by Logan Jacobs
Chapter 1
“Oh, come on, don’t give me that face,” I pleaded with my frustrated puca. Merlin, however, continued to glare at me, annoyed that I’d interrupted his shapeshifting. I stepped forward to give him a scratch behind the ears, and he decided to forgive me long enough for a belly rub, too, but then it was back to work.
The notes I’d gotten from Cygne that explained how he was able to control light and darkness were spread out on the floor around me, and I’d been scribbling in my own annotations as I practiced. I wasn’t able to create light or draw in darkness to an area like Cygne had been, but I wasn’t trying to do that, exactly.
I was trying to apply what Cygne did with light to my own mana manipulations.
In the past, I’d always had to focus on a specific target to control their mana, but over the past several weeks, I’d made some significant headway into being able to manipulate the mana of anyone in a specific radius without having to focus on a particular target. When I’d first started, I’d only been able to effect an area with a radius of about a foot, but I’d put in the practice and I’d managed to get up to about eight feet.
I practiced with the rest of my guild when I could, but when they were busy, Merlin was my guinea pig. I’d hidden treats and shiny objects around the room for him to find, making sure to put them where he would have to shift forms every now and then to get at them. Then, as he jumped and flew and scrambled around in search of them, I would see how far my control would reach, whether I could interrupt his mana and keep him from shapeshifting without singling him out.
Thankfully, any annoyance the puca harbored over being tricked into participating in my experiments was assuaged by the rewards he got over the course of them, and the challenge kept him occupied and out of trouble. Ever since I started practicing with him like this, he stopped leaving dead mice in Lavinia’s boots and he’d only stolen one of Maruk’s pies from the kitchen. Lena said he was the best-behaved puca she’d ever seen, but of course, he always gave the alchemist’s space a wide berth ever since he’d gotten a faceful of itching powder as a result of snooping around in her workshop when she wasn’t around.
Just then, there came a knock on the door downstairs, and I packed up my notes and tucked them into their hiding place behind a secret panel in the wall. I guessed that the knock would be someone from the Mage Academy with information about a bounty we’d been offered. There were some texts they’d wanted us to get from a cultist’s base nearby, and we’d been waiting for someone to bring by the list of the specific books the Mage Academy was looking for and whatever information the Academy had about the cultists who had them.
I clicked my tongue for Merlin so he wouldn’t get shut in my room and started down the stairs to answer the door. We’d been getting a lot of assignments from the Mage Academy lately. Ever since we’d stopped that heist a few months ago, Eamon Maderel and the rest of the archmages seemed to have taken a special interest in our guild and had been requesting our assistance specifically on jobs. We’d hardly set foot in the charter office in weeks.
As much as the special attention from the Mage Academy made me nervous, the money was good. It was better than good, actually. Maderel and the archmages routinely paid more for missions than some of the highest-tier public bounties. So we took the jobs, and I was extra careful to play the part of an upstanding Academy elementalist.
No one else had made it to the door before me, so when I opened it, I was greeted by a young human mage in the students’ purple robes. He couldn’t have been much older than twelve or so, and he looked a bit star-struck, and I wondered if he’d asked if he could bring these documents to us so that he could meet us. He gave me a little bow before he held out a thin, cylindrical wooden canister to me.
“From the Mage Academy, sir,” he said with an excited smile.
“Thanks,” I replied as I took the canister.
The mage hovered on the doorstep for a moment, and I began to wonder if I was supposed to tip him or something when suddenly he blurted, “You’re Gabriel Vega, aren’t you?”
“Uh, yeah,” I said. “Hi.”
“I started studying air magic,” the boy went on. “I want to join a guild and be just like you when I graduate.”
A strange combination of anxiety and pride rose up within me. I was flattered, of course, that this boy or anyone might look to me as a role model, but the last thing I needed was a spotlight... or anyone asking me about air magic, since I was an air mage in name only.
The boy was still on the doorstep, and he stared up at me and clutched the strap of the bag over his shoulder as he waited for my response.
“That’s great,” I told him with a smile as I shoved down my own feelings of apprehension. “Keep practicing your magic, study hard, and you’ll be able to join a guild in no time.” Ugh. I sounded like those lame public speakers that gave lectures in high school auditoriums, but I couldn’t think of anything else to tell the kid at the moment. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to find my advice as trite as I did, and he nodded enthusiastically.
“I will!” he promised. Then he glanced over his shoulder to the great clock tower far in the distance. “I gotta get back to the university now. Goodbye, Mister Vega!”
I waved goodbye as the mage turned and raced down the steps, and then I closed the door and twisted the lid off the canister he’d given me. Inside was a map with the location of the cultists’ base marked out in red, as well as a list written in looping cursive of the specific books we were supposed to recover for the Mage Academy.
We’d had a few days off since returning from our last mission, and since it was still fairly early, I figured it would be good for us to get packed up and start out as soon as possible. The cultist’s base wasn’t far, and we could reach it by early afternoon if we took the horses.
