The Magister's Rage Part 14

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For someone who was so adventurous, Voltairine turned out to be surprisingly well read. We spoke at length about some of our favorite books on our flight back to the desert where Adamora waited for me. She seemed to favor the classic tales such as The Bumblebee's Voyage and Talib's Arrow. We spoke most enthusiastically of the Champions of Resta, which we both agreed was a compelling tale, although she expressed some disappointment in the book's lack of raciness.vIt taught me something of Garanda and Adaling that I didn't know, which I found rather helpful. For all of our effort to stop them from doing Maula's work, they had been in contact with her regardless without our knowledge. 

I rarely spoke of this particular story due to my own portrayal within, which I would characterize to this day as embarrassing, but rather accurate for the time. In Voltairine's company, however, it was was easier to talk about due to the comfort she had shown with my tale so far. Even though I was mentioned by name, she had some difficulty believing that I could have been among those referred to in a story that had, at that point, happened nearly sixty years previously. However, when I finally convinced her of the truth, and my age, she did not regard me with the same judgement I had been used to, but interest. The resulting deluge of questions carried us through the rest of our journey.

When we arrived in our pre-arranged meeting place, however, Adamora was nowhere to be found. Searching through the room she staying in at an Oasis hotel, we found all of her possessions left behind, but no signs of a struggle or message indicating her intent to leave. The negative assumption that she had been compelled by Adaling to betray me quickly followed my realization she was gone before Voltairine reminded me of my need to trust her. However, in the absence of any clues regarding her location in a more uncertain position than before. In desperation, I decided to fly to the only person who's usually apprised of her location. I didn't know what I expected to learn from visiting Kartal once again, but my senseless decision was rewarded. 

It seems that despite his promises to leave Adamora her space, Kartal had his own means of keeping watch over her from afar--most probably through his new connections with the Goodwill Company. He already knew that she had been taken from Marble Desert and back into Resta by an unidentified Midanian man who I was certain must be Flinbek. Within our own kingdom, it became even simpler to track her specific location deep in the north. She was found to be held captive within the mysterious Greyview Cemetery, a location I confess to having some fascination with. Enshrined among the graves of were the remains of the forebears of my house, the Maloran family. Dwindling as we are, I often take the time to appreciate this standing reminder of a time in which we were plentiful in number.

When the Goodwill Company's ship made land near Northcoast Tower, they rode quickly for Greyview, but I saw no need to waste such time. Out of concern for Adamora, Kartal joined us on my sky rug so that we could get there with all possible haste. When we arrived, we immediately began to feel an unnatural chill in the air one might associate with the ghostly phenomena that are said to occur in the region close to midday. This was despite the fact that we arrived close to dusk, which I felt was a symptom of Flinbek's presence. As we explored the graveyard, my concern was confirmed when I came face to face with the strange young ravager. He had lured me into a trapped tomb that separated me from my companions with the specific intent of getting me alone. I was quick to teach him how poorly considered this decision had to have been.

Once plied into a more compliant mood, the boy revealed that Garanda was outside, wandering the cemetery. He had come to reunite with his sister--my cousin--with the intent of overpowering Adamora's control over Adaling. When I asked why he was so interested in me, he responded that of everyone alive, I was the only one Garanda considered to be a mortal threat. I had to ask him to repeat himself to be certain I'd heard him properly. 

"You've tried so hard to repress him that he's gained a reputation that causes him to invoke fear from the shadows," he explained to me upon being compelled to elaborate. "You understand his true nature better than anyone alive and still you run to him! And he knows you well enough to know how far you'll go to defeat him! You hate him! Nobody else can say that!"

While the truth in his words was immediately apparent, I felt chilled by these words nonetheless. How far would I go to stop Garanda? It was a question I had not considered before. I only thought of the inevitability of my opposition to the Demon Knight. Everything he had done with my hands had simply inflicted the responsibility for his violence upon me as far as I was concerned. It was then that I admitted to Flinbek that what he said was correct. Until I could avenge those he killed and redeem the mistakes I made while I lived in fear of him, I saw no worth in my own life. So why not devote my entire life to seeing him cast as far from all life as possible?

As Flinbek had not planned to survive our encounter, he didn't even bother to include a means of escape with his trap, but it didn't matter. Using the enhanced strength of my silverfist form, I blasted through walls with the intensity of my former Boomfist persona and left Flinbek to find my fully realized enemy. By the time I had escaped, however, I had found no one outside save Kartal and Voltairine. The former was sprawled on the ground critically injured while the latter was demonstrating a previously unknown healing talent to help him. She explained that Garanda had found them first and attempted to kill them. Kartal fought back with a nearly even force worthy of the legend he had built for himself during the Archknight Rebellion, but Garanda proved to be his better that day after a considerable effort. The only thing that saved him was Voltairine's use of magic on his temporarily weakened body.

When Voltairine made sufficient progress in healing Kartal, we revived him and continued our search for Adamora. Reasoning that Flinbek would aim to keep me as far from Garanda's intended meeting place as possible, we started our search on the western side of the ruins. There we found my cousin lying unconscious in a different tomb. 

Although Adamora appeared unharmed, I was chilled once again to learn that her sparesoul had been stolen.

Continue to Part 15

Death Touch Chapter 33

First Chapter

Previous Chapter

Seth

Where am I? The spellwarrior had followed his mother from the tournament tent well past the castle grounds in the Pinnacle District of the capitol before she had stopped on a seemingly empty street. Not that such a thing was unusual with the district’s primarily Chaotic population partying in the castle courtyard to honor their god. When he finally caught up with her, however, it was not to find Ruby Midas in a talkative mood, which was certainly unusual. Without a word, she had sent him to the middle of some frosty hills only the gods knew where in only an instant. Seth bitterly considered this dangerous propensity for sending people away in portals without warning, remembering this was how he first discovered the dangers of Lightning Ridge. He sighed. This is why nobody likes you, mum. 

