by Eric Vall
My eyes went wide. Sleet was the most powerful mage alive today, and I knew he held a great weight and a large amount of respect in both the mage and non-magic communities.
“What exactly does that mean?” I asked.
Arwyn dropped her voice to a near whisper. “It means this, whatever it is, is being done under the council’s nose, and without their permission. If he gets caught, his position is in jeopardy, and we run the risk of losing our positions as well if we don’t testify against him and claim we didn’t know it wasn’t an authorized mission.”
I absorbed the information as best I could. Why would Sleet run an operation under the nose of the council? There was a missing piece here, maybe more.
With a sigh, I put my hands on my hips.
“If Sleet thinks it’s important enough to go under their noses, then I’m for it. I know I don’t have a lot of experience with the council, but I know enough of Miriam Sharpay to know I don’t like her, nor do I like the way she treats people she deems beneath her.” I stated my stance on the matter, and both Arwyn and Almasy smirked.
“A rebel at heart, huh?” Almasy chuckled.
“Something like that,” I replied in kind. “So, when are you two leaving?”
“Tonight if we can,” Arwyn replied. “Where we’re going is known for having some of the warmest weather year-round, but it’s cooler at night. The less damage we can do to the airship engine, the better.”
I crinkled my nose. “Where in the world are you going that it’s that hot?”
“The summit of a volcano,” Almasy offered with a nonchalant grin.
Meanwhile, I tried to reel my jaw up off the floor. “I’m sorry, what?”
“Volcano,” he repeated again slowly, and I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Wow! I thought the desert was going to be hot, but it looks like you have me beat. Does Sleet really think there’s a cipher in a volcano?” I looked between him and Arwyn, and they both laughed at what I was sure to be an absolutely stunned face.
“We don’t know much about it, do we?” Almasy said.
Arwyn nodded. “We’ll never know unless we look.”
That was fair.
“What about you and Gawain?” Arwyn asked, and I could tell she was concerned about us being paired off again.
“We’re leaving first thing tomorrow morning,” I replied, “and don’t worry, we’ll be fine.”
Arwyn smirked. “You’re awfully confident.”
I grinned. “Yeah, well, I kicked his ass once before. If he gets out of line, I’ll do it again.”
At that, Almasy laughed loudly. Even Arwyn stifled a giggle into her hands before she placed them on my shoulders.
“Go do what you need to,” she instructed me. “Make any preparations you need. Supplies, crystals, medicine, clothes. Be ready for anything.”
Arwyn, ever the caretaker, the leader, and secret lover, doted on me. I was grateful to her, for her kindness and willingness to put her needs aside for others, even if I wished she wouldn’t do it with me so often.
“Yes ma’am,” I replied dutifully, and she patted my cheek.
I turned to Almasy and gave him another firm handshake. “Take care of my squad leader. She’s irreplaceable.”
Almasy chuckled. “More likely she’ll be the one taking care of me.”
Arwyn rolled her eyes teasingly. “Isn’t that the truth.”
I laughed and released Almasy’s hand. “Safe travels, and good luck.”
“You, too, Gryff,” Arwyn called as I made my way towards the dining hall.
My initial intention was to head to my room to start packing for the trip, but as I walked past the corridor that led to the infirmary, I remembered Erin. She’d been poisoned by a monster in the real rift that opened up within the Magicae Nito mock rift, and she’d suffered a great deal before we were able to get her back. After a moment’s contemplation, I decided I wanted to check on her. The last I’d heard, she was on the mend, but it would take a while for the toxins to fully leave her system.
When I walked in, Meriden rolled her eyes.
“I better not have to treat you,” she lightly scolded with a teasing smile. I knew she was tired of seeing me as a patient.
I returned her smile in kind. “Not today. Just visiting.”
Meriden hummed. “You aren’t the only one.”
“Oh?” I asked curiously, and she nodded.
“Mr. Prost is in with Miss Lindblum right now,” she told me, “but you can both sit with her if you’d like, so long as you keep it down. She’s had a rough night.”