I set the canister and the documents on the table in the dining room and scooped up Merlin to make sure he didn’t get any ideas about rummaging through the kitchen while I rounded up the rest of the guild. Lavinia and Dehn were in the training room, so I decided to start there. They two of them spent most of their time down there ever since it had been completed, and I could hear them sparring now. Between taunts and shouts of triumph were the blunt sounds of blows connecting and the smack of someone, most likely Dehn, hitting the mat.
When I got down the second set of stairs to the basement level and opened the door to the training room, the halfling was cursing up a storm as he got to his feet, and Lavinia smirked proudly as she stood by. The ladona woman’s white hair was pulled back in a braid, though a few strands had come loose while she’d been fighting and looped around the dragon horns that sprouted from her head. Her red eyes glittered as she adjusted the shoulder strap of her dark leather armor.
“Told you that wouldn’t work,” she said with a shake of her head.
“What wouldn’t work?” I asked.
“Dehn’s been working on a new move,” the ladona woman replied. “He calls it the ‘Sword Bomb.’”
“It’s Explosion of Death,” Dehn corrected testily. The halfling’s bright red hair was in disarray, and he had collected several new bruises alongside the bold tattoos on his muscular arms. He picked up the pair of wooden short swords he’d been practicing with and pointed it at Lavinia. “And I’ve almost got it.”
“The problem is that you’re not getting enough air,” Lavinia said. “You can’t jump high enough to be effective, you’re too sh--”
“My height is above average!” Dehn interrupted.
“A messenger from the Academy just stopped by,” I cut in before Dehn could launch into a full-on tirade. “We’ve got the map and the rest of the notes, so get packed up. I want to leave as soon as everyone is ready.”
“Good!
” The white-haired ranger stretched her arms above her head. “I’m ready for a real fight.”
“Do you know where Aerin is?” I asked as I lingered in the doorway. “I haven’t seen her all morning.”
“Where do you think?” Lavinia cocked an eyebrow. “She’s hardly left that vault of hers. I’m pretty sure she’s been sleeping down there.”
“Thanks,” I replied. “Meet us in the dining room when you’re ready.”
I left Lavinia and Dehn to clean up in the training room as I made my way with Merlin across the short hall to the only other room on this level, the Treasury. As Lavinia had anticipated, Aerin was inside. The elf was bent over a stack of books on the room’s single desk, fastidiously checking the accounts of the guild’s income and spending. Behind her was a large vault door, securely locked and protected with a number of enchantments, where all of our funds were kept.
Aerin’s dark red waves hung loose over her shoulders and spilled onto the desk as she leaned over her books and scribbled furiously. She was too absorbed in her work to notice me, so I called out to her.
“Hey, Aerin,” I called again, louder this time, and she started and blinked at me in surprise for a moment. Then her face broke into a smile.
“Gabriel, hey, what’s up?”
“We just got the rest of the information about that cultist bounty,” I told her. “We’re going to head out as soon as everyone’s ready.” I realized that Lavinia might not have been exaggerating when she said Aerin had spent the night down here when I realized the elf was still in the loose cotton shift that she wore to bed, and there was a smudge of ink on her cheek.
“Did you sleep down here?”
The tips of the elf’s ears turned pink as she closed her books and returned her pen to its stand. “We’ve had a lot more money coming in, and we’ve been spending more, too.”
“So, yes?” I grinned.
“Someone has to keep track of it all,” Aerin protested as she joined me in the hall and locked the door behind her.
“You’re right,” I relented. “We’d be on the streets if not for you. I just hope you’re not working too hard.”
“You’re sweet,” Aerin said with a smile, and she stood up on her tiptoes to press a kiss to my cheek. “I’ll go get packed up.” She gave Merlin a scratch behind the ears, then started up the stairs.
I figured Lena would be in her alchemy workshop, which was just off the kitchen, so with Merlin on my shoulder, I headed there next. The puca chattered excitedly when we got to the kitchen and tried to jump off my shoulder to get to a wheel of expensive foreign cheese that Maruk had ordered, but I anticipated the move and caught him around the middle, and he gave me a sour look.
“I know it’s tempting,” I told him, “but you know better.” Of course, I’d suggested to the orc that he store his fancy cheese somewhere Merlin couldn’t get to it after the first time the puca had stolen a hunk of it, but apparently, it needed the fresh air and would lose its taste if confined to a pantry.
If Merlin was upset about being thwarted in his attempt to steal food, that was nothing compared to his reaction when he realized I was taking him to Lena’s workshop, and he twisted out of my arms in a panic and bolted. I thought about trying to catch him, but he didn’t seem interested in Maruk’s cheese or anything else except staying far away from the alchemy lab, so I let him go.
Tendrils of blueish smoke curled under the door as I knocked, and a moment later, Lena’s voice called out, “Come in!”
The elven alchemist was lost among a veritable forest of glass beakers and vials full of brightly colored, simmering liquids and shelves of raw ingredients, everything from bundles of dried wolfsbane to jars full of pickled salamanders’ eyes. Every available surface was covered in open recipe books, jars of pastes and powders with names and uses I could only guess at, and complex bronze instruments that looked like they might have been part of a chemistry set that someone had assembled with their eyes closed.
