by Dan Zangari
“Interesting…” Thranar takes a deep breath then continues to relate the dealings of his and Mathal’s journey to the Aquinn Grove Retreat. “There were thirteen others, just as Nath had told us, but they had disappeared two days ago. The inn keeper said they were there the night before but by the morning they were all gone.
“We sent a mage-rider to Klath to see if perchance the White Duchess had come back into port, but there was no sign of it–”
“I doubt they would return to their ship,” Dorith interrupts. “However if they did, it would have been by use of their rogulin crystals. We learned from Nath that a conjurer in Iltar’s band is also in possession of another conjuration anchor and that they as a party were intending to travel back and forth between the mainland and the White Duchess; this was due to the Sorothian Navy having blockaded all the major ports–”
“Where are they finding these relics?” Mathal angrily retorts, “I thought our predecessors confiscated everything.”
“Most objects were recovered,” Dorith calmly states, “But there was a faction of humanity that went into hiding and it is possible that these devices could have fallen into Iltar and his companions’ hands from them.”
Thranar clears his throat then continues with his report, “When we discovered that the White Duchess hadn’t moored in Klath, we looked for any sign of rogulin magic. We asked the patrons if they had heard or smelled its after-effects. However no one verified the use of a conjurer’s stone, nor did anyone in the immediate area surrounding the retreat see nor recognize any of them.
“We decided to set up an encampment outside of Klimith; our forces are currently searching Klath, its outlying settlements and several of the towns along the highways from Klath.
“After we could not discover anymore within the retreat or Klimith Mathal and I decided to return and inform you.”
“They have to be somewhere,” Dorith thinks aloud, “Perhaps they are hiding under the guise of illusions; there is more than one illusionist with them.”
“What else did you learn from Nath?” Mathal asks in a slightly calmer tone.
“Governor Riner and the Sorothian Navy was after Iltar for assassinating the Baron of Sereth. Nath also believed that the governor knows about the amulet, since Iltar had implicated his associates on their magical order’s council of attempting to re-forge it in order to overthrow the Sorothian government. Iltar used the scrolls which spoke of the amulet as evidence to validate the lie.”
“That vile snake!” Mathal disgustedly sighs and Dorith continues his speculation.
“From everything I’ve heard concerning this situation, I don’t think Cornar and the others will leave the Kingdom and they are our only means of retrieving the Key and the amulet housing.”
“Are you suggesting that we hunt them down?” Thranar asks.
“Yes,” Dorith succinctly states.
“Shall we recall our forces?” Thranar asks with a sigh.
“No,” Dorith shakes his head, “We will simply augment and expand what they are currently doing. We will deal with the particulars after Iltar is delivered to Duke Gareth Shem.”
“So it is the Castle. When was the trial?” Mathal asks.
“Today, many of us bore testimony of Iltar’s power; I believe that swayed the opinions of the people.”
“Surely you could kill him single handedly,” Mathal says with a tone of intrigue, “From what the others told me about the battle at the eastern gate, you took on a small army and won.”
“I would rather not kill Iltar,” Dorith says and looks directly at Mathal. “If we keep him alive, perhaps we can use him as bait. From what Nath explained, Iltar’s companions are loyal and if they braved Merda they will surely have the gall to attempt to free him.”
“Shrewd,” Mathal smiles, “Perhaps the rumors are true.”
Dorith grins and shakes his head, “Now you are starting to sound like Griffith. What of your forces?”
“Has Bredan returned?” Thranar asks and folds his arms.
“No.”
“I wonder what is delaying him,” Thranar wonders as he rises to his feet. “I will take my leave of you, I would like to rest.”
“You deserve it,” Dorith smiles at the conjurer.
As Thranar leaves the room, Mathal leans back in his seat and stares hard at Dorith. After a brief moment of silence he speaks up.
“You can tell me Dorith, are you really the Mage-King? Over the past few weeks I’ve seen a change in you as if you were another person.”
“Would it make a difference if I was?” Dorith frankly asks and leans back, spreading one of his arms on the back of the couch and resting the other on his lap.
“You are sly,” Mathal grins while shaking his head. “You are so open to the idea of being questioned; You sit as though you have nothing to hide, and you deny being him. Yet your commanding demeanor and actions betray you.”
“You still didn’t answer my question,” Dorith shakes his head with a smile, “Would it make a difference?”
“I think this world needs another Mage-King,” Mathal says with strong emotion and his eyes brim with tears, “We need someone like you to quell the rising evil in our world. Men like Zatryn Phar, Dusel Nadim, Cradul Nist, Dorin Luzdom and the fabled General Lith.”
Dorith slowly nods his head then adds, “Those men acted once the proverbial evil was ripened; our days are not as yet like those.”
“And when those days come,” Mathal sighs heavily, “Will you rise up and reclaim the Kingdom?”
“Paragons will always rise to the challenge once it presents itself. Someone will lead our world. Whoever it is, I doubt it will be Dorin the Mage-King,” Dorith stands up as he speaks the last and walks away from the couch. As he reaches the archway he turns to Mathal and asks, “We have prepared some tea, do you wish to have any?”
