“I’m well aware that I’m asking for a lot from people I don’t know. I would have preferred to do this by myself and not put anyone else in danger, but I lack some important information,” Luke explains, taking a seat on the floor. “I have no idea who the heir is or what type of agent will be infiltrating the academy. I was hoping that Nimby could get me some student files over the next few days and I could use the files to narrow down the list of possible heirs. Given the situation, that was the only thing I could think of since my attempts to investigate some of the students through asking about their families have failed. Most times I get strange looks and they move away. Other times, I get scolded by a nearby teacher for prying into people’s privacy. As for proving my story, I really don’t have any way to prove it because all of the information scrolls were lost with the Paladin who was the original bodyguard. He was killed by some surprisingly strong zombies less than a day’s travel southeast from here.”
“He speaks the truth,” Aedyn confirms. “My protective spells would have told me if he was lying.”
“Wait a second!” Fritz suddenly exclaims, snapping his fingers. “Nobody knows about that Paladin, except for the local guards and the limited underbelly of Gaia. The Paladin’s temple has requested secrecy in order to hold its own investigation and save face. It would be very embarrassing for it to be revealed that a Paladin was killed by something simple like humanoid zombies. I’m guessing you were there when he fell in battle with the zombies that were found by his body. I had heard some guards mention that the slash markings on the zombies were not that of a broadsword, but of smaller, thinner blades. Nimby mentions that you use sabers, which would explain those wounds. I think I have my proof that you are here for more than training and Selenia’s glowing personality. Besides, I have heard enough rumors in Gaia to know that something is happening in this area. A Callindor showing up claiming to be a secret bodyguard is probably not a coincidence.”
Fritz blows his nose into his handkerchief before continuing, “Now, getting student files will be a very difficult task. Selenia will be very angry with all four of us if we keep your mission from her. That lady has the temper of a female dwarf who was just told that her ale tasted like hog swill.”
Luke and Aedyn eye him suspiciously while Nimby whispers, “You didn’t.”
“Yes, I have made that mistake and lived to speak of it,” Fritz admits with a sudden shudder. “I assume that we will handle the Selenia problem when we inevitably come to it. This could be a lot of fun and make a good tale to tell the wenches at the Gaian taverns. Old Fritz might get some young tail with ease if he helped save royalty. Not to mention the Duke rewarding me with an inventor’s grant. Ever since the sinking of Malteria, it has been difficult for gnomes to get grants in Serab. It wasn’t like it was a total disaster. Everyone was evacuated safely. Well, one woman broke her leg, but nothing is perfect.”
Luke stares at the gnome and shakes his head before turning to the half-elven priest. “I have been meaning to ask you something, Aedyn. What agenda do you have here? This is an academy for warriors and they already have a healer. There seems to be no place here for a follower of the sun.”
Aedyn stands up and takes a few seconds to examine his paper-covered desk. Eventually, he rolls up the sleeve of his amber shirt and reaches into a pile of blank paper. He tries to carefully extract a dirty scroll with a white ribbon tied around it. Once the scroll is free, the pile of papers falls to the floor at the priest’s feet. He mutters a few words, making a sign in the air above the mess as the others watch in silence. A small breeze enters through the window, gently moving the papers back onto the desk. They are neatly stacked until the spell stops and the pile topples over again. A twinge of annoyance crosses Aedyn’s face, but it is such a quick expression that his guests are unsure that they saw it.
“This scroll states my assignment,” Aedyn states, handing the scroll to Luke. “My temple has asked me to see if this academy is worthy enough to be used as a training center for battle priests. We are in need of people who wander the world and fight in the name of Durag. So far the teaching ethic, open air environment, and class structure have impressed me, but I still have many things to look at before I make my final decision. This is an important task that I have been given. How will my helping to save this mysterious heir earn me the information that I need, Mr. Luke?”
“Please don’t call me that,” Luke requests, his voice more whiney than he intended. “I’m just Luke.”
Aedyn bows his head. “My apologies.”