He didn’t get to spend much longer than a few minutes pondering his current predicament before Sam seemed to materialize from thin air in front of him. She looked better than she had at the end of the tournament, which was a source of some relief. In fact, she looked jittery, maybe even elated.

“What has you in such a good mood?” he asked, a little grumpily.

“We’re finally about to go on an actual mission for the Order!” she chirped excitedly. “I’ve been waiting ages for this!”

Spellwarrior business now? “Well, to be fair, I thought I was up to something more important.”

“Well, we’re already here, so there’s nothing we can do about that now! My clan seems to need your help, and you might be the only accredited spellwarrior around for miles!” Sam said with a weak smile.

Seth scanned the surrounding hills once more as her words clicked with him. The Desmond Clan mostly settled Resta’s northern foothills, which meant he hadn’t been sent as far away as he thought.

“Well, at least she didn’t send me to Heron,” Seth grumbled before turning back to his apprentice. “You already seem to know more about this mission than I do. Did my mum talk to you, at least?”

Sam’s eyes widened. “The Guardian of the Clearwater is your mother?”

I hate that damned name! Seth thought as he snapped, “Focus!”

“Okay! Well, she didn’t say much. She only said that the next step of my training would take place where it began. That would be my village, Ridge!”

Seth shook his head and sighed, “Why would the mighty Desmond Clan need the help of someone who spent most of his time as an actual peacekeeper in a coma?”

Sam shrugged. “Maybe their problem is magical? We’re not really known for that. Even when our people were fighting the Pyrisian occupation, ours was the only house that fought back without magic.”

Seth raised his eyebrow as he considered this. “I guess that makes me the closest thing they have to an expert. Do you know how to get there from here?”

In answer to Seth’s question, Sam merely pointed toward the sun and proceeded to lead him through the snowy country without preamble. The trip was filled with speculation of the problem that they had come to solve, but Seth was barely invested in the conversation. What concerned him most was why Ruby would try to distract him with this mission in the first place. As a devoted Chaotic, she had to know better than to get between him and their god’s will and as her cousin Karian’s subordinate, she had to know full well that he had the Hem Order’s blessing to set aside his usual duties for this divine pursuit. As it was, he gave noncommittal answers to Sam’s questions and held back the urge to warn her not to be so excited about a mission concerning her clan. I don’t have the heart to deflate her enthusiasm just yet.

When they arrived in Ridge, they found the lone gate through its thick log walls closed. This seemed to unnerve Sam a little, but when she introduced herself and the Hem Academy representative following her, the Desmonds opened the gate to let them through. Once inside, he found a scene that revealed all of the stereotypes of the Desmonds to be true. Warriors drilled with spears in the street just ahead, various stalls dealing in armor, furs, and weapons seemed to line every walkway, and the children at play all seemed to be armed with sticks with which they practiced their swordplay. Well, that explains why Sam’s already so skilled with her spear. 

“Have you been on a hunt before?” Seth suddenly asked her out of curiosity.

“Well yeah,” Sam replied matter-of-factly. “Loads of times! It’d be embarrassing if I hadn’t by my age. Haven’t you?”

Holy shit! “Yeah, but I was 16 my first time. You Desmonds are pretty cool.”

“Well, hopefully I can help us to become a lot cooler when I show them what a Desmond can do as a spellwarrior!”

Seth nodded in approval of Sam’s words, but his eyes had already been drawn by a shopfront with an unusual decoration above its door. There, the head of a maulan had been pinned with its mouth hanging wide open. As he stared into the creature’s horrible fangs, he flashed back to the night before his coma with a chill. He wandered wordlessly toward this shop and found what appeared to be a tannery within. But instead of animal hides stretched across its tanning racks, he found the flesh of several maulans up there. Standing beneath them was a stringy old man who busily carved into a maulan carcass right in the middle of the store. He gazed at the dark hides in wonder as he walked up to the old man, who seemed to repel him with a warding gesture.

“You don’t want any of these hides, young man,” he grunted without looking up from the dead maulan. “These aren’t for clothes.”

Seth shook his head softly and asked, “What are they for?”

“The smiths love this stuff,” the tanner said as he finally looked Seth in the eyes with a grin. “Back in the wave of death, they found that when these creatures lose their skin to petrification, what is left makes a desirable substitute for coal.”

“Why?”

“They say that petrified maulan skin is what they used to make all of the magical weapons out there,” the old man said with a shrug. “I don’t know how much of the rumors to believe, though. All I know is that traders are very generous with people they find with this stuff. The clan’s been killing loads of these creatures lately, so business in the village is sure to pick up soon!”

That doesn’t sound unlike what we’re trying to do with these treasures. “I think I do want one, then. Having this sort of material could come in handy.”

“Why? Are you some sort of spellwarrior?”

“He is the exact sort!” Sam added as she walked up to the counter from behind.

The old man’s eyes gleamed as he looked from the new arrival to Seth. “Is that true?”

Seth nodded and the tanner said, “You can have any hide you wish without charge if you’ll use your magic to help speed up the petrification process for the rest of my stock. I’m sure there are plenty others out there who could use these!”

This was an easy offer to take, even though he had to rack his brains to remember how to do the petrification spell he would need. “Rakwa mula!”

With this simple incantation and a moment of deep concentration, all of the black hides on the racks had turned to stone. Though he had to chisel it from the tanning rack, the tanner was happy to give him the largest and thickest of the maulan hides to the spellwarrior in gratitude. Then, using the hilt of his blade, Seth proceeded break the hide into chunks and bag them up. Destroying this shadow of maulan life was extremely cathartic, which is why Seth found himself in a good mood when he handed his new acquisition to Sam.

“Since you’re only supposed to be shadowing me, you can carry this around,” he said cheerfully.

