Chapter 49: A Hexknight's Reunion

Subject: Caim Location: Maliscade - Blightbane Guild

The Guild hall fell silent in the aftermath of the fighting. Mille had tackled Caim down beside an overturned table, against which their backs now lay. It was now possible for the two of them to overhear the conversation between the Hexknights.

Caim peered around the side of the table to get a good look at the knights gathering around Gillis.

“Please answer this simple question. What am I looking at here?” Gillis demanded angrily.

Caim could finally see the familiar face clearly. The Gillis he’d met in the Tether Transit cabin didn’t seem like a dangerous person, at least in how he presented, but this new furious look was profoundly intimidating.

His knights were on-edge, glancing at him nervously. They wore no armor, clad in black and violet fabric, reminiscent of a webwork fashion trend Caim had seen popularized far away.

The attire didn’t look protective, but Caim could now guess why. It was florid against the drab clothing of the general populace, like the Welder knights and their leader, but it seemed functional too.

The two on either side of Gillis had irises and sclera cloaked in abyssal purple. Veins of color around the edges of their eyes were marked by the unmistakable sign of magic.

The Welders wore magitech-laced or potentially mostly-mechanical armor, but they were bruisers at their core. Their builds also suggested this.

Gillis’s squad were mages. They were dexterously manipulating currents of visible energy to delicately clear debris and treat the injured. Gwen had mentioned this before, how some materials augmented or altered magical abilities.

At least, they were attempting to treat the injured, but both the mages and their targets were equally confounded by blood-soaked clothes covering untarnished skin. Like the true professionals they were, the mages directed their attention elsewhere to find where they were needed.

“Use the utmost care when giving the Guild our aid, Cartographers. Jai, I’ll handle this myself.

Gillis had noticed one of the knights staring more intently than the others, and he curtly ordered her away. She didn’t respond, but her short blue hair swept back as a sudden gust of air spontaneously began at her location.

The breeze stopped, and people and miscellaneous objects all around the hall began to glow. Knight Jai wasn’t even looking where she was directing it, but her magic touched everything as far as the eye could see.

It was targeting specific items in the hall, people among them. Caim felt a cool sensation sweep across his skin, and it started to glow like the others, but then it stopped, passing him over entirely. He wondered why.

The Welders, Latice’s knights, immediately looked to their direct superior for orders after noticing the tension. He requested that they stand down and assist The Cartographers with the cleanup.

“You’re shaking,” Mille whispered, pointing out something even Caim didn’t notice.

Perhaps he was still reeling from casting so many unfamiliar spells and calibrating those spells to suit his needs. Maybe it was head trauma. Maybe it was anger.

“What do you mean? Is that any way to treat a former comrade?” Latice answered with a confident smirk.

Caim found himself standing and walking a few paces closer to the pair. His body wouldn’t respond properly. Now, it just hung in a permanent standstill, frozen behind Latice.

Mille hadn’t left the safety of the overturned table. He knew why, but he wasn’t thinking clearly.

Caim wanted to help out like the others but found himself physically incapable of looking away from the two Hexknights. Caim couldn’t even turn his head to feign disinterest. It didn’t seem to matter, though, the Hexknights were heavily focused on each other.

The headache’s back. Is that the price of my magic or something?

He was still aware of his surroundings. The Welders acted without needing orders, communicating in reverberating voices that they were ‘here to help if needed’. Naturally, people didn’t seem inclined to accept assistance from people who’d been beating on them not so long ago.

“This isn’t your jurisdiction,” Gillis insisted. “You shouldn’t be here, so mind giving me a simple explanation? Just try.”

Caim and Mille were probably the only ones in the hall who could hear the two Hexaline Knights conversing by now, amidst the post-battle clamor. Able to look around now, Caim saw that the presence of the knights had effectively cleared the area. No one wanted to be around them if they had the choice.

Gillis’s face twisted in frustration, and the residual discoloration of sustained magic use had yet to fade. Still, he stood out among the weary survivors in the room. Though his chest heaved with the exertion of continuous spellcasting, his limit was a long way off.

“I don’t answer to you and your delusional Paragon. All of Shroud and beyond is our jurisdiction. We can operate wherever we want. Go bother someone else,” Latice spat.

“I’ll pretend you didn’t say that given the stress you must be under after such an experience, but I urge you to remember that we are all on the same side here, and we represent Shroud. Just as soul tethers bind us to the divine, our actions can change public opinion of our nation, and public opinion changes us and our authority.”

White strands of magical energy extended out from Gillis’s body and spread out across his surroundings. Unlike his subordinate’s magic, it ignored people and things, laying upon the ground and up the walls before dimming to a dull sheen.

Whatever he was doing was beyond Caim’s ability to comprehend, but it was beautiful. The Hexknight had impressive multitasking skills.

