“Southeast,” Aric said, climbing a stairwell two steps at a time. “Irenya’s watch point.”
“Probably saw a dune lion and panicked,” Leth said, chasing after Aric.
The watch point was a tiny balcony on top of a turret. Irenya took the horn out of her mouth as soon as she saw them race towards her. She started panting as if she had been blowing the horn in a single, uninterrupted breath from the start.
“There…” She gasped. “There’s…”
“Easy,” Aric said. “Just breathe, alright?”
“Raiders,” she managed to say, stretching an arm towards the desert. “Dozens of them.”
“Where?” Leth asked, looking everywhere.
Where indeed. Aric scanned the vast, golden dunes. There was not a single person in sight. Not even Geric’s sneaky shadow. Just the usual rolling sea of dunes.
“I… I don’t understand,” Irenya grabbed the stone parapet and leaned out. “They were there. Charging across the sand. There were fifty of them, probably more.”
“Well,” Leth said, “maybe your horn scared them off.”
Luckily, Irenya did not pick up the sarcasm, but Aric shot him a stare anyway.
“Have you been drinking enough water?” Aric asked her. “It’s really hot out here.”
Irenya did not reply. She just kept searching the desert with her mouth half open. Whatever had happened, she clearly could not explain it.
“Wait, what is that?” Leth asked.
Aric followed his finger but did not see anything.
“Right there,” Leth insisted. “A flicker in the sand. Like a mirror.”
Squinting, Aric tried to focus on the spot Leth was indicating.
He was right. There was something in the sand. At first, it was just a sparkle, then…
“Are those white robes?” Irenya asked.
Eliran… Aric thought. He turned and left. “It’s her,” he said. “It’s Eliran.”
“What? Where are you going?” Leth asked. He was forced to race after Aric across the whole fortress, crashing into the main gate just as Aric was opening it and forcing it closed once again. “Will you listen to me?” he said, his shoulder locking the gate in place. “We can’t know if we can trust her.”
“I think she needs help,” Aric said.
“How do you know?”
“She was clearly laying on the ground, fallen. She probably can’t walk. I’m guessing she used a spell to cause Irenya to hallucinate and sound the alarm. It was a call for help.”
Footsteps echoed through the hall. It was Clea, Ergon, and Ashur.
“What’s happening?” Ashur asked. “What was all that fuss about?”
Instead of answering, Aric turned to Leth. “You want to stay here? Fine,” he said. “But let me out.”
“It might be a trick,” Leth insisted, but he still stepped away from the door. “Remember all the valuable stuff in the fortress?”
“I doubt a sorceress has any interest in goats and hammers,” Aric replied, stepping out the door.
“Will someone please explain?” Clea said.
“Leth will fill you in,” Aric said.
“Wait!” Leth grabbed Aric’s arm. “At least take a horse. You’ll waste the better part of an hour just getting up and down the mountain.”
Aric agreed with a nod and, moments later, he was galloping down the mountain, a cloud of dust and sand trailing in his path. He found Eliran’s body about two hundred yards south of the foothold of Lamash, her white robes spread across the sand like a puddle of milk.
With a jump, Aric got off the horse and knelt beside her. She did not look in very good shape. Her robes were torn to shreds, three crimson slashes crossed the pale flesh of her face, and one of her hands looked like it had been burnt to a crisp.
Exactly like the corpse in my dreams…
“Eliran?” he called, grabbing one of her shoulders.
Aric shook her, slowly at first, then more vigorously, but she did not respond. He placed an ear on her chest and felt it rise before hearing a faint heartbeat. She was alive.
“What happened to you?”
Having run out of options, Aric decided to lift her to his horse, then galloped back to the fortress.
He raced up the mountain and stormed straight into the fortress’ main hall, the horse’s hooves clopping wildly on the stone floor.
“What happened?” Clea asked.
“I don’t know,” Aric replied, taking Eliran’s body off the horse as gently as possible. “But I bet it was the other Mage. Help me get her into a bed. Ergon, get your sister, please. She might be able to help.”
