I have never been more terrified of Garanda than I was in the five years he was unaccounted for. Broger had encouraged me not to think of him anymore, but he would not say why. This was a source of some contention between us for the entirety of Garanda's disappearance, but I've learned in my time with him that even the knowledge that he is lying to you makes no difference. Applying Empathy allowed me to determine that his intentions towards me were peaceful, or neutral at the very least. Scrying his blood failed to yield any insight into his technique for ridding me of the Demon Knight. Studying the residual magic on his farm also proved pointless since soul magic, the only discipline he was known to use since becoming sai'mul, leaves no such residue.
The fact that he was such a secretive man was inconvenient because someone of his intellect was far too adept at concealing those secrets. This was a source of frustration because I had never had to oppose someone who was more intelligent than me. For his part, he seemed to treat my attempts to discover the truth of Garanda's fate as a game. Every new strategy that failed to outsmart him only heightened his enjoyment of my failures. He knew there was no spell with which I could hope to coerce him to give me the truth.
It became clear after months of this that I would need some help to outsmart him. So, I began my search for Clint Blackstone, the Champion of Crane. It may seem desperate to rely on one with a personal connection to the embodiment of knowledge in most situations, but I had a reason. The man I sought was Broger's older brother, the only man who has every managed to out-think him. Unfortunately, I was not aware that he had led refugees to another world to escape the Geosian Regime that concluded the Second Age. It was in learning this that I found myself embroiled in Michael Blackstone's resistance to the Regime.
My involvement with the Resistance was limited since I had reason to keep my identity secret. I was reluctant to set aside my quest for Garanda or take further risk of depriving my daughters of their father, but I was moved by Michael's passion. He was a Blackstone by name, but he was a descendant of Seth Midas like his mother and I saw a lot of the late champion's spirit in him. Remembering the pain I felt upon learning that I had wounded my kin, I saw Michael as a chance to repent for the blood I once took from my family.
I actually worked with them under two different handles without revealing my true name or face and have never once referred to myself by either name after the Geosian Regime fell. This was because my own identity was necessarily concerned with something besides the Regime, but I could not bring myself to ignore the Resistance's plight. As Firehawk, I lent Michael my council regarding magical matters. His mother had two decades with which to fortify Gilded Keep and sabotaging the spell glyphs which composed its barriers was my primary responsibility. In this way, I indirectly assisted the Second Archknight by opening the path between him and the Geosian Queen. But it was in the guise of a mercenary named Boomfist that I had participated in battle on the Resistance's behalf. I confess that I had some fun with this persona. I am not ordinarily the sort to punch my way through everything in front of me, but I saw this as an opportunity to control the Silverfist magic that I had never got to perfect before my expulsion from Hem Academy. It seemed tragic to let such a rare talent go to waste simply because it does not match my own temperament.
When I wore my Boomfist mantle, I would release my conscious mind to the gorilla whose form I took. This was reckless to be sure, but after years of feeling Garanda's absence, I was perhaps a little too eager to give up control to something more powerful. In doing so, I learned a few things about mental control that would help me with Garanda. But when I realized that I had learned to control my Silverfist form, I was chilled to think of the Demon Knight. Could I actually have missed him?
In retrospect, I think not. But in those days, I had concerned myself with many implications of these thoughts. Was it possible that I secretly coveted Garanda's power? Has the magic that marked my destiny conditioned me to accept his presence? The answer I settled on was by far the bleakest: Garanda's absence was just a temporary reprieve from a fate I could not escape.
Continue to Part 10!
Continue to Part 10!
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