“Are we really on the same side? Your Cartographers vacation around without a care in the world, while my Welders have seen what it’s like out there. We’ve lived it for over a decade, and now we are going back. You had your chance to join me.”

Caim couldn’t follow the conversation, but these knights appeared to have a history. They weren’t friends, and they had different reasons for being here. What was more... The reason wasn’t related to the recent attack.

“We have our mission just as you have yours. You bring up that old memory like it’s nothing, but it still bites at me.”

Gillis was hurting, Caim could see it in his wide-eyed stare. Biting his lip and furrowing his brow, it took a long moment for him to conceal his feelings about the matter.

“Why would I spare a shadow for a coward like you?”

Caim really had to strain his ears to hear that last part through the unfamiliar expression, but it seemed like an inappropriate conversation to be having in front of lowly citizens. Maybe this wasn’t as private a matter as it sounded, but Caim doubted that.

“I’m not a coward, I’m just a Hexaline Knight of Progress with greater ambitions than a certain one-trick basher. Do you know what you sounded like back then?”

Latice shrugged, and Gillis went on.

“I pictured a farmer hearing a rumor about the weather and immediately damning the garden’s wilted crops without bothering to glimpse the fields past view of the one window he happened to look through.”

He conveyed his frustrations in a rising voice, clutching his arm close to his chest, before he tempered this emotional intensity to keep the conversation relatively private.

“All you’re good for is flowery language and making maps. Stick to the latter and give me a moment of peace before I have to go back out there,” Latice sighed wearily.

The other Hexknight’s colorfully figurative language didn’t produce the expected outburst. Caim had expected an eruption of volcanic ire, leading him to believe their history was more complicated than originally assumed.

Latice hardened his gaze and held out his hand with the palm upwards to emphasize a point.

“Look, you don’t know what it’s really like, and you don’t want to. I wanted you to back then because I thought we could prevent a war. Well… I’m sunspun too. The war never really ended and it was always going to get worse. Sunspun and naive.”

Gillis wandered a soft step closer, but not in anger.

“I’ll leave you alone, but I know you didn’t want to be here weaving that woman’s schemes. You can’t trust someone like that. I don’t know what she wants because she feigns interest in different things to different people to keep her thoughts a mystery.”

Latice glanced upward, as though he’d expected this comment. Like his compatriot, he wasn’t angered, just weary.

“Maybe she wants everything. Who cares. You’re the one who was always too quick to trust. I’m just being me. And my Welders also know what they are and what they aren’t. You know what? We’ll leave the cleanup to you since you’re obviously an expert in every subject.”

Gillis, whose face was the only one Caim could see clearly, bore a lifeless saddened expression.

“Be safe.”

“That’s a laugh. How about instead of worrying about me, you take a closer look at this one creeping behind me. Consider it a parting gift.”

“I wish you’d just use your words. Anyway, here is one from me.”

Gillis handed a small silver bracelet to Latice, who scoured the metalwork with a critical gaze.

“What is it? These feelings of yours surprise me, but I’m not one to judge who a person loves. But, me? I don’t have time for those things.”

“Shut it. Right now, this is just a prototype ‘good luck charm’. Eventually, all Hexknights will have them. If I can ever manage to get them working, it might just save your life should you get caught out in the sun.”

“You are gonna’ save me now? You never had a sense of humor, so stop it with the bad jokes.”

“Just coat it in blood, your blood, in the event of an emergency so severe even you can’t overcome it. It might help you, but only you.”

“You pulse-forsaken mages and your gadgets. Took us long enough to get used to what you added to our armor. I’ll hold onto it, but don’t read into that.”

“Your welcome, Ely.”

“Right back at you, Gil.”

Latice passed Gillis and gave him a relatively respectful nod.

“Welder Knights, group up, and prepare to move out! We have a job to do.”

The knights responded immediately, stopping whatever they were doing to form up behind the Hexknight. Together, they marched out of the Guild.

Subject: Gillis Location: Maliscade - Blightbane Guild

Heeding the advice of his fellow Hexknight, Gillis The Cartographer decided to have a word with the young man in the black seeker’s armor. He hadn’t noticed him listening in on his bittersweet reunion.

This person might have looked more suspicious if he had hidden his interest, but he was not a calculating schemer like the one leading Latice around on a rope. He was just a curious observer.

But Gillis was curious too. Hexaline Knights of Progress were just built that way. The boy looked reasonably dull, so why would Latice suggest there was more. His mind was spinning in circles, thinking about this.

“You there. What is your name?”

Guilds usually had vacant meeting rooms where a person could get some privacy. They were likely all vacant now. A seeker would probably be less uncomfortable meeting in their natural habitat.

Usually, I get the impression the Blight-scarred festerfonts are their natural habitats, but some of them actually care about their fellows and the Guild. I noticed this the last time I was here. What makes this border city special?

