dozen torches all around him. He was at the edge of the camp, far away from any combat currently raging but still close enough to hear it all.
Michael wanted to be fighting at the front too, but he had relinquished the overall command of this mission to his uncle due to his much greater command experience and now he couldn¡¯t complain about the position he had been given.
He would have complained nonetheless if the task he had been given wasn¡¯t important and he was the only one who could accomplish it.
And so, he stood at the edge of the camp between the torches and slowly pulled in more and more light while simultaneously pouring more and more of his massive mana reserves into the sigil between his hands.
It wasn¡¯t an overly complex spell, quite the contrary really but to get the desired effect it needed a wagonload of mana. It suited him quite well. He had a lot of mana but didn¡¯t consider himself to be overly talented in complex magic.
¡°How is the situation?¡± Michael asked while still concentrating on maintaining the increasing load of mana.
¡°The charge seems to still be ongoing; they have not signaled us to activate the spell early. The envelopment seems to be going well. The flanks are holding for now as expected and the outriders should be in position near the western escape path, we left open,¡± Lance explained. He and Erhen had been left behind with Michael to act as guards but also to serve as a response force together with the count if the enemy threatened to break through any part of their envelopment.
Michael wondered if Lance was unhappy with his assignment. Erhen surely wasn¡¯t but Lance was much more ambitious than the archer. He shook those thoughts off quickly when he felt his mana quiver with his lack of concentration.
¡°Always leave the enemy an avenue to escape or they might fight to the death,¡± his uncle had said. And due to them being nearly two-to-one outnumbered it would be an ugly affair if they couldn¡¯t make at least parts of the Rangda army rout.
¡°Alright, keep me updated,¡± Michael said and refocused on his spell.
Kiran
Another wall of fire came rolling down the main path toward them. Kiran had already felt it coming so his response was immediate. Two spears of compressed water shot out to the base of the wall, exploding on impact and scattering the flames upward where they petered out without any fuel to keep them going.
It was all but an afterthought as he turned his attention back toward the atmospheric mana the moment the wall had collapsed.
He was burning through his reserves quickly, even while trying to be as minimalistic in his responses as possible. It was the price that two mages had to pay when trying to contest multiple times their numbers.
Fortunately for them, defensive actions were generally less mana-hungry than spells designed to pierce armor and harm-enhanced flesh. It did mean that they couldn¡¯t realistically aid the advance in any other form as they approached a shield wall barring their path while concentrating on defense.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
¡°Pan, I am taking over. Prepare a covert disruption spell for the shield wall. A small breach should be enough,¡± Kiran ordered the satyr mage next to him. She nodded frantically with eyes wide.
He couldn¡¯t blame her, it was her first battle, and not only that but as far as he knew her first bigger confrontation in total. Kiran couldn¡¯t do anything but hope that she could take it. He wouldn¡¯t trust her to defend the knights alone, so she had to do the disruption.
Kiran could feel a small tinge of a ripple in the atmospheric mana coming from her. No one would be able to feel such a small spell coming from farther away between the large waves that the fighting created in the mana-charged air.
Air magic always had an advantage against others when it came to offensive magic due to its mostly invisible nature, which made it perfect for battlefield disruption.
He couldn''t pay her any more attention though. There were at least five different mages throwing attack spells at the knights right now and they were not some useless street magicians. Even though Rangda druids were more spiritual leaders and healers than they were battle mages they were well-trained, nonetheless.
With a flick of his wrist, he reorganized one of his sigils, and the water whip shot to the side cleaving another fireball in half. The remnants showered down on the empty ground between the advancing knights and the shield wall, drenching the whole fight in an eerie light.
He nearly missed another attack approaching from beneath the ground. The sigil in his other hand burst into life as the symbols rearranged themselves before Kiran threw it at the ground.
No one could see the effect, but Kiran knew that the spell would seek out the vines and drain them of moisture before they could reach their targets.
The next thing that approached was an invisible blade of air. Water was ill-suited to stopping air-based attacks, but he had little choice but to try.
I just wish I hadn¡¯t deemed anti-magic to be unnecessary, he thought. If Rayakan were here, then she could probably stop all of them in their tracks while simultaneously throwing fire back.
He banished those thoughts. They were useless and only distracted him from the dance that was magical battles.
Luckily for him, he didn¡¯t even need to stop the wind attack as it was met and cleaved apart by a mana blade fired off by Lord Grim. The attack had probably not been intended for the wind blade as it traveled on to break on the shield wall, leaving a large gash on it.
Just a couple more steps, Kiran thought.
A barely visible ball of mana flew past the front line of knights and toward the Rangda shields. Warning shouts rose from the mages inside their ranks, but it was too late. The warriors in the middle of the formation got hit by the expanding sphere of air and a gap opened up in the shield wall. It wasn¡¯t large, the enemy mages had noticed the sudden attack and tried to counter it, but it was large enough and in front of the strongest man on the battlefield.
Lord Grim jumped into the small gap and just as he passed the shields his aura expanded violently. More shouts followed as men were pressed into each other from the sudden pressure and the gap widened.
The knights arrived a moment later. The gap, the disrupted bracing, and the magical weapons cutting through mundane arms and armor spilled a quick end to the attempt to halt the kingdom¡¯s advance.
Something felt wrong, where were their oathbound?
Samuel
¡°Three paces!¡± Samuel yelled and pushed his shield forward. The men to his left and right did the same as they took step after step while ramming their spears forward.
The barbarians buckled under the pressure and forfeited another three steps.
¡°Brace!¡± he yelled and reset his feet. The barbarians charged again, it was disjoined and without formation, an act of desperation and confusion.
Most of them were unarmored but they were still fierce.
¡°Lose!¡± Samuel could hear Richard yell behind him. Another volley of arrows sailed over their heads into the camp behind the enemy mass. Many of the arrows got caught in the trees but many more found their targets. The screams of the unlucky added themselves to the noise of battle and the sound of burning tents.
Chaos. That was the main objective of the volleys and also the torches being thrown far into the barbarian camp.
And Chaos they sowed. Alone or in small groups enemies emerged from the ruins of their camp. Some were brave or foolish enough to charge the line alone but most first gathered into groups to try their luck but with the chaos sowed it was the Telios soldiers who reaped.
Their advance had been slow, just a couple of steps at a time. There was no reason to hurry after all. The soldiers of the envelopment weren¡¯t supposed to be a hammer swinging hard and fast at the enemy. They were the anvil, a hard and unmoving surface for the enemy to shatter upon.
That was their purpose, and Samuel would see it done.
Freya
¡°Wake up! Wake the fuck up!¡± Someone was shaking Freya and screaming in her ears. Her eyes snapped open, and she shot up, reaching for her dagger.
Samira was kneeling next to her with wide eyes and a red face.
¡°Finally. We are being attacked; we need to meet up with the others!¡± Samira yelled over the noise coming from outside.
Freya grabbed her thrumming head but managed to force herself on her feet. ¡°What is happening?¡± she asked acting confused.
¡°I don¡¯t know but arrows are raining from the sky, and half the camp is going up in flames, so you figure it out!¡±
So, they haven¡¯t been warned?
Freya¡¯s thoughts went to Eydis, where was she? The sky outside was still dark so it couldn¡¯t have been more than half an hour since she got knocked out. The attack had happened and the Rangda were running around like headless chickens, so everything was going to plan, right?
She could leave. Without any idea where Eydis had gone, her mission was not achievable, so her own survival was the next logical objective.
Freya watched as Samira threw over a well-worn chain shirt and outside were multiple clan members running around screaming for gear.
¡°If you wake up before I return then get them out,¡± Eydis had said before she knocked Freya out. She wouldn¡¯t have said that if she was gonna betray them, right? Who would ask their enemy to save their friends?
¡°Dammit, Eydis. You actually want it both ways,¡± she mumbled and then sprang into action.
¡°We need to get the others and then get out of here,¡± she said.
¡°What are you talking about?¡± Samira asked her with wide-eyed confusion.
¡°We got betrayed. Eydis went to the command tent to warn them and send me here, but I got knocked over the head before I could wake you. Ah fuck, my head. It was a trap all along to wipe us out. The whole Telios army is barreling down on us. We need to get out,¡± she began lying through her teeth.
Sure, it could be suspicious that she just asked what was happening and now knew about a plot, but she could always just point to confusion from being hit on the head.
¡°What? Who would betray us?¡± Samira began to look terrified as her mind began to weave Freya¡¯s lies into her reality.
¡°Do you really want me to tell you the whole story about how we found out or do you want to save your clan?¡± Freya put the woman on the spot.
She fell quiet as her brain visibly worked to make a decision. It was her one chance, if she decided to not believe Freya then Freya would leave them behind without a second thought.
¡°Okay, I trust you. Let¡¯s gather the others and get out,¡± Samira finally said.
Michael
The magic was positively writhing in between his fingers. It was unstable, too much mana was pressed into the spell. He had to lay the same sigil multiple times to make sure that it didn¡¯t break apart.
Two-thirds of his entire mana pool was gathered in this orb of light. Normally no one in their right mind would put that much mana into a single spell but with enough time and patience, it was possible.
¡°Lance, how much longer?¡± Michael¡¯s voice was quivering under the strain.
The knight looked at two guardsmen who were standing with them.
¡°Thirty seconds,¡± said the first and the other one confirmed his count.
¡°Alright, get ready,¡± Michael huffed and returned his entire attention to the near-uncontrollable spell.
¡°Give the signal once ten seconds are left,¡± Lance ordered and a man with a horn nodded.
Michael didn¡¯t hear that anymore. He was too engrossed in the mana. Its whirling and straining against his control. Mana didn¡¯t like pressure differences, it always tried to balance out and the pressure difference between the orb and the surrounding air was massive.
¡°Ten,¡± the two counting guardsmen said in unison and a moment later a clear horn echoed over the battlefield.
Michael heard the horn and tensed up as the mana screamed bloody murder in his mind.
I can¡¯t do it; he thought when suddenly a presence pressed against him like a man behind him bracing him in a shield wall.
Michael knew that presence, but he had no time to acknowledge Thomas¡¯s assistance.
¡°Three.¡±
I need to hold it. We will hold
¡°Two.¡±
A leak. They bore down with the full might of their mind to stop it before it could even get started.
¡°One.¡±
The last second felt like an eternity but Michael felt sure of their combined might.
¡°Mark.¡±
Michael unleashed the ball of light into the air. It rose to the sky slowly, weighed down by the ethereal weight of its power. He could see it start to come apart the moment it left his grasp but that didn¡¯t matter anymore.
Michael collapsed on his knees, finally free of the oppressive strain. He wanted to look up to see his creation but his mind was totally numb for a few moments
He knew one thing though; morning was about to come.
Chapter 109.
Geron
The shield wall turned from an organized defense into a man-to-man slaughter in moments. Geron had only been part of smaller battles before, his biggest being as a squire against the beastmen many years ago, but he had to say that fighting with mages on their side was a very appreciated change in pace.
When Lord Grim breached the formation, the knight was the second to jump into the opening. He had gathered quite a tally, but the fight was not over quite yet.
These warriors definitely weren¡¯t as green as those who had fought them before. To his right, Lord Grim was even fighting two younger-looking augmenters. Oathbound, Geron reminded himself of what they were called in the tribes. Something about them being oathbound protectors of their clans.
Geron glanced over just to see them being pushed back. The count didn¡¯t need any help so no one would waste the effort if they could clear up the rest of the formation in the meantime.
He was currently fighting two scarred men armed with big round shields, one with an ax and the other a sword. His sword flashed as he struck again like a serpent. They were doing quite well blocking his strikes with their shields, but they were just ordinary humans in the end.
There wasn¡¯t much time. They needed to clean up the remains of the defenders and continue on toward the center of the camp. According to their information, they had cleared over half of the way, and Lord Rowan would unleash his spell soon. If they were fast, they could reach the last line of defense just as it hit.
Geron pushed more mana and dashed at them. His stab was faster than they could react and found an opening right past one of their shields. The man yelled as blood began to spew from his pierced leg.
The other one suddenly sped up and tried to lunge at Geron. It was a good riposte for a non-augmenter, but Geron had expected it. He leaned back letting the blade fly past him. His free hand shot up and cracked the swordsman¡¯s elbow with a loud crunch.
With one of them bleeding out from his severed femoral artery and the other one disarmed, quite literally, it took only a moment for Geron to finish the warriors off.
The remaining Rangda warriors pulled back from the fight and fled into the surrounding pathways.
Geron turned back to the fight between Lord Grim and the two augmenters just to see one of them being cut clean in half at the waist. The other one stared at his felled comrade and then quickly decided that this was as far as he went. He turned around and ran away faster than humanly possible.
A mana blade hit him in the back before he could make it far though and left a deep gash from his elbow over his back to the other elbow. It wouldn¡¯t be enough to kill him, but he wasn¡¯t going to wield a weapon anytime soon.
¡°Reform!¡± Lord Grim yelled while he started jogging down the path.
Geron grinned with pride as the knights managed to reform their ranks while still charging down the main pathway.
The men-at-arms had also managed to catch up while they were dismantling the shield wall and one group after another split from the main path to push into the camp from their wedge.
Little resistance met them for a while, it couldn¡¯t be much farther to the center. The real fight was about to start. Even if they hadn¡¯t met many augmenters yet, they would be there, they simply had to. It was the most logical place for the enemy elites to gather from all over the camp.
It didn¡¯t take long for them to find their target. Another line of warriors, shields raised and at least twice as many as before. If their information was right, then the center of the camp had to be right behind them.
The sound of a clear horn echoed from behind them, and a guttural scream joined it from the front. Impossibly loud the scream threatened to drown out everything and a shockwave of mana followed right behind it.
Geron recognized that mana, he had felt it hundreds of times. It was wild and fierce. He understood why the enemy''s response had been even worse than they had expected. If she was rampaging in their midst.
He sped up charging past Lord Grim and yelled, ¡°PAN, LIFT!¡±
Someone called after him, but Geron ignored it.
The enemy line braced as he charged alone. Twenty meters, ten, five, and then he jumped. He jumped as high as his mana-infused muscles could take him and for a moment he thought he would crash into the enemy line. Just as he reached his zenith a torrent of air hit his back and catapulted him up and forward.
Surprised exclamations followed his path and even if they tried, none of the enemies reacted fast enough.
Geron sailed through the night and suddenly it stopped being night.
Eydis
Eydis was exhausted. Not only that but she was exhausted, bleeding, and probably gonna die.
She was breathing heavily with every breath forcing more blood out of the hole in as she stared intently at the surrounding circle of Rangda warriors. The fight had become increasingly impossible to manage. In the beginning, her aggressive style had brought down two of the chieftains who had been in the command tent, but now she was surrounded by mages, oathbound, and normal warriors.
It was honestly a miracle that she was still alive a couple of minutes into the fight. In truth, it had more to do with self-preservation and clan rivalry than any divine intervention. Eydis had already slain two chieftains, six warriors, and one oathbound. Everyone was quite ready to let the warriors of another clan have a shot first rather than risk their own hide.
This didn¡¯t mean that they were sitting idle, they had charged her multiple times already and only mind-boggling violence and a lot of mana had managed to drive them back.
They apparently finally had enough of this dance.
Five oathbound rushed from all sides, on the sidelines mana began to quiver from the dense orbs that made up Druidic spells, and multiple warriors followed their lead if only cautiously.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
If Eydis had time to think she would probably think about her impending death or that she was fine with it because she was happy with the decisions she had made or even think of a way out of there. Alas, she had no time for anything. All that remained was the fury of battle.
First was an ax to arrive, hurled in mid-sprint at her head. Eydis ducked to the side, deciding to let whoever approached her from behind deal with the projectile.
With a swing of her sword, she sent a mana blade toward one of the two oathbound who would reach her first and dove at the other. The ax in her other hand snapped at the woman but she was fast, dodging back and swinging at Eydis in turn.
The sword caught her at the hip and added yet another small drip of vitae to her impressive collection. She had driven the woman back for a moment though which was all she needed.
The man whom she had thrown the mana blade at came barreling toward her. His skin was rough and cracked, obviously an earth-affinity augmenters. He dove at her with all his weight and no weapon in hand.
Eydis whirled out of the way and aimed for his side with her sword. The blade managed to pierce his skin but only barely. The man was past her before she could try again.
A small tremble approached her from the ground and a root shot out to grapple her leg. Eydis jumped back again, painfully aware that they were starting to box her in. The root didn¡¯t stop though and shot at her again.
She had no choice but to waste her time on slicing it apart.
With a loud bang and flash of light, a large mass of mana approached her from the side. She instinctually caught the lightning bolt with her mana-infused sword and smashed it into the ground.
Breathing heavily and smoking Eydis took a look around. The oathbound had surrounded her and were closing in slowly. Right in front of her was Sev hurling insult after insult at Eydis.
Traitor, disappointment, no worse than a Telios dog.
Eydis gritted her teeth. Who was he to talk? What kind of leader was he that he would willingly walk down a path that would cause the end of his clan? A leader¡¯s duty was to ensure the prosperity and safety of his people and not their demise.
No, Eydis wouldn¡¯t die here. She refused to be killed by a man like that.
The fury of battle had been burning already but now her own rage threw oil in the flames.
The oathbound charged.
Eydis screamed out her defiance, her anger, and disappointment. Her scream was not made of words, but the meaning was clear to all who could hear it. Like a gate, her mana well opened, and a deluge of silvery energy burst forth from her skin.
Multiple things happened in the next ten seconds. In the distance, a horn petered out. The earth-affinity oathbound was the only one not knocked back by the aura assault but he was staggered.
Eydis jumped at him like a feral beast and rammed her sword point first through his chest with her full weight. It wouldn¡¯t kill a durable guy like him, but it would slow him down considerably.
The sword went in about halfway and he took a step back with a pained grunt. Eydis planted her feet and with another scream she kicked the pommel with mana-infused strength, driving the sword to the hilt.
The woman was starting to get up from where she had hit the ground but still seemed dazed.
Sev had recovered faster and charged her again. His ax shot past her nose in a reckless assault. Eydis countered with a swing of her own but when Sev moved to parry she struck out with her free hand. The air left his lungs as the fist knocked him back a few meters.
The remaining two oathbound, two brothers with spears lunged at her.
Behind them, something rose to the sky. It was a mote of light that threw violent ripples like a boulder dropped into a still lake.
Eydis charged the brothers, smashing aside one of the spears. The other man moved to cover his brother¡¯s opening seamlessly but that wasn¡¯t Eydis¡¯s goal. She slipped past both of them and whirled around.
Most eyes moved to the mote of light. Some were experienced enough to guess what was about to happen but many more were not.
The woman didn¡¯t care for the novelty, in combat your focus needed to be on defeating your enemy after all. She charged at Eydis, closing the distance fast.
That was when night turned to day in the blink of an eye.
Eydis flinched at the sudden brightness even with her back to the second sun. Her attackers weren¡¯t so lucky. Screams of confusion and pain rose from those unlucky enough to have looked directly into the glowing star.
Eydis reacted instantly, jumping at the woman who was clawing her eyes in pain. She avoided a clumsy swing and planted her ax right into the oathbound¡¯s head with such force that the heft of the ax splintered.
The woman stood there confused for a moment as her heart continued pumping blood into her crushed brain and then collapsed.
With an annoyed expression, Eydis snatched the sword from her grasp before she fell. She wanted her artifact weapons back; these pieces of junk just couldn¡¯t hold up to her strength.
A dull sound nearly caused her body to swing at her back when a familiar aura pushed into hers. It felt sturdy and reassuring to her, and for a moment her muscles relaxed.
¡°Nice to see that you are still alive and kicking,¡± Geron said and moved to stand back-to-back with her. Eydis had much to say to the knight but right now she could do nothing but transmit her feelings of thanks and joy to him.
¡°Reinforcements are just one shield wall away. Let¡¯s still be here when they break through. I take the brunt, and you kill everything that tries to stab me in the back,¡± he continued.
A few meters away Sev was groaning and rubbing his eyes. ¡°Just fucking charge her, you cowards,¡± he yelled at no one in particular.
Sola
¡°Lord Idas, Lord of Light, keep them safe for me,¡± Sola mumbled as she saw Geron sail over the line of barbarians toward the source of Eydis¡¯s mana.
The quick prayer was all she could do for them now. She couldn¡¯t even help the collapsing Pan next to her, the backlash of sending a fully armored knight flying at a moment''s notice being too much for her after the strain of battle.
¡°Lord of Light. Your servants are surrounded by darkness and danger. Grant them the strength to push back the darkness, grant them the speed to avoid the foe, and grant them the endurance to see another sunrise,¡± she chanted and let her mana surge out of her palms in a steady flow.
The continuous flow of golden moats flew over to the charging knights in front of her. The blessing wouldn¡¯t be much, distributed on so many targets but just an ounce of strength or a moment quicker move could save their lives.
The knights collided with the wall of shields a moment later in a deafening crash. The wall held this time, reinforced by magic and augments.
¡°Eyes down!¡± Lord Grim yelled and a moment later everything went bright.
Michael
Michael watched the orb of light hover over the camp, his control over light enabling him to weaken the light so that he could watch it without problems.
It wasn¡¯t perfectly visible from his spot on the edges of the camp, but the forest was much lighter closer to the former Rescar village.
He hadn¡¯t been sure if he would be able to make the spell work due to its ridiculous mana requirement when his uncle had suggested it, but he had to admit it was a sight to behold.
The soldiers around him were even whispering about a blessing from Idas but Michael wasn¡¯t arrogant enough to think of his magic as something divine.
The battle was going well, as far as he could tell from his position, standing on a plane of light a few meters in the air. To be frank, he could see very little; a battle in the woods made any kind of overview nearly impossible, at least from outside the camp.
¡°Milord!¡± someone yelled to his right, so he turned to see a man in the coat of arms of House Ragar sprint toward him.
Lance stopped the man from approaching as Michael stepped off his platform and landed with a thump.
¡°What is it, soldier?¡± Michael asked as he approached the out-of-breath man.
¡°Baron Ragar is requesting reinforcements. The barbarians are trying to break through his line in force. Multiple augmenters and mages and at least a hundred warriors,¡± the soldier explained after quickly saluting him.
¡°Understood,¡± Michael nodded and then turned to Lance. ¡°Get the reserve moving, we are going to reinforce the northern flank.¡±
Michael watched them hurry to pass his orders along. He had hoped that they wouldn¡¯t try a desperate breakthrough with the western opening in the encirclement, but it was easy to believe that they either didn¡¯t know about it or were trying to win the battle by breaking through the line and attacking them from behind.
Whatever the case, if the line broke then this battle could turn into a chaotic mess very quickly.
¡°The reserve is ready, milord,¡± Lance announced a minute later.
¡°Follow me,¡± Michael shouted and began rushing along the line.
Chapter 110.
Michael
The site of the battle was much less chaotic than Michael would have expected. The line was still holding strong, but he could still see why the young barons had called for aid.
A large group of Rangda warriors were baring down on the orderly line of men-at-arms while mages were trying to pick off singular targets. House Ragar and Tengel knights were doing their best to mitigate their effectiveness, but they were struggling.
The magic didn¡¯t seem to be the biggest problem though, quite literally. A giant of a man, at least two meters tall, was swinging what looked like a boulder on a stick like it was nothing.
Michael knew from Rat¡¯s reports, that the man was probably the chief of the Crested Clan, Cigurt the Giant. He also knew that the man was considered the physically strongest man in this forest.
A light javelin blinked into existence in Michael¡¯s hand a moment after spotting the man. With the blinding light all around him, he no longer had any trouble gathering its parts.
The javelin snapped toward the chieftain at the speed of an arrow. The man seemed to sense the incoming danger and smashed the projectile to the side even though it was just a light construct.
Did he know about Michael¡¯s hard light, or did he simply react on reflex?
It didn¡¯t matter, with a war cry the small reserve charged into battle to bolster their beleaguered allies. Michael wanted to follow but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
He turned around to look at Lance. A lot of communication happened in just a moment of eye contact as Michael could see that Lance wanted to leave him behind with Erhen, but Lance could see that that was never going to happen.
¡°Stay next to me at all times,¡± the knight finally said and went ahead.
They waded into the line on the edge of the fighting. Michael stayed right behind Lance, supporting the knight and the surrounding soldiers with his magic. He knew that he might disrupt the formation when a dwarf like him stood in the front line.
Lance scythed through the warriors like a farmer through a field. With Michael behind him to block any riposte with his light he focused fully on crushing as many enemies as possible before they could mount a reasonable defense.
The first inkling of a response was when a spear of rock came flying right at the knight. Michael tried to block it with a shield, but the rock crashed through it with overwhelming force.
Lance reacted with the speed of an enhanced human and put his magical blade between him and the attack. Any normal blade would have surely shattered, but Blacksteel was known for its durability if for little else and the enchantments on the blades only increased that property.
Michael spotted the faint trail the magical strike had taken through the press and prepared a counter when an arrow vanished exactly where Michael would have launched his spell off to. It was hard to tell through the noise of the battle whether the projectile had hit its mark or not but if Erhen had picked the mage as a target then Michael would concentrate on his surroundings and trust him.
A loud crash drew Michael¡¯s attention over to where the giant of a man was swinging his hammer around. Spikes of rock were protruding all around him as he lifted the unwieldy thing from the ground.
¡°We need to stop him,¡± Michael yelled over the noise. His voice was muffled by the chainmail shawl that covered his lower face but still loud enough for Lance to hear.
The knight continued to swing for a few moments, hesitancy in his movements. He probably didn¡¯t want to bring Michael anywhere near that behemoth, but he also knew that if the chieftain fell then this attack would also crumble.
After a moment of contemplation, Lance began to fall back slowly, allowing his neighbors to close the gap.
¡°You need to promise me that you will stay away from him,¡± Lance told him as they followed the line over to where Cigurt was wreaking havoc.
¡°I do not intend to be smashed to paste,¡± Michael replied. He wasn¡¯t foolish enough to think that he could fight a man like that. He couldn¡¯t beat the knights in training and that giant would give Geron a hard time.
Michael came to a slithering halt and threw another light javelin at the chieftain while Lance dashed forward to join Samuel and the old Sir Kilev in the melee.
The light javelin smashed into the chieftain and shattered against his skin. Michael shuddered as he saw his magic being disintegrated by a thin layer of mana vibrating as a second layer of skin.
Sir Pyke has shown him that ability once. It was an aura skill that required an insane amount of control over one¡¯s mana. It was a natural counter to all but the most charged spells but also devoured mana like a ravenous beast. In a situation like this, it would mean that Michael would be completely useless if he didn¡¯t intend to throw all the mana he still had left at the chieftain.
It also meant that the man was on an aura level.
¡°He is using aura armor!¡± Michael warned the two knights and his friend of Cigurt¡¯s ability. It wouldn¡¯t do anything to stop a blade in the way he was using it, but mana blades would be ripped apart like Michael¡¯s spell had been and it could quickly turn offensive if the user wanted it to.
Michael fidgeted on his heels as he watched the fight begin in earnest. There was not much he could do right now.
His gaze snapped to the rest of the battle. The Telios soldiers were doing well but it didn¡¯t look like a winner would be decided anytime soon.
I can¡¯t do anything here, but I can help in the line. Cigurt might be stronger than I thought but even he can do little if he is fighting alone. He might be able to hold us back, but the encirclement job isn¡¯t to advance anyway.
Michael apologized to Lance quietly and stormed over to the chaotic edge where Cigurt had broken the line.
His father¡¯s sword sang as Michael appeared in the chaotic melee; he was faster than an unaugmented human could hope to react to, and his fueled strength could easily match those of grown men.
First, he parried an overconfident strike, and his sword claimed the arm of his attacker for the offense. Michael stepped forward and the man back. He wasn¡¯t fast enough and after his arm, he also lost his throat.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
¡°PUSH THEM BACK!¡± Michael roared and next to him, the men-at-arms of House Ragar began to fight with more fervor to reform the frayed edges of their formation.
If we rout them here then we can concentrate our efforts on bringing down Cigurt, Michael thought as he sidestepped a spear.
They were all so slow but the combat still excited Michael. The heat of battle, this primal excitement to measure up to an enemy in a life-or-death scenario.
Michael had never felt it before, his previous fights all had some measure of desperation or hatred to them but not this time. He didn¡¯t hate the Rangda for what they were planning, he wasn¡¯t desperately trying to stay alive in a hopeless situation, he simply was fighting, and it felt good.
A part of him was rebelling against the joy he felt for the fight. He violently pushed that part of himself down. This was not the time for emotions or rationality, it was the time to fight.
He smacked the spear to the side with his armored vambrace and lunged into the warrior''s guard. He could see the shock in the man¡¯s eyes, but Michael didn¡¯t process it. They were both warriors in a battle, they had both agreed to kill or be killed.
His sword cut a deep gash through the man¡¯s shirt, and he screamed in pain. Michael heard little of that, the blood was rushing in his ears as he fell deeper and deeper into his battle lust.
Sidestep, lunge, slash, pivot, riposte, kill.
He could hear someone call out to him; the voice was clear as day, but Michael couldn¡¯t understand it. Another step forward, new targets in range.
Michael swung wide with one hand and drove a man back, snapping his fingers at the same time to conjure a barrier of light to protect the man next to him.
Blood spilled as a sword scraped past his cheek. His eyes snapped to the man who had suddenly appeared in front of him. He was mostly unarmored, as most of the warriors had been but his movements were faster than Michael had seen yet.
His father¡¯s sword pulled a bloody arc through the air as Michael swung it at the neck of the oathbound. This decapitating strike would have been too fast for any normal human in such a disadvantageous position as his enemy. The man was nimble though and ducked while pulling his sword back and down from next to Michael¡¯s face.
A shield of light made the blade glance off, and the two combatants split up for a moment.
¡°What the fuck is that light?¡± the oathbound asked, probably not even expecting Michael to understand. He didn¡¯t receive a reply either way. Michael didn¡¯t care for what the man had to say.
He stepped forward, more mana circulating in his body than before. His sword shot forward like a snake, seeking an opening.
The oathbound parried and dodged most of his blows but his face was straining. He wasn¡¯t on a knight¡¯s level.
Michael lunged again and his adversary¡¯s face contorted to a nasty grin. He blocked the blow and shoved their blades out of their way with his greater strength. Michael could see the fist come barreling down on his face, but he simply grinned back at the man.
A blade of light flickered into existence on Michael¡¯s free hand just a moment before it connected with the oathbound¡¯s fist. The thin blade pierced deep into the man¡¯s arm. He flinched back with a grunt, but Michael wasn¡¯t finished yet. He let go of the blade and stepped in again, a new blade appearing in his hand.
The oathbound tried to get away from him but he was still out of balance from his strike. The blade of light found its target and buried itself deep into the man¡¯s gut.
He finally managed to jump back and get some distance between the two of them, but blood was gushing out of both of his wounds with the hard light blades vanishing into thin air.
Michael wanted to keep following him, to finish his prey off but his training overcame this impulse. He would have to chase the man into enemy lines and that was simply not worth it.
He growled as the man slunk back through the enemy lines while spitting blood. and took a short look around.
The battle was still raging all around, his part of the line had pushed forward a couple of meters, but the rest were still hard-pressed. Samuel was nowhere to be seen close to Cigurt, Lance, and Sir Kilev¡¯s fight, and Michael hoped that he was alright.
A deep breath pushed away the roaring blood in his ears and he began to calm down. The enemy warriors were keeping away from him right now, so he had a moment.
My mana is almost gone, fighting against adults is too draining, Michael thought. He wasn¡¯t sure how long he had been on the front here, but it must have been at least a couple of minutes.
As he lost sight of the oathbound he had just fought, Michael also fell back through the line. With the little mana he still had left, he wouldn''t be much help, and even if his blood was howling at him to fight, his rational mind was in control now.
Lance and Sir Kilev looked hard pressed against the chieftain even with a couple of arrows sticking out of the giant. Michael didn¡¯t know what to do, this fight could go both ways, and the more time passed the more the Rangda could reorganize and the more the exhaustion from the night march would wear down his men.
He found Richard with the archers.
¡°How is the situation?¡± Michael asked.
¡°Lord Rowan,¡± Richard greeted him but stumbled a little in his turn when he saw Michael.
Michael blinked at the strange reaction and looked down on himself. His black armor was covered in slick red blood from head to foot. It hit him like a cavalry charge what he had done. He had slaughtered maybe a dozen men and had felt nothing just the joy of the combat. A part of him was feeling disgusted. They were still in battle so again he violently forced his normal-day-self down and away from his battle self.
¡°Ehm,¡± Richard caught himself. ¡°We are basically out of arrows. I am preparing the men to charge, milord.¡±
Michael nodded approvingly. He could see Richard shake in his fine chainmail. He didn¡¯t want to fight that much was clear, but he would do so anyway.
He had hoped that they would have a couple of volleys left for Cigurt, even if arrows were little use against an aura-level augmenter they could distract him and maybe a couple would even get through to do some damage.
Michael waited next to Richard as the archers piled up their bows and checked their weapons one last time. Michael was breathing deeply, trying to pull as much mana from the air as possible when he heard something from behind them.
What is that? he thought and pushed a little more mana into his ears. ¡°Horses?¡± he mumbled which got Richard¡¯s attention.
¡°What did you say?¡± the plump man asked and followed Michael¡¯s gaze into the forest behind.
Flickers of blue and the sound of hooves got louder.
¡°Enemy attack?¡± Richard asked with widening eyes.
¡°No,¡± Michael answered and turned back. He ran over to the line and yelled as loudly as he could. ¡°TELIOS REINFORCEMENTS FROM BEHIND. PRAANEN COMES TO REINFORCE US, SO HOLD YOUR GROUND!¡± One after another the soldiers repeated the call until it was going down the entire line.
It was important that they knew what was coming because a soldier would always expect an enemy when something unknown approached from behind.
Michael then turned around and sprinted in the direction of their reinforcements.
It was a group of around fifty mounted men in the blue of House Wallsten with Duke Wallsten¡¯s son in front.
¡°Ho, Lord Rowan. Seems like it is quite the bloodbath up ahead,¡± Theden Wallsten said as he stopped his horse in front of Michael. The poor animal looked like it was about to collapse, honestly, the other horses didn¡¯t look much better.
¡°My father is a couple of days behind us, but we are here to help. Your messenger caught us on the way so, we know what is happening. I have twelve knights and thirty-five men-at-arms, where do you need us,¡± the noble continued.
¡°We are getting pressed hard here, there is an aura-level augmenter. Please help us here and send half of your men around the line to the southeast to look for other areas in need of assistance,¡± Michael replied quickly.
Theden nodded and then turned to his men. ¡°Lidur, split the unit. You take half around the line and the rest follow me into battle!¡±
Half of the unit dismounted and followed their commander toward the line and the fight, while the rest forced their mounts into a gentle trot south.
Michael followed Theden much more slowly as his muscles were beginning to show their displeasure with the past hours of marching, the tension of holding the grand spell, and then minutes of all-out fighting.
He came to a halt next to Richard and looked at his much older friend. ¡°Seems you are being denied the glory of close combat. I don¡¯t think we need to send the archers into the thick of battle,¡± Michael said while beginning to breathe heavily.
Relief was the first thing on Richard¡¯s face but that quickly contorted into concern. ¡°Are you alright, milord?¡±
Pain had begun to erupt as he started to relax, and the tension fell off his physical and astral body.
¡°Yeah ... I don¡¯t know. My chest is hurting,¡± Michael replied. He was sure that he hadn¡¯t been hit there but it felt like he had cracked something important in his chest. Not much just a hair fracture but still painful. He knew that feeling.
¡°We should get you to the priest,¡± Richard suggested and put his hand on Michael¡¯s shoulder to carefully guide him.
¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Michael protested but as he took one forced step his grip on his mana slipped and everything went white.
Chapter 111.
Geron
Geron was tired. It had been a short battle up to this point, but he was barely able to move any muscle without a twinge of pain shooting through his body.
How does anyone do this for hours? he wondered. Of course, he had trained for much longer per session than this battle had gone in its entirety, but that wasn¡¯t with eight hours of quick marching and burning through his mana as if it were thin paper.
That all said he knew how people carried on. Simply because they had no choice, if they stopped they died.
An ax pulled him back into the present and he deflected it with his shield before returning the favor by slicing a shallow gash into the warrior''s arm.
The Rangda were becoming desperate. They were headlessly charging them while most of the oathbound had vanished somewhere, probably the line holding Lord Grim and the spear tip back.
Eydis was behind him still raging like a cornered bull. She mainly engaged with one of the few oathbound who was still attacking them. The man continuously yelled something at her that Geron couldn¡¯t understand or even cared to understand.
He didn¡¯t have the time to ponder it either as every moment another weapon reached for him.
Geron was in his element, his movements flowing on pure instinct. His armor was bruised, and blood came from multiple small wounds he didn¡¯t manage to prevent but he still knew that they would survive. The Rangda were in disarray and the sounds of battle drew closer.
A sword skittered across his ribs, impotently trying to bite through his chainmail. Geron had let the strike-through, knowing fully well that it would neither connect perfectly nor have the strength to seriously injure him. He paid the man back by driving his sword into his eye and then ripping it out to the left.
The sounds of battle were closer, even closer now, and nearly with them.
Zeke Tomp was the first to reach them. The veteran knight barreled over two men with one swing of his war hammer and then pressed past them to join Geron and Eydis.
They barely reacted to his presence other than reducing the area they paid attention to.
Sir Godfrey Pyke broke through the thicket of Rangda warriors next. He wasn¡¯t swinging his sword anymore but had a shield strapped to the remains of his lost arm and a mace which he swung to devastating effect.
The line of Rangda began to thin between the surrounded and the approaching spear tip.
Silas completely shattered it, as he swung a large arc and let his mana flow freely into his blade. Some managed to block the attack but many others didn¡¯t and so holes opened up which the knights ruthlessly exploited.
This battle was over. The Rangda just needed a little push.
Kiran
Kiran¡¯s eyes flickered from side to side. The hostile magical barrage had reduced significantly since the knights had connected with the final enemy line. It wasn¡¯t surprising as throwing big spells into such an intertwined melee would only be done by the most psychopathic of mages or those who didn¡¯t value their allies.
Noticing and blocking small spells meant to hit a single person, were much more difficult. Annoyingly they were the norm after real contact was made between the frontlines.
The knights had experience dealing with those though, so Kiran wasn¡¯t too concerned. Right now, he was watching the fight in total. The enemy was showing signs of breaking.
Hesitancy in their attacks, cries of terror, and less than coordinated efforts to resist.
¡°Pan, we are abandoning defense. Make ready to throw big spells far behind the enemy line,¡± Kiran quickly ordered the recently recovered satyr.
Pan nodded; her eyes half closed.
The old mage hated pushing the bright girl so hard right after she was hit by possibly the biggest spell backlash, she had ever experienced but he had no choice.
Kiran himself began to weave symbols into a much more complex pattern than he had been using this whole battle. His goal was to sow fear, damaging the enemy was only secondary.
He drew water from the air humidity and mixed it with his own reserves to create a stronger base. The spell would draw in more water as it worked but he couldn¡¯t allow anyone to disperse the water before it managed to grow enough.
The spell sigil extended row by row until it covered twelve bandwidths in diameter.
¡°Are you ready?¡± Kiran asked his compatriot, and the satyr nodded again with a spell sigil glowing in her hand. It was much less complex than Kiran¡¯s but probably a more deadly design than he had built.
Kiran raised his hands high, and the sphere of water followed, it was writhing in his hands as if wanting to grab onto something.
¡°Cast,¡± Kiran ordered and activated the spell sigil which made the blob of water fly high and over the heads of the battle.
Next to him Pan did the same and Kiran could feel multiple sources of mana emerge from her sigil.
Pan¡¯s spell made contact first with a loud bang. Kiran couldn¡¯t see the effect, but the amount of dirt, leaves, and other debris suggested some kind of pressure bomb.
The blob of water landed a moment after her devastation and this time Kiran knew exactly what was happening. It would draw in water and then start sending out a fine mist that would give it information about where enemies were. The moment it found someone it would flail out a tentacle of water and try to drag the poor soul into its body to leave him to drown.
It was a horrible spell, and hellishly complex, but in the end, it was one thing over anything else it was horrid to witness. Seeing your comrades being pulled into a featureless blob of water just to see them drown while you could do little to help them or be pulled in as well would leave no one unaffected.
Eydis
Strike after strike hammered down on Eydis. Sev was completely lost in his rage and hammered her with his axes.
Eydis herself was also lost in the heat of battle returning his barrage in kind. She had noticed the reinforcements had arrived and that something was wreaking havoc behind the line of the Rangda, but that was more peripheral information.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
She had always had an affinity for the battle fury and now she had fallen to it completely. Geron and the rest were covering her back and no warrior dared to approach the whirl of blades that was Sev and Eydis.
It felt like a miniature of the battle contained in their little world, as Sev was striking out like a cornered animal while Eydis pressed in on him with increasing certainty.
Their fight wasn¡¯t anything spectacular, certainly nothing about which stories would be written. Eydis was better than Sev, she also was on the brink of achieving aura level, but she was injured and exhausted.
It dragged out the fight. Openings she could have normally taken were closed before she could reach them, parries that would have normally been an afterthought turned into blocks which made her muscles scream.
If Sev had been cool-headed then he might have been able to leverage that, but he had lost his head the moment the fight had started.
He swung at her wildly, trying to take her apart but Eydis knew that fighting style well.
She ducked under his sword. His ax came up to block her escape and her own prevented it from finding her opening.
¡°Clan Umbel is retreating!¡± someone yelled but Eydis paid it no mind, swinging her sword at Sev¡¯s leg.
¡°Chief Saruo is dead!¡± someone else added from another direction.
This time Sev got distracted by the shouts. ¡°KEEP FIGHTING!¡± he yelled back but this moment of distraction was enough.
Eydis lunged at him with her sword pointed at his chest. Sev jumped back but failed to recognize the feign in time. He didn¡¯t manage to pull back his arm before Eydis flicked her blade to the side and cleanly took off his hand.
He tumbled back with a painful scream, but Eydis didn¡¯t press it. She could kill him right now, but his screams had pulled her out of the zone. Sev growled and whimpered as he took another step back, his hate-filled eyes trained on Eydis. His mouth moved but Eydis couldn¡¯t hear him, too focused was she on the stump on his arm.
¡°They are closing the encirclement! The western approach is still open!¡± More shouts came from different directions.
The Rangda morale was wavering and Eydis saw the first man to break. It was a young lad, with red hair and wide eyes. Blood was covering half his face, and his mouth was halfway open.
Eydis saw him out of the corner of her eye, he was just standing there, trembling with his whole body. Then his fingers lost their grip on his sword, and it clattered to the ground. That sound was seemingly enough to rip him out of his stupor.
With his eyes widening even further he turned around and began to push his way through the surrounding warriors in a panic.
He was the first stone to fall but he wouldn¡¯t be the last. With the first man running a mass panic took hold of the surrounding warriors and spread like wildfire.
¡°STAY AND FIGHT YOU COWARDS!¡± Eydis could hear Sev yell, but it was far too late.
The coherence of the Rangda was broken and there was nothing that could stop hundreds of men and women trying to save their own hides.
Eydis stared at Sev as he stood there, his remaining hand pressed on the stump of his other arm. Eydis could basically feel the hatred in his gaze before he turned around and joined the retreating warriors.
Freya (Rat)
¡°How much farther?¡± Samira asked as they and maybe a dozen others snuck through the dark forest. Rays of light followed them in a haunting manner from what had been the Rangda encampment.
¡°It¡¯s not far,¡± Freya assured her. ¡°But we need to be careful, there are probably Telios soldiers in the area.
¡°We should have stayed and fought. Isn¡¯t that what we were here for anyway?¡± a young warrior complained.
¡°Stop complaining,¡± Samira snapped. ¡°There is no way we could have fought the entire Telios army in an ambush. If you want to die then no one would have stopped you from staying with the other idiots, Frido.¡±
¡°I most certainly did,¡± Frido¡¯s sister, Insa, joined in.
Freya wasn¡¯t paying their petty squabbling any mind though. She had spotted something they hadn¡¯t. Up in one of the trees they were walking toward sat a figure with the mask of a silver fox. Her head was cocked as she watched the strange procession, her gaze ultimately fixing on Freya.
The spy made sure that no one was watching her closely and made a couple of hand signals toward her senior, who disappeared a moment later.
¡°Well, I trust her word and you should trust me,¡± Samira snapped at Frido harshly.
Freya turned to them with a placating gesture and said, ¡°We need to be quiet, or they will notice us.¡±
They continued their covert trek through the forest after that until Samira spoke up again but this time only a whisper.
¡°You didn¡¯t tell me who betrayed us yet,¡± she noted.
¡°I told you it is a long story, which can be told once we are safe,¡± Freya replied.
¡°We do have time now. It is not like we are doing much apart from walking. Or is there a reason you are not telling me?¡±
Freya sighed internally; she couldn¡¯t lose the trust of that woman now. The good thing was that Samira would only have to believe her for a little bit longer and with no way of verifying her words, the lie would be easy.
¡°You are not gonna believe me,¡± Freya started to soften her up. It was a good trick to make people more receptive because the human mind instinctually wants to prove negative prejudices wrong about oneself.
¡°I trusted you this far so why should I stop now,¡± Samira shrugged in an attempt to seem nonchalant.
Freya acted like she was hesitant at first but then came clean. ¡°It was Elder Druid Ill¡¯irian. He was conspiring with Count Michael Rowan to lure the Rangda army into a trap. Eydis and I were closing in on the truth when he tried to kill me in the forest yesterday.¡±
¡°Ill¡¯irian? That is impossible,¡± Samira exclaimed a little bit too loud.
¡°Told you. You don¡¯t believe me after all,¡± Freya shrugged.
¡°No. It''s not ... I have known that man for years and he was always such a great man. Why would he betray us?¡± the barbarian tried to row back.
¡°That I do not know. I found out he had a meeting with someone in the woods and had hoped to get clarity, but that didn¡¯t work out. Mind you, I wasn¡¯t certain that he was a traitor at that point.¡±
¡°I can¡¯t believe it,¡± Samira mumbled to herself.
¡°I couldn¡¯t either, he seemed like such a nice man,¡± Freya agreed with Samira. ¡°We need to be quiet now though. We can talk more once we have met up with Eydis.¡±
¡°I really hope she got out,¡± Samira said, and Freya nodded.
¡°Me too.¡±
It took them over an hour to reach the meeting point. Freya had been careful to stretch out their track to give Silver enough time to set everything up but finally, they reached the clearing surrounded by bushes.
¡°Let me check out the situation. I will call you once everything is clear,¡± Freya said to the clan members and then pushed herself through the foliage.
Of course, the clearing was completely safe and even Freya couldn¡¯t spot anything out of the ordinary except for Silver sitting high in a tree again with her feet hanging down playfully.
¡°Is everything prepared?¡± Freya signed up to her and the fox mask nodded slowly.
Freya turned around and called out for the Rescar survivors. They slowly emerged from the bushes and joined her in the clearing.
¡°Where is Eydis?¡± Samira asked.
¡°She is not coming,¡± Freya came clean.
¡°What? Why?¡± she seemed completely confused but that confusion quickly faded as a full unit of ten mounted outriders broke through the bushes and trained their bows on the Rescar.
¡°No! You can¡¯t be,¡± Samira understood now what was happening.
¡°You really shouldn¡¯t have trusted me. But alas, throw down your weapons or this will become a bloodbath very quickly.¡±
Even though the numbers were more or less equal, the Rescar were barely armed and mostly unarmored due to Freya hurrying them along. The outriders on the other hand were of course fully equipped, mounted, and had bows.
¡°You fucking traitor!¡± Frido yelled and tried to charge her. He managed two steps before an arrow lodged itself into his shoulder and made him stumble back.
¡°Don¡¯t try it. I know that none of you have mana to speak of and Eydis would hate me for slaughtering you guys. I will do it if you provoke me, keep that in mind,¡± Freya warned them, all her happy personality gone now that she finally didn¡¯t need to act anymore.
¡°Eydis too? No, you are lying!¡± Samira yelled while shielding Frido from the archers. Her voice was hard, but her eyes were filled with uncertainty.
¡°Feels bad to have lain with a traitor, doesn¡¯t it? At least I can tell you that she was quite torn about betraying you guys,¡± Freya replied with a broad smile.
¡°You bitch! I will rip out your spine,¡± Samira growled.
¡°Hey, you ran away to save your people. You don¡¯t really want to murder them all right now, do you? Throw down your weapons or die.¡±
Freya could see Samira struggle with the decision when a small package landed in between the Rangda. It exploded a moment later into a purple cloud of gas and yells of surprise came from inside.
¡°They will fall unconscious a few moments after inhaling. Capture those that try to escape the cloud,¡± Silver ordered the outriders, who put away their bows and dismounted to surround the cloud.
Silver then turned to Freya and regarded her with a measuring glance. ¡°You play too much.¡±
Rat scoffed and rolled her eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t mimic the grandmaster, Silver. We are equals.¡±
The other agent looked at her for a moment more while the outriders were struggling with some of the prisoners and then asked flatly, ¡°Where is your target? You weren¡¯t ordered to capture prisoners.¡±
¡°She knocked me out and left to try to save her clan,¡± Freya replied with a shrug.
¡°I see,¡± Silver replied, completely ignoring the scuffle going on behind them.
Chapter 112.
Michael
Michael groaned as he opened his eyes. He was lying on the ground staring at the ceiling dozens of meters above him. His chest was still aching, but it was nowhere near the searing pain he had felt just a moment ago.
A face he hadn¡¯t expected pushed into his view, and a bearded smile welcomed him.
¡°Hello there, Michael. It has been a while,¡± Thomas said.
Michael forced himself into a sitting position and allowed the older man to pull him to his feet.
The library hadn¡¯t changed since the last time he had been there. It was still an impossibly large collection of literature with high ceilings, clean stone walls, and a wooden floor.
¡°I need to get back to the battle,¡± Michael groaned while getting up.
¡°You are the one who came here, and I assume you are the only one who can make you leave again,¡± Thomas replied. ¡°Either way, the battle was mostly won already but with the reinforcements that probability has become a certainty.¡±
Michael thought for a moment and then nodded. ¡°You are probably right.¡±
¡°Come on, let¡¯s sit down and talk. I feel like you are here more firmly than the last time,¡± Thomas said, guiding him back to his table.
Michael inspected the small pile of books lying there. De Bello Gallico, Historical Battle Tactics, The Art of War, and a couple of others.
Thomas noticed Michael¡¯s curiosity and chuckled slightly. ¡°I decided to study a bit if wars and battles are something we can¡¯t avoid.¡±
¡°Quite a change from back then in the forest,¡± Michael noted as he opened up De Bello Gallico.
¡°We can¡¯t realistically avoid it. Which means that the least we can do is doing it properly,¡± Thomas replied. Michael wasn¡¯t the only one who had changed in the past years, it seemed.
¡°Some of these are more entertaining than useful though.¡±
¡°So, what is this place? And please don¡¯t say a library again.¡±
Thomas smiled slightly before answering. ¡°It is a collection of everything that is me. Every book I have ever read, every experience I have ever made, my whole life in the shape of a library.¡±
¡°You truly are another person with your own life,¡± Michael said. ¡°Where did you come from and why are you part of my mind?¡±
Thomas looked at him with sad eyes and pushed the glass contraption up. Michael now knew that they were called glasses and helped people see who had bad eyes.
¡°I can¡¯t explain it myself, one moment I was talking with one of my students, and the next I was here,¡± Thomas explained.
¡°But where did you come from? You seem to know things that no one else has thought of. Are you a soul from long ago or far away?¡± Michael pressed but the old man didn¡¯t seem inclined to explain his origin.
¡°Michael, you must understand that my origin is nothing I can or should share with you, at least not yet. It doesn¡¯t change anything and would only burden you.¡±
¡°You are not some kind of demon, are you?¡± Michael frowned at the man with open suspicion.
Thomas shook his head firmly. ¡°I am not. I am a human just like you.¡±
¡°Why should I believe you?¡± Michael asked. ¡°I haven¡¯t been the same since you joined me. Well, assuming you did when I got knocked out back when I was a kid. I have become a completely new person, and you have been pushing me toward things. It does sound a little bit like the whole demon child thing. I don¡¯t know how to feel about this partnership of ours. Which thoughts and ideas are actually mine, am I just some kind of puppet?¡±
The words just spilled out of him. He knew that he was insecure about possibly being manipulated, not only by Thomas but others as well. But Thomas was the reason why he couldn¡¯t even fully trust his own thoughts. He did have some animosity toward the old man because of that, even if he had been generally helpful as far as Michael could tell.
Thomas looked at him with empathy and then reached into his pocket to retrieve a leather square. He opened it up and pulled out a piece of paper before handing it to Michael.
He inspected it and found that it was some kind of impossibly detailed painting. It depicted a woman who probably matched Thomas¡¯s age, two younger men and two women, and a couple of children of varying ages, together with Thomas himself.
Michael looked up at Thomas and asked, ¡°Your family?¡±
Thomas nodded with a pained smile. ¡°My wife, two sons with their wives, and my grandchildren.¡±
He looked at the picture with a longing expression for a moment before continuing to speak.
¡°I know your life has been turned upside down since I got thrown into it. I know because mine has been the same. I wish I could return to my life but that is not going to happen. Of course, I am aware that all I am saying could be a lie and there is no way to prove my words, but I hope you can afford me some trust.
¡°One thing I want to make clear is that you are an exceptional young man with or without me. Most of the brilliant ideas were your own, you identified problems and all I did was present you with possible solutions that I could think of. And even if you might not believe me, I have given you a lot less help than you probably think, and I most certainly have never tried to conceal when a piece of information came from me.¡±
Michael studied the old man¡¯s face, looking for any hint of deception but came out empty-handed. His suspicion didn¡¯t just fade but made way for a mix of pity and guilt. The man was trapped in his body after all.
Don¡¯t abandon trust just because suspicion has failed you, Michael thought to himself.
¡°Alright, I will trust you,¡± Michael said. ¡°Do you have any idea why I am here?¡±
Thomas smiled gratefully and then hesitated for a moment before answering. ¡°I am not sure. I too felt the pain in our chest so maybe we got attacked like back with the wolf spirits.¡±
¡°Again, something that shouldn¡¯t be possible for humans of the current age,¡± Michael mumbled to himself.
¡°This is a subject where Kiran could give you better advice than me.¡±
Michael inspected the old man. ¡°How does this work by the way? Do you see everything I see and hear my thoughts?"
¡°I am aware of what is happening around you, but I only know of the thoughts you are sharing with me,¡± Thomas explained and folded his hands comfortably on the table.
¡°What do you mean? How do I share thoughts with you?¡± Michael asked with a frown.
The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
¡°I was suspecting that our connection was less conscious than I had hoped,¡± Thomas replied with a thoughtful expression.
¡°Most of the time I hear your thoughts when you are searching for an answer or when analyzing a problem. Like in the strategy meeting, you were wondering about a way to increase your odds, and I could hear that.¡±
¡°Hmm, maybe it has something to do with intent. Maybe I should talk to Kiran or Ferrekxan about this,¡± Michael suggested but it was obvious that Thomas wasn¡¯t on board with that plan.
¡°I would prefer if you did not share our special situation with anyone. You should know best how such rumors may be misconstrued. The dragon surely has an inkling of my existence, but I do not trust him and neither should you. He is using you for his goals and doesn¡¯t even try to hide it.¡±
¡°And I am taking advantage of him in turn,¡± Michael replied. ¡°But I am not arrogant enough to believe that I could square up against a dragon in a battle of wits, so I will keep our secret.¡±
Thomas smiled thankfully and let his gaze wander to the books on his table.
¡°While I have you here, I should probably impart you some wisdom from my life,¡± he then said and reached for a book.
The title was ¡®The Prince¡¯ written by a scholar whose name Michael had never heard of or knew how to pronounce.
¡°This is quite a famous book where I come from. It is a collection of thoughts and philosophies of a political scholar, and I think you should read it,¡± Thomas explained.
Michael opened it up and was happy to find that it wasn¡¯t written in some kind of ancient language.
¡°The external battle is over but we both know that the internal one might be even more dangerous,¡± Thomas continued.
¡°Thank you. I will take its lessons to heart, I promise,¡± Michael replied confidently but the old man waved him off.
¡°Do not take this book as gospel. Many consider the author a political pessimist and question his way, but I do believe that there are many valuable lessons to be found. So, take what you find valuable and leave the rest. If you do need an explanation or just someone to discuss, just ask.¡±
Michael wanted to talk with the man who lived inside his mind more, but his body language made clear that he thought of this as more important, so Michael accepted it.
Sola
Sola rubbed her eyes as she tried to follow the conversation around her. She was the only one seated next to the bed of the unconscious Michael while the rest were standing.
It was difficult to follow them, her mind was sluggish from first the long march, then the short but hectic battle, and then the fight for the injured. She had drained herself of mana continually for hours already and it wouldn¡¯t stop soon.
¡°He is probably just drained from mana expenditure,¡± Kiran noted with a tired tone. ¡°Pan also nearly collapsed at the end of the battle, and she is more experienced with mana than Michael is.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know, Kiran. He wasn¡¯t supposed to drain himself this much,¡± Geron argued with badly veiled concern. He was covered in nicks and bruises from his quite frankly idiotic vault into the thick of the enemy lines. A prayer of thanks to Lord Idas had seemed lackluster to Sola when her man had returned from it with only surface-level injuries.
¡°He wasn¡¯t supposed to fight in the front line either but here we are,¡± Lord Grim said sternly.
Sola turned her head to Eydis who was standing in a corner of the tent with her arms crossed in front of her arms. She was positively covered in bandages. It was honestly impressive that the woman was still standing after what she had to endure.
¡°We expected the clans to converge on the spear tip as the biggest threat, they were smarter than that. It could have become really messy if they managed to break through the line,¡± Geron admitted.
¡°They didn¡¯t and it made our job easier,¡± Lord Grim said. Sola wasn¡¯t quite up to date with everything that had happened, but she had exchanged some words with Sir Kilev while treating the grievously wounded Samuel Ragar. He had told her that the line was strained and buckling but would have probably held, though at a much greater cost.
Sola was happy about the reinforcements, she knew that Michael valued Samuel and without a quick end to the battle and medical assistance, he might not have survived his crushed ribs.
She looked back onto Michael¡¯s sleeping visage and placed her hand on his brow. He was burning up. She quickly grabbed a piece of cloth and soaked it in water before placing it on his forehead. The bloody streak on his face where a blade had nicked him had been cleaned and would probably close in a matter of hours once the boy could channel his mana again. She for one had none to spare for anything less than lethal injuries.
¡°This doesn¡¯t feel like mana exhaustion,¡± she said.
Before anyone could say anything, a new voice joined them. ¡°It isn¡¯t exhaustion.¡± The voice was cold and devoid of life. Everyone spun around and Lord Grim¡¯s hand flashed to his sword. Geron barely managed to stop the Count from splitting the lynx-masked man in half.
¡°He is one of us,¡± Geron explained hastily.
Sola could see that the count was startled by Lynx being able to sneak up on him so perfectly, which also explained his violent reaction, but he nodded understanding.
¡°You must be the source, my nephew got all this frighteningly accurate intel from then,¡± Lord Grim said while still eying Lynx with mistrust.
The grandmaster of spies bowed slightly but didn¡¯t give a further answer.
¡°You said it isn¡¯t simply exhaustion; do you know what it is?¡± Geron asked with a frown. None of them were very familiar with the lynx-masked man, but they knew that he had some obscure knowledge that none of them understood.
Lynx stepped past them until he stood right next to Michael¡¯s bed and gazed down at the sleeping teenager. ¡°His soul has fractured. Only the tiniest of margins but there is a chip in it,¡± he said after inspecting it for a while.
Kiran¡¯s eyes widened as everyone looked to the experienced mage for an explanation.
¡°How is that possible? Attacking someone¡¯s soul is such a difficult practice even when ignoring that one needs to gain a life-or-death affinity first. I only ever met one man who could even touch another person¡¯s soul much less damage them. It borders on a crime against nature,¡± the mage said quickly.
¡°Someone attacking the radiant soul is one possibility for his state. At least we can rest assured with the mage who has achieved this to be destroyed if that was the case,¡± Lynx said and turned away from Michael.
¡°Why is that?¡± Lord Grim asked harshly.
Lynx ignored the hard tone of the count and explained calmly. ¡°Michael has the strongest soul I have seen in centuries in a human and when attacking a soul, you put your own against the enemy¡¯s. You can get an advantage by being skilled, but no human of this age is that skilled. The moment someone touches Michael¡¯s soul is the moment he burns.¡±
How old is he? Sola asked herself. He talks about centuries and about people of other ages as casually as I would about my time training with the Order of Purity.
¡°I saw that before,¡± Kiran spoke up. ¡°Michael destroyed a wolf spirit who touched his soul in the wolf clan¡¯s ancestor rite.¡±
Lynx nodded, ¡°For the reason you have stated Master Kiran, I do not believe this to be the case. The Rangda do have a focus on life affinity, but I have seen none that come even close to such a feat.¡±
¡°What are the other options?¡± Kiran asked.
Lynx stayed quiet for a moment as if contemplating but then he explained, ¡°Michael¡¯s soul is unstable. It has been unstable since I first laid my eyes on him. I fear that it is too strong for its vessel.¡±
¡°Are you telling us that he did this to himself?¡± Lord Grim asked grimly.
¡°I believe in this theory, yes. Through the strains of battle, he pushed himself too far and overstretched his soul causing it to tear. With his soul being as unstable and tense, a normally titanic feat becomes much more likely with little effort.¡±
¡°That makes no sense,¡± Sola finally joined the discussion while gritting her teeth. ¡°Michael has pushed himself more than this. He wasn¡¯t completely drained when I got to him.¡±
¡°It was the biggest spell he ever conjured,¡± Kiran reminded Sola. ¡°I can see that he strained himself by controlling such a vast amount of mana that he broke something. It would be like me putting all my mana into a singular cast and I have a stable soul. We might have to accept that Michael might not be able to use his magic anymore now that a crack has formed from his casting.¡±
¡°Why?¡± Geron asked with a frown. ¡°As long as he refrains from casting something large, he should be fine, right?¡±
Kiran shook his head sadly. ¡°His soul is chipped now so it has become much more dangerous. You wouldn¡¯t swing a sword with a fracture in the blade and expect it to hold indefinitely.¡±
¡°Can a soul heal? Is there something we can do?¡± Geron pushed.
This time Lynx was the one to answer. ¡°A soul is not a bone that can be mended. It is a repository of all that one has experienced and everything one is. There are ways to undo damage to the soul, but they are dark and much more dangerous than a fracture in a soul ever can be. A soul is not meant to be healed it is meant to bear the marks of life and that fracture has become one of those marks.¡±
A somber mood settled on the gathering as they all looked at the sleeping boy.
¡°He will not accept this,¡± Sola pointed out quietly.
¡°We will just have to convince him. He will kill himself if he breaks his soul even further,¡± Kiran said.
¡°If he wakes up,¡± Lynx noted which earned him some nasty looks which he promptly ignored.
Lord Grim sighed loudly and then turned from Michael¡¯s bed. ¡°There is nothing we can do for him right now, so let¡¯s get back to work. We have injured to care for, men to organize, and prisoners to get moving. I want to be gone as soon as the men have had some rest.¡±
After the count, the others left one by one to tend to their tasks until Sola stood in the opening of the tent, looking back into it. Eydis had moved next to the bed and was gazing at Michael¡¯s unconscious expression with a mix of emotions.
She wanted to talk to her, but Sola knew that only Michael could help the woman right now. So, she sent a short prayer to Idas and then returned to the designated healer station just a few dozen meters from where Michael¡¯s tent had been placed.
Chapter 113.
Michael
Poke poke.
Michael scowled as someone poked him on the cheek over and over again. Just a moment ago he had been sitting at a table, completely lost in his book and now he was lying down with his eyes closed. He wasn¡¯t even able to say goodbye to Thomas.
His eyes opened slowly as another poke found its mark and he looked at his tormentor. Eydis was sitting there with a bored expression and her hand raised for another casual assault.
¡°Could you please not?¡± Michael asked with a hoarse voice.
Eydis looked at him surprised and then jumped onto the bed to embrace him. They both hissed due to their individual injuries but ultimately didn¡¯t care.
¡°Glad to see you,¡± Michael said after Eydis had retreated to her chair with a happy expression. He inspected her and the multitude of bandages that covered her limbs and torso. ¡°Didn¡¯t Rat reach you in time?¡±
Eydis looked at him with a darkened expression and signed, ¡°It is a little more complicated that¡¯s that.¡±
Michael stayed quiet while Eydis wrung for words. ¡°I am a traitor to both sides, now,¡± she finally signed.
¡°Why do you say that?¡± he inquired.
Eydis looked strained as if she was a child about to be lectured. That picture amused Michael with him being the child and her the adult but he didn¡¯t let it show.
¡°I tried to warn my clan and get them to safety before the attack which makes me a traitor to you, but I didn¡¯t tell them about the attack specifically and then fought against them which makes me a traitor to them,¡± she explained in a resigned manner. ¡°I know you are gonna tell me that I am not, but everyone is thinking it, I know that.¡±
Michael looked at her with empathy, he somewhat knew how she felt.
¡°Then let them think that. Who cares? Those who matter know of your loyalty and those with even an ounce of self-reflection know that they would have likely done the same in your situation. I for one know that I would be hard-pressed to decide between Telios and my family and friends if I ever had to choose.
¡°I told you from the start that what counts is that you are satisfied with the choices you made. So, are you?¡±
Eydis nodded. ¡°I would have liked to get them out and if they had been more reasonable, I might have even left with them, but they are not the clan I remember. Please don¡¯t think yourself a second choice, you are not, you all are the family I am glad to have.¡±
¡°We are also glad to have you, Eydis,¡± Michael said. ¡°Let¡¯s leave this behind us. How did the battle conclude?¡±
Eydi nodded. ¡°It was a complete rout on the Rangda side shortly after Lord Grim reached the camp¡¯s center. I don¡¯t really know the specifics though. I can fetch Geron for you though if you want.¡±
¡°That¡¯s good. No need for you to go out, I am fine to go look for them myself,¡± Michael said and began to roll out of bed. He was still dressed in his gambeson and patted pants, but the rest of his armor had been stripped off him.
Eydis stopped him with a hand on his shoulder and a dreadful expression. ¡°You should rest a little more. It has been a long march.¡±
Michael frowned and inspected his friend¡¯s face suspiciously. ¡°There is something you are not telling me, is there? How long was I asleep for?¡±
¡°Only two hours,¡± she volunteered slowly.
So little, Michael thought confused. It had felt much longer in the library with Thomas. He had been reading and talking for multiple hours at least. Then he remembered that the moment that the spirit wolf touched his soul back with the Vargr-Sl?kt had also been stretched unnaturally long. It was a subject to ponder on later though, Eydis was still hiding something from him.
¡°Spit it out, Eydis. The mother hen personality doesn¡¯t fit you,¡± Michael poked at her with a smirk.
It didn¡¯t lift her mood though as she slowly began to sign. ¡°I am so sorry, Michael. It wasn¡¯t just exhaustion that made you pass out.¡±
¡°I know. My soul took some damage,¡± Michael preceded her explanation to her surprise.
¡°You know?¡±
¡°Surely. I felt something like this before, but it is nothing to be concerned about. I doubt that it was anyone else¡¯s doing but rather my own,¡± he explained calmly.
¡°That is not the important part though,¡± Eydis continued, grabbing Michael¡¯s attention anew. ¡°Kiran said this so you will need to ask him for details, but he said that you would likely not be able to use your magic properly anymore. Something about a damaged sword being expected to break even from normal use.¡±
This new information gave Michael pause, he hadn¡¯t considered that the damage to his soul could have consequences apart from him being knocked out. It was obvious that that should be the case now that it had been pointed out.
¡°Do you know for how long?¡±
Eydis looked him in the eyes with empathy. ¡°Souls do not heal. That is what Lynx said.¡±
Michael stared at her in disbelief. ¡°Are you telling me that my magic will be crippled for the rest of my life if I don¡¯t want to damage my soul even more?¡±
It felt wrong somehow. Michael wasn¡¯t convinced that the strain of his magic had caused the damage but with a weakened soul it might not matter.
¡°I don¡¯t know. I know little about magic or souls, but Lynx said that your soul was unstable before, and with the fracture, it will only become worse. It sounded like they weren¡¯t certain about the effect it would have, though,¡± Eydis explained.
Michael pondered on that for a moment and then raised his hand in front of him. A small ball of light formed and pulsed in random patterns.
¡°What are you doing?¡± Eydis signed alarmed.
¡°I am testing,¡± he simply answered and slowly pulled more and more light into his spell.
His mana wasn¡¯t topped off after only two hours of rest, but it would be enough to test out his limits.
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¡°I don¡¯t know if that is such a good idea. Maybe you should wait to talk with Kiran or Sola,¡± Eydis tried but Michael ignored her. He knew that it wasn¡¯t strictly the smart move, but he had to know.
He could see Eydis move next to him, but he was too engrossed in watching his mana move to read her words.
As the ball of light grew and pulsed more violently to his command he inspected his mana well closely. He couldn¡¯t see his soul, but mana was closely linked to it which was also why Kiran reasonably suspected that a fracture in his soul could lead to problems.
For now, his mana was running as smoothly as it had just a few hours ago. It was starting to strain a little bit as he forced it into ever more erratic movements, but he could find nothing out of the ordinary nor did he feel any pain.
¡°Seems fine,¡± he said absently and then started compressing the mana he had already gathered as much as he could. This would strain him even more as mana never liked pressure differences.
He groaned a little bit as the strain of mentally forcing mana together increased with every moment but still nothing hurt and nothing broke.
After a few more moments of holding the ball, he slowly released the mana into the air to prevent a violent equalization of mana.
I already expected that, he thought to himself. He had just known that his magic was not the cause of his newest problem, but he still couldn¡¯t quite put his finger on what was.
¡°See I am fine,¡± Michael said with a genuine smile. Eydis didn¡¯t seem very amused by any of this but abstained from criticizing him.
This time Eydis didn¡¯t stop him when he jumped out of bed and put on his boots.
They left the tent together and the guards in front of it saluted him briskly but also with an air of relief.
Michael nodded to them and then took a short look around. The army had made camp right next to the former Rangda encampment, he couldn¡¯t see too much but they were mostly still working on getting everything up as far as he could see.
A couple of rows down to his right he noticed a larger tent with open walls. It didn¡¯t take much to hear the screams and smell the scent of blood, identifying it as the medical tent.
¡°Sola wanted to be close to regularly check in on you, which is why we put your tent so close to the healers,¡± Eydis explained.
¡°Let¡¯s take a look,¡± Michael said and strolled over there. This had two purposes, first, he could check in on Sola and secondly, he could get an overview of the number of injured at least.
It was at the same time better and worse than he expected. While the number of injured he found in and around the tent was smaller than expected, the number of those just lying around without being properly treated was high.
Michael changed from a casual walk to a brisk pace and barged into the tent. He could see Sola, his uncle¡¯s court priest Ned, and two more in Idas robes working. Apart from them, at least a dozen soldiers were assisting, but they clearly weren¡¯t overly trained in healing ways.
Sola looked up from the man she was struggling with as Michael entered the tent.
¡°Michael, come help me here,¡± she called out at him without even bothering with a greeting.
Michael did just that and looked down at the man lying on his stomach. He was definitely one of the Rangda, but Sola didn¡¯t seem to care. He also had a deep cut spanning from one elbow to the next.
He was honestly surprised that the man was even still alive with the amount of blood he had to have lost until now but then he felt the dim glim of mana burning in his chest.
An oathbound, he realized. Sola was currently sewing the cut as best as she could, but Michael wasn¡¯t sure how he could help her with this man.
¡°We have too many injured and too few trained healers. Lord Grim told me to ignore the injured Rangda and focus on our people but I can¡¯t do that. We marked the injured with the level of their injuries. White for trivial ones, they get sent away for now. Yellow with more serious but not life-threatening ones. Red for life-threatening. Black for those we can¡¯t help anymore.
¡°You need to give us a hand. You know more about medicine than any of the soldiers we have been provided. Over there is the red section, find someone to treat,¡± Sola told him. She was looking exhausted to the bone, blood was covering the front of her robes, her arms, and in smears her face. Her hair was messily bound back and also stained from where she had pushed it away with bloody hands.
Michael nodded and turned to the area she had pointed out to him.
He quickly found a man in a House Grim tabard. He was burned badly on his left side, with parts of his clothes and armor having melted into his wounds.
¡°Get me some hands and him on a table,¡± Michael ordered.
He spent the next few minutes showing a duo of soldiers how to cleanly extract the foreign parts from the wounds and then watched them for a while longer. This would take a while, and it would be not in the best interest of everyone if any of the trained personnel spent the next hours helping one man. Michael just hoped that the two men would be able to deal with it.
From the few words they exchanged apart from the instructions, Michael learned that all those soldiers here were those with the most experience in treating injuries, so he had some hope and sent a short prayer for the man to Idas.
Next, he turned to a man with a nearly severed arm. It was just hanging on by some fragments of muscle and the lower part was already changing in color. Michael wasn¡¯t quite sure why he was in the red section, but this wouldn¡¯t take too much of his time at least.
Michael inspected the bandaged stump and with a sigh he announced, ¡°We are gonna have to amputate the rest. It is too far gone to be saved and if it gets infected it might travel up to the still healthy part of you.¡±
The man was a grim-faced veteran even if he was a little pale from the blood loss and pain. To his credit, he simply nodded.
As Michael worked, he heard his uncle¡¯s voice asking for him and then heavy steps in the dirt.
¡°Michael, you are up earlier than expected,¡± he said as he approached the table.
¡°Can you grab that arm?¡± Michael said and readied the knife to slice off the other one.
His uncle firmly took hold of the man¡¯s arm and shoulder and then Michael started to cut. It took little more than a moment.
Michael turned to one of his aids and ordered him to clean out the wound and bandage it properly. He then turned to his uncle and smiled.
¡°Uncle, good to see you unharmed. How did the battle turn out?¡±
¡°It was a success in all regards. We caught them by complete surprise and with your barba... with Eydis rampaging through their command staff they couldn¡¯t even hope to strike back,¡± Lord Grim explained.
¡°How are the casualties?¡±
¡°Eighty-three on our side so far, I can¡¯t give you an exact number on our wounded, but you can make an estimate,¡± he pointed at the space around him filled with hundreds of injured. They weren¡¯t all their own soldiers but it still. ¡°We estimate something around six to seven hundred on theirs dead and something around four hundred are here or in custody, again I can¡¯t give concrete numbers until we have a clear count.¡±
¡°Nearly half their army? And so many prisoners?¡± Michael asked incredulously. They had planned to rout them, so he had expected their losses to be much smaller.
Lord Grim nodded with a satisfied expression. ¡°It was quite the victory.¡±
Michael hesitated but then asked anyway, ¡°About our dead. Is there anyone I know personally?¡±
It sounded cruel as if he didn¡¯t care if any of the hundreds of nameless men marching in this army had died but he couldn¡¯t find better words to ask this specific question.¡±
His uncle didn¡¯t seem to notice his awkwardness thankfully. ¡°Most of our losses have been with the militia and men-at-arms at the flanks so I doubt it. The injured are another case, the fighting was rough if brief in some sections.¡±
A memory suddenly shot through Michael¡¯s mind, and he interrupted the other count. ¡°Do you know if Baron Samuel Ragar is alright? I lost sight of him while he fought Cigurt the Giant.¡±
¡°I heard about that. I had hoped to face him, but it wasn¡¯t meant to be. Lord Ragar should be around here somewhere. Sir Kilev came to me earlier to report, and he said that his lord got injured heavily but is at least not in life-threatening danger,¡± Lord Grim said, trying to get ahead of Michael¡¯s worry.
Michael of course wanted to storm off in search of his friend, but Sola and the other medical staff still needed his help.
This will never happen again, he swore to himself. The first thing he would do once back home was establish a new branch of the military for medical support. He knew that their trouble was mostly because they were also treating the wounded enemies, but still, this was a problem he intended to prevent in the future.
¡°It will be wasted if I say that you should rest, right?¡± his uncle asked, startling him out of his thoughts.
¡°I am afraid so. I need to help until we at least have taken care of the grievous wounded,¡± Michael agreed.
¡°Well, then let us get started,¡± he said. After seeing Michael¡¯s confused expression, he added, ¡°I was an adventurer, and you learn how to treat even the worst wounds when you are weeks from friendly civilization. I can¡¯t stay too long, but the rest will manage without us for an hour or two.¡±
Michael smiled and nodded in agreement before they went to work together.
Chapter 114.
Michael
Michael wasn¡¯t able to help out in the healer¡¯s tent as long as he wanted to; only an hour later, his uncle shipped him off to the command tent. Here, he was sitting on a chair while prominent knights, commanders, and nobles were standing around a small table discussing their next step.
He had been able to visit Samuel for a moment though. The young noble had been a sorry sight with his arm shattered and several ribs too. Richard had been at his side and explained that Samuel would be fine even if he was expected to be bedridden for a couple of days at least.
It would get easier once he woke up though. Once he was able to consciously direct his mana his healing rate would skyrocket.
¡°I have sent out a pair of my men to redirect my father to Greyhold, so there shouldn¡¯t be any reason for us to linger here,¡± Theden Wallsten said, pulling Michael back to the conversation.
¡°Good,¡± Lord Grim replied and turned his gaze to Sola who was the second person who was sitting. The priestess had been forcefully thrown out of the healer¡¯s tent by the other priests after most of the truly critical patients had been tended to. If Michael didn¡¯t know better, he would have said she was a wraith or something.
¡°Sister, how is the situation with the wounded? I would like to break camp and leave at first light tomorrow. Can that be done?¡±
Sola blinked a couple of times and then slowly turned her head to the lord. ¡°It isn¡¯t optimal, there are many injured whose injuries will worsen if we move them. Having them in a better environment will help others though. We will just have to make it work,¡± she said with a sigh.
¡°What about the prisoners we took?¡± Lord Namer asked. ¡°We took quite a great number. Are we able to guard all of them?¡±
¡°We will execute the mages and oathbound. It is too dangerous to keep them. The knights can easily contain the rest. We will sell them once back in Grent and the profit will be distributed between the houses that participated in shares equal to their participation,¡± Lord Grim explained without a hint of empathy in his voice.
Except for Eydis and Sola, no one seemed to take any offense to that plan but before either one of the women could protest Michael rose from his chair and stared into the group with outrage.
¡°We will certainly do no such thing!¡± he declared. ¡°We will not murder prisoners-of-war. What are we animals?¡±
¡°Michael, I know this is your first campaign, but this is how things are done. We can¡¯t take them with us, and we are definitely not going to cut them free so what other option is there,¡± Theden said stoically.
¡°We do have other options and for the record, that isn¡¯t the only thing I do not agree with. This whole thing has been caused by exactly this behavior of killing or enslaving prisoners,¡± Michael argued.
¡°You also disagree with selling the prisoners off? What are we supposed to do? Just let them go so that they can slit our throat tomorrow,¡± Lord Namer asked with a condescending tone.
Michael scowled at the man, but his uncle stopped him from snapping back. ¡°Michael, we owe this success to you no matter how you look at it. Thus, I would like to hear your plan on what to do with the prisoners.¡±
His uncle seemingly expected him to have a plan on hand, so he wasn¡¯t surprised when he actually laid one out.
¡°First of all, we will not kill any of our prisoners if we do not have to. We can force the mages and augmenters to vow to not cause trouble and those who refuse we can put into an alchemical coma if we have to. As you said the rest can easily be suppressed by the knights,¡± Michael started explaining but was interrupted by Theden with a question.
¡°So, we are supposed to trust our lives on their word?¡±
¡°The Rangda place a very high value on oaths as long as they are reasonable and made right. We do know how to make them too,¡± Michael explained and pointed toward Eydis.
¡°Once we have them back with us, we will sell them, but not as slaves. We will ransom them back to their tribes just as we would with any other kingdom¡¯s warriors. Those that can¡¯t raise the ransom, we will return with an oath that they may not attack the kingdom for five to ten years.¡±
¡°Why not into perpetuity?¡± Geron asked.
¡°No, an oath has to be reasonable. If we do that then the likelihood of them breaking it is much much higher. If we set a length that can be expected to be kept then most will not dare anger their gods by breaking it,¡± Michael explained.
¡°Either way we will have to fight them again one day,¡± Sir Helbrect said, obviously not a fan of the idea. ¡°I don¡¯t see the advantage of doing it like this instead of just doing it as we have always done. Warriors who are dead can¡¯t fight and if we sell them off, they won¡¯t be our problem anymore.¡±
Michael shook his head decidedly. ¡°Wrong! For every man we kill a son will become filled with hate and an undying wish for revenge. With every woman we sell into slavery comes a husband who will invade the kingdom to find her.¡±
He looked around in the tent to look for understanding.
¡°Don¡¯t you see this cycle of violence will continue if no one makes the first step to break it? The families of those that return home will be overjoyed to have them returned, a feeling that surely will sweep away all notions of revenge.¡±
Those more familiar with Michael¡¯s unorthodox thought processes nodded, but neither Theden, the knight commander, nor the nobles from Grent seemed convinced.
¡°I think you are too optimistic, Lord Rowan,¡± Baron Namer said. ¡°These animals wouldn¡¯t even know what to do with gratitude if you threw them into a barrel of it. They will return home with stories of how we mistreated them and in a few months time will be straight back at raiding and pillaging.¡±
Michael could hear Eydis growl at the description of her people.
¡°I think you are stuck in your prejudices and hatred, Baron,¡± Michael replied sharply. ¡°I have already proven that long-term peace and trade is possible with the Vargr-Sl?kt in the beastwoods. I am confident that the Rangda are even less different than us, and I think I wouldn¡¯t harbor animosity to a foe who I planned to attack but still returned our prisoners.¡±
¡°I am not so sure if they are capable of such civilized thought,¡± another Grent baron smirked.
¡°You should show more respect for your enemy, or you are bound to underestimate them like being caught completely off guard by a multiple thousand-strong army forming,¡± Tara came to Michael¡¯s aid before he could reply anything. ¡°I for one agree with Michael that these constant fights are helping no one and if we can lay the groundwork for a more peaceful coexistence with the Rangda then we should try.
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¡°I mean look around! Do you think Reen could have sent such a large relief force if they had to fear raids and attacks at any moment? I can¡¯t see any advantage in this cycle of blood and tears. Anyone who does should think back the oaths he once made and reconsider if he is worthy of his title.¡±
Michael stared at his cousin with a perplexed expression. Her passionate speech made her seem like a raging fire as her hair swung with every gesture.
He had not expected to get this kind of support from her. She had spent the last two years struggling not just with monsters but with the very people she was now advocating for. But maybe that was exactly why she was grasping for this opportunity. She had experienced firsthand what damage the Rangda could do the moment they stumbled and rather than make her hate them she realized that the hatred was the problem.
These were only his assumptions, but he would have to ask her about that later.
Tara¡¯s outburst had a much greater effect on the men of Grent than Michael would have expected. Some were looking on stoically, but others looked apologetic or even ashamed. Tara seemed to have gained a lot of respect, and it made Michael respect her even more as well.
¡°Thank you, cousin,¡± Michael said and nodded at her appreciatively. She smiled back at him with a fierce expression.
¡°It might not be my opinion, but I believe my lord father would also support this plan,¡± Theden said with a sigh and so all eyes turned to Lord Grim whose plan had been called into question.
He had stayed eerily silent the whole discussion and now inspected Michael. After a few moments, he nodded.
¡°Fine. We will do it your way, but you will have to pay for their food and accommodations if it takes longer to organize their return home,¡± the count said. ¡°The ransom will then be divided as the spoils would have before.¡±
Everyone nodded in agreement even if not everyone seemed fully on board with the idea.
¡°Good, now that that is sorted. What do the scouts report?¡± Lord Grim turned to Captain Wendel, he was the leader of the outriders.
The man was in his mid-thirties, had a thin figure, a bald head, and intelligent eyes.
¡°Milords. My men have been harassing the Rangda while they are retreating. So far, there is no indication of them rallying and attempting a counterattack,¡± he reported, his voice weirdly raspy.
¡°Good. That means we can retreat orderly and if they can¡¯t manage an attack now, they probably won¡¯t again for at least a few months,¡± Lord Grim announced, looking pleased.
Tara looked confused and asked, ¡°Why is that father? They still have two thousand men and outnumber us even with the lord duke¡¯s reinforcements.¡±
¡°You didn¡¯t have to deal with alliances of clans before, so it is no surprise that this confuses you, milady,¡± Sir Helbrect said. ¡°The losses they took were devastating for a single battle. It will leave the clans that were present in a majorly weakened state and some of them will have had their warriors completely wiped out.
¡°The problem for them is that not all clans were present. The Rangda like to fight each other nearly as much as they like to fight us. This means that there are clans that are at full strength and others that have lost half their warriors or more until we send them back. They will most likely devolve into infighting.¡±
Eydis whistled to get the attention and then Michael began to translate for her.
¡°Eydis believes there will be little to no overt fighting. They are all bound by the rules of the Kirhen which do not allow fighting. There will be a lot of political infighting though. Those who took the brunt of this battle won¡¯t want to continue fighting while those who didn¡¯t will want to bully the clans that have.¡±
Eydis hesitated and then continued, ¡°There is also the issue that many people saw her betray the Rangda which will cause them to not want to go ahead with the Kirhen called for by a clan of traitors.¡±
Silence fell on the tent as no one wanted to say the obvious. In the end, it was Geron who spoke up.
¡°They will turn your clan into the scapegoat and abandon the war.¡±
Eydis nodded simply, her face a forced mask of calm
¡°I intended to inform you later, but some members of your former clan have been brought in by the outriders. I assume they won¡¯t be ransomed with this new information, so I will gladly hand them over into your care, Michael,¡± Lord Grim announced.
Eydis¡¯s head snapped to the count and then to Michael.
¡°Thank you, uncle. I will go see them later,¡± Michael replied and gave Eydis a reaffirming nod.
¡°Good, then there is nothing more to discuss. Make sure your men rest and that they are ready to march home an hour after first light,¡± Lord Grim ended the meeting but asked Eydis and Michael to remain with him for a moment.
He waited until everyone else had deserted the tent before turning to Eydis with a measuring gaze.
¡°I have to apologize to you. I was firmly against your part in this operation and didn¡¯t trust your loyalty. I must also say that I am rather impressed by your skill, you have grown considerably over the years.¡±
He paused for a moment and seemed to consider his next words before he continued
¡°I am aware that you surely still hold a grudge against me for what happened to your clan which can easily be extended to this war as well. If you ever want to settle this score, I will be ready, but know that while I will fight you alone, I will not go down easily.¡±
Michael stared at his uncle in complete shock and then quickly turned to Eydis. If she ever took him up on that offer and killed him then that would surely destroy the relations between the two houses for good.
The woman was standing there like a statue carved from stone, simply staring at the tent wall. She then slowly turned her head toward Michael with a questioning expression. He could feel her considering getting justice for both of them.
¡°Eydis, he had nothing to do with the fate of my family. I found out shortly after your departure and there is no doubt about it. This is your decision,¡± he said when realizing that she didn¡¯t know that he and his uncle had made up.
She turned back to Lord Grim and then firmly shook her head.
¡°I will break the cycle of vengeance. My only request is that you keep an open mind to do the same with the Rangda,¡± Eydis signed, and Michael translated.
Lord Grim nodded with an aura of respect. ¡°I will do so, I swear.¡±
Eydis turned to leave but then stopped and signed some more. ¡°One more thing, if I ever find the bastards who cut out my tongue, I will murder them, and no one can stop me.¡±
After that, she left the tent to wait for Michael outside who faithfully translated her words. Lord Grim seemed lost in thought after that last declaration.
¡°Is there anything else, uncle?¡± Michael asked. He wanted to get back to the medical tent to help some more.
Lord Grim seemed to shake off what had kept him distracted and then focused back on Michael.
¡°One more thing. That masked fellow. I want you to be careful with him, I have a bad feeling about that one,¡± he said with a grave voice.
¡°Lynx? You met him?¡±
His uncle nodded.
¡°What is your issue with him? He has been quite the boon,¡± Michael asked.
¡°He is some kind of ancient creature, of which you are probably aware, but I can¡¯t imagine that something like him would really see you as his master or even care for you. You are probably just a toy for him or something worse. He also has no scruples, we found about a dozen or more oathbound and druids with slit throats in their tents, and I think you and I both know who did that. I can¡¯t condemn that as it helped our cause, but it still rubs me the wrong way to murder warriors in their sleep,¡± Lord Grim said.
Michael inspected his uncle for a while. It was indeed a little strange to hear his uncle complain when this was not the first but second time, he had ambushed a Rangda force at night.
He himself didn¡¯t know what to think about this new information. A part of him was similarly disgusted by killing them in their sleep but another part was indifferent as it was clearly a boon and definitely saved Telios lives.
¡°I promise to be careful, uncle. I will not start scrutinizing him, though. He saved my life multiple times already, especially the night the castle was attacked. I would be dead without him, so he deserves my trust,¡± Michael explained.
His uncle seemed surprised and then nodded. ¡°I did not know that. It may be nothing, I just feel like he is dangerous but that doesn''t mean that he is dangerous for you.¡±
¡°I appreciate your concern nonetheless,¡± Michael said and after a few more sentences they separated.
Michael and Eydis wandered back to the medical tent. He would probably help out there the rest of the day as he was one of the few people who wouldn¡¯t get tired but for now, he was looking at Eydis with blatant curiosity.
¡°Thank you for that, Eydis,¡± Michael said after walking with her for a while.
She cocked her head slightly at him. ¡°It would be quite hypocritical of me to hold on to the past while expecting others to do the opposite.¡±
¡°Being a hypocrite has rarely stopped people from being vengeful. I am speaking from experience, so my thanks stand,¡± Michael replied with a smirk.
Eydis didn¡¯t reply, seeming completely detached from herself.
¡°You want to go see the prisoners from your clan?¡± Michael put his deduction into a question.
She nodded quietly and so Michael turned to the next soldier he found to ask for the location of the prisoners.
It didn¡¯t take long to find them as they had been brought in by a unit of outriders that was still lingering around the prisoner groups. Unluckily they were still all knocked unconscious by some kind of alchemical sedative, so a reunion would have to wait.
Chapter 115.
Michael
The cart rattled over the dirt roads toward Greyhold. Michael sat next to the unconscious Samuel and gazed at the marching army.
They had reached Grent a few hours ago and were bound to arrive at Greyhold soon. As expected, the Rangda had made no attempt to attack them again, and apart from a few small scuffles, the prisoners were agreeable under the threat of augmented violence.
Samuel was going in and out of consciousness repeatedly over the last hours. Being carted over what could barely be called roads probably didn¡¯t help his recovery either.
Michael looked up to Richard who was riding next to them and cocked his head a little.
¡°Hey Richard,¡± he said, and the nobleman turned his head toward him. ¡°Do you think that nobility is required for a civilization¡¯s functionality? Everyone seems to have them no matter the race or religion, so is a class that stands above others merely because of the family they were born in somehow required for a society to function?¡±
The plump man looked at him with confusion for a moment before replying. ¡°Quite the strange moment for such a philosophical question, milord. Why do you ask now of all times when one would rather expect a discussion about the sensibilities of war or worth of slavery.¡±
Michael couldn¡¯t really blame him; how could anyone understand his thoughts if they didn¡¯t know what he knew? Like that, he kept the son of one of the most powerful nobles as a drugged prisoner without his father¡¯s knowledge after exactly that father had ordered his son to murder his liege. It sounded confusing to Michael himself sometimes.
¡°I have just been thinking about the Rangda and how they do have somewhat similar structures to us and then I also thought about the dwarfs or wolfkin and they all have some kind of noble class. So, are they necessary if everyone seems to have them?¡±
Richard rode in silence for a while. Michael always liked talking to him, he actually thought about things and didn¡¯t just say the first thing that came to mind.
¡°I think you have it the wrong way around. It is not that civilization exists because of the noble classes but rather that noble classes form in every civilization. There will always be people that are more important or powerful than others, through skill and intellect and there will also always be the wish to provide for their family. With those two constants you will always have some kind of elite that forms, be they nobles, trade families, or clan leaders.¡±
Michael smiled and mumbled, ¡°What was first the civilization or the nobility, huh?¡±
He then spoke louder so his friend could hear him, ¡°Do you think the nobility is a boon to the country?¡±
Richard seemed uncomfortable with the topic which he quickly also voiced. ¡°I don¡¯t know if this is a subject for such a public discussion, Michael.¡±
¡°Hmm, perhaps not. We wouldn¡¯t want anyone to think that we are against traditions now, would we?¡±
In Michael¡¯s opinion, it was pretty clear anyway. The whole concept of nobility was so unproductive that it bordered on idiotic. To have people rule by the reasoning that some ancestor might have been great enough to actually earn his position with no thought wasted on the actual qualifications of the person.
He was of course aware that he himself was also lifted into his position by his lineage, but he was also the first one to say that he should have never been allowed to rule at his age, experience, and emotional state even if it turned out alright. Just because one or two situations turned out fine wouldn¡¯t validate the whole practice in his eyes.
Merits. Merits and skill are what should get people into positions of importance and power. Of course, that is easier to say than accomplish. There were power structures in place after all, but fortunately, at least a good part of that power structure had committed treason.
¡°It was an insane risk to take, Lord Plon,¡± he said to himself and continued scribbling notes on a stack of paper.
It was two more hours until Greyhold finally came into view and not only that but also a camp covered in the bright blue emblem of the Duchy of Praanen.
¡°It seems my father has already arrived,¡± Theden said with a satisfied grin at the orderly rows of tents.
He had every right to be satisfied, it was an impressive sight even if their army outnumbered the duke''s army three to one when counting the prisoners.
- A while later in Greyhold -
¡°Michael, Duncan, I am so glad to see you both alive and well,¡± Duke Wallsten said as they jumped off their horses. Michael had changed to a horse from his cart when the army made camp at the edge of town.
¡°I am also fine, father,¡± Theden joked, clearly not very bothered.
Duke Wallsten smiled at his son fatherly and touched his shoulder before turning back to his two vassals. ¡°I got the good news. You have achieved something worthy of recognition and I am very glad that at least my son could reach you in time even if I couldn¡¯t.¡±
¡°Your son¡¯s timely arrival and unflinching bravery did much to secure a clean victory, and we are very thankful for the assistance,¡± Michael replied.
He could see Theden''s grin in his peripheral vision, but the man didn''t mention that Michael had been knocked out by then and couldn¡¯t know any of that from his own experience.
¡°Let us head inside, you must be exhausted. There you can tell me everything about your heroics,¡± the duke said.
¡°I will be with you in a moment,¡± Lord Grim excused himself to meet his wife who was currently fussing over Tara.
¡°Michael. We really need to talk,¡± Kiran stopped him with a concerned expression.
¡°Not now, Kiran,¡± he brushed him off again. Michael knew what this was about, and he really didn¡¯t want to lead that discussion right now. There were simply more important issues.
He had dodged the subject for over two days now, being content with just not using his magic, even if he didn¡¯t think that there were any problems. Similarly, Eydis had seemingly gotten cold feet about meeting the prisoners of her clan and so they procrastinated together.
¡°Your health is more important,¡± Kiran grumbled but Michael was already gone.
He quickly caught up to Lord Wallsten and Theden, with his uncle also joining them shortly.
¡°So, the messengers said that we do not need to fear further attacks?¡± Duke Wallsten asked while they walked toward the meeting chamber.
¡°I do not think so and Eydis, the Rangda woman in Michael¡¯s service, agrees. The clans will be too preoccupied with throwing around the blame for this disaster and also infighting,¡± Lord Grim confirmed. ¡°We might see an increase of smaller raids though, depending on how vengeful some parties feel.¡±
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Duke Wallsten nodded. ¡°That is very good. My army will stay here for a short while until we have further confirmation. We also got notice on the road that Duke Greeich and Count Mandale are on their way here.¡±
¡°Truly? We didn''t ask for assistance,¡± Michael said surprised.
¡°I assume they are coming out of camaraderie more than out of a sense of duty,¡± Lord Grim explained. ¡°I am quite good friends with both. It is just a shame that they raised their armies to help, and we are already done. I would suggest we prepare a proper gift to show our gratitude.¡±
Michael nodded. ¡°I agree. I can take some magical weapons out of our supply, that should make for a good gift.¡±
¡°A very generous gift,¡± Theden noted. ¡°Though with what I hear magical weapons are no longer a great rarity with the knights of Rowan and Grim.¡±
It was true that Michael had gifted the knights of House Grim magical weapons as part of his effort to atone for his sins.
¡°They are very basic. Generally, just magical ores that have been forged with mana-infused flames, but they do allow an augmenter to leverage their whole strength. House Wallsten will of course also receive some as thanks¡±
Duke Wallsten waved him off after a short cough and said, ¡°There is no need for gifts. We did what a liege ought to, if we want magical weapons we will buy them. Either way, it is not that dramatic, Duke Greeich is coming with his knights and mounted guards and Count Mandale loves getting out of into the countryside so he will ultimately just be disappointed to have missed the battle.¡±
¡°That is good. You will need to relay my thanks and my gift though since I don¡¯t think I will still be here when they reach Greyhold,¡± Michael finally said when the door to the council chamber fell into its lock behind them, and they had their privacy.
¡°Hmm? Somewhere you need to be Michael?¡± Duke Wallsten inquired with a curious tone. ¡°Duke Greeich at least should reach us in a couple of days already.¡±
Michael settled into a chair as the others did the same. He noticed that Duke Wallsten pulled a pained expression as he did, but it vanished so fast that Michael was sure that the man didn¡¯t want it pointed out.
¡°Yes, milord. It has not been part of my reports because of the volatile nature of the information I am about to share with you. One of my knights, Sir Dittrich Plon tried to murder me in the forests when I got lost,¡± Michael said and let that statement sink in for a moment.
Duke Wallsten narrowed his eyes and asked, ¡°Plon? As in Baron Redric Plon?¡±
Michael nodded affirmatively.
¡°Why would they do that?¡± Theden asked. He was obviously not up to date on the politics of Michael¡¯s lands, which one couldn¡¯t blame him for.
Duke Wallsten on the other hand seemed very much aware. ¡°They tried to kill you to use the following chaos to supplant your family. They couldn¡¯t know that you would make up with your uncle in that time and your brother is far away and by now certainly sworn into the clergy. The question is if this was a plan made solely by Lord Plon or the entire noble faction.¡±
Michael nodded again. ¡°That is what we assume to be the reason behind this attack. We have the knight in custody and managed to keep this whole thing quiet with some lies and fake missions, but we can¡¯t be certain that they did not get suspicious.¡±
¡°So, what do you plan to do about this?¡±
¡°I plan to arrest the whole faction and bring them to justice. I might not be able to prove the involvement of every lord in the scheme to kill me, but I more than sufficiently prove many other crimes,¡± Michael explained coldly.
Theden leaned back with a frown and asked, ¡°You will have to be swift about that or it will trigger a civil war. The nobles not involved in this will be very pissed too if you start gathering up their neighbors.¡±
¡°Yes, this leans a little on them not having figured out what is happening, but due to no revolt having started yet I would assume that they do not know that their assassination has failed so spectacularly. The rest of the nobility will probably be concerned about this act of centralization. Still, under the current circumstances of our decisive victory and the weight of accusation, I do not believe that anyone will complain overly much, especially if I have the most troublesome nobles in custody already.¡±
¡°What evidence do you have?¡± Duke Wallsten asked.
¡°Dittrich is still alive, though he denies having been sent by anyone. He did admit it to me though, but I don''t have a witness. I do have fabricated letters by Lord Plon and some others lying about the state of my rule which have been delivered to the man who tried to kill me in the capital. I do have a wealth of evidence proving corruption, incompetence, active actions against my plans, murder, theft, and many more.¡±
Lord Grim added, ¡°I can affirm the attack on Lord Rowan, it was I who took down Dittrich.¡±
Silence fell in the room as Duke Wallsten rolled his cane between his fingers. His gaze was turned to the knob of it with the light being reflected from the metal.
Finally, after what felt like ten minutes, he grabbed his cane and turned his gaze back to Michael. ¡°None of them can escape. We cannot afford a rebellion right now and we definitely cannot afford any of them to escape and go to our enemies with a sob story about tyranny.¡±
He fixed on Michael with his piercing gaze until the young lord nodded. Next was Theden.
¡°My son, I will send you and our knights with Lord Rowan. Break their resistance if needed, this will need to be over before the month is over. It cannot drag on.¡±
Theden nodded with grim determination, ¡°Yes, Father.¡±
¡°Good,¡± Duke Wallsten said and leaned back. ¡°Duncan and I will stay here to continue projecting strength against the Rangda if they get foolish notions. I expect to be kept informed as long as it doesn¡¯t threaten the mission.¡±
¡°Of course, my Duke,¡± Michael bowed respectfully in his seat.
Duncan
Duncan and Duke Wallsten sat alone. Michael and Theden had left to start preparations and plan for the strike against the noble houses.
¡°Do you think he has the stomach for what he must do, Arthur?¡± Duncan asked. He knew that Michael could beat his enemies, but he wasn¡¯t so sure if his nature allowed him to be as cruel as he needed to be in this situation. His qualms about how to handle the barbarians didn¡¯t help in this concern.
¡°Don¡¯t you?¡± Arthur answered his question with a question of his own.
Duncan sighed and got up to get something to drink for both of them. ¡°I am not so sure.¡±
¡°I know you haven¡¯t been completely up to date with the happenings of the last few years, but Michael has proven quite driven and resilient in the face of obstacles.¡±
¡°I know that he is driven,¡± Duncan said. ¡°I just don¡¯t know if he is ...¡± He trailed off, not quite sure how to finish that sentence.
¡°You don¡¯t know if he is driven enough to slaughter entire families guilty of treason just because that would be the best thing to do right now?¡± Arthur tried to guess his thoughts.
¡°Yes. He is still so very young. If I had to imagine Tara being in such a situation,¡± he shook his head. ¡°Maybe I should go with him. Take the difficult choices from his hands.¡±
¡°And you think that that would be the wise decision?¡±
Duncan couldn¡¯t help but sigh. ¡°Of course, it wouldn¡¯t. I couldn¡¯t even argue that my brother would want me to protect his son. That hardass would say that decisions like this build character.¡±
¡°They are decisions that have to be made when one wants to rule over others,¡± Arthur noted and then finally got up from his chair to join Duncan who was still standing next to the bottles. ¡°I think you underestimate Michael. He is not as soft as you might think he is. He is driven as I said but he is also very focused on making the best decisions for his people.
¡°Like he did with the Rangda. It is the best decision to return them if Michael¡¯s information and predictions hold true. That is to say that I do not think he would slaughter them all if the gain was just marginal. In this situation though, I feel like he will unleash all that wrath and anger he has stored in his heart since his family died.¡±
Duncan looked at the duke, the man looked old, much older than he had last they met. Others might not notice when seeing the man every day but with the irregular times at which they met, it was quite obvious to the count.
¡°I felt some of that wrath before we managed to clear the air between us,¡± he said, finally passing a cup of wine to the old duke.
¡°And I am very glad that you managed to do so. I am not going to be here forever, and I wouldn¡¯t be able to go in peace with one of my most powerful vassals wanting to murder another.¡±
Duncan smirked dryly.
Arthur waited for a moment and when it became clear that Duncan had nothing to say to that he spoke again, ¡°You heard about the Order of Purity?¡±
¡°Yes, Theden told me about it. I heard that Michael isn¡¯t getting along with the archpriest but for the anti-mages to refuse their support is quite a blow,¡± Duncan said.
¡°I think it is going to become worse,¡± Arthur revealed. ¡°The more Michael leaves traditions behind and goes against church dogma the more they will see him as a threat. This is also why none of the traitors are allowed to escape, if they reach the church and spew some nonsense, they might call down the inquisition on Michael.¡±
¡°Would the king let that happen? I feel like he values Michael greatly.¡±
¡°Who knows? Power and the whispers of advisers can make the strongest forget their friends.¡± Arthur sighed and slowly shook his head. ¡°We need to keep an eye on this and make sure to prevent Michael from agitating the church too much. We also should think about finding him new allies at court, namely an influential father-in-law.¡±
Duncan smirked at the suggestion to marry off his nephew but focused more on the real problem. ¡°The good thing is that he will be too preoccupied with internal instability to go anywhere where he can annoy the clergy. I also suggest we spin this battle to give Michael to most credit, it should spread his name and give him some goodwill with the rest of the realm and maybe motivate more influential figures to consider him as someone worth marrying their daughters to.¡±
¡°I agree. He will probably need it if he doesn¡¯t play the next weeks flawlessly,¡± Arthur said.
Chapter 116.
Sola
Sola watched as the last of the strike groups left the column of troops. Only a few knights remained with the army, mostly just Michael¡¯s guard. The rest would hit the estates of the rogue nobles and arrest whomever they could.
This would normally be way too risky of a plan with too many things that could go wrong, from the target escaping to them just barricading themselves but both the general situation as well as the fact that most of those rogue nobles were stationed in Emall made it much more feasible.
With the victory over the Rangda, Michael had an innocent reason to call all his vassals to Emall. They would assume it is for celebrations and not think twice about this being some kind of ploy.
Secondly, Emall was nestled between two counties. Their only threatened border was the south which bordered the Eirec mountains and defending against the monsters there mostly only required a small palisade.
With the lord of the house gone together with whatever guard he needed for his journey and the quite pathetic fortifications, even a small strike force could take their mansions with little difficulty.
Sola sighed. Geron would of course be in the thick of it again, leading the strike force targeting the seat of power of House Plon. She wasn¡¯t overly concerned for him, but it was still a little hard that her man was always on the front line.
Well, he made it out of jumping into a whole army of barbarians with little more than some bruising so he should be fine. He honestly had taken more damage in the scolding he had received after the battle.
She smiled and then her eye landed on Eydis walking a couple of meters in front of her. They had handed over most of their horses to the strike groups so they had to walk.
Eydis seemed to be glancing over to where her former clan mates were. Due to their special situation and unlikelihood of being ransomed, Michael had decided to take them along for the moment.
She hadn¡¯t gone to talk to them yet as far as Sola was aware, similarly avoiding that confrontation as Michael was avoiding her and Kiran. She let her gaze wander to see if she could spot the teenager but he was nowhere to be seen.
Sola then made an effort to catch up to Eydis and fell into step next to her, causing the woman to eye her curiously.
¡°Must be hard for them to be dragged along, further away from their home,¡± Sola started and vaguely pointed toward the group of Rangda.
¡°I assume so,¡± Eydis replied with a raised eyebrow. ¡°They can¡¯t realistically go back without being murdered or exiled once again though.¡±
¡°No doubt,¡± Sola nodded and walked next to Eydis for a while. Eydis did not attempt to continue the conversation so it was up to Sola to speak up again. ¡°Have you found time to talk to them yet?¡±
Eydis scoffed in a well-meaning way. ¡°So that is what you want. No, I am still successfully avoiding them. Not really hard with them being bound prisoners.¡±
¡°You do not have to talk to them you know,¡± Sola said. She of course didn¡¯t support such avoidance tactics as Idas was more of a direct entity and one should strive to emulate his virtues, but she knew that she could get Eydis out of her shell like that.
¡°You don¡¯t need your tricks to get me to talk, you know? You could just ask me what is wrong,¡± Eydis signed with a mischievous smile.
Sola smiled back and nodded, ¡°You are right. My apologies. Most people don¡¯t tend to be so open with me about their problems so I had to learn how to lead a conversation to topics if I want to help them.¡±
¡°You don¡¯t need to apologize,¡± Eydis waved her off. ¡°I was thinking about talking to someone about this anyway, to be honest. Not Michael, he is way too supportive sometimes, to a degree that I sometimes wonder if everything he says mirrors his true feelings.¡±
¡°We both know that it does, he sometimes is too genuine. But go ahead before we change the topic.¡± Eydis winced a little as Sola stopped her attempt at avoiding the topic in its infancy. The priestess couldn¡¯t help but smile at her reaction, she had little doubt that the woman would have rather gone to Kiran or Solon with her problems than her.
While they did get along very well generally and Sola would definitely describe Eydis as a friend, they often didn¡¯t mesh well in subjects of principles, morals, and of course faith, which was the reason they mostly avoided those subjects in their alone time.
Sola had never tried to convert Eydis, she didn¡¯t feel like pushing her faith on her friends was prudent and people needed to find the light themselves if they truly wanted to understand it.
¡°I don¡¯t even know what to tell them,¡± Eydis explained. ¡°Do I try to explain why I betrayed them? Do I just ask them to stay with us and become integrated like I did? I just don¡¯t know what to say. On the other hand, I do know what they will say and I don¡¯t know if I want to subject myself to that. They do deserve some explanations though, especially Samira.¡±
¡°Samira?¡± Sola asked for more details.
Eydis seemed a little confused that Sola didn¡¯t know who that was but explained nonetheless. ¡°We got closer, I mean very close, and she probably feels used, but my feelings for her were real so I want to let her know at least that.¡±
¡°A woman?¡± she asked and then shook her head. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter, sorry. Different cultures and such. I think it is novel of you that you don¡¯t want to avoid them. I am not gonna mince my words here because that would serve you nothing. You have hurt them, you did lead them on, and many would also say you betrayed them. That is a fact and they probably will hate you for it, but if you avoid them, you will never know and won¡¯t have a chance to make your peace. You might even be able to give them some closure too, who knows.¡±
Eydis marched in silence but her eyes were unfocused as if she wasn¡¯t there at all.
Sola placed her hand on the other woman¡¯s shoulder and told her, ¡°You don¡¯t have to do it now but you should do it soon. Everything becomes harder the longer one avoids it.¡±
¡°You¡¯re right. I will talk to them soon, would you be there when I do?¡± Eydis asked and looked over to her friend.
Sola blinked surprised, ¡°You want me there? Wouldn¡¯t that be kind of bad with me being a priestess, not to mention that I speak barely a couple of words of your language¡¡±
¡°I don¡¯t care. You are my friend and I need your strength. Michael will also be there to translate,¡± Eydis replied.
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¡°Well if you put it like this then I can¡¯t possibly refuse, can I?¡±
Redric Plon
Redric was nervously pacing in his office waiting for the announced messenger from that brat Michael. He had no idea what this was about but his mind could spin up dozens of cataclysmic situations that might unfold in a couple of minutes.
It had been stressful the last couple of weeks since he sent that damned mercenary to order his son to assassinate Michael. Every day he had waited for some news, be it that their plan failed and the army of his liege was on his way to claim his head or that his son had succeeded and they could proceed with the next part of the plan.
Redric clenched his jaw as his thoughts brushed past Dittrich. He was his son but he was utterly useless. Redric still cursed his luck that his most stupid and cowardly son had to be the one with a mana well large enough to become someone of power.
The useless lad had even sent him a letter a few weeks back that he had nearly had the chance to kill Michael when he vanished for some time but Duncan Grim had appeared just in time so he had to help beat back some monsters to not break his cover. If his lack of commitment wasn¡¯t even enough, the idiot had gotten injured and knocked out for some time losing any chance for a second attempt before they returned to the safety of Greyhold.
One rage-inducing thought chased the next as the baron cursed his luck over and over when thinking about that Michael just had to make up with his uncle right now of all times.
He finally managed to calm down and fell into his chair heavily. He could at least be reasonably sure that Dittrich didn¡¯t try again. He had heard from some sources inside of the army that his son had been sent on important scouting missions as a reward for protecting his lordship.
Redric couldn¡¯t quite understand how that was supposed to be a reward rather than dangerous and that it showed clear suspicion, but he had never seen duty and work as something honorable or a chance to gain more merits.
Now they came to the present, his guards had informed him that there was a messenger from that brat with some important news for him personally. It could honestly be anything, but whatever it was he would have to wait until that damned guy made his way here.
As if summoned by his bellicose thoughts a knock followed by the voice of one of his knights drew his attention back to his room.
He quickly demanded them to enter and the messenger and two knights entered, positioning themselves to their lord''s flanks.
Michael knowing about the plot and having sent an assassin was a possibility after all.
The messenger, a young man with the crest of House Rowan and the outfit of one of those outriders saluted quickly and spoke.
¡°Baron Plon, I come with news from the war and a letter from Count Michael Rowan. The Rangda have been decisively beaten in the battle of Rescar¡¯s Clearing. They are retreating and thus the danger to Grent and Emall has been averted.¡±
Redric had to restrain himself from groaning. He of course couldn¡¯t say what ¡®decisively beaten¡¯ meant without more information but he had hoped for a more protracted engagement to drain his liege¡¯s resources and give Dittrich more opportunities.
¡°I do come with bad tidings though, milord. Your son, Dittrich Plon, has been grievously wounded on a mission. He was still alive when I left the army to rush here but the healers said that he wouldn¡¯t recover. My deepest condolences, milord. Lord Rowan is on his way to Emall, if you hurry you might reach there to meet the army in time before it is too late,¡± the outrider bowed and then reached into his bag to hand a letter to one of the knights who laid it in front of Redric.
Redric Plon sat motionless on his chair and stared at the outrider without really seeing him.
Was this why he had heard nothing from his son? No, he would have heard if he had been wounded that badly so long ago. It might be a trick. No, that also doesn¡¯t make sense. Dittrich had no chance to attack the obnoxious brat as far as he knew. Also, while Michael seemed to have a mind of administration he didn¡¯t understand intrigue, why else would he allow the noble faction to covertly defy him at every turn and sabotage his efforts?
Heat rose in his cheeks as a realization hit him. Dittrich had fucked it up. He screwed up his chance, then got himself sent off on a mission far away, and to top it all off he got himself killed. At least, Redric doubted that anyone suspected his plan with such a miserable showing.
It was probably for the better. With Michael openly declaring his fault and reestablishing relations with his uncle it would have been much more difficult to take control without having disadvantageous chaos.
It was quite annoying to lose a piece like Dittrich, but he had too often shown himself as more of a liability rather than a boon so Redric couldn¡¯t lament too much. Either way, he had a lot of sons anyway so one more or less didn¡¯t matter overly.
After a few moments, he broke his frozen state and put on a show. He bombarded the messenger with questions, called him a liar, threw a tantrum, and did his best to show himself as an enraged and grieving father.
He also read the letter from Michael. It was a bunch of touchy-feely nonsense he was used to from the dumb boy. Apologies, guilt, and condolences.
The messenger left shortly after to get some rest for the journey back while Redric ordered his knights to prepare for immediate departure toward Emall. He still had a part to play and some guilt to leverage.
When he was finally alone he scoffed and threw the letter into a small stone bowl he used to burn especially dangerous correspondence.
What kind of misfortune we have to have such a wimp as a leader, he thought. No one could really deny the lad''s bravery against enemies, he did fight before without hesitation and he faced down both dwarves and beastmen, but with his own people, he was just so weak.
A ruler needed strength and his subjects needed to feel that strength to know their place. His own efforts were the best sign of the failing rule of Michael after all.
¡°Dittrich, my son, maybe you have given me a great gift as your last action after all,¡± the baron mumbled as he held a candle to the letter until it burned brightly.
Geron
¡°There, sir,¡± one of the scouts pointed at an approaching group of riders, numbering around twenty. Geron settled down in the hiding space the scout had made for himself and watched Lord Plon¡¯s detachment follow the street toward Emall.
He let mana flare into his eyes and his vision instantly became sharper. Enhancing one¡¯s senses was a disorientating process and without training or some time to get used to the increased input, it could easily become a hindrance rather than a boon.
Training exactly this was of course part of any mana training and so Geron only took a moment to readjust.
¡°That is definitely Redric Plon,¡± he said after scanning over the riders. ¡°Seems like he doesn¡¯t suspect anything or he is more reckless than I thought. Keep an eye out, they might circle around us.¡±
¡°Yes sir,¡± the scout quietly saluted and Geron snuck back to their hidden camp.
He had to walk quite a distance to reach it. Due to necessity, they had to camp out some distance from the estate, but also any major road or path through the forest. Having a camp of fifty men and horses would draw too much attention otherwise.
¡°How is the situation?¡± Sir Pluke asked. He was a couple of years older than Geron but didn¡¯t seem to mind being his subordinate.
¡°Baron Plon has left the estate with twenty men. From their getup two knights and the rest men-at-arms,¡± Geron shared what he had seen.
¡°House Plon has three knights if I remember right, with two of them gone and the element of surprise on our side this should be a quick cleanup,¡± the third knight in their group, Sir Boris, said. He had been a middle-aged militia man in one of the border villages but had shown tremendous talent and skill for someone with lackluster training. Sir Pyke had picked him up shortly after Michael had opened up the knighthood fully and the man had reached mana blade level merely a year after.
¡°You are surprisingly well informed for a country bum,¡± Pluke joked at the older man.
Boris grinned dangerously and replied, ¡°Gotta know your enemies to kneecap them just right.¡±
¡°Just be sure to not get me mixed up when you round up the nobles,¡± Pluke chuckled.
¡°Nice to see that everyone is motivated,¡± Geron commented with a hint of a smile. ¡°We will give them a couple hours head start, to get them nice and far away, and then we will move in on the estate. Pluke, you will secure the perimeter with the outriders, no one escapes. Boris, you go in through the back with the second squad and I will go in the front with the first squad.
¡°We will need to be fast and decisive. They should be undermanned but they have the defender¡¯s advantage if we let them. Lord Rowan would also appreciate it if we brought in the important targets alive, I intend to fulfill that wish. There will be no revenge against nobility and no excess by any of the soldiers, am I understood?¡±
The two knights nodded in agreement. He didn¡¯t expect any problems, his men were part of the House Rowan standing guard so they were well-trained and well-drilled but it never hurt to stress discipline before heated combat.
¡°Good, then prepare your men and I want an action plan for your squads in an hour,¡± Geron dismissed his two knights and joined the fifteen men who made up the first squad to do the same.
Chapter 117.
Michael
¡°This way, Lord Plon,¡± Michael said over his shoulder and hurried down a corridor in the House Telp mansion in Emall.
The baron was hot on his heels with dread on his face. Michael wasn¡¯t sure if it was genuine, but if it was he would at least have one positive thing about the imminent situation.
Michael¡¯s plan to catch the head of the conspiracy had gone off without much of a hitch. Lord Plon came running as soon as he heard about his son¡¯s supposed fate. Michael very much preferred this outcome rather than having the strike force that had been hiding close by surround the House Plon seat of power and Lynx sneak in to abduct or murder the baron.
The possibility of Lord Plon being suspicious and lashing out was big, but luckily the false information or the man¡¯s arrogance had seemingly worked out in the end.
Michael was hurrying as if haunted. The act he had to perform in front of the baron had hurt a little, so he just wanted to get to the more satisfying part. It also helped that the man couldn¡¯t ask questions while Michael was nearly running through the corridors.
They finally reached a room deep in the mansion and Michael turned around. ¡°He is in here,¡± Michael said to Lord Plon and his two guards. He then opened the door and quickly slipped through while giving a slight nod to Erhen who was guarding the door from the outside.
Michael spun around a few steps into the room and his expression turned to satisfaction when he saw Lord Plon and his two knights enter the room as well. The knights looked around in confusion while their lord froze when he saw Dittrich bound and gagged to a chair.
¡°What is the meaning of this?¡± Lord Plon asked in a dangerously low tone.
The door slammed shut behind them and the lock fell into its place. This seemed to drag the knights out of their confusion and their hands flew to their swords. The rest of Michael¡¯s guard was here and mirrored their movements while Kiran let a spell sigil burst to life.
¡°STOP!¡± Michael demanded and everyone froze.
He smiled at the fallen baron before explaining. ¡°It is quite a shame that you can¡¯t even recognize your own son¡¯s handwriting. Quite a sad showing for a father.¡±
The lord paled visibly and his eyes began to search for a way out.
¡°You are not getting out of here. I led you into the middle of the estate and the only way out is through that door.¡±
Redric looked at the door and so did one of the knights.
¡°I wouldn¡¯t recommend that. Not only is a skilled knight waiting for you out there but also a whole detachment of soldiers. That is if you even manage to break through the thick doors,¡± Michael explained.
Redric seemed to think for a moment before putting on a confused expression. ¡°Milord, I don¡¯t understand what is going on here. Why is my son in chains and why have you lured me here under false pretense?¡±
Michael couldn¡¯t help but smirk and shake his head in disbelief. ¡°Please let us not fall to such childish tactics as feigning ignorance. You can¡¯t expect to get away with this act after trying to have me, your liege, murdered, do you?¡±
¡°You murdered? My lord, I would never. Whatever that misguided son of mine has done, it has nothing to do with me. I implore mercy for one unaware of such a conspiracy,¡± Redric fell to one knee and his voice quaked as if he had just been accused of selling his mother.
¡°I guess we are being childish then,¡± Michael sighed. ¡°Redric Plon, you are hereby under arrest for colluding to murder your liege, corruption, murder, treason, inciting the subjects of House Rowan, and a dozen other things, order your men to lay down their weapons and we can ascertain the truth behind these charges.¡±
Redric¡¯s expression suddenly changed from deference to wrath as he shot back to his feet and began to yell, ¡°Do you think you will get away with this, brat? My fellow nobles will rebel the moment they hear of this!¡±
Michael simply smiled at the noble. ¡°Do you know what is happening in and around the town right now?¡±
Redric stared at him but didn¡¯t say a word.
¡°You have given me a gift, that I can barely express my gratitude for. You gave me the best possible justification to clean house. Your co-conspirators are being arrested all over the county by soldiers of mine but also some of Duke Wallsten¡¯s. By the end of the day, not one of them will not be in chains. So, I thank you for your assistance, former Baron Redric Plon,¡± Michael explained and didn¡¯t even try to make it not sound mocking.
¡°Get me out of here,¡± Redric yelled at his knights.
Michael didn¡¯t expect them to try, it was a fool¡¯s hope for them to square up against the finest of House Rowan¡¯s knights at a two-to-one disadvantage, not to mention the magical support Kiran could provide. He was surprised though as the two men ripped their swords from their sheaths and charged at Michael, probably seeking to take him hostage.
As expected, it turned out to be a fool¡¯s hope, and they were quickly subdued. One was smashed into the wall by Zeke¡¯s hammer, and a deluge of water immobilized the other.
¡°You are a sore loser, Redric. Not that I am surprised. Well, I will be off then, have some treason trials to prepare. How about you spend some quality time with the son you have been so concerned over,¡± Michael walked toward the door as Redric was bound to a chair similarly to Dittrich.
¡°YOU CAN¡¯T DO THIS! I HAVE FRIENDS AT COURT. YOU WILL NEVER GET AWAY WITH THIS!¡± his empty threats followed Michael as he left the room with a smile that he didn¡¯t intend to get rid of.
Geron
Geron oversaw the groups of people that were led out of the estate. Their attack had caught them completely unaware and led to a quick victory without many casualties on either side. It was quite fortunate that the remaining knight of House Plon surrendered when Geron threatened to bar all exits and burn the whole building to the ground.
He noticed a well-dressed woman being basically carried out of the mansion, kicking and screaming the whole time.
¡°That will be the lady of the house, I imagine,¡± Boris said with an expression that screamed that he was already done with her antics.
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Geron agreed and then made his way over to the lady to find her viciously insulting the guardsman who had dared to carry her around like a sack of flour. She instantly recognized Geron as the leader, or at least a knight, and turned her wrath on him.
¡°You there! What do you think you are doing? Do you have any idea who this estate belongs to? My husband will have all your heads!¡± she screamed at him, her voice way too high for Geron¡¯s liking.
¡°Mila...,¡± Geron tried but the woman just continued screaming.
¡°What kind of a horde of barbarians are you running here that they dare to touch a lady of noble blood! I will have his hands chopped off and turned into table decorations!¡±
She didn¡¯t seem like she would stop any time soon and Geron had no patience for this. His mana suddenly surged and pushed in on the woman who instantly seized up, her eyes looking at him terrified.
¡°Shut up and listen. Your husband will be arrested soon, and you should pray to Lord Idas that your whole family doesn¡¯t face the same fate as he will. So sit down and don¡¯t make the situation even worse for you and your children as it is,¡± he growled. She fell on her behind when he recalled his mana, but at least she was quiet.
Geron walked away from her and took stock of the nearly two hundred family members, lower nobles, servants, and other people living in or around the estate. Most looked resigned to their fate, but he thought he saw relief in some of the servants'' eyes.
¡°Lord Commander,¡± a soldier came up to him and saluted.
¡°Speak.¡±
¡°The estate is now empty, sir. We found the house treasury but are yet to breach it,¡± the man hesitated before continuing. ¡°The operative Lord Rowan has sent us is already working through Lord Plon¡¯s documents.¡±
Geron understood the soldier¡¯s attitude toward the masked members of the Officio Umbra, he himself found them unsettling. Geron told the man to keep working on the treasury and inform him if anything changed and then made his way to the study of the disposed baron.
The mansion was in a chaotic state. Geron¡¯s men had to hunt down many of the inhabitants and break down more than one door. Now they were searching the whole place, which definitely contributed to the chaotic environment.
Geron didn¡¯t pay them much attention and made his way to where Lord Plon¡¯s study was supposed to be. When he reached it he didn¡¯t find Lynx as he had expected but a woman with a fox mask working her way through the documents.
He stopped and inspected the woman, but she seemed not to notice him. She continued to read a letter and then finally put it down. Her eyes pierced him with an eerie intensity but he held firm on the eye contact.
¡°Welcome, Lord Commander. Is there anything specific you need from me or are you just checking in?¡± she asked, her voice similarly cold as Lynx¡¯s.
¡°Escaping the whining of the prisoners,¡± Geron admitted and stepped over to the table. ¡°I expected your master, I was told that he was close by and would assist if things went against plan.¡±
¡°The Grandmaster left as soon as it became apparent that everything was going to plan. We have many duties that require our attention and our numbers are limited,¡± the operative replied calmly.
They really were unnerving. Not being able to see their faces made it hard to discern their current mood, but this one especially seemed as close to emotionless as he had ever seen by the few officio operatives he had met.
¡°I have been wondering about that actually. How many of you are there?¡± he asked.
¡°That is not something I will share,¡± the woman said.
Geron nodded and picked up one of the letters. ¡°Guessed as much. So have you found anything, miss ¡?¡±
¡°You may call me Silver, Lord Commander,¡± Silver answered and took the letter out of his hand. She was moving confidently, it reminded him of a stalking predator moving through the forest. He couldn¡¯t help but tense up as her hand touched his.
¡°Most of this is just inconsequential correspondence. I assume we will have to find a hidden compartment or something similar to find anything useful. Lord Plon hasn¡¯t been so foolish to just have compromising documents lying around while he is away traveling.¡±
Geron felt like she was lecturing him even if her voice didn¡¯t sound like it.
His tone got sharper as he leaned on the table to look the spy in the eyes. ¡°Why are you reading it then rather than looking for the more important documents?¡±
Silver returned his gaze and he could see her eyes twitch just a little in annoyance. He was satisfied with having gotten any reaction at least.
¡°The ¡®important documents¡¯ will be good proof for the crimes of the baron but we have his criminal activities mapped out quite thoroughly, so they are just that, proof. We can gather that later. Right now I am just seeing if there is anyone he had contact with that could become a problem on the political stage that his arrest will open up,¡± Silver explained.
Geron smiled at her and straightened himself. ¡°Good, just wanted to make sure you are doing something worthy of your time. Oh right, if you find some extra time, I would appreciate it if you could help my men with the vault. I assume you have some knowledge about stuff like that.¡±
¡°Of course, Lord Commander,¡± the fox-masked woman lowered her head. ¡°I will assist you wherever I am able to.¡±
¡°Great.¡± With that said Geron turned around and left the room again, no longer wanting to be in the woman¡¯s presence. He looked back to the room over his shoulder and frowned. There was no doubt that he would kill her if they ever fought but his instincts were still telling him that this woman was even more dangerous than she seemed.
Kiran
It was oddly satisfying standing on a balcony as a mage watching nobles being pushed around in chains and not the other way around. He would of course like it more if it was a group of inquisitors but baby steps.
It was also weird. The nobles were pleading, threatening, and sobbing just like everyone else Kiran had seen being prosecuted. For all their self-serving arrogance and belief, that they were something better than the normal people, they acted just like them.
¡°I don¡¯t think I ever saw you grin like this,¡± Sola¡¯s voice called his attention back to her and Pan sitting on the balcony with him.
He made an effort to hide his glee a little better as he turned to the priestess and sat down again.
¡°I am just happy that these corrupt nobles are being introduced to a little bit of justice,¡± the old mage replied, he couldn¡¯t hide his smug tone quite as well as he had wished.
Sola didn¡¯t seem to mind though. ¡°I personally think it is more grim than joyous. Sure, it is a good thing that they are being punished for their crimes but I find it concerning that so many have gone unchecked for so long that they could devolve into this.¡±
¡°They have divine right on their side, who would ¡®check¡¯ them,¡± Kiran replied a little sour.
The priestess went silent. She didn¡¯t refute him on his comment, and now that he thought about it, they hadn¡¯t argued a lot lately¡ªat least not as much as they used to.
¡°Michael is checking them and he will continue to do so,¡± Pan spoke up confidently.
¡°He sure is,¡± Kiran agreed. ¡°Speaking of him, is he also still avoiding talking to you about his soul situation?¡±
Both women nodded and Sola said, ¡°He told me that he isn¡¯t using any magic right now even if he couldn¡¯t find any problems and that he has to focus on the current situation and can¡¯t deal with this right now.¡±
¡°He told me the same with the addition that I should tell you both to not use me as a messenger,¡± Pan added with a smile, that barely peeked out from under her hood.
Sola smirked. ¡°He has been stubborn ever since he was a child, no reason to change now. It has been a couple of days and nothing bad has happened yet so I think we can give him a few more before we corner him.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know. I feel like we have been allowing him to run around with an open wound and no idea what damage it has done for too long already,¡± Kiran argued but then deflated. ¡°But you are of course right that the boy rarely changes his mind without good reason and if our reasoning hasn¡¯t convinced him yet it probably won¡¯t now.¡±
¡°I think he is fine,¡± Pan said. ¡°I have been watching him and couldn¡¯t find any irregularities in his mana even while he wasn¡¯t paying attention.¡±
¡°There always is the possibility that the fracture of his soul has not weakened it as a whole. None of us are specialists in souls and their workings,¡± Sola suggested.
Kiran couldn¡¯t argue with that of course. That problem compounded in that none of them had a pure mana affinity. They of course knew how mana worked in its basics and more intimately with their respective affinities but no one knew how mana as a whole worked better than a pure mana mage.
¡°I suggest we act like we are letting the issue go and once we are back in Reen we tell Rayakan about it,¡± he suggested.
Rayakan wouldn¡¯t allow herself to be brushed off and Kiran was certain that she would be very interested in Michael¡¯s situation.
¡°That is just cruel,¡± Pan commented with a humorous smile.
¡°It sounds like a good idea. Let¡¯s do that,¡± Sola agreed.
Michael should have just dealt with it, he deserves what he has coming.
Chapter 118.
Michael
Michael was sitting in the high chair at the end of the Emall Great, looking down on his vassals. At least the vassals who weren¡¯t in chains in another part of the estate.
They were uncomfortably quiet as they filed into the room, followed by other prominent members of society, merchants and noble family members. Michael was used to them being a loud bunch, there was always someone arguing if you put two nobles in a room after all. Now, though, they were quiet as a group of dead men.
Michael wasn¡¯t sure if he preferred their uncomfortable mannerisms to the normally lively bunch, but it was definitely to his advantage if they felt at least a little dread towards him right now. These were, of course, more prevalent among the members of the neutral faction than the loyalists.
The doors shut behind the last member of the nobility, causing some of them to jump a little and others to look even more nervous. The only soldiers present in the hall were from House Rowan and House Wallsten. Michael was sure that every single man present here had considered this to turn into a purge at least once.
Michael rose from his chair, and the entire noble body fell to a knee in unison. He couldn¡¯t help but smile at the obvious show they put on.
¡°Rise, my friends, you have nothing to dread and no one to fear here,¡± Michael announced with as much warmth as he could.
His words had some effect as some relaxed visibly. It wasn¡¯t enough to take all their concerns from them, but he didn¡¯t need it to.
¡°I have called on you for two reasons. The first is to announce our victory over the Rangda and our newly reforged bond with House Grim and Grent,¡± he announced and got polite applause in return.
They all knew this already, and it definitely wasn¡¯t the news they wanted to know about right now.
¡°The second reason is a less joyful one. From the subdued atmosphere here, I would assume everyone is aware of the arrests of eight barons and some lower-ranking nobles. I also assume that you aren¡¯t aware of the reasons behind what many would call a tyrannical act,¡± Michael continued while carefully watching his subjects.
The reactions were pretty much split between the loyalist and neutral factions. The loyalists seemed more curious about what had brought their liege to take such drastic measures. They rarely got along with the noble faction, and there were many personal feuds between members of the two factions.
The members of the neutral faction were more mixed in their reactions; some of them badly hid their outrage while others appeared openly scared. The neutral faction was the smallest of the three noble factions, with only five barons being part of it, plus an assortment of lower noble families. They mostly kept up their influence by having the loyalist and noble factions vying for their support in matters, and now the noble faction had been arrested in its entirety.
Curiously, it was Baron Fidumar Uger, the head of the neutral faction, who didn¡¯t seem overly concerned about the developments.
¡°We are not aware of the reasons, milord,¡± Baron Uger said loudly and then added with contempt in his voice, ¡°Not that there is a lack of reasons to be found with the noble factions.¡±
He is already starting to play politics, Michael thought, amused.
¡°Well, you will find out now. I ask you to step back and take your seats on the chairs, and then we can begin the trial of the noble faction. Most of the important evidence we have gathered will be presented to justify this arrest. I have already made up my mind, but I wanted to make sure that everyone was as convinced of the rightfulness of my actions as I am,¡± Michael explained.
After the nobles had taken their spots at the right side of the hall, he ordered the prisoners to be brought in. Eight men were pushed in by the guards, they had been stripped of their rich cloaks and dressed in simple linen. Some sported some new bruises, but none of them looked seriously abused.
The guards quashed some outrage by the prisoners and forced them to stand in a line on the opposite wall to the nobles. In perfect view of their former equals.
Viscount Telp stepped forward and began to speak.
¡°I have been appointed by Lord Rowan to convey the facts of the matter, I assume there are no objections?¡±
No one objected.
¡°Good. I will not mince my words as their crimes are abhorrent. The members of the noble factions are accused of attempting to assassinate our liege Count Michael Rowan in the forests of the Rangda. A heinous crime was attempted by none other than Baron Redric Plon¡¯s own son, Dittrich Plon. They have broken every vow they have made and gone against every value we hold dear as followers of the One Who Remained.¡±
Chaos erupted the moment Lord Telp revealed the reason for the arrest. He raised his voice to finish, but Michael doubted that everyone heard him. The nobles on the stands started talking wildly to each other, some hurled insults at the prisoners while others simply gasped loudly.
The ruckus was even louder on the other side of the room as most of the chained nobles began to loudly insist on their innocence and that they had no knowledge of any of this.
Lord Telp threw Michael a questioning gaze, and the young lord signaled him to leave them be for the moment.
He allowed them a minute of chaos before he banged the tip of his sheathed sword onto the ground. The guards mirrored the move with their spears, and the hall fell silent.
¡°I understand that this revelation is hard to accept,¡± Michael said quietly. ¡°I myself was shocked when I thought that I was found by a loyal knight, just to have him draw his sword and try to strike me down. If it weren¡¯t for my uncle¡¯s timely interference, I would not be sitting here today.¡±
¡°Off with their heads!¡± an older baron of the loyal faction called and got some supporting shouts.
The prisoners began to shout back, and the hall devolved into a shouting match again. This time, Michael didn¡¯t allow it to go on for long.
¡°Quiet down,¡± Michael calmed them down. ¡°We are not animals, we do not punish without first hearing the evidence. I of course am aware of the evidence and also have been present for the most damning of it. I wish for you to confirm the decision to arrest these criminals, so that no one shall doubt my judgment.¡±
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¡°This is but a sham! You have already taken out the opposition; no one will resist your tyranny now,¡± Redric Plon interrupted him. A guard raised his baton, but Michael waved him off.
¡°You are right, Lord Plon. I have made my judgment already, at least concerning you. You will die, and so will your son. An attempt on your liege¡¯s life is nothing that can be overlooked. Neither can the crimes that the other accused have committed. I do not know who of the present was part of this conspiracy, though, and it is still open to determine what the entirety of crimes each of you is guilty of and who else had a part in them,¡± Michael offered readily.
The prisoners went pale as many understood the implications. It was up to Michael to condemn each and every one of them to death for treason if they couldn¡¯t give him a good reason to declare them innocent and punish them for their lesser crimes. The more likely reason for their increased distress was his hinting at being entirely open to condemning not only them but everyone around them.
Michael wasn¡¯t sure if he would or even could go that far. Wiping out the entirety of the noble houses was definitely the most thorough way of making sure that he would never be challenged by them again, but it wasn¡¯t him.
¡®Therefore, any cruelty has to be executed at once, so that the less it is tasted, the less it offends.¡¯
It was a quote from the book that Thomas had given him to read. He certainly understood the merit of it, and sparing the families of traitors could lead to him having to commit more cruelty in the future.
Either way, this decision was still in front of him, and the threat of it was more than effective enough for his current purposes.
¡°Now that we have settled that this is not about me making up my mind, let¡¯s hear the evidence,¡± Michael said and motioned for Lord Telp to continue.
- A day later -
¡°I understand and commend this decision, Lord Telp,¡± Michael said to the viscount. They were sitting in what was normally the viscount¡¯s office, but it had been abandoned for years, with the man being housed in Reen. Now it had gotten a little life back with Michael using it for his stay.
¡°I would like you to announce this decision after the trial has concluded. It should seamlessly merge with the uproar about the verdict and not prolong the noble¡¯s distress.¡±
Lord Telp nodded when a knock came from the door, and Silas stepped in. ¡°Milords, Baron Freye is here to speak to you,¡± the knight said after a quick salute.
Michael motioned the knight to send the prisoner in. The man had asked for an audience after the first day of the hearing, and Michael was happy to receive him.
He was young, barely an adult, and dressed in the same chains and linen as all the prisoners were.
¡°Welcome, Lord Freye,¡± Michael greeted the young member of the noble faction and then glanced at the chains around his wrists and ankles. ¡°Can we get rid of those chains, please? I don¡¯t think he wishes to make trouble.¡±
¡°Thank you, milord,¡± Lord Freye replied with his voice shaking.
After Silas had taken off the chains, he stepped back and allowed Lord Freye to step in front of the table. He was forced to stand as Michael and Lord Telp occupied the only two chairs in the room.
¡°So, you wished to talk to me, Lord Freye. What can I help you with?¡± Michael said with a friendly tone, which seemed to unnerve the man even more than yelling could have.
Lord Freye fell to his knees and lowered his head. ¡°I have come to beg for your mercy, Lord Rowan. I have not been privy to the conspiracy, and I haven¡¯t even been a voluntary member of the noble faction. My father accumulated a lot of debt with Lord Plon, and he forced us to side with him. Please have mercy on my house.¡±
After the last word, he threw himself even lower and remained in that position while Michael threw Lord Telp a seeking glance.
The chancellor nodded back at him, and Michael rose from his chair to better see the groveling man.
¡°So you are telling me that it wasn¡¯t your fault because House Plon had your debts to lord over you?¡± Michael clarified.
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°I see, but you have still committed crimes against the county and my house,¡± Michael noted and took a sheet of paper that Lord Telp offered him. ¡°We have evidence of you bribing workers, paying bandits, and refusing to enforce my laws. What do you say to those charges?¡±
Baron Freye was honestly the tamest of all the barons in the noble faction, which was also why Michael chose to meet him and not one of the other nobles.
¡°I was ordered to, milord. I had no choice. Please, you must forgive my failings,¡± the young baron pleaded pitifully.
¡°Ordered? I don¡¯t remember ordering any of that. Which means it must have been you, Viscount Telp, as the only other person to outrank the good baron in this county,¡± Michael said and looked at his chancellor with an amused expression.
¡°Huh, I must be getting old. I can¡¯t remember ordering any of this either,¡± Lord Telp said and tapped against his chin with a finger.
¡°It was Baron Plon,¡± Lord Freye explained, and Michael wasn¡¯t sure if the man was dense or too scared to understand the point he was trying to make.
Michael sighed and turned back to the table. He sat down and shuffled a couple of reports around while the baron was still prostrating himself on the ground.
¡°Very well. I am not without mercy, Lord Freye. I will spare your life and those of your family, but you will not keep your title or your lands. You will be reduced to a small part of your fortune to allow you a chance to build something new and prove your value to the people of this land,¡± he finally relented dramatically.
¡°Thank you, mil....¡±
Michael interrupted him before he could finish. ¡°But you will testify in front of the gathered assembly to all the crimes of your fellow noble faction members and only the crimes of those.¡±
Lord Freye tensed up a little, but after a moment of hesitation, he agreed.
¡°Good. Sir Silas, take Lord Freye and interrogate him on his planned confession. Cross-reference his words with the officio records and let me know if there are any problems.¡± This was more of a threat than something Michael thought overly necessary.
The gruff knight grabbed the disgraced baron and quickly dragged him out of the room.
Michael and Lord Telp sat in silence for a few moments until the viscount said, ¡°Do you intend on finding someone else to show mercy to?¡±
¡°Hmm, I don¡¯t think so. One should be enough, and I am not gonna chop every noble¡¯s head off anyway. The barons will have to go, though,¡± Michael replied.
Lord Telp nodded in agreement and then noted, ¡°The neutral faction has stayed strangely quiet this whole time.¡±
Michael had noticed that too. They had to know that if the entire noble faction fell, the influence any noble held would plummet in the face of Michael¡¯s centralized power.
¡°You think Baron Uger is planning something?¡± Michael questioned his chancellor, but the man shook his head.
¡°No, I do not believe he is. They just seem oddly content with the whole situation,¡± Lord Telp replied.
¡°Perhaps they have already resigned themselves to the way things will be from now on,¡± Michael mused. It was still curious that they didn¡¯t seem to argue at all.
¡°Perhaps,¡± Lord Telp replied, sounding like he believed that about as much as Michael did. ¡°I think I will poke around a little bit and find out what is happening.¡±
¡°Thank you.¡±
Michael was sitting alone a few minutes later, looking at some documents that had arrived from the House Plon estate.
Most were just confirmation of things he already knew, but one particular stack of letters was concerning. Someone had supplied the noble faction with resources, intel, and ideas to hinder Michael¡¯s plans. It wasn¡¯t overly surprising, but still not great to have confirmation of an external hand in all of this.
All of them contained a phrase instructing the recipient to destroy the letters, which obviously hadn¡¯t happened.
It wasn¡¯t hard to guess who the sender was, though. Michael had known for a long time that Duke Wulfen didn¡¯t appreciate the rise of Praanen, but to have proof that the second most powerful man in the kingdom would take such a risk to harm his rule was dangerous.
Thankfully, Lord Plon¡¯s tardiness in destroying the evidence left Michael with a good chance. To be fair, it probably wasn¡¯t tardiness but Lord Plon wanting some insurance against the duke, but the reason for the existence of these letters mattered little.
¡°What to do?¡± Michael asked into the empty room as he regarded a letter about destabilizing his power by sending brigands to raid the southern mines.
Of course, this never happened. Michael assumed that Lord Plon didn¡¯t want to push his luck that badly before, but to be fair, he tried to murder Michael, so that reasoning might not hold much sway.
Whatever the case, Michael would have to deal with or make a deal with the Duke sometime soon. He couldn¡¯t have such a powerful man trying to sabotage him after all.