The pounding of hundreds of feet sounded down the docks of Austice’s shores. There was no need to try and be quiet. Despite night surrounding them, torches were lit, and there was darkness in the minds of the men as they moved forward, preparing themselves for the barrage of attacks.

However, everyone gradually began hesitating in their journey once they began climbing the streets up towards the castle and realized… there wasn’t a soul around.

As the men all glanced at one another, equally disturbed, cries began to ring out into the night.

Captain Orion who was leading the charge up the centre road of Austice didn’t know what was happening. There wasn’t the singing of steel or the scuffling footwork of a fight… so what in the world was-

“SIR! WATCH OUT!” one of the men cried out as five ale barrels were suddenly released from some sort of tether that was still smoking… as though a fuse had been lit moments before. The barrels came crashing down through the men. Many were able to dodge, but in the crowd of bodies, not everyone was successful. It was then they learned that the barrels were not in fact, empty, and they had gained a fair bit of speed rolling down the hill.

“These traps are childish,” the Captain snarled under his breath as he took stock of the fifteen men that had been injured. No sooner had the military man reset his sights on his journey back up the hill than he heard the faint rumbling and… what was that sound?

A distant shout in the night suddenly reached their ears. “FLOOD!”

Orion’s eyes widened as he saw, too late, the gleam of gallons of water surging towards him under his torchlight.

*

Aidan stood on the ship deck, shoulder to shoulder with the elders, as they watched what had been their plan hours before… be turned completely against them.

“Your son takes after you more than we realized,” Mr. Kraft observed casually.

Aidan turned to verbally reprimand his assistant, only to hear the crackle of water turn to ice.

Closing his eyes and gritting his teeth, the Chief of Troivack’s Military felt his anger surge.

“We will warm the ice so that the men don’t freeze to death, but that uses up quite a bit of our magical reserves. We can wave for a ceasefire for the night to collect the bodies, and begin at dawn. By then my familiar should be prepared to attack once more.”

He tore himself away from the ship’s railing, already dreading having to deal with the Troivackian King’s ire.

At the very least they had received terrific news that Rollom had fallen completely into their hands. Once they took Austice it would be easy to eliminate Xava, and then ideally negotiate a fair surrender for Sorlia. The most beautiful city in all of Daxaria with bountiful fields…

“We’ll be giving them rest as well, remember,” the earth witch Elder reminded Aidan.

“True, but they used up far more of their reserves than we have. Even after a night of rest, they will not be able to fully recover after a single night,” Aidan pointed out while regaining his composure and pressing his hands into his pockets. “No, tomorrow they will be tired, and if we continue to whittle away at their magics we will have the upper hand. I’ll take my familiar and drain even more of their power while trying to find where they stowed my wife. I doubt she would’ve fled with the others. She’d want to stay close by to help with the healing…”

“Mr. Helmer, for a deficient witch you are exerting a great deal of your energy on locating your wife,” Mr. Kraft noted while jotting down a quick note in his small journal.

“Deficient or not, she can heal witches or humans easily. It is an incredible power to have on your side. Though never ask her to help you sober up. Learned that the hard way. Once I came home from a night drinking at the neighbors, and Fin had made this incredible-” the fire witch suddenly stopped his reminiscing as an unfamiliar feeling shifted through his chest. He hadn’t realized he’d been starting to smile.

A faint cool breeze rustled the sails in the quiet as the Elders listened intently.

“It’s been a while since I’ve thought about them, I suppose. Regardless of her inadequate methods of curing a hangover, Kate is a valuable asset,” Aidan finished instead, resuming his former air of superiority.

The assistant nodded along, though he would be lying if he were to say he wasn’t intrigued.

For as long as he had known Aidan Helmer, not once had he spoken fondly of his time in Daxaria.

What the fire witch hadn’t revealed however, was the strange ominous feeling he had when he’d looked into his son’s eyes earlier.

There was a strange glimmer to them that he had only ever seen in one man before… A man who had died and returned miraculously to life. There was more than just that though… there was also an endless well of grief he had glimpsed in Fin’s eyes. Not merely hatred and anger towards him, but something else that made Aidan uneasy, though he didn’t want to admit it…

*

“They’ve called for a ceasefire to collect the dead,” Captain Antonio recounted over the missive that had been delivered via wind magic.

“Oh, thank the Gods. That means Ainsley can leave in peace with Lina.” Norman rubbed his eyes while his elbows were pressed against his knees.

Everyone was exhausted by the day’s events, and no one had relished the thought that they would have to be fighting all night either.

“Sire, we’ve received confirmation from the Knights in Sorlia. They are already enroute to try and lend aid to the city of Rollom,” Mr. Howard announced while striding forward with a small missive strip in his hand.

“Good. I’ve ordered only around fifteen percent of the military in Xava to go help. I won’t send more in case they are planning to swiftly attack Xava as well.

“Fortunately our roads system is confusing, so it might buy us some time,” Lord Fuks thought aloud.

“No, my father knows the roads well. It was one of the many things he used to go on long rants about because he often got lost while trying to recruit-” Fin stopped himself from continuing. They didn’t need to hear any more in depth explanation of the bad news he had just delivered.

Instead, the redhead continued resting with his back against the castle wall, his eyes heavy. Annika had gone elsewhere when a carrier pigeon had arrived from her estate in Austice. Apparently there was another disturbance that required her attention… Fin hoped it wasn’t anything too serious.

“Lord Ashowan, you need to sleep if you are to recover more of your magic,” mage Lee’s quiet voice made the redhead jerk his head up suddenly. Had his eyes been closed?

“Yes, we will all take advantage of this small reprieve. Fin, you set up the alarms should the Troivackians try to attack us despite the ceasefire?” the King asked kindly.

The redhead nodded while covering his mouth and yawning.

“Good. Now go get some sleep. I’m going to try and convince your wife to leave with Ainsley.”

Fin smiled gratefully as he slowly managed to stand once more. His body felt as though it had been filled with lead, and the next time he blinked, feared he might pass out.

In fact, it wasn’t far from what happened as Fin took two steps and stumbled. Mr. Howard was the one to catch him, and haul him back onto his feet.

“Come now, let’s set you up amongst some potato sacks or something so you’ll feel right at home,” the assistant muttered with a grunt as the two struggled to leave the camp.

Norman watched Fin’s retreating back for several moments before turning to Lee who was still staring