The smoke was coming from a small cauldron set over a stove, and it poured out from the massive pot across the floor like the fog from liquid nitrogen. Lena moved the cauldron off the stove with a gloved hand and set it on one of the crowded desks and turned to me. The bells on the hem of her flowing skirts jingled as she moved, and she had her constellation-patterned scarf tied around her head to keep her dark blonde curls out of her face as she worked. The steam from the cauldron had brought a pretty blush into her tan cheeks, and her violet eyes were alight with excitement.
“Gabriel! What’s going on?”
I told her about the bounty and eyed the still-smoking cauldron. “How soon do you think you can be ready?”
“Just give me a few minutes to get cleaned up here, then I’ll go pack my things,” Lena replied cheerfully.
I nodded as I let the door close behind me again and headed up to the guild hall’s second story.
The first room immediately off the stairs had been converted into a library, and that was where I found Emeline. The panthera mage had several maps spread out on the single large desk and appeared to be making copies. Her long, dark hair flowed over her shoulders, and her cat-like ears flicked with interest as she pored over the maps. She had the sleeves of her purple mage robes pushed back, and her full lips were pursed as she traced a long nail down one of the ink paths.
“Got a new one for you, if you’re interested,” I said by way of introduction. “A messenger from the Academy just arrived with it.”
“I’d love to take a look at it later,” Emeline replied. “These are all old, though. It’s fascinating to see how the city and everything has changed since the civil wars. I borrowed a few maps of the continent from the University library and I’ve been making copies so we can have some for our own records.”
I was impressed by her initiative. I hadn’t thought about trying to get copies of old maps drawn up, but they did come in handy now and then. Emeline’s interest in cartography was how we’d found Cygne’s hideout, after all.
“That’s a great idea,” I told her. “Do you think you can get to a stopping point soon, though? I want us to go get that bounty for the Academy today.”
“No problem!” Emeline assured me. “I didn’t really unpack since we got back from the last one, so just call me when everyone else is ready, okay?”
“I will,” I replied with a chuckle and I left the library to find Yvaine and Maruk.
All of our rooms were in the same hall on the second story, and for the most part, they all looked the same. We did have to put some of our earnings toward bills and food and other necessities, and we spent so much time traveling that none of us really prioritized our bedrooms when it came to spending what we had leftover, so the spaces were relatively simple and utilitarian. That was, except for Yvaine’s room. I wasn’t entirely sure how she’d done it without violating the laws of physics but through some interior design magic of her own, the marchioness had completely transformed her room into a posh suite that looked like it ought to be attached to a palace, not an adventurers’ guild hall.
Even the doors were different. While the rest of us had a single wooden door with a simple bronze knob to lead into our rooms, Yvaine had had a set of double doors installed. They had gilded handles and a floral pattern etched in relief on their surfaces, which were painted light blue. I heard Yvaine laugh at something from inside just before I knocked.
“Oh, do come in,” the noblewoman called, and I opened one of the doors to find Yvaine and Maruk seated on plush chairs on either side of a painted coffee table with cups of tea in their hands and a tray of little cucumber sandwiches and pastries topped with fruit paste and cheese set out on the table.
The noblewoman looked as elegant as ever, like a statue come to life with her flawless ivory skin and long, silky brown hair. Even for a morning in, she was dressed to the nines in an expensive silver gown that was cut to accentuate her curves perfectly, and delicate bracelets glittered on her narrow wrists.
Mar
uk had tried his best to emulate the fashions of court, though of course, his budget was considerably smaller than Yvaine’s, and even in the city, there weren’t many tailors who knew how to fit garments for a seven-foot tall orc. He had made do with simple breeches and a ruffled shirt that was a little too tight around his huge biceps, and he’d braided some gold beads into his long white-blond hair.
Merlin had found his way to the tea party, and I realized Yvaine had been laughing at him as he stood up on his hind legs and turned in a little circle so that the marchioness would give him another bit of sandwich.
“Isn’t he just delightful?” Yvaine asked as she offered the puca his reward. He took the sandwich greedily and shoved the entire thing in his mouth, which made his cheeks bulge out like a chipmunk’s.
“Maruk and I were just discussing major themes of Ismael Gaona’s poetry when he came in and started listening. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he knew what we were saying.” Yvaine held out another piece of a sandwich to Merlin.
“Careful not to give him too much,” I warned. “He doesn’t know when to stop, I don’t want him to vomit on your rug.” There were three rugs in here, all handwoven in intricate patterns and imported from overseas. The rest of the room boasted similar luxuries. Yvaine’s four-poster bed was twice as large as any of ours, her vanity table was an antique that had been left to her in the will of some famous queen or another, and the walls were covered in priceless works of art from Yvaine’s private collection. She had supplemented her share of the guild’s reward money with her own inheritance to be able to afford it all.
“Oh, what a poor dear,” Yvaine cooed as she stroked Merlin’s head. The puca leaned closer to the plate of sandwiches, and his nose twitched. “I won’t let him get sick, no.”
“It’d serve him right,” Maruk muttered. The orc still hadn’t forgotten the theft of his cheese and had been giving Merlin the cold shoulder since.
“We’re going to be heading out soon,” I told them. “We just got the rest of the information for that cultist bounty from the Mage Academy.”