“The other Mage,” Leth said, locking the great wooden gate. “You mean the one we don’t even know for sure if he exists?”
“She’s unconscious, Leth,” Aric said. “Just look at her wounds. We need to help her.”
“Sure,” Leth said. “She was probably not unconscious when she made Irenya hallucinate with dozens of raiders, though.”
“Yeah, she’s probably playing with our heads,” Ashur said, stepping closer to Eliran’s body. “I bet those wounds are fake.”
Aric looked from Leth to Ashur. “Well, she made the two of you agree. That’s powerful magic indeed.”
They placed Eliran right across from the Company’s quarters, in a room Aric guessed had once been the private chamber of some Captain or Lieutenant. Lyra washed the Witches’ wounds the best she could, but everything else was beyond her knowledge. The burn on Eliran’s left hand, for example, was nothing like anything she had ever seen. All Lyra could do was treat it like any other burn and hope for the best.
Aric, Leth, and Clea were standing by the door, watching quietly as Lyra changed the wet towel on Eliran’s forehead.
“You know there’s no point in you three standing there, right?” Lyra said. “She won’t get any better just cause you’re staring.”
“I want to be here when she wakes up,” Aric said. “I’m the one who brought her in. I want to make sure I don’t regret that decision.”
“So you’re just going to stand there night and day until she does?” Lyra asked. “What if she never wakes up?” She turned and placed two fingers on her patient’s neck. “Her pulse is weak and uneven, she might never‒”
A hand jumped from the bed and grabbed Lyra’s arm, making her squeak.
“What are you doing? Who are you?” The Witch said, her eyes bulging, suddenly awake.
“I… I’m,” Lyra mumbled.
“She’s one of my people,” Aric said, stepping forward and releasing Lyra from Eliran’s grasp. “And she’s trying to help you.”
There was a flicker in the Witch’s eyes, and she seemed to relax, but only a little.
“What is this?” she asked, raising her charred hand. “What did you put on my skin?”
“It… It’s just an ointment,” Lyra replied, standing up from the bed and taking a step back.
“Of what?” Eliran demanded.
“Blonde grass,” Lyra replied. “And… and blood parsley… I think.”
“You think!?” Eliran smelled her hand and sat up on the bed.
“Hey!” Aric snapped. “She probably saved your life. The least you can do is show a little respect.”
Once again, Eliran seemed to calm down. “My life wasn’t in danger,” she said, then turned to Lyra. “Where did you learn how to heal?”
Lyra was going to reply, but Aric cut her off. “She doesn’t owe you an explanation!” he said.
“I’m a Mage, you fool!” Eliran stood up, her raggedy, white robes flowing around her. “And I was under a heavy dose of Runium. My body responds differently from regular people’s.” She looked at Lyra. “The ointment seems harmless enough, but I need to know what else you gave me.” She moved her tongue as if she was savoring something. “You gave me something to eat? What’s this taste?”
“Just an infusion,” Lyra replied. “Galennia petals and white bark leaf.”
“Any
thing else?” The Witch received a vigorous shake of the head. “Hmm, let me guess, Temple healer?”
“Yes. I used to help the healer in my orphanage. She taught me.”
“See?” Eliran told Aric. “If she had told me sooner, there would have been no need to worry. The Temple specializes in pointlessness.” She turned to the bed and fumbled around the sheets. “Where are my things? I had a satchel with me.”
“Your possessions are under my custody for now,” Aric replied.
An eyebrow climbed Eliran’s forehead. “What is that supposed to mean?” she asked.
“Why are you here?” Aric demanded.
The Witch did not reply right away. “My battle with Sohtyr did not… go according to plan,” she eventually said. “I needed a place to rest.”
“This Sohtyr you keep talking about,” Aric said, “I’m still unsure he really exists.”
“You think I would do this to myself?” Eliran asked, showing him her charred hand.
“I don’t even know what that is,” Aric replied.
