by Andrew Rowe
“Nothing like that. It’s not likely that they’ll act this soon. But I knew something would be happening within the next few months, and that Tristan would be displeased if you were injured or killed as a result. So, I was going to bring you to him. For safety.”
“And for some credit with Tristan, I presume. Maybe to make up for the mistake of telling Derek about your plans?”
Elora smirked. “You’re more like your brother than I expected. Always assuming the worst of people.” She paused, then added. “But you’re not wrong.”
I didn’t particularly like what that description implied about Tristan, but I wasn’t going to press the issue. I had more important questions. “What if I provided a group of people to climb the spire with you?”
“Oh, darling, your group of children isn’t going to be sufficient for my standards. Kind of you to offer, though.”
I felt my hands tighten, but I released them. Giving tells to show that she was getting under my skin was not to my advantage. “No students, then. Derek, Keras, yourself, and myself make four. Sheridan would make five. For the sixth... Lord Teft, perhaps.”
“I can’t even begin to tell you how terrible of a plan that is. No, wait, yes I can. Let’s begin with Derek, shall we? He’s actively working against Tristan. Bring him along, he’s not going to help you have a tearful reunion. He’ll want to settle the score.”
She raised two fingers. “Second. Keras Selyrian. I don’t know how you’ve managed to end up working with one of the most dangerous people on the continent, but if you think you understand his motivations, you’re sorely mistaken. He’d certainly make climbing the spire easier, but I’m not convinced he’d let any of us live when he’s reached his goals.”
Three fingers. “Sheridan. You couldn’t afford their help.”
Four fingers. “Lord Teft. Same problem with Derek. He wouldn’t support what Tristan is doing. Moreover, he’s less useful.”
Five fingers. “Me. I’m in no shape to climb the spires right now. And, in frankness, neither are you. Not for a few weeks, at least.”
I took a breath. “Fine. Not immediately, then. But you seemed to believe there was a good reason to get me out of here, and I assume you still want Tristan’s good will.”
“Certainly. But my risks are calculated ones. Now that I’m aware that a servant of the Tyrant managed to infiltrate my household guard, I’m going to need to dedicate my efforts to vetting everyone. I’m sure you understand the need for such a precaution.”
I nodded. “Do you know how Carter slipped in?”
“I hired Carter personally more than two years ago. And I can assure you, having seen both of her shoulders, she did not have a tattoo at the time. It would have had to have been recent.”
I pondered that. “Could that have something to do with the Blackstone Bandits?”
Elora sighed. “Carter has nothing to do with them. I know what you’re thinking, but my contact with the Blackstone Bandits was brief and unrelated.”
She sounded annoyed that I’d made the connection. Maybe I was hitting close to home, or maybe she just didn’t like my assumptions. From her expression, I judged it would be unwise to push that line of conversation further, so I switched approaches. “Could Carter have concealed the mark on her back with an illusion?”
“Certainly, and she probably was doing that for a while. But I have ways of seeing through most illusions. That might have kept her from being noticed on a day-to-day basis by others, but...” Elora shook her head. “The tattoo must have been recent. Which implies she was compromised recently, likely by Saffron himself.”
“Could the Tyrant cultists be working with Tristan?”
Elora frowned. “Unlikely. He did mention a powerful patron...but no, I doubt it. It’s more likely that Saffron had my household infiltrated for other reasons. Perhaps he knows what I was involved with, but it’s more likely he simply wanted eyes on a member of the Council of Lords.”
It was comforting to think that Tristan probably hadn’t sunk to working with followers of the Tyrant, but I couldn’t count on that.
And that bit about a powerful patron?
That was worrying.
“Okay. You need to recover. Is there a way that I could get into the spire without your help?”
Elora shook her head. “It’s locked. I have a key, but only I can use it. And even if you got inside the tower, you’d never find Tristan without me. Simply climbing up isn’t going to get you to him.”
I didn’t miss her emphasis. “Does that imply that Tristan is in the subterranean levels, rather than up high?”
Elora raised a hand to rub at her neck. I suspected that overusing her mana had affected her throat, much like it had for Sera. “I’m not going to give you that kind of information. I will escort you to him when it’s time, by my own methods, and for my own reasons.”
She coughed again, then sighed. “I’m losing my voice again. I’ll say this much — I’m grateful that you uncovered a traitor in my house, even if it ended as poorly as it did. I do intend to get you to Tristan. But you will need to be patient.”
“One more thing, sorry. That spell you used... you have a contract with the God Phoenix, don’t you?”
Elora smiled. “I suppose the name of the spell gave it away, didn’t it? Keep that to yourself, if you would. There are very few of us with god beast contracts.”
I can think of one more.
“Could you have summoned Suzaku?”
“Ah, I see what you’re thinking.” Elora shook her head. “The god beasts generally don’t allow people to summon them outside of their own spire, even in simulacra form. Exceptions tend to have a cost that’s measured in lives. Even if I’d have been willing to sacrifice myself, I wouldn’t have had enough mana left to manage a true summoning. And a simulacrum of the God Phoenix would have been just as susceptible to his mana absorption as any other summon.”