“To answer your question,” Luke slowly begins. He stalls by pretending to have a coughing fit until he thinks of a reason for Aedyn to help him. “I am a student here and you can observe how the training I receive helps me become a better warrior. Problem solved. Now, do you have the student list, Nimby? I really need to take a look at it before I go to sleep.” He gets to his feet and starts to move toward Nimby, but Aedyn thrusts his staff in the way of the forest tracker.
“Your reasoning is not agreeable,” Aedyn sternly declares, lowering the weapon. “From what Nimby has been telling us, you are not a true student. Far from it, in actuality you are an undercover hero who was not given all the information he needed before the down payment on his services was made. You were trained long before you came to this academy. I gain no information on the teaching style of this academy from watching you because you will rely more on your original training. The lessons you learn here will be nothing more than supplemental. It would be like grading a blacksmith on his ability by giving him a sword that has been partially completed. I suggest you try to persuade me again and put some effort into it this time.” He lets a challenging grin grow on his face, which prompts Luke to take an aggressive step toward the priest.
“Let’s calm down. The rest of us can go over what we have to do while Aedyn listens. He can make his decision by the end of our meeting. I trust him to keep this secret even if he refuses to help us,” Nimby says, stepping between the half-elves and flashing a friendly grin at the priest. “I have the list here. I helped narrow it down to people from Duke Solomon’s kingdom, which brings the count down to ninety-eight students. I’m assuming he wants to keep the heir’s hometown in Serab in case Selenia does a background check. This way he can give her false facts and some information that he would be able to control. After all, it’s easier to place fake references in your own kingdom than a foreign land. Is there anything else that we can use to narrow it down?” Nimby opens up his satchel, dumping the bound files onto the floor, which makes a pile that rises up to the halfling’s waist. A long master list floats out of the bag, landing on top of the pile.
“You said it was a class list,” Luke mentions when he sees the thick files.
“Well, I couldn’t be sure that you would make it in time before my copy of the class list was gone,” Nimby nonchalantly argues. “So, I used a magic powder to make copies of the important files for the night. They will be gone in the morning, so stop wasting time and look at them.”
Luke nods as he picks up the master list and some of the files. As he begins scanning the opening pages of the files, one fact becomes disappointingly clear. Selenia Hamilton trusts no one beyond her inner circle. Aside from names and hometowns, every student has pages of personal information that had been gathered before their admittance to the academy. While some students have five pages, others have nearly thirty pages consisting of reference interviews, health reports, and detailed family backgrounds.
“This is more than I expected,” Luke groans without looking up. “I don’t think I can read through all of these in one night and come away with anything helpful. Even my bard’s memory has its limits when I try to recall detailed information from long ago. That’s if I had a clear view of what I’m trying to remember in the first place. There were so many people in my way whenever the Duke visited Haven, so I barely remember what he looks like. I do remember that he had black hair and was very tan.”
“Skin
color doesn’t mean much if you get enough sun or stay indoors for most of your life,” Aedyn casually points out.
“Good point. Body type might work though,” Luke suggests, closing his eyes to concentrate. “He was pretty broad and tall for a human. I would say around six and a half feet tall and well over two-hundred pounds. I can probably rule out all of the non-humans and any half-breeds who don’t include human blood. The Duke wouldn’t use magic to hide the heir because the spell could be found by enemy casters or set off alarms in the academy. This is just panicky rambling, isn’t it?”
Nimby grins as he says, “Probably, but your panicky rambling has cut the list down to fifty humans and half-breeds.”
Fritz pats Luke on the knee and takes the master list from Luke. “I think you are missing the point of asking us for help, Luke. We work with you instead of watching you. I have been to Gods’ Voice before and let me tell you that the good old Duke is a religion nut. There are temples and shrines all over the place. Maybe that will help us narrow the list down even further.”
“Any bit of information will help. Thanks,” Luke says.
Fritz picks up some of the files and immediately glances at Nimby. “These aren’t magical copies. They are the originals. You honey-fingered idiot! We can get in a lot of trouble for this!”
“It took you this long to figure it out? You’re getting slow in your old age,” the halfling teases him.
“I’m not getting nailed for this stunt,” the gnome mutters. Fritz drops the folders and backs away until he is leaning against Bessaria. He pulls out a light blue wand and his badly damaged glasses that slowly begin to glow a soft yellow. With a flick of the wand, he turns the pages of the files, carefully reading from a safe distance.
“Fritz is right,” Aedyn agrees from his chair. “Duke Solomon is well known for putting his faith in religion more than anything else. A servant’s vision would be considered more important than an advisor’s common sense when it comes to Duke Solomon. Yet, I do not see how that would help Luke find the heir.”
“What do you care? You don’t even want to help him anymore!” Nimby exclaims, scanning one of the bigger files. The halfling pulls out a wooden top and starts spinning it on the only bare section of floor while he reads.
“I never said that I did not want to help him at all, but I have my own business to take care of,” the priest contends defensively. “Luke has yet to mention any type of situation that would require my skills. My people heal, destroy undead, and advise those who ask for our help. At this point, I will only give counsel without getting physically involved.” Aedyn puts his foot on the wooden top, bending down to Nimby’s face to politely add, “Besides, you are holding your meeting in my private quarters, so you cannot tell me what I can and cannot do.”
Luke doesn’t look away from his files when he casually mentions, “A Lich is involved.”
Aedyn’s grip on his quarterstaff tightens and his blue eyes glow fiercely. He mutters an incantation that creates a small fan of light an inch above his head. Bessaria wakes up and scrambles for cover causing Fritz to fall over, hitting his head on a partially buried potted plant. The gnome stays on his back and adjusts a dial on his glasses, so that the lenses grow and turn to allow him to continue reading. A warm breeze whips around the room as Aedyn tosses his staff from hand to hand in anxious irritation.
Luke pays no attention to the show of magic and continues working the files. Nobody can see the victorious smirk that he is hiding in the corner of his mouth.
Aedyn finally calms down and kneels in front of Luke, his eyes glowing like dying embers. “If you are telling me the truth then I will gladly help you. Liches are a rare and evil disease infecting Windemere. As a follower of the sun, I have pledged my soul to destroy creatures of eternal darkness. According to my faith, only a named demon and the long extinct Hejinn race would be considered darker than a Lich. You have my help until this creature has been permanently destroyed or I have uttered my final incantation.”
“You seem a little obsessed there, junior,” Fritz pleasantly declares from the floor. “I think you need to go out and get your robes loosened by a nice bar wench. By the way, I think your plant is dead.”
Aedyn glares at the gnome before sitting down again.
“Thank you for your help, Aedyn,” Luke says, nodding to the priest. “Have a file and join the fun.”
Hours of silence pass before Luke throws down six files onto the floor and pushes the rest of the pile to Nimby. Everyone, except Fritz, picks up two of the files and lays them open on the floor. Luke slowly gets to his feet, stretching in an attempt to loosen up his stiff legs and sore back.
“How do you know that one of these students is the heir?” Aedyn curiously inquires.
“Each one of these students is a first year who comes from a suburb outside of Gods’ Voice. Duke Solomon would not have his heir come directly from the Serabian capital, but, as Nimby said, he would need to have full control of the background to stand up to Selenia’s thorough background check,” Luke excitedly explains with a voice that crackles from lack of water. “That is assuming the heir didn’t get a royal introduction to the academy like I did, but the Duke would never take that risk. To make this ruse work, the fake background would have to explain things that the heir could not hide. Coming from outside of the city would explain their accent, taste in clothing, area knowledge, and other telltale signs of where they were raised. Even if told that he or she should blend in, the heir is not a trained thief and would inevitably reveal something that Selenia would catch.”
Aedyn hands Luke an empty glass, motioning to the glass to create some fresh water. He waits for Luke to finish drinking before he repeats himself. “So, why these six students?”