Sam took the bag with an expression of distaste but no argument. However, something that Seth had said seemed to light up the old man’s eyes once more. “I thought I recognized you! You’re that girl who left to go study at Hem Academy, right?”

With a look of surprise, Sam responded. “I am! I never thought I’d be home so soon, but I think my apprenticeship is going well!”

The look of recognition quickly transformed into one of sadness. “I was sorry to hear about your family. May your master give you strength.”

Seth’s eyes whipped toward Sam and found shock in her face. “What do you mean?” she asked.

“Oh, you didn’t hear yet?” The old man stroked his beard contemplatively. “There’s been a coven of blood mages squatting in the ruins of old Fort Ridge and kidnapping people from the village. They were picking off the hunters out on the range before, but they’ve grown so bold as to empty your house of its inhabitants in the middle of a party to honor the festival. They’re the reason our clan reached out to Hem Academy for help!”

Seth could sense the shock making Sam numb, making him worry that if he didn’t take control of this situation quickly, she might make a desperate mistake.

“Where can I find them?” he growled.

***

When Seth and Sam reached the foot of the hill leading up to the ruined tower where the blood mages were rumored to be, he paused only to check on Sam. She hadn’t said a word since they left the tannery, but strode on in single-minded focus. She didn’t even stop when he did, but continued her climb with a purpose. Fearing that he would need to lead this angry charge to protect his apprentice, he jogged until he overtook her again.  I guess we’re going in hard.

Seth kicked in the door without breaking his gait and walked into the center of a room full of people garbed in hooded robes dipped in scarlet. He counted them as they began to run around in alarm. Some scattered in fear while others banded together defensively, at least thirty in all. If there was ever a time to feel afraid, this should have been it. But something in him drove him on with nothing but a sense of anticipation. It wasn’t just righteous indignation, but an unusual sense of certainty that he was doing the right thing. Is Chaos watching me right now?

He scanned the room and watched the mages scurrying around with what felt like a smirk growing on his face. This confidence that didn’t feel like his own only took a slight hit when the first of them finally confronted him.

“Do you realize who you have just trespassed upon?” a tall man with black hair and a long, waxed beard snarled in shock.

“Of course,” Seth said, feeling almost giddy as he did so. He raised the emblematic cherrywood seal of his order and declared. “Look at the damned badge! Do you think anyone carrying one of these would be stupid enough to barge into these decrepit ruins if I didn’t know full well what bloodsucking filth was inhabiting it?”

The blood mage seemed to regard Seth with a look of interest. “Interesting. Even a peacekeeper would know better than to assail an entire coven alone but for someone who has yet to to unlock her magic!”

“Shut up!” Sam shouted for the first time since the village. “What have you done with my family?”

Everyone in the room seemed to laugh at that moment. When the man who seemed to be their leader,replied, it was with a whoop of amusement, then “Oh, I’ve heard of you! The first Desmond to become a Hem Academy apprentice, right? Well, I don’t think you want to know the answer to that question, dear girl. Suffice it to say that my own apprentice is nearly done with them!”

“Pyris amul groz! Pyris amul groz!”

Seth threw two stars in rapid succession that seemed to grow as they flew past the blood mage. Although they collided with harmlessly with the stone wall behind him, the effect of the spell seemed to shut everyone up anyway.

“Here’s what’s going to happen, then!” Seth shouted furiously. “You’re all going to get on the damned ground and stay there until we can subdue you, or fucking die!”

“Please resist!” Sam added in equal rage.

The blood mage master glanced at the walls where the black flames were slowly flickering away. “I sense the favor of Ragos in your magic, young ‘peacekeeper.’ Clearly, resisting you wouldn’t be worth the risk to our lives.”

“Well, I did just win a tournament in his honor,” Seth said with a scowl. “So, I am absolutely the wrong person to test today. If you understand this, then surrender!”

“Fortunately, I don’t see the need to choose between a fight and surrender,” the blood mage master said before turning to one of his cohorts. “Fetch my apprentice.”

“I am already here.”

Seth looked up to the balcony from which the new voice had originated and saw a profoundly familiar face under yet another red hood. He found himself looking at Gyanda, the youngest son of Karian and Matilda Maloran. He remembered that Gyanda was once a student at Hem Academy as well, but was expelled for fighting another student. He didn’t know him well at school because they were many grade levels apart. But from what he had seen at family gatherings, Seth understood that this man ate, drank, and breathed magic.

“Stay close,” Seth said warningly to Sam. “If this guy’s their trump card, we’re going to be in trouble.”

In truth, Seth knew that Gyanda was nothing special in a physical confrontation, so he was already thinking of a way to close the distance between them when the master blood mage flicked his wrist in Gyanda’s direction. As a result, a gash seemed to open up on his forehead and blood began to trickle across his face.

“What are you doing?” Sam asked, somehow still scandalized on this strange blood mage’s behalf.

“Fetching my trump card,” the master said with a smirk. “Have you ever heard of the Demon Knight?”

Seth, who had not taken his eyes off his distant cousin, watched as Gyanda’s robes began to melt away and reform into a dark plate armor with horns on the helmet that gave him the appearance of a maulan. The Demon Knight growled lustily as he cracked his neck.

“Nothing better than the taste of blood.”

“Gyanda, what the hell’s wrong with you?”

The only answer the Demon Knight gave was to jump off the balcony, materializing a blood-soaked black sword that seemed nearly as long as Seth was tall. The spellwarrior nearly dodged the massive downward stroke that he had thrown on the way down. Seth swung ribbons of flame each of his hands in a warding gesture that seemed to prevent his foe from getting any closer. Okay, scratch that. Do NOT let him get close!

“I am Garanda! Champion of Maula! We were fated to cross blades, Midas! Revel in this miracle that will end in death!”