I nodded at her explanation. “That also means you wouldn’t be able to summon Suzaku if he arrives again.”
“Yes. And, just so you understand, that was a Sapphire-level spell. There’s nothing stronger. Even I couldn’t have cast it on my own.” She raised a hand, showing her single remaining mana crystal ring. “I don’t know of anything capable of doing more damage. We shouldn’t antagonize him again.”
Well, if nothing else, that’s finally some confirmation that Sapphire-level abilities exist. I don’t know if that means there are Sapphire-level attuned, but it stands to reason that there could be.
I rubbed at my chin. “I understand. But I have a feeling that there will be consequences for our fight with Saffron, and I’d like to get ahead of that. If nothing else, Tristan needs to be aware of what happened.”
“You have a way of ensuring that, do you not?”
I frowned. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Good. Now, leave me. We’ll speak again when I’m in a more presentable condition.”
I nodded. “I wish you a swift recovery.”
“For your sake as well as mine, I’m certain.”
I turned to leave. “You’re not wrong.”
***
When I had a moment alone, I checked Trials of Judgment.
No new replies from Tristan.
I was...angry about that. Frustrated.
Maybe a little scared, too.
Was he failing to reply because I wasn’t important? Was he toying with me?
Or was he in trouble? Hurt?
Dead?
I had no way of knowing.
I wrote him a message.
Dear Mysterious Brother Entity,
Be advised that an agent of the Tyrant of Gold infiltrated one of the households of one of your former allies. The agent has been deterred for the time being, but not without casualties.
A Child of the Tyrant was involved. Saffron.
If you are working with these people, I strongly urge you to reconsider. Saffron was clearly unstable at best.
I
f you are not working with them...
Be careful.
-Corin Cadence
I had so much more that I wanted to say, but for the time being, formality was a defense for my sanity. A solid shell to prevent my fears from breaking through and ravaging my mind.
And in truth, I still wasn’t sure I was ready for Tristan’s answers.
***
Most of the next day was painful. Slow. Boring.
I was eager for my friends to get back from the test, but the train schedule meant that they wouldn’t be arriving until late at night.
House Theas seemed a little more “proper” than Derek’s household had been.
They wouldn’t even let Keras and me train on the rooftop for some reason. “There are training rooms for that,” they said.
So unimaginative.
I did spend a little bit of time practicing, but I didn’t have the energy for much. It turns out that having your ribs broken makes a lot of things more difficult, like just breathing properly. Even with the worst of the damage repaired, it felt like everything hurt for a while.
I focused what energy I could on what Keras and I had talked about — finding a way of fighting that suited me, rather than just copying other people.
I’d been picking up so many new techniques throughout the year that I hadn’t really put much effort into figuring out how I could use my various skills in tandem with each other for a greater result.
The keystone for that was expanding my training with mana threads.
I’d already figured out that I could connect a thread of mana to a shield sigil to recharge it. That was a great start.
What could I do with my other items?
And what else could I do with a shield sigil, beyond just recharging it?
I experimented with a number of different possibilities.
Could I project mana threads at a distance to interact with items I wasn’t carrying?
The answer was “yes”, but my accuracy was terrible. I’d need to practice before it was practical.
Could I make solid mana threads, like how I made mana crystals?
I definitely could, but they were so fragile that they didn’t have much utility. I’d have to practice with that more to figure out if I could make any kind of use out of them.
The biggest find? I could connect two items to each other.
Most items didn’t have compatible mana types, so shifting mana from one place to another wasn’t particularly useful. But for cases like the shield sigils, they were virtually identical.
When I was in a test with the remaining mana of the standard-issue sigil determining my success or failure, being able to near-instantly refill my shield sigil by moving mana from the other sigil would be tremendously useful.
The combat applications were potentially significant, too.
Could I channel mana from an item straight into the aura-generating rune on my sword, changing the element of the aura?
I didn’t have any good way of testing that one. I retrieved Selys-Lyann and tried tinkering with it, but I couldn’t pull any of the mana out of the runes. I still hadn’t figured out how all the runes worked, but that implied that one of them was an anti-tampering measure.
Knowing what I knew now, that wasn’t a bad idea.
If I could figure out how to remotely alter the functions of item runes, someone else could, too.
I spent much of the day working on researching anti-tampering runes.
Eventually, I found a design that wouldn’t allow anyone to modify the enchantments on an item unless their personal mana signature matched the mana stored in another rune.
That would let me continue to tinker with my own items, but prevent any external modifications — at least in theory. Someone could still destroy the anti-tampering rune, or overpower it with a stronger spell, but that would be considerably more work.
I only had time to put an anti-tampering rune on my silver phoenix sigil before evening had arrived and I got confirmation that my platoon was heading back home.
I went to meet them at the train station.
***
Patrick rushed over as soon as he saw me. “You’re okay!”
I nodded. “Yeah, at least for the most part.”