I frowned deeply at that. “Is she okay?”
“For now,” Meriden sighed. “She’s still not completely out of the woods, but we’re doing everything we can. We expect she’ll be fine, but medicine only does so much. She just has to keep fighting a little while longer.”
I nodded and made my way to Erin’s bed, the second to last one on the right. As Meriden said, Varleth had pulled up a chair and sat with her, his hands folded in his lap, eyes downcast.
I cast my gaze over to Erin, then. Her skin was still pale, and there was a sickening purple hue to her that made her new vibrant orange hair seem dull. With a sad sigh, I slipped past the curtain to her room and took a seat opposite Varleth on the other side of the bed. I placed my hand over Erin’s, and I was shocked to feel she was ice cold. Immediately, I checked her forehead for a fever. Sure enough, she was burning up.
“Meriden said she’d be like that,” Varleth informed me. “She had apparently been up all night vomiting in her sleep.”
I clenched Erin’s hand in my own. “Poor girl.”
Varleth nodded. “Indeed. I kind of wish we could be here for her.”
“All we can do is hope that she’s awake when we get back,” I told him.
Varleth was silent for a moment before he finally looked up at me. “Can I ask you something?”
I blinked, taken aback by the seriousness of his tone. “Of course.”
“Do you think people can be truly forgiven for doing bad things?” he asked. His eyes were dark, distant, as though he was lost in a memory he’d rather forget.
I considered him for a moment before I nodded slowly. “I think everyone deserves a second chance to be better, but I also think forgiveness can only start once you’ve forgiven yourself.”
Varleth’s eyes widened a fraction, and then he cast them down again.
“Do you feel guilty about what happened to Erin?” I asked. It seemed like the only logical explanation for such a heavy conversation.
“A little,” he admitted. “I should have been able to do more for her when she had risked everything to make sure I made it to the catalyst, even if it was a fake.” There was a brief moment of silence, then, “But that’s not why I asked.”
I watched Varleth as he wrung his hands together, knuckles white from the grip he had on himself, and his foot bounced on the tile, nervous.
I frowned. “Whatever it is, I promise I won’t judge you.”
I didn’t know if that was a promise I could keep, but I would definitely try my best. I didn’t want to make him feel like he couldn’t talk to me, especially since we had come pretty far in our relationship since I’d joined the monster response squad.
“I killed someone with my magic,” he told me quietly. “I was young, just turned fourteen, and I needed to make some quick money.”
He sighed as he trudged through his story. I didn’t want to force it out of him, but I didn’t want to interrupt him and close him off either. So, I waited.
“I was a gypsy,” Varleth continued slowly. “I could have done anything to get the money. Fortune telling, tarot cards, magic tricks … but no. I knew the fastest way to make a coin was to dance, so I danced. I was just a boy who had hardly any experience, but I knew how to entice a man. Turns out, I was too good at it.”
I gasped, and my stomach dropped. I knew where his story was going without him having to spell it out.
> “Is that why you were cast out?” I asked, jumping ahead.
Varleth frowned but nodded. “Yes.”
“That isn’t fair.” I shook my head. “You were defending yourself.”
The banisher shrugged. “They were scared of my magic. I didn’t blame them. I still don’t.”
“Well, for what it’s worth, I think you did the right thing,” I told him, and the tiniest of smiles curled his lip upwards.
“Thanks, I appreciate it.” Varleth sat back in his chair and looked me in the eyes again. “Anyway, that’s why Gawain has a problem with me. The man was a friend of his father’s.”
My eyes shot wide open. Suddenly, their feud made so much more sense, and why Varleth had told me Gawain’s opinion of him wasn’t his own, but what his father had told him.
“Damn.” I sighed. “That’s a lot to have on your shoulders.”
Varleth shrugged again. “Sometimes it is. Today is one of those days. I don’t like my past thrown in my face, especially by bratty pissbabies like Madox.”
I chuckled at that. “He’s a mouthy one all right. At least Braden will keep you good company.”