“The fuck?” Seth said with raised eyebrows. If he’s going to change his name, why make it so similar?

“Brandish the wolf’s fang!” The knight roared. “You must live up to your predecessor’s legacy now or I shall redeem the treachery of mine!”

“You’re out of luck!” Seth retorted. “I don’t carry Nicholai’s sword around! Do you have any idea how heavy that damned thing is?” He glanced at the Demon Knight’s sword and added, “Well of course that doesn’t matter to a monster like you. But I think I’m going to stick with my own sword if you don’t mind. I’m the champion here, not Nicholai!”

Garanda let out a sigh and shook his head in disappointment. “Very well, then.”

Without any further warning, the Demon Knight lunged at Seth with a vertical swing of his blade, which Seth was quick to sidestep. But that wasn’t the end of it; just then, he tilted the blade sideways and swung it horizontally at his legs. Although Seth was quick enough to jump over the attack, he stumbled backward on landing from the hasty jump. Before he could strike again, however, Seth retaliated with the shadow claw spell that Father Maximus had taught him. As he swung his blade at full force, the Demon Knight was blasted back as his magic once again manifested with more power than usual. Is this how Chaos blesses everyone who wins the RGT?

“Seth! They’re getting away!” Sam suddenly shouted.

Of course they are, Seth thought as he looked up to see the blood mages indeed taking advantage of the distraction that Garanda provided to flee. “Let them go! We don’t have time to chase them all down! At least they won’t be sticking around your village anymore!”

Sam looked like she was about to argue, but Garanda stood up from Seth’s attack just then. With a roar, he charged toward Seth with his blade raised. Curiously, he didn’t seem to show a lot of regard for his fellow blood mages. Whenever one of them crossed his path, he cleaved through them as if he was swatting a fly. Before he closed the distance the shadow claw had created between the two combatants, Garanda had casually killed eight of his comrades.

“Garanda! Stop!” The master blood mage shouted in a scandalized tone. “We’re all on the same side! Focus on the enemy!”

Seemingly to emphasize the fact that he wasn’t listening to the other blood mages, Garanda swung his sword in a wider arc to slay a woman who had wisely jumped out of his path. Scarcely believing his sudden urge to protect the blood mages, Seth threw another black flame star in an attempt to stop the Demon Knight in his tracks. The enhanced spell spun toward Garanda’s chest, but was blocked by his massive sword, soaked with blood. The “blades” of the star melted through the sword, sending more than half of its blade clattering to the ground.

The Demon Knight threw his sword to the ground with a growl of disgust. He then conjured another weapon in his hands: a battle chain with spikes in each of its thick black links. Suddenly, the feeling of confidence he had felt since arriving seemed to make sense. He didn’t recognize this unusual weapon, but he could sense that this was what he had come for. He had to get this chain out of Garanda’s hands without damaging it. But to get his own hands on it would be tricky with those spikes.

Seth tried lighting the floor beneath his foe ablaze, hoping that a little fire beneath his greaves would cause him to drop the weapon. Instead, the demon knight only laughed mirthlessly and walked through the fire. So, black flames seemed to work while ordinary fire didn’t work. This could only mean that he feared the shadow aspect of his magic more than the flames. Seth shook his head in frustration, knowing that this would limit to him to his two most powerful spells, which would absolutely threaten the chain.

Maybe it doesn’t have to be shadows, just anything besides fire! Remembering some of the spells he watched Maya perform, Seth decided that a deluge of water is what he needed.

“Akis boltane!”

The tip of Seth’s sword spouted a stream of water that seemed to grow to proportions that even the person he knew to have mastered this spell could never have managed. The water blasted Garanda off his feet once more, and fortunately caused him to lose his grip on the chain.

“Yes!” Seth cried as he leapt to grab the end of the chain before his magic could wash it away. The spikes dug into his hands as he reeled in in closer. With the safe end enclosed within his palms, Seth watched as Garanda got up once more with an even more furious roar. The Champion of Chaos began to consider using this chain to hold him off. He did have some training with even this obscure sort of weapon at the academy after all. But before another move could be made by either, the Demon Knight’s armor suddenly vanished. Moments later, Gyanda stood before him once more in his blood mage cloak, his eyes fluttering with exhaustion. The master blood mage grabbed his apprentice with a smirk before he could collapse.

“That was incredibly entertaining, but I think it’s time for us to take our own leave! Farewell, spellwarrior!”

“Yeah, you’d better run!” Seth shouted angrily.

“What are you doing?” Sam shouted, “We can stop them!”

Seth ignored Sam until the blood mages who had survived Garanda escaped. When he and his apprentice were alone again, he doubled over in exhaustion and groaned, “No we can’t!”

Battling Garanda the Demon Knight was possibly the most harrowing experience he’d had up to that point, and it certainly didn’t feel like a coincidence. His mind swirling with exhaustion, questions, and the fearful thoughts he denied himself up to that point, his vision began to blur. Moments later, he somehow found himself looking up at the ceiling form the floor. When did I fall down?

The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was the door through which he’d entered being thrown open and Clint and Maya’s faces standing over him.

Next Chapter

The Aurora Festival

While the waning of the brutal winter season is a cause for joy all on its own, the Spring Equinox signals the start of one of Heron's most beloved festivals, celebrating the arrival of a phenomenon the Heronites consider to be sacred. The Aurora Festival lasts an entire month, and is notable in particular for bringing even the least devout Heronites to temples across the region. Sermons during this festival take on a different flavor than they do during the Festival of Chaos. Rather than emphasizing the virtues of austerity, discipline, and obedience, services encourage templegoers to show gratitude for the natural wonders the Gods have provided for them, and to revel in their connection to the environment around them. For many, this serves as a time of healing after being forced to survive Heron's harsh winter.