Luke rolls his eyes in exasperation. “These students come from that area, have the correct accent, and share a combination of physical traits with the Duke. I factored in hair color, eye color, body type, and facial structure using my memory of what the Duke looked like. The only one that doesn’t have the accent is this one, but her file says that her family recently moved to Gods’ Voice. That could be a trick by the Duke to throw the Lich off the heir’s trail. We have four guys and two girls. Now, we just have to figure out which one it is.”
“This one is not an option because I know the boy’s folks. They are nothing more than farmers who found a gold vein passing through their land the year that he was born,” Fritz informs the others, flicking his wand at the file in question. “The other five are viable options as long as Luke’s memory is reliable, the Duke is not more cunning than we give him credit for, or the heir has not been magically altered. Not great odds of being right, but given our situation, it is the best we are going to get. So, what do we do now?”
They all take a seat and think as a breeze from under the door rustles the piles of papers. Nimby is about to say something, but stops and goes back to playing with his wooden toys. The room remains quiet until Bessaria begins shifting from foot to foot. Fritz pats the sheep on the side, getting her to calm down.
“I vote that we try to find the assassin,” Luke suggests to the wide-eyed surprise of his new friends. “Hear me out before you argue. I can only concentrate on either the heir or the assassin without risking my secret. I can’t do both. Maybe one of you can keep an eye out for anyone suspicious while I keep up my cover. It has to be someone who arrived after last semester because if the assassin had arrived any earlier then the heir would have already been killed. I will keep an eye on these five students to see if they give themselves away. If you guys interact with any of them then feel free to look for them to drop any hints. If any other students act suspicious then look into it. I won’t deny that I might have missed something and a student who is not one of these five could be the heir.”
Luke pauses uncomfortably and looks at each of his new friends before adding, “None of you are obligated to help me. I don’t require a pledge or oath, so feel free to back out if you want. Is there
anything else that I’m missing?”
“I think that is enough for tonight,” Aedyn groggily claims, politely yawning behind his hand. “I will cast some dormant protective spells around the academy to help us. I doubt they will be used any time soon, but it is best to be prepared for anything. Goodnight to you all. It will be . . . interesting to see how we work together and where our adventure will lead us.” He goes to open the door after shaking hands with Luke.
Nimby nods before leaving through the open window while Fritz calmly rides Bessaria out the door. Luke doesn’t move from his spot against the wall for a few minutes before he moves toward the open door. Aedyn gently places a hand on Luke’s shoulder to stop the forest tracker from leaving.
“Do you have anything else on your mind, Luke?” he asks, his concerned expression forcing Luke to stare at the floor.
“Just wondering how I’m going to pull this off,” Luke quietly admits. “It might just be that I’m finally realizing how important this mission is and that I’m not entirely prepared. Don’t worry about it though. I’ll be fine by the morning. Both of us should get some sleep.”
Without another word, he enters the shadowy hallway and closes the door behind him. Aedyn shrugs and prepares for bed while a crow with crimson eyes watches him from a branch outside his window. The bird is gone before Aedyn goes to close the shutters. He stops to sniff the air with suspicion until a strong wind bursts through the window, stirring up his papers. Aedyn is focused on cleaning up the mess when a solitary feather floats on the end of the breeze, burning to ash as soon as it touches the sun urn.
“Something is burning,” Aedyn whispers as he lies down on his bed and falls asleep.
6
“This is a lesson in teamwork. You and your partner will be pitted against another pair,” Selenia explains, her voice easily carrying across the courtyard. “The object of this lesson is not to be the person who wins the fight for your team. We are here to learn how to win a fight as a team. So, I do not want to see any showboating and, as usual, no attempts to injure each other. I want to see moves that require both team members. Back each other up and play off each other in order to utilize maneuvers that would be impossible for a solitary fighter. For some of you, this will be easy. For others, this will be very difficult.” She turns to Kellia and Luke. “Then, there are the two of you.”
Beginning of a Hero (Legends of Windemere) Page 13