“Yes, I am looking forward to chatting with him,” he admitted. “I enjoy an intelligent conversation.”
I stood then, kissed the top of Erin’s head, and smoothed some stray strands of orange hair from her eyes.
“I should start packing,” he commented.
“That’s where I’m about to head off to,” I replied and started to walk out of Erin’s little room. “You coming?”
“In a little bit. I think I want to sit with her a little while longer,” Varleth said.
I wasn’t sure why he’d want to sit with a sleeping girl who he hardly knew. Maybe it was his own way of dealing with whatever guilt he had over what happened during the Magicae Nito, or maybe it was just because it was quiet in the infirmary and no one would bother him there, except for me.
“Hey, Varleth?” I looked at him over my shoulder. “Why did you tell me?”
A smirk flashed briefly over his features. “Wel, if you die, you’ll take it to the grave. If I die, well, at least someone else would know the truth.”
I gave a short laugh. That was a pretty morbid way to look at it. Regardless, he had a point. I winked at him cockily before I closed the curtain behind me and left him to do whatever it was he had been doing.
Before I left the infirmary, I picked up a few potions and medicines from Meriden, though it wasn’t much.
“Sending you lot on a mission right after the Magicae Nito … ” she muttered as she milled about and collected different bottles and tinctures. “You’re going to run me dry.”
I couldn’t tell if it was an actual complaint, or if she was showing off her sometimes dry sense of humor. I got some medicine either way, so I supposed that didn’t really matter.
It was just past noon when I left the infirmary, so I waited for Layla at the entrance gate to see her off. Soon enough, I saw her nearly skipping up the path, Braden in tow with her bag. It wasn’t big, but he was a nice dude. He would have carried it for her if it weighed less than a feather.
“I didn’t know if I’d see you.” Layla smiled as she bounded up to me, and I hugged her close. We stayed that way for a while, and I inhaled the honey scent of her hair.
“I wouldn’t let you leave without saying goodbye,” I assured her. My hands roamed her back and came up to tangle in the hair at the base of her neck. I kissed her deeply, taking the opportunity to savor the taste of her lips on mine. When we broke apart, she’d left me breathless, and Layla was a pretty shade of pink herself.
“Be careful,” I whispered in her ear, “and make sure you and Nia take care of each other.”
“Of course, Gryffie,” Layla cooed, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
What was I going to do with my girls off being badasses without me?
“I’ll see you soon,” I told her, even if I didn’t know that was true.
Layla nodded and stepped back before she took her bag from Braden. Then she promptly dropped it and hopped into his arms for a giant hug.
“Take care of yourself, big guy,” she mumbled into his shoulder, and Braden smiled softly.
“You, too,” he replied. It was endearing to see they were so close. We really were our own little family. Braden set her on her feet and she collected her bag again.
“You have everything you need?” I asked and went through the same checklist with her that Arwyn went through with me.
Layla laughed. “I’ll be fine. I’ll go shopping with Nia when I get to Hartmire.”
I faltered. I knew random happenstances and monster rifts could occur at any given time, even in midflight. I just had to trust that Layla was prepared. After seeing her in battle against the pyrewyrm earlier in the year and more recently in the Magicae Nito, I knew she had it in her.
The carriage came to take her to the airship dock, and she waved goodbye to Braden and I as she climbed in.
Just like that, it was just us boys again.
“Think she’ll be okay?” Braden asked, and I shoved my hands in my pocket with a sad smile.
“Yeah,” I replied as I hung my head a little, “she’ll be okay. They both will.”
“Come on.” Braden slung his arm over my shoulders and led me away from the gate. “Let’s pack up, and then go out for dinner and drinks.”
I laughed at that, but I certainly didn’t argue with that plan. That was the best idea I had heard all day.