“No, but thank you,” Mathal responds and rises from his chair and joins Dorith in the archway. “I wish to return home to my wife so that she knows I am safe.”
Dorith nods his head and watches as Mathal opens the door and leaves the home. The grandmaster of the Estate takes a deep breath and walks back down the corridor leading to the rear of his abode.
Each of the men and women in the room earnestly look at Dorith in anticipation.
“Cornar and his companions are missing; he left with Hagen seven days ago and the others disappeared from the retreat four days later.”
“Cornar would most likely come here,” Balden speaks up. “He is like a brother to Iltar, he would never leave him to face the fate we’ve dealt him.”
“It would only take them six days to reach Alath,” Zanille thinks aloud, “They would have been here before the trial. Everyone in the city has been talking about it and they most assuredly would have found out.”
“But no one has come into the inner city that looks like any of Iltar’s accomplices,” Saprin adds, “They would have been seen or if they had illusions on they would have been captured.”
“They could have bribed someone to witness the trial,” Dorith suggests then adds. “I learned from Thranar and Mathal that they did capture Credal.”
“They would have interrogated him,” Balden observes, “They probably know everything about Iltar’s capture and I doubt Cornar would want to enter the city because they wouldn’t be able to use their rogulin crystal to open a portal back to the others.
“I think Dorith is right, they must have bribed someone; after all they most likely have enough coin from their plundering of Merda’s vault.”
“We will deal with this later,” Dorith says and grabs his mug from the counter, “I need to deliver Iltar to the prison castle, we will resolve upon a stratagem to capture Cornar and the others when I return.”
Silence falls upon the room briefly when the mysterious man from Keth speaks up. “I think we need to get going. Thank you for dinner Alnese,” Zanille says and bows his head, “Balden come with me.
“Mother,” the myst
erious man from Keth looks at Maurin then tightly embraces her. “I love you.”
“Be careful,” Maurin sighs and pads Zanille on the back.
Balden rises from his seat and watches as many of the others in the room say their goodbyes to Zanille. The half elf nods his head and smiles at the scene. He walks around the island and toward the mysterious man from Keth who is now near the corridor and conversing with Dorith.
“Can I at least walk with you to the gate,” Saprin asks from the bar with a melancholy tone.
“We’re not going out the gates,” Zanille answers with a grin, “But you’re welcome to come with us.”
“Then how are you leaving?” the young man asks and comes to Balden and Zanille’s side near the opening of the hallway.
“Have you ever heard of the ancient transportation web-works?”
“No,” Saprin shakes his head.
“I’ll explain after we get there,” the mysterious man from Keth chuckles and winks at Saprin then looks to Dorith. “I don’t suppose we will see each other for awhile. Good luck in retrieving the Au’misha’k and the Ka’nakar. I wish I could stay and help.”
“It’s alright,” the grandmaster of the Estate shakes his head and waves his hand, “You have done enough. Besides, you have a duty to perform on Merdan. We will apprehend Cornar and the others.”
“Don’t underestimate him,” Zanille warns in a serious reflective tone, “As Iltar is like Adrin, so too is Cornar like Melthas.”
Dorith solemnly nods his head as Zanille, Balden and Saprin walk down the corridor and out the main doors of the home.
“Who is Melthas?” Maurin asks in a puzzled tone and looks at Dorith.
“That is a name I have not heard in a long time,” the grandmaster answers. “He was a commander in the rebelling army, when Tor fought for its independence from Mindolarn’s brothers. He was a tenacious combatant; bold and daring.
“Melthas was part of the rebellion from the beginning. He was a young boy when he was recruited by the merchant Kandish Loush, the one who funded Tor’s rebellion. Kandish was a major force in assisting Adrin in retaking the city and further establishing the Western Sovernty.”
“But what does Melthas have to do with Cornar?” one of the other men asks from the gathering room.
“According to Zanxsthy’ll’s allusion, Cornar is his son.”
* * * * *
Almost an hour later Saprin returns to Dorith’s home shouting as he enters the abode, “Great grandpa! Great grandpa!”
The young man stumbles through the foyer and down the corridor which leads to the rear of the home and stops as the others come into view, all of which are now lounging on the couches arrayed in the gathering room adjacent to the kitchen.
“What is it Saprin?” Dorith tiredly asks from a chair near the gathering room’s windows.
“Zan told me to tell you,” Saprin takes a deep breath, “That someone left the illumination responders in an active state, as well as a section of tubing in preparatory flux from the Mages’ Park access to the Farmlands access.”
Dorith sighs and shakes his head in response while many of the others silently show expressions of surprise at the young man’s outburst.
“What does that mean?” Saprin asks, “He didn’t explain.”
“It means that someone neglected to return that part of the city to its dormant state,” Alnese speaks up then takes a sip of the warm drink in her hand and crosses her legs.
“Most likely those fools who were pursuing him,” Maurin chuckles.
“What are we going to do about it?” Saprin asks innocently.
“Did you close up the entrance to the trans-tubes from the shop?” Dorith asks and Saprin nods his head in response.
“Then nothing; those systems are set to return to their dormant states after a few days.
“If you all will excuse me, I am going to retire to my bed.”