The Aurora Festival is said to have originated in northern Karn Territory, not only because this area is where the Pyrisian Aurora features most spectacularly, but because many of the festival's customs seem to be influenced by the culture of the region. The Karns have often been referred to as the Lords of the Stars and Sky, after all. During the Aurora Festival, revelers bundle up and spend time gazing upwards into the darkness, waiting for the aurora and sipping dala tea. It is customary that for an hour every night, all torches and outdoor lamps be completely darkened, so as to increase the visibility of the phenomenon. During the day, the festival tents serve largely as venues for storytelling and simple theatre performances.

In the last few decades, the Lords of Heron, in a tradition begun by a former Lord Karn, have used the Aurora Festival as a time for the noble families to meet in Dalaska and celebrate as a group while working out any pressing diplomatic matters; particularly those that relate to Heron's natural environment and its protection. 

Adventures in Comalan: Greyview Cemetery

Up in Resta's northern foothills, to the north of Foldo and east of Ridge lies a terrible reminder of the bloody history that once ruled the ancient kingdom of Coronos. Once oppressed by the superior warriors of Pyris, the people of this unassuming land lived lives of constant desperation. As the occupying Brokamac tribe worked the natives to the bone on their fertile lands, the earliest heroes of the eastlands that would one day become Resta waged a bitter war to reassert the independence of Coronos. To this day, a massive cemetery lies on the spot of its deadliest battle, which claimed the lives of thousands of Restan ancestors as well as the entire Brokamac tribe. The graves are all unmarked so as to discourage desecration of the enemy Pyrisians' remains and between them lie the carefully preserved remains of the village that the combatants destroyed in the process.

To understand the carnage that marked one of the most important events in Resta and Heron's collective history, one need only visit the Royal Library of Resta's Gilded Keep, where countless books are devoted to remembrance of what would be known as the Greyview War. The event was named by historians for the pact made between various people devoted to Coronos' liberation. The first of these was Alan Whitetree, the elder of Whiteview, the northernmost village in the country-- which was among the first to fall under the Brokamac Tribe's control. The second was Karla Blackstone, a general from Necros who viewed the liberation of their northern sister country as a test from the Gods. These two friends would be joined by Hem Maloran, a man widely hailed throughout history as the first to uncover the secrets of magic. Together, these three leaders of Resta's past met on a hilltop near the Pyrisian border that would one day become the site of Fort Brokamul-- so named because the accord that was made in this spot would spell the death of the Brokamac tribe. This agreement was named the Greyview Accord for both the village of Whiteview and the historic kinship between the Whitetree and Blackstone families.

While the particulars of the war that followed aren't best described in an adventure guide, understanding this much of the history of the once proud village of Whiteview and the charge for freedom that began with its destruction is vital to grasping the significance of the Greyview Cemetery. It is a place of reverence for both templars and spellwarriors alike as their respective orders were founded by two of the Greyview Accord's signers. It is in this place alone that templars and spellwarriors, who typically share an otherwise antagonistic relationship, will greet each other as brethren. In addition, Heronite travelers will occasionally venture to this place to contemplate the last clan to be destroyed in the feudal lords' struggle for control of their country. This cemetery is also frequented by wildly curious adventurers drawn by rumors that the ghosts of those who died in the Greyview War still wander the surrounding ruins at midday. It is said there that they remain to act out the war's old hatreds-- the spirits of the freedom fighters appear to wish harm on Heronites while the Brokamac spirits are said to inflict their vengeance on Restan visitors.

Those who return from Greyview Cemetery all seem to return with haunting tales of the horrors of the war, but seem to flinch when asked anything that could confirm their stories. But despite the clear danger of trauma that faces those who seek out the ghosts, they have also come back with years of historical details that cling so vividly to their memories that they might have experienced the war themselves. Piecing together these details has helped to further the understanding of the violence that once took place on those grounds. Among these many mysterious recollections are secrets centered around the foundations of both the Hem and Blackstone orders and the fall of Pyris' fourth most powerful clan. Historical researchers pay handsomely for the information one can glean from an hour spent among the graves if they can confirm that you were there. So adventurers who can make the trek and brave the onslaught of hostile ghosts will do so, thinking that learning a little history is an easy way to make some money. But be warned: the vengeance of the deceased may not always be fatal, but it is never harmless.

James Hawke

Art by Volt

When, as the Avatar of Crane, Richard Broger brought the hidden knowledge of the Windlords back to Galeon, one of the first to line up for this gift was a little-known immigrant who dreamed of seeing the day the Windlords would become an important force in Galeon once again. When James Hawke stood before the Avatar and his apprentice to receive the memories of his ancestor, he learned that he had inherited the knowledge and skills of Abir Dragonscale, the Windlords' last grand master. With both the legacy of the most skilled warrior to enter the halls of Aeros Academy and a lifetime spent promoting the Windlords' cause behind him, James assumed his ancestor's mantle naturally. He was captured in action by Broger shortly afterward when the Avatar betrayed his world in favor of a sinister deity by the name of Erdas. In his short time among true windlords, however, he accomplished what many never thought possible when he killed a kilgor by the name of Aldin with a specially-prepared poison. In effect, he had become the first man on Comalan who has ever killed a god.

As the Windlords' grand master, James has mastered all of the group's secret techniques, but since so few other windlords choose to learn such skills, he is regarded in particular as a specialist in their combat techniques. He is skilled with the use of wind in complement with his hand-to-hand and knife-throwing skills. In close quarters combat, he might throw his opponents off balance with a forceful push of wind, while he maintains the option of creating blasts of wind that cut with the precision of a blade against more distant foes. Completing his range of attack, he can control the air within his line of sight with enough precision to throw his knives accurately for up to 2 miles. Apart from his combat prowess, he is also known to be the most accomplished at the Windlords' catching whisper technique. With sufficient focus, he can listen to any conversation within the same city.