“There’s also the matter of you being able to mess with our minds,” Leth intervened. “As you did to our sentinel.”
“Yes, I did that,” Eliran admitted. “Had to. I was spent. Couldn’t walk any further. Under the circumstances, it was the best I could come up with. Apologies for that. However, the Runium has worn off now. I couldn’t cast a spell if I wanted to.” She showed her hand again. “I can assure you that this is no hallucination.”
“What about that mysterious Mage?” Clea asked. “We believed you back in the city, did what you asked‒”
“And the Dragon flew away,” Eliran cut her off. “Just as I said it would.”
“How?” Aric asked. “How did you know that the Dragon would fly away if we attacked it?”
“Because I would take control of it and make it go,” Eliran said.
“Bullcrap!” Aric snapped. “I know you were lying. I know you can’t control Dragons, no one can. It’s impossible.”
“Yes,” Eliran replied, “that’s what I was taught as well. In fact, that’s what every student of the Mage’s Academy is taught. So you can imagine my surprise when, shortly after arriving in the desert, I saw with my own two eyes that this evil Mage I had been sent to kill was actually able to do it.” She paced along the room. “The bastard or some of his twisted friends figured it out. They cracked the secret. A thousand years’ worth of research, piles of resources invested, some of the greatest minds of the Academy dedicated exclusively to this effort, and who gets to achieve it? That wretched creature! Ava must have really forsaken us for good.” She looked straight into Aric’s eyes. “The problem was never the spells. It was the Runium. Apparently you can’t control a Dragon if the Runium fueling your spells is made from Dragon blood.”
“I thought Runium could only be made from Dragon blood?” Clea questioned.
“And so did everyone else,” Eliran said. “Except they broke that myth as well. The bastard managed to create Runium from human blood. Human blood! Even destroyed the Brewing Chamber of Nish in the process. They will have to come up with a safer process, of course. There aren’t that many Blood Houses in the world. They can’t just destroy one each time they brew their potion. But still, it’s remarkable. Scary, but remarkable.”
“They?” Aric asked. “It used to be about this Sohtyr, now there is a ‘they’?”
“Sohtyr obviously did not accomplish all this on his own. He is part of a larger organization. A splinter group of the Academy. It’s younger, creepier sibling you could say. They call themselves The Circle of Archons. Yes, I know, you’ve never heard of them. That’s mostly because they prefer to lurk in the shadows, but it’s also our fault.”
“Our fault?” Leth asked.
“No, not yours,” Eliran said. “Ours, the Academy’s. We’ve known about the Circle since its inception. However, the council of Arch-Mages always thought it better to keep the Circle’s existence a secret. They feared that if the Circle’s existence was revealed to the public, the image of every Mage would be negatively affected. They also had absolute trust in the Academy’s ability to maintain the Circle under control. That’s why we have people like me. Archon Hunters. It’s a bit like what you do, except my prey is far less agreeable than yours.”
“Wait,” Aric said, “you talk as if the Academy still exists. As if you are still a part of it.”
“Yes, try not to faint, but some of us did survive the Purge,” Eliran sneered. “We’re a much smaller organization now, sure. And we have had to adapt to… our new circumstances, but there is still plenty of Runium in the black market to keep us afloat.”
Aric, Leth, and Clea exchanged a confused look.
“Any more questions?” Eliran asked. “Go ahead. You wanted to know everything. Ask.”
“Why?” Aric asked.
“Why… what?” Eliran was confused.
“Why do you hunt them?” Aric clarified. “What makes them so dangerous?”
“Are you kidding? Did you not see what Sohtyr did to Nish?”
“Assuming he exists, yes, of course. That’s not what I meant, though. Why did he attack the city? There has to be a larger move at play here. Or is that what Archons do? Go around the Empire attacking random cities?”
Eliran sighed and let herself fall back into a chair.