“Caim.”

“Please don’t be alarmed, Caim. My name is Gillis. I am a Hexaline Knight of Progress who happened to be in the area when this situation began. Since I wasn’t in the Guild hall when the fighting here started, would you be willing to fill me in on what I missed? You wouldn’t even need to leave the building. We could use one of the private rooms back there.”

He was trying to sound convincing, but it was difficult to persuade someone in a situation like this. If worse came to worst and he would just order him to come along, but that was only a last resort.

He pointed behind Caim toward the hallway just past the information desk. Caim seemed to have some familiarity with these private rooms, but he was still hesitant.

Jai watched their conversation from far away, focusing on an overturned table. She began to walk toward it and stopped to stare down at something behind the table.

“My lord, there is someone with the Guild over here. A faron clerk,” she announced. “You there. Get up.”

Caim reacted and walked closer. A glowing scale, like that of a creature, mysteriously appeared in his hand and he pressed it to his chest. Then he reached out, and Jai stepped back in surprise.

It must be a spell.

Jai reached out and cast a spell. It constricted a target, tightening around Caim’s body until the seeker could no longer move. It wasn’t the kind of spell that would produce pain, but it was understandably frightening to be imprisoned like that.

“Careful, my lord. There’s no echo.”

“It’s a defensive spell, yes?” Gillis asked Caim.

He struggled to nod but was unable to.

“Stand down, Jai.”

“Yes, my lord.”

The spell’s grip vanished, and Caim almost stumbled over. Gillis saw a faron in a disheveled Guild uniform jump to her feet and lower her head before the Jai.

“My name is Mille, my lord.”

She looked absolutely mortified. He had enough experience with faron to detect subtle cues to their emotional state, beyond the hue of their conduits, which were often suppressed.

“You’re a clerk? Can you get us a private room?”

Mille nodded to both questions.

“Good, you should join Caim and me. It will be better to have some Guild representation.”

At this point, another Guild employee rushed over and held Mille close, bowing to Jai and Gillis in turn.

“I-In that case. I could come too, my lord. Communications Overseer Marian, my lord. I can help with whatever you may want.”

Gillis didn’t want any more intruders on the conversation than necessary. Still, he didn’t want to start by offending the Guild or unsettling this frightened clerk and lowering Caim’s disposition of him either.

“Very well. Jai, go with these two and set up a room for the four of us. I have an announcement to make before I join them.”

“Let me join you, my lord,” Jai requested, but he shook his head.

She saluted and left without protest. She never disobeyed orders, and he liked that about her, but sometimes he wished she would at least question them. Not his orders, especially, but those passed down from other sources. What would happen if his will were to come in conflict with those mighty currents?

Gillis cleared his thoughts and summoned a soft beam of light from his fingertip all the way to the arched ceiling. It was just an illumination spell, intended to capture everyone’s attention.

“Attention, everyone, I have an announcement. You are no longer in danger, the area is now safe from outsiders, but I want you to listen closely.”

All around him, survivors dropped to a kneel, silently facing him. This kind of thing gave him mixed feelings. Right now, it happened to be useful.

“I will submit this in writing later today, but we will take care of all repairs. The Blightbane Guild of Maliscade will have the choice of receiving payment and conducting internal repairs, or they may accept our specialists. In addition, all individuals present will receive a small amount of compensation for all you have suffered.”

Gillis summoned up the emotions he felt and used them as fuel to affect a tone that might smooth tensions between the Guild and Shroud. More importantly, he wanted harmony between the Guild and its seekers and The Cartographers specifically. Their long-term goal relied on favorable relations.

“You have all been through something terrible. Beyond that, on behalf of the Hexaline Knights of Shroud, please understand that we are not your enemy. What my-, What the other Hexknight did was necessary to draw out dangerous terrorists we believed were hiding among you.”

That was a lie. Latice had been acting out a plan pitched to him by that vile woman. She was a Hexaline Knight like them. She had no business manipulating people like this. Why was Latice here? What did she gain from this?

“If there are any who suffer long-term injuries, we will offer our best available treatments free of charge. Beyond that, my squad, ‘The Cartographers’, wish to form a bond with this branch of the Guild specifically. We see your potential, and we hope to support your future work to protect the citizens from the ravages of Blight now and in the future.”

He felt these things. He felt these emotions. Sure, he was drawing them out to sway the crowd, but he wasn’t deceitful. Even so, he hated what he was doing.

“To all Guild-affiliated blightsource traders, The Cartographers will begin arranging for large-scale transactions to begin on a regular business. The prices will be fair, more than fair. You have my word.”

Now, it was time for the closer.

“The Cartographers are a friend of the Blightbane Guild. We hope to prove that moving forward, while we support your recovery from this near-tragedy. We will protect you as you protect us.”