 In terms of personality, James exudes boundless confidence, but secretly struggles to be the most skilled in everything he tries. Since being dragged to the sea planet Mennon, he has supported his companions through broad surveillance. This solitary responsibility has taken his toll on him, as the various conflicts between his friends and the planet's native sho'kai have filled his daily life with stress. Many windlords have had to contend with the fact that their needs in a modern Galeon are vastly different from what was best for their order in the days of Eris. James shares these views, and wonders if he is the best choice to lead his comrades. He spends much of his downtime thinking fondly of his longtime closest friend, and how the Windlords have flourished under her guidance.

Phoenix Blade Chapter 6

Start from the Beginning

Previous Chapter

Reclassifying my business as a trade guild was an immediate improvement for everyone involved. I had to give up the old storefront and move into a larger warehouse to accommodate the respective work spaces for each of the members. That was a pain at first. I tried to set things up evenly for everyone, but then I found out some people needed more space than others. Takaa was the worst! He needed twice as much space as I gave him at first because he wanted some room to work on his motorbikes. Then Oogura's stall was always a mess because she had too much room. We had to rebuild the boundaries a little bit, but by the time we were done, everyone was happy.

...

I would say I had a hands-off approach to leading the guild. Everyone knew their jobs better than I did and they didn't need me to tell them how to do it. I would collaborate with Moruay at times when customers commissioned jeweled leathers. This wasn't uncommon in Resta City, where athletes and military officers would wear them in ceremonial occasions. Other than that, though, I mostly kept to myself and made new jewelry whenever I wasn't busy managing our production and action contracts. Otherwise, I only demanded that they keep their respective businesses profitable so we could keep the bills paid and left them alone.

...

Well, let's see. There was Moruay with her leather work and Oogura with her pen work, as you know. Takaa signed on as a machinist and mechanic. He used to be one of Ravager's only gunsmiths before he came to the mainland to expand his mechanical expertise. He probably made out better than any of us with all of those Royal Army contracts, but he always spent nearly everything he made training at SMU. He--

...

That's the Seres Machinists Union. They are at the forefront of engineering research in Resta, and they happily share their knowledge with anyone who can afford the study materials. With the Royal Army rebuilding after the Archknight Rebellion, Takaa was making more money than anyone else by far, yet he always spent each month broke because he was working even harder to expand his mechanical knowledge. 

...

As for Saayuko, her role in the guild didn't make itself apparent immediately. She had always considered fighting and sneaking around her only skills, which you might imagine don't translate well to commerce. But when talking about how she could survive when the combat contracts went dry without any marketable skills, we discovered what she brought to the Phoenix Blade. She was a natural forager whose skill was in gathering what she needed. From that day on, I put her in charge of acquisitions and, every week she would come back to our compound with a wagon full of ores, herbs, and animal carcasses for us to skin and cook.

...

One problem that began to make itself apparent after everyone settled in was that we had not made much use of the herbs Saayuko collected and had to throw out too much of it. Oogura liked to crush them up to make her inks, but we started to consider finding someone else to turn our supply into medicines and balms. 

...

We put the word out, but since we were so new, we found quickly that recruitment wasn't that simple. I had all but given up until I received a new investigation contract. Saayuko wasn't around for me to delegate to at the time so, as the only one with the necessary experience, I took the job myself. And by the end of it, I was glad I did instead of sending anyone else.

...

The Apex District's governor had hired me to find a young daughter who had run away from home after being rejected by some boy she was sweet on. After questioning the father, the boy, and a few of her closest friends, I was able to determine that she was hiding at a friend's house in shame. As it turned out, she had desperately purchased a beauty cream that she was assured would make her irresistible to the object of her affection. But when she used it, her face changed in a... less flattering way.

...

Oh no, the cream did exactly what the girl was promised, apparently. The boy told me that he had seen her after she took the cream and suddenly became more interested than her father had been in finding her. I get the sense that knowing this wouldn't have changed her mind about disappearing. As it was, I had no luck convincing her to return home in that state and I had been specifically forbidden from trying to force her into anything. In the case of her refusal to go home, I was only supposed to tell my client where I found the girl. But knowing the shame and terror of her dead-eyed and pale appearance, I could only imagine that choice making her situation worse. So, I instead began to question her about who sold her the cream.

...

Following this trail led me back to our old friend Bene. He was up to the same tricks he pulled in life, but with newfound magical components. His scams were starting to really hurt people and, even worse, I caught him in the act. I watched him sell the exact same crap to another woman then followed him all the way back home to the ramshackle apartment where he'd been making it. He immediately launched a desperate campaign to talk himself out of it; just hamming it up and trying to fool me into believing what happened to my client's daughter wasn't his fault. I knew him too well to buy his story at this point and, when I demanded that he reverse the damage he did to the poor girl, he immediately grew defensive. You'd think I was being oppressive for holding accountable. The tortured act grew old quickly, to the point where I unloaded into him.

...

I tried to appeal to whatever morals he might have had. I asked him if he ever felt any responsibility to  justify his decision to remaining among the living? Was he going to keep sticking around just to make everyone else's lives a little worse? But of course this didn't work. He never felt any sense of responsibility in life, and becoming an outcast didn't exactly help. So, I only had one recourse. I put the pressure on him by informing him of how important my client is and just who he had fucked with. He understood quickly enough that he had really stepped in it this time. I'm not proud of it, but I used what I knew as leverage to get the antidote I wanted out of him.

...

Of course I didn't trust him. He remained very reluctantly under Takaa and Oogura's supervision until the girl was back to normal and I was able to collect my pay. When I told Bene later how I covered for him, it was easy to convince him he owed me a favor for sparing him the consequences of his actions. So, I made a space for him in the compound and gave him a stern warning. He was going to start creating some actual value for people, or I would have the spellwarriors stick him on the next boat to Midania.

...

So we had acquired an alchemist who could work with the rest of Saayuko's supplies, albeit an untrustworthy one.

Next Chapter

Death Touch Chapter 32

First Chapter

Previous Chapter

Clint

Despite victory in the Resta Grand Tournament being everything Clint and Seth had wanted for years, their celebration was surreal in how short-lived it was. Seth, who had finished the match for his team, certainly seemed euphoric at first, but only until Sam had rushed to hug him in celebration. The spellwarrior recoiled almost immediately and went quiet as Queen Penelope gave the usual speech that closed the festival. He didn’t even speak up when she asked for the team’s wish, leaving Clint to do so despite the fact that the eyes of the queen and everyone else were on Seth. He knew that Seth would normally prickle with irritation at having so much attention, but curiously enough, he seemed more despondent than angry with the collective gaze upon him. Indeed, his focus seemed to be on the crowd and not the queen they had set out to appease. He found Sara sitting between Maya and who could only be the Salican champion Sara had been so doggedly seeking, but the other man’s gaze was pointed in another direction entirely. Who is he looking for?

Once the ceremony concluded, the team seemed to disperse without a word, with Seth disappearing into the crowd departing festival revelers and Sam following while shouting unanswered questions to him. Clint thought that it might not have been Sam’s best idea to bother her mentor in this particular mood, however unusual it was under the circumstances. However, any attempt to advise her differently was made impossible when Royal Guards cut him off as they teammates walked away in order to deliver the vaunted treasure they had been fighting for all along. It wasn’t long after he took Helen’s spear in his hand before Sara and her new friends appeared from the crowd. Sara’s eyes were already glued to the artifact and fueling a look of reverence.

“The Guardian Snake,” she breathed as she took it from him. Clint let it go, feeling it only appropriate to do so. She is Helen’s successor, after all.

“That’s two artifacts down,” Clint said weakly upon realizing that Sara wasn’t talking to or even acknowledging him.

Sara looked Clint in the eyes for the first time and, for a moment, the look of pride that showed in her impression reminded him of Alexis’ smile. Why do I suddenly feel guilty?

“You guys were brilliant!” Sara said excitedly. “I told Mia before that seeing you three fighting for this artifact filled me with a surge of faith in our cause. Reforging the Storm of Mercy isn’t only possible, it seems easier than it did yesterday.”

“You mean we’re looking this for a bunch of old weapons?” Mia suddenly complained. “I know where we can find plenty of good ones, for fuck’s sake!”

Sara shook her head and held out the staff. “Perhaps, but none of them carry the hopes of Serenity’s first champion or the proven power to banish a deity!”

Clint smirked at the Salican champion as she seemed to deflate. “So, who’s your new friend?”

“Someone who’s worn more blood than you can imagine!” Mia snapped indignantly. Touchy!

“Gods! Sorry!” Clint responded with a weak chuckle. “You’re going to come in handy if we need someone scary to intimidate our enemies!”

“I thought that position was filled by the other guy on your team,” the former assassin responded coolly. “I thought he was going to kill someone!”

Clint shook his head and smiled. “He’d never do that! The worse he would have done with those stars of his was burn his opponent. He has a lot more control of his flames than you’d think.”

Mia shook her head and rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I was talking about! For a second, just before he started throwing those stars, I could sense his killing intent in his expression. He almost got desperate enough to do something drastic when he was disarmed.”

Clint thought of something he’d heard about how acolytes of the Salican faith were trained as empaths. Whether she had developed this skill as suddenly as she did the storm magic Sara had mentioned or merely saw this look as a killer herself was something Clint didn’t want to think about. So, instead of merely asking how she could possibly have known this, he instead opted to try to change the subject.

“Well, he’s a good man and you’ll notice that he didn’t do it,” Clint said with a shrug. “Maybe something changed his mind.”

“We saw him looking right up at us,” Mia said with a shrug. “Maybe he was looking at that other girl who was sitting with us. She had this sort of saccharine feel to her that’d probably make him feel too guilty to do it!”

Clint suddenly looked around at the mention of their other companion. “Where is Maya, anyway?”

Sara shrugged and responded, “She took to the air so she could try to find Seth.”

Clint shrugged and nearly let the subject drop, but then something occurred to him. If Maya had been the subject of Seth’s focus, why wouldn’t he look for her near the tent? It was possible that he merely wanted to avoid the crowd so he could avoid the risk of touching anyone. But why would he have to go very far for that? Looking around, he couldn’t see Seth or Sam anywhere in sight.

“We should probably find them, right?” Mia said with a frown. “We don’t have much time to waste, but still plenty to do, after all.”

This prompted Clint to picture Seth’s demeanor from the final minutes of the tournament, trying to remember any clue that would help them figure out where he’d been. He seemed confused; despondent, perhaps? Whatever he was walking to wasn’t a source of joy, but he didn’t seem to want to bother his friends with it. Clint didn’t have to think for very long about what most often seemed to make him feel this way. Well, she wasn’t bound to ignore him forever with the recent news going around between the spellwarriors.

“I know where to go,” Clint said quietly.

So Clint led the women into the capitol’s Downtown District, the quadrant of the city that was devoted to Chaos. It was here where Clint remembered the Midas’ inn of choice in the city was located. The Colossus’ Shadow was a popular establishment for any warrior or adventurer passing through Resta City, but it was particularly favored by spellwarriors. When the three champions found this place, however, Seth and Sam were nowhere to be found. They had found Maya wandering confusedly outside, but she had apparently never found the others either.

“It doesn’t make sense!” she complained in bewilderment. “I can’t even sense the magic residue he should be carrying from the tournament! It’s like he’s just gone!”

Clint placed a calming hand on her shoulder and said, “It’s fine. I’m pretty sure I know what’s going on here.” I just need confirmation.