“I’m not sure,” she said. “When I first arrived in the desert, months ago, I thought this was just another mission. Track a random Archon down, follow his trail of magic, force him into a fight, and kill the bastard. But this one was different. His trail of magic was… random, experimental.
“Then I discovered people were talking about me. Me! All across the edge of the desert, townspeople were muttering my name. Eliran, the evil desert Witch who would come at night and steal your children. I figured it had to be Sohtyr. It had to be his way of letting me know he was on to me. I was impressed, to be honest. If nothing else, it showed the man has a sense of humor, despite everything. Not bad. Then came the human Runium. He killed a couple of Paladins guarding the Blood House, brewed himself a few casks of his special recipe, and destroyed the Chamber in the process. Guess who was blamed for that?
“Anyway, that’s when I knew for sure this was no ordinary Archon I was chasing. This one was up to something big. I had to end him quick. Sohtyr covered his tracks well, but not well enough. I found his hiding place and witnessed him taming a Dragon. I thought I had lost my mind, even considered returning home to have my mind inspected. But it was true, alright. So, I decided to experiment and stole some of his vials. Made me sick to my stomach, but I drank the human Runium. Had to be done. That was when you saw me.” She indicated Aric. “I used a simple mind control spell on a Mahari Black Dread. Worked perfectly. Finally, I tracked him back to Nish. I was hoping to finally corner him and force him into a fight. I wasn’t expecting the Dragon, however. Wasn’t prepared for it. Luckily, you showed up, and I still had some human Runium. So I got my chance to fight the bastard.”
She paused for a moment and shook her head before continuing.
“Damn, what a fight… I tried everything, gave him the wrath of Ava, but nothing got through his defenses. He, on the other hand, got me good a couple of times.” Eliran lifted her charred hand as evidence. “As we fought, however, I also tried to peek into his mind. It wasn’t exactly easy, but you could say that mind spells are my area of expertise. I did glimpse a few things. Not much, unfortunately.”
“Go on,” Aric said.
Eliran took a deep breath. “Well, it’s something about the Frostbound. That much I know. There’s something trapped in there. No, frozen. Frozen is a better word. Whatever it is, though, Sohtyr wants to release it, so it can´t be good. I also know that the power to tame a Dragon is key to what he aims to achieve. But that is all. I was unable to discover anything else.”
“That’s it?” Aric asked. “It’s not much to go with. I mean, what is your plan? Search the Frostbound tunnels for whatev
er this thing is?”
Eliran limited herself to stare silently at Aric for an overlong moment. It was obvious she had no idea how to proceed.
“Well,” she finally said, “I am in the right place to find my answer, just not in the right time.”
“What does that mean?” Leth asked.
“The Mage Tower of Lamash,” she said. “If there is one place in the world where I could find the answers to my questions, it would definitely be the library in there. Unfortunately, the Paladins destroyed it ten years ago.”
“Not all of it,” Leth said. He looked at Aric. “There’s that walled off section we never managed to get access to.”
“So… you believe her now?” Aric asked.
“What walled off section?” Eliran echoed, a sparkle returning to her eyes.
“The library in the Mage Tower,” Aric explained. “It has a walled off section protected by a Glowstone lock. Our guess is that it was created to save the most important books from the Paladins.”
Eliran jumped to her feet. “Take me there. Now!”
“Well,” Aric said, “since you’re asking so nicely...”
Chapter 19
The Raid
Fadan raced across the city as dawn crept up the sky. He ran through streets, avenues, plazas, crossed all three walls between Mount Capitol and the Docks, and only slowed down when he finally reached Sabium’s apartment, feeling as though his lungs were about to explode. He banged on the door weakly, gasping for air. His arms were limp and his legs were shaking.
“Master,” he called, knocking once more. “Open up.”
The door opened with a creak and a suspicious Sabium peeked outside. “Oh, it’s you,” the old Mage said. “Come in, come in. I found something.”
Sabium waved him inside with one hand while the other held a large, opened book.
The Prince obeyed, closing the door behind him. “Master,” he said. “There’s something‒”
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