The others followed right behind him.
Sera grabbed me into a hug. I awkwardly reciprocated.
She pulled away after that, wearing a slight smile that concealed a well of other emotion. “Vanniv saw the attack, or the beginning of it, at least. He went to get help, but by the time he came back, you were already gone. And there were just...bodies.”
I winced. “I’m sorry, Sera. I’m okay, though.”
She looked skeptical.
“Really, I’m okay. I mean, mostly. Shaken, obviously...but I’ll live.”
“I won’t press.” She folded her arms. “But it’s good to see you.”
“It’s good to see you, too.” I gave my best effort at a smile, which wasn’t very good. Still, I meant what I said. I also didn’t want to think about Saffron anymore, so I changed the topic. “How did the rest of the test go?”
“I’m afraid your departure was the last twist in our little story, and it’s the only thing the others would talk about on the other way back. Really, Brother, do you always have to be the center of attention?” It was a good attempt at sounding like she was back to her usual teasing, but her tone was off.
Still, I appreciated the effort, so I played along. “I try to be consistent. And I’m sure you were glad to have a day or two away from me, given how irritating I am.”
“Of course.” She wiped her eyes. “Obviously.”
Marissa came up behind her, reaching out awkwardly, and then pulling back. “I, uh, hi Corin.”
I realized that she’d stopped because of our last exchange, and I gave her a nod of gratitude. I extended an arm and offered her a half-hug. That was more tolerable to me, and she seemed to want the physical connection, even if it wasn’t exactly the kind of reassurance I personally enjoyed. “It’s good to see you, Mara.”
She accepted the half-hug and stepped back. “You...so, is there anyone you need me to hit for you?” She punched one fist into her other palm.
I laughed. “Maybe. I’ll explain when we get back to Elora’s place.”
Marissa blinked. “Elora? Is that a girl’s name?”
Patrick grinned. “Ooh, have you been...”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s not like that. She’s more like Derek’s girlfriend, if anything.”
“Aww.” Patrick chuckled. “I was hoping for some good gossip.”
I shook my head. “No gossip. But I do have a lot to tell you all.” I glanced from side to side. “Where’s Jin?”
“He went back separately,” Sera explained. “Said he had some business to attend to.”
Well, that’s not ominous or anything.
I nodded, but I felt oddly disappointed. Wasn’t he worried about me?
I dismissed the concern. He had his own ways of handling worry, just like I did.
If he wanted to check on me, he could do it any time.
I waved toward a nearby carriage, where Keras was waiting. “Let’s head out. I’ll explain everything when we get to a secure area.”
“Secure...?” Sera asked. “This is going to be one of your stories that changes everything, isn’t it?”
I considered that. “No. Just our living arrangements.”
***
The manor we were staying in belonged to Sheridan Theas, and it was on the opposite side of the city from the university. That meant that going back to school from there would have been a bit of a trek, but we were officially done with our exams, so it was a suitable place to stay for the few remaining weeks of the semester.
In truth, we probably could have gone back to our respective homes at that point if we’d wanted to. There would be closing ceremonies for the year, as well as the winter ball, but neither of those were strictly mandatory to attend.
After that, we took trips with Keras and a mostly-recovered Derek back to Derek’s manor to retrieve our things.
On one of those trips, I stopped Derek and asked him a question. “Who made the magic emergency stick that you gave me?”
Derek paused in his step. “An old friend, why?”
“Because Saffron’s agent in Elora’s group had one that was almost identical. They used it to signal Saffron. That’s how he showed up to attack us in the first place.”
Derek spent a moment making some colorful curses, at least one of which involved that other Enchanter doing things with a hamster that sounded both awkward and anatomically impossible.
After that, though, he turned to me. “I’ll look into that. They sell primarily to climbers out of a local casino. They probably just sold the stick without any idea of who they were dealing with...but I’ll find out.”
I nodded. “Any chance you’d be willing to give me a name?”
“No.” He shook his head. “This one is personal. Trust me, I’ll deal with it. And if they do end up being involved, I’ll let you know what I find out.”
I didn’t like that, but we all had our secrets, and I understood Derek’s need to keep some things to himself. “Okay. Is the stick that you gave me safe for me to hold onto?”
“Yes. It’s unlikely the item itself is compromised. It’s more that my friend might just be selling to an organization they shouldn’t be.”
The most important part of that exchange was that Derek had seemed genuinely surprised. I’d wanted to know if he’d knowingly been working with someone connected to the Tyrant, and from his response, it sounded unlikely. That was good enough for me.
I nodded to Derek and we continued walking back to the manor.
I’d already picked up the most important of my own items — Selys-Lyann and the Trials of Judgment book — but I still had a few other miscellaneous bits and pieces to move over.
I also stopped at the area where I’d hit Saffron with Ceris. As I’d suspected, there was a dried bloodstain.
I collected what I could of the blood in a vial. I had no intention of summoning Saffron with the Jaden Box, but I knew blood could be used for other things, like tracking spells.