He would find it in a certain room, often reserved for the Midas family because of their volatile reputation in the city. He knocked loudly on the door and waited patiently. As he thought, the door opened to reveal a radiant half-elven woman with fair skin and sable hair. She regarded Clint with a look of dislike, but sighed when she saw the women behind him. 

“Come in, please!” The woman said with every hint of reluctance in her voice.

Clint beckoned to the others nervously. He didn’t like to speak to Ruby Midas anymore than he could help because of moments like this. Apart from her eccentricity, Clint always found himself intimidated by the hostility she seemed to hold for him.

“Nice to see you again, Ruby,” Clint said as he the woman closed the door. “This is Sara Marle and Mia Gold and they’re--”

Ruby tsked loudly several times until Clint shut up, as she so often did. “Silly boy! Hasn’t my son told you that everyone in the Hem Order has standing orders to support your group? I know full well who you all are!”

“Even me?” Mia asked with her eyebrows raised.

“You were a Starling!” Ruby chirped with a smirk on her face. “With broken wings, sadly. But you have been given the chance to cease being a bird and start being a typhoon!”

Mia snorted in mirth at this unusual response, which seemed to only confuse Sara and Maya. But being used to phrases like this, as well as her reputation for being incredibly well-informed even for a spellwarior, Clint only shrugged. 

“We’re actually looking for Seth,” Clint said pointedly, unwilling to let her distract herself this time. “When I saw how he got after the tournament, I had a feeling he’d be looking for you.”

“You’ve always been pretty smart for such a silly boy,” Ruby said in a singsong voice. “You’ve always seemed to think you know him better than I because you spoiled him before moving on to his sister. What an annoying mundane you are!”

Clint clicked his tongue impatiently. Don’t get dragged to that level! “You know I always enjoy these little chats, but if you’re supposed to be supporting us, can you just skip to that part? We’re in a hurry!”

“Nope!” Ruby said with as she shook her head stubbornly. “I’m supposed to help the Champions, but that thankfully doesn’t require me to talk to you such a waste of magic!”

Clint rolled his eyes in exasperation. A few decades ago, magic users used to live in fear of persecution but they only seemed to have to become elitists when they came out into the light of day. He glanced at the others and gestured impatiently. If she only wants to talk to another magic user, literally anyone else will do, at least.

“Oh, quit being such a bitch and tell us where your son is!” Mia snapped angrily. “The sooner we finish the stupid quest, the sooner I can stop boiling over with rage, so get on with it!”

Ruby looked at Mia in a tense silence that lasted several excruciating seconds until she broke it with cheerful laughter. “My, you’re rather scary, aren’t you?”

Mia bristled with the aforementioned rage, but was spared the chance to blow up by the oni woman, who added, “I have sent my son north on some Hem Order business. By the time you see him again, he will have made the next important step in your quest.”

“Do you mean the Chains of Orion?” Sara asked.

“Yes, you sweet girl, I do,” Ruby said with a honeyed smile. “Each of them lies in the hands of Maula’s most evil servants and they have been arranged so as to stand in the way of your final destination.”

“Which is where?” Mia interjected, her voice showing some signs of calm.

“Foldo,” Sara answered immediately. “That is where Maula’s temple is located. The easiest way to find her would be to summon her to the only existing altar built to honor her.”

“Two roads!” Ruby chirped as she held up two fingers. “One to the north of the city and one to the south! My son will make progress on the northern path, but if you want to save time, I would go through Flora Field and enter Foldo through the south.”

“Fuck that!” Clint snapped, suddenly. “How could you send Seth to go after one of Maula’s servants alone?”

Ruby began to glare at the champion and said, “Quiet now, silly boy! What my son faces in the north is not beyond him!”

“You don’t know that!” Clint retorted, his anger getting the better of him now. “You’ve always tried to make him do things that are beyond him! You are NOT an expert on what he can handle!”

Ruby suddenly gave him a chilling smirk. “If you’re so concerned for his safety, I’ll tell you where he went. Do you want to know?”

“Yes!” Clint roared.

“If you want to know, I will tell you,” Ruby said with a blatantly fake smile. “IF you agree to stop seeing Alexis.”

“You can’t be serious!” Sara interjected with a horrified smile. “You would really risk your son’s safety for that?”

“She’s risked it for a lot less. Trust me,” Clint growled darkly. “Fine. Tell me where he is.”

“Alexis will be better off without a mundane like you dragging her down!” Ruby sang cheerfully. “She’ll learn medical mysticism and settle down with a spellwarrior like she was always meant to! I can’t wait to tell her!”

“There’s not point to telling her anything if Seth gets killed,” Clint said with a fiery glare on his voice. “If he doesn’t make it, the first thing I’m going to do is go back to Palon and ask her to marry me!”

“Then you’d better not let him down,” Ruby said with an innocent smile. “For all of our sakes! You’ll find him somewhere along the Fire Road, between Fort Ridge and Camp Desmond.”

Clint had taken as much as he could of Loopy Ruby at that point. The champions and Maya left the inn in an awkward silence and, when they were outside, turned to each other to make their plan.

“You guys should go through the field,” Maya said immediately. “I can get to his side to help him faster than any of you could with your sky rug.”

“Are you sure?” Sara asked with a frown. “If he is going to face one of Maula’s servants, he might need all of our help!”

“She’s right,” Clint said while rubbing his temples. “Ruby has the ability send people through portals to wherever she wants. The reason Maya can’t sense his magic is probably because he and Sam are already long gone to Desmond country. He doesn’t have time to wait for all of us.”

Sara looked troubled with the prospect of splitting up so soon after finally completing the group, but there was no practical alternative. They could only have faith in the Seth’s strength and Chaos’ wisdom in choosing him as his champion. Meanwhile, they would have to focus on claiming the second of the Chains of Orion in the fey valley that lie between them and their goal.

Next stop, Flora Field!

Next Chapter