When we got back to our room, I went over the general list Arwyn gave me again, and we packed accordingly. I made a mental note to pick up a few empty crystals while we were in the town. If my baroquer was so easy to handle thanks to being infused with my mana, I could only imagine what else I could capture and easily control. The possibilities seemed endless now, and after I’d told Braden about my experience inside the rift with it, he seemed more inclined to catch a few monsters of his own. That was a big deal coming from someone who at the beginning of the year was terrified of his own monsters.
Bags packed, Braden and I hitched a ride on the carriage into town. The ride was pleasant and filled with the air of anticipation of such an important mission. Braden told me he and Varleth would also be leaving by horse the next morning, and they were headed to a mountain forest called Pan’s Peak. Braden didn’t strike me as the outdoorsy type, but I had faith he and Varleth would make it work somehow. They were both smart men.
We were dropped off by a strip market a block or two from where I knew Maelor and Cyra were staying. It was the same place that I’d met them after I returned from the fight against the first pyrewyrm near Garvesh. I wanted to see them before I left, so Braden and I quickly picked up a few crystals each and cut through the alleys to get to the tavern.
As he and I walked in, we were immediately welcomed by a boisterous, familiar voice.
“Gryff! Braden! How the hell are ya?” Maelor hollered from the back corner and ignored the disgruntled stares he’d gotten from the other patrons. The two of us exchanged amused glances and waved at Cyra, who had popped her head around the corner of the booth with a tipsy smile.
“Geez, old man,” I commented and slid in next to him, “you can’t hold your liquor for shit.”
Braden scooted in next to Cyra as Maelor burped loudly. “Shut yer mouth. I can hold whatever I want.”
The three of us snickered.
“How much has he had?” I heard Braden ask Cyra.
“Beats me. He was at it by noon, though,” she told us with a shrug.
I whistled. “What? Did Meriden break up with you?”
“Of course not, ya shit!” Maelor snorted and chugged back half of a pint in one go. “I’m just feeling it today, you know?”
“Oh, you’re feeling it all right,” Cyra commented, and Maelor slammed the glass onto the table.
“All right, missy, I don’t need y’all ganging up on me,” he scolded, and we all laughed.
The
barmaid came around and took our orders before I dropped the news about leaving town. I gave them a brief rundown of what I could. I didn’t want to divulge too much in case the mission did get found out by the council. I couldn’t risk Maelor and Cyra being in trouble for simply knowing the details and not turning it in. Of course, I didn’t give them a reason to think it was a “legitimate” mission in the first place.
“Sounds wild,” Maelor drawled, then laughed, then belched. “You sure you’re up for something like this so soon?”
I waved him off and started on my beer. “Oh yeah. Nothing can keep me down. You know that.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Maelor grumbled. “Just don’t go gettin’ yourself killed or nothin’.”
“I ain’t quittin’ on you.” I laughed and clapped him on the back. “Don’t you give yourself a heart attack over little old me.”
At that, Maelor genuinely smiled and rustled my hair. “You’re a fine lad, Gryff,” he muttered drunkenly. “Don’t let no one tell you any different.”
A small blush crept up the back of my neck. It was one thing to be praised by peers and friends, but it was an entirely different one to be praised by the man I considered my father. It gave me a sense of pride knowing that he took the same pride in me.
“Thanks, old man.” I grinned and held up my glass to him. They clinked, and we chugged back what was left of them.
“Shame you’re leaving,” Cyra mentioned. “I was planning on going up to the Academy tomorrow to enroll, and maybe get a tour of the place from you.”
My jaw dropped. Having another summoner who already knew a lot of battle techniques would be an amazing addition to the small group of summoners that there we already had.
“Really? That’s great!” I cheered and went to lift my glass when I realized it was empty. As if on cue, the barmaid brought the pitcher by and refilled it with a sweet smile. I thanked her and then lifted my glass again. All four of us clinked glasses this time.
“What changed your mind?” Braden asked Cyra, and she ran her fingers over the rim of her glass.
“I guess what really sold it for me was watching the matches. I want to be able to protect people. If studying under other mages is what it takes, then it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.” She nodded, more to herself, but it was confident and sexy.