Each of the men and women in the room bid Dorith nightly farewells and the grandmaster of the Estate exits the gathering room and moves through the corridor connecting the rear spaces of the home to the foyer, padding Saprin on the shoulder as he passes.
5
Prison
The following morning, Dorith is standing behind his desk within his office in the Estate’s main hall. He is dressed in an informal garb of a dull grey long sleeve tunic and pants. Hanging around his neck is the golden necklace which contains his mystical armor.
A deep drawer on the rear of the desk is opened and the grandmaster of the Estate is shuffling through the contents of it. After a brief moment, Dorith pulls a large dark blue sphere, made of pure rogulin, from the drawer. Its golden flecks glisten from the sunlight streaming in from the windows.
Dorith takes a deep breath as he grasps the sphere with both hands and gently moves it over a dull black round object, no more than a quarter of a phineal in diameter with its top rising to a shallow dome shape.
The grandmaster of the Estate gently touches the sphere to the black device then relinquishes his grasp on the sphere. The shaped and polished rogulin immediately hovers above the device then the object below glows with a golden-brown hue and resonates with a soft hum. The magical light wisps into the rogulin sphere, causing the polished crystal to radiate the light.
With his gazed fixed on the two magical objects, Dorith recites the words to a conjuration spell; yellow magic gathers in his hands and wraps around the rogulin sphere then moves along the golden-brown particles toward the black device.
As the grandmaster utters the words to the spell, the door to his office swings open. Standing in the doorway are Almar and Griffith; the elder grand mage leads the companionship through and into Dorith’s chambers, all the while both are watching the mystical binding of the rogulin sphere.
“What is that on your desk?” Griffith asks as the magical light fades from both objects.
“A conjuration anchor,” Dorith says and grabs the sphere then gently places it next to the dull black device. “Like what Iltar’s companions are in possession of.”
“It looks like that tile in the floor on the fourth story,” Griffith remarks.
“Well,” Dorith looks up with a smile across his face, “That too is a conjuration anchor; all of our rogulin rings are bound to it.”
Griffith silently nods his head while Almar speaks up with a worried expression across his face.
“Dorith, Bredan has returned. We met with him while you were in the inner depths; Riner was assassinated.”
“Oh,” Dorith feigns surprise and raises his brow. “Did he explain how and when?”
“Eight days ago,” Almar answers, “Supposedly the same day we were dealing with Iltar. From what he was able to discover by furtively searching the Sorothian City Watch, Riner was assassinated in his office by a delegate from Mindolarn. However the representatives from Mindolarn that are stationed in Soroth did not know anything about her; in fact they had never heard of her before.
“Bredan also verified much of the information we learned from Nath and Balden,” Almar takes a deep breath before continuing.
“He also mentioned that a vault was broken into within Riner’s office,” Almar shakes his head then speculates, “In Nath’s interrogation he briefly talked about how Iltar had one of the other thieves plant the scrolls to place blame on the other necromancers on the Necrotic Order’s council; I deduced Riner would have kept those, and though Bredan didn’t find anything to prove this, I think the scrolls were in the vault.
“The council is debating on what to do now; Nemmerin believes we should send an agent to Mindolarn to discover any details of an assassin secretly sent to Soroth. Several of the others–”
“That won’t be necessary,” Dorith interrupts and shakes his head then leans down to grab a light tan-colored satchel resting against his desk. The grandmaster straightens up and puts the rogulin sphere within then adds, “Finding Cornar will solve everything; as far as the record is concerned we should forget about
it.
“The Lords of Metal will find other places to hide the pieces of the amulet. We must focus on retrieving what has been lost.”
“And if those records fall into another power hungry man’s hands?” Griffith asks with a worried tone. “They’ll attempt to search for the pieces.”
“The scrolls point to the Dragon’s Isle and Merda,” Dorith responds then adds, “Alath and the rest of the Kingdom is safe. Whoever would dare to seek it would find themselves pitted against the might of the dragons and the elves.”
“Do you wish to convene with the council before you go?” Almar asks with a concerned expression across his face.
“No,” Dorith shakes his head and slings the satchel over his shoulder and around his neck. “You can relay what I’ve said.
“Also, I will be traveling to meet with His Majesty to request additional members of the Kingdom Guard to assist us in our hunt for Cornar and the others.
“I was intending to wait until after I returned,” Dorith looks to the elder grand mage, “But Almar, while I am gone prepare a plan to capture Cornar; appoint from the Agents of the Order leaders that will head the parties we will send out to scourer the Kingdom. Mathal and Thranar have already started a search in the southern parts of our Kingdom. Ask them to relay what we spoke about last night to help formulate a plan.
“When I return gather the leaders for a meeting. I want you to take charge of this ordeal; From our brief meeting this morning, I believe you are the most passionate about it.”
Almar silently nods his head in response and the grandmaster looks to the Agent of the Order.
“Griffith,” Dorith grabs the conjuration anchor then stretches his hand across the desk, “Take this to a secluded area outside the city; place guards around it so no one gets near. If all goes well, I will be bringing back a brigade with me. Make sure the area is large enough to accommodate us.”