Imperial wizard ambition.., p.2
Imperial Wizard: Ambitions, page 2
"Send some bolts over, and I'll work on it over the next few days," Verdan said, holding a hand up to forestall Griffon's response. "In return, I'd like you to send at least four guards with Kai and Tom on a scouting trip. Preferably some who have enchanted weapons already; I can refresh the spells on them if needed."
"What sort of scouting trip?" Griffon asked cautiously.
"I want to establish what the Cyth are doing down there. The Cyth Scerrd, the caster that I fought, was a corrupted Maevir. Leaving it to its own devices is folly in the extreme," Verdan explained, a slight sinking feeling developing in his stomach as neither Griffon nor Silver reacted to the terms he used.
"What is a Maevir? Is it some form of beast?" Griffon asked with a frown. "Lieutenant Silver gave me a rundown of what you reported, but you clearly know more about the Cyth. If you say that it is important, then we can task a few people to aid in a scouting mission, but I'd appreciate a bit more of an explanation."
"I'd like Jenkins if you can spare him," Kai said softly, making Griffon turn to raise a questioning brow at Silver, who nodded after a moment's thought.
"I'll send you Jenkins, Auger, Peters and Bol. They will be familiar faces for you," Silver said, Griffon nodding his agreement before turning back to Verdan.
"I'm not sure that now is the time for a full explanation. Suffice to say that the Cyth corrupt creatures and beasts to produce more of themselves. Magic users like myself or Kai can become more powerful Cyth when converted, with the most powerful being called Cyth Scerrd. These are the leaders, the generals of the Cyth forces. They should be exterminated wherever they are found, and that's without them being a Maevir."
"That is concerning. I know the Cyth threat has been growing, but could it be due to this Cyth Scerrd?" Griffon asked with a troubled expression.
"Yes," Verdan said definitively, knowing without question that the Scerrd was behind the growing threat.
"I see. So, what is a Maevir?"
"They are a race that was ancient when humanity first learned to record their history," Verdan said, pausing as he tried to think of an explanation without giving away too much of his origins. "They are all but ageless, and with that age comes power, but their culture binds them strongly to oaths and promises. My teacher believed it was how they survived becoming so powerful."
"You aren't putting me at ease," Griffon said heavily, one hand rising to pinch the bridge of his nose.
"There's a reason we fled," Verdan said in a grim tone. "If it had taken me seriously, we'd have all died. As it is, we need to track it and, when the time comes, hit it with everything we have. Kai, Gwen and I are a good start, but I intend to take as many of the local adventurers with us as I can."
"Part of me wants to think that you're overestimating the threat, but my gut tells me that you're not," Griffon said softly. "The Lieutenant mentioned that you used an experimental spell. Will that work again?"
"Perhaps, I don't know for certain. It may find a way to counteract it. There are weaknesses to it that the creature may exploit. We're best served preparing for a hard fight, regardless of what tricks we also bring to bear."
"I agree. Lieutenant, recall those guards and get them ready for when the Sorcerer wants to set out," Griffon said to Silver before turning back to Verdan. "Thank you for your honesty and your information. This is troubling news, but it's better to be prepared. Keep us informed if you need anything else." Griffon rose to his feet, signaling that the meeting was over.
"Of course, and please let me know if the Weeping Death Sect tries anything," Verdan said, rising to his feet and reaching out to shake the commander's hand.
Satisfied that the meeting had gone as well as it could have, Verdan left the two men to their deliberations and headed back out of the guard headquarters, with Kai a half-step behind him. It was time for his next social call.
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Chapter
Two
"Where are you headed next?" Kai asked once they were both back on the main road.
"Back to the estate to check on Sylvie. I'm going to try another minor healing to see if that wakes her back up," Verdan said, starting back the way they'd come at a steady pace. "When are you going to head out?"
"In the morning, that'll give the guards time to organize. I'll stop by the adventurer's guild this evening, though, and start spreading the word about the enchantments. If they're as popular as I think they'll be, how do you want to arrange who gets what? Should they come to the estate?"
"A good point," Verdan mused, immediately disliking the thought of random adventurers turning up at the mansion and trying to purchase a temporary enchantment. "Tell them I'll be attending the guild tomorrow evening, and I'll do the first set of enchantments then. If there are any fine details to be sorted, I'll cover it tomorrow with them."
"Very well," Kai said before lapsing into silence for a while as they continued back to the mansion. The look on the Sorcerer's face told Verdan that he had more to say; he was just collecting his thoughts.
"I have concerns about the Weeping Death Sect," Kai said eventually, looking over to Verdan with a slight hint of worry in his expression. "They have had a number of setbacks in the area, but for every plan we think we've exposed, there may be several more hidden from us. No Sect has unlimited resources, and they may choose to escalate further rather than accept the loss."
"The loss of what, though?" Verdan asked, gesturing at the city around them. "The city is a shadow of what it must have been at one point. What worth is there in taking it?" Verdan grimaced and sighed, bottling up his frustrations once more. He'd been working that particular problem over in his mind since he first learned about the effort that Weeping Death was putting into claiming Hobson's Point. "For that matter, why even do all this? Why not march in and claim it directly?"
"I can't say with certainty, but I think that it's because Hobson's Point is an Enclave, not just a city," Kai said after a moment of thought.
"You've called it that before. What does it mean?"
Kai frowned for a moment before shaking his head. "It's easy to forget that you don't know these things, when you know so much about things that no one else does. An Enclave is one of the original cities where humanity survived the Risings. There's a level of prestige given to any Sect controlling one, and perhaps this is part of a play by the Weeping Death to gain that?"
"Okay, I can understand that, but why not just walk in and take it?" Verdan asked with a frown.
"Fear of the other Sects and pride, that's all I can think of. The other Sects will be watching, so the Weeping Death can't just claim it all without cause; otherwise, they'll be giving them the excuse they might be waiting for to do something."
"So it's all about appearance," Verdan muttered with distaste. Some things never seemed to change.
"The Sects rarely work together, especially the larger ones, and are always ready to take advantage of an opportunity to weaken one of the others," Kai explained with a shrug, clearly used to such behavior.
"Which only weakens everybody involved," Verdan said wearily. "It's no wonder there are so many Cyth and other dangerous creatures nearby if that's how the Sects are behaving. It does make sense for the bears, though. If the bear had destroyed or heavily damaged Willowbrook, the Weeping Death would have had their excuse to step in."
"Which is why we need to be careful now. My presence isn't an issue, but you are arming and helping the city prepare. You're more of a threat to the Weeping Death's plans than anyone else in the city," Kai said, giving Verdan a pointed look.
"I understand now," Verdan said with a nod. "They want to keep the 'mortals' in check, and I'm giving them weapons that could help them kill a Sorcerer."
"It's not just a possibility anymore. We've drawn blood against them."
"They're going to try to kill me, aren't they?" Verdan said heavily, as he followed the twisted logic of the Sects to its conclusion.
"Yes, the attempt on my life feels like an act of opportunity while you were absent. They will come for you in a much more organized manner. There's no way to know how they've evaluated your strength, but at the very least, I expect one of their stronger Sorcerers to be involved."
"Okay, we need to be ready then for whatever they send our way," Verdan said with a grim tone, thinking of both the danger to himself and the danger to his companions. He'd seen more than a few innocent bystanders killed in duels between Wizards, and he doubted the Sects were as careful.
Verdan had enough blood on his conscience, and he didn't need any more. Part of him wanted to move out from the mansion until this issue was dealt with, but he had no idea how long that would be, or if his absence would make the mansion more of a target for the Weeping Death.
"We could seek them out first, drive them from the city before they can act," Kai offered.
"No, I doubt they're above hiding behind others or trying to blend in with the locals. We might lose the goodwill we have that way. Our best bet is to prepare the estate and fight them on our ground. They will have more advantages, but we can fight without concern." Verdan eyed the houses around them, judging how much was wood and how much was stone. From what he'd seen, the city was at least going to be somewhat fire-resistant. He could use fireballs without concern if he prepared with the relevant Aether constructs, and that would be worth the effort.
"Are you sure? They will no doubt strike at our most vulnerable time," Kai said, with a hint of doubt in his voice.
"I'm sure," Verdan said with confidence. "I'm starting to recover enough strength that stronger spells are more workable. I can do a lot with some preparation time as well, not as much as a specialist could, but enough."
"I suppose we could move people to the workshop. It's more defensible and tougher," Kai said slowly as he changed track and started to consider how to make defending the estate work.
"I agree. We need to contact Samuel as well, and make sure that all the homes near the estate are cleared out for the time being. I don't want to have to worry about containing the fight too much."
"I'll talk to him on the way to the adventurer's guild," Kai said with a nod, looking a bit more at ease with Verdan's plan.
"Good but take one of the brothers with you. Everyone needs to be travelling in pairs from now on. Ideally, always with at least one of them being a magic user. I know that will be tough for Tim, but he's got the least defense against Sorcerers."
"You're right," Kai said, tapping his fingers on his spear for a moment before nodding. "I'll make sure that either Tom or I are at the estate at all times as well, to support the guards."
"I'll start working on my preparations," Verdan said with a nod. He was close to finishing the third gathering spiral, so he'd rather work on that, if possible, but getting some protections down was more important.
He had a few ideas for the sort of wards that would be worth putting in; they'd be Aether-intensive, but it would be worth it if they were needed. Besides, once they were created, he could top them off with Aether when needed, making them semi-permanent.
Kai split off once they reached the estate, leaving Verdan to survey the boundaries of the mansion and its grounds. It would be a lot of Aether to ward everything, but some extra meditation would help offset that.
The lack of sleep would be annoying, but a few doses of his energy spell would bypass that easily enough.
Kai was still at the gate to the estate when Verdan finished his sweep, but two others had joined the Sorcerer. Ruan, the oldest of Verdan's guards, stood behind Kai, one hand on the axe that rested in a loop at his belt.
The other person was a heavily-muscled man with short dark hair and a pair of blades at his waist. The man stood with his arms crossed and had a stern expression as he conversed with Kai.
"Verdan, this is Blane, the man we were going to discuss later," Kai called out as Verdan approached them. "Blane, this is Verdan, the Wizard I have pledged my service to."
"A pleasure," Verdan said, holding out a hand to the other man.
"Have you met a woman named Tara recently?" Blane said, ignoring his hand and fixing Verdan with a hard stare as he seemed to sniff in Verdan's direction.
"Not that I'm aware of," Verdan said, dropping his hand after a moment. "Could you describe her?"
"She's my youngest sister," Blane said, eyes narrowing as he sniffed again and stared up at Verdan. "I can smell her around here. You must have met her recently."
"If you can describe her, I can tell you if I've met her," Verdan said, noticing that Ruan had slowly moved his hand to grasp the axe at his belt.
"Shorter than me, long hair, stubborn," Blane said, inching closer to Verdan as he spoke.
"That doesn't ring any bells," Verdan said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at the terrible description. "If I meet anyone with that name and description, I'll tell them you're looking for them."
"You still smell of her," Blane muttered, giving Verdan a suspicious look before backing off a little.
"Don't worry, the oath still stands," Kai said quietly, stepping up to Blane for a moment before motioning for Ruan to follow him. "I'm heading to find Samuel and then go to the adventurer's guild." Giving Blane another warning look, Kai set off down the street.
Blane didn't linger long after Kai left, but Verdan made sure to wait until the odd man was out of sight before moving back to the workshop. There was something off about him, but Verdan couldn't quite put a finger on it. His talk of ‘smelling’ his sister on Verdan was disconcerting as well, but the wizard had had much stranger conversations in his time.
Putting Blane out of his mind, Verdan went inside and headed for where Tim and Sylvie were waiting. He had work to do.
Verdan made his way into the workshop and headed up, to where Tim and Sylvie were waiting for him. It was the same room where he'd earlier operated to remove her collar.
Sylvie was stretched out on the table, unconscious. Tim was sitting beside her when Verdan came in. The ex-guard looked up with a worried expression as Verdan approached them, giving the wizard a tight smile. "I'm glad you're back. She still isn't waking up."
"No change at all, no signs of her moving or dreaming?" Verdan asked as he gave the wolf a cursory sweep of his Aether senses. There was no sign of Aether or Essence within her, beyond the small amount that any living creature had. Nor was there any sign of Abyssal corruption, whether the direct Cyth style or the more insidious Darjee form.
"None, she's just lying there. I can tell she's still breathing, but...." Tim trailed off with a frustrated sigh and a shrug.
"So what happened? We've not had the chance to really discuss the situation. I remember you said she did something that caused this?" Verdan asked as he pulled up a chair and started to examine the wolf more closely.
"Well, she saved me from a large, horned Cyth creature, but it was too much for her, and she collapsed. The thing is, she transformed to do it," Tim said hesitantly, his gaze flicking between Verdan and Sylvie.
Verdan motioned for Tim to continue as he began to examine Sylvie.
"So, she turned into a person, stole my dagger, and saved me," Tim said, looking at his hands as he continued in a softer tone. "I feel like a fool."
"No, you're not a fool," Verdan said, not unkindly. "We knew she was intelligent. The Darjee capturing her was clearly proof of that. Even so, I didn't imagine she was able to transform like that. Did she look human?"
"Yes, well, the bits I saw were quite human," Tim said, clearing his throat and not meeting Verdan's eyes as he flushed a little.
"Interesting," Verdan murmured as he turned back to the wolf. His thoughts were wholly focused on Sylvie and her shapeshifting.
Verdan knew of a few shapeshifting methods, but none that didn't involve Aether, and he was certain that she wasn't manipulating it; he would have sensed something for certain.
Still, that collar had destroyed his Aether; perhaps it had been suppressing whatever else she used, and she'd been slowly recovering once the collar had been removed. Her transformation had come just before she passed out, which seemed similar to the intense Aetherburn that Verdan had experienced.
Stretching his senses back down to the wolf, Verdan inspected her with intent, searching for what else it might be. The great minds of Verdan's time had defined the four types of energy as Aether, Malfease, Exeon, and Parada.
Aether was out, Malfease, or Corruption as it was known, would be obvious, and Exeon, too, would be easy enough to spot. That just left Parada, the least-common, least-predictable, and most-frustrating of the energies.
Now that he was looking for it, Verdan could sense faint traces of Parada running through Sylvie, though it seemed that the energy was slowly gathering in strength. If Sylvie needed the same amount to recover as Verdan did, she wouldn't be waking up for at least another day, maybe more. It was hard to tell, and the fact that it was Parada just made it all the worse.
Many a wizard had tried to define Parada, to assign rules to its usage, or how it was gathered. All of them failed. Rules that applied to one usage had no bearing at all on another.
"So, can you help her?" Tim asked worriedly, jolting Verdan out of his thoughts.
"No, not in any way that will matter. She's healthy enough; she just needs time to recover her magic. The best we can do is keep an eye on her and make sure she's looked after. Her magic will recover naturally," Verdan said, casting a minor healing spell on Sylvie as he spoke. "I'll keep applying minor healing to her on a daily basis. Regular healing should help ensure that her body stays in good shape."
"Thank you for taking a look at her. I'm just at a loss for what to do, for how to treat her," Tim said bitterly, his gaze on the floor once more.
"That's simple enough. Continue as you have been, and you can't go wrong," Verdan said gently, reaching out to squeeze Tim's shoulder. "Once she's awake, she'll be able to explain the situation to you. Just be patient until then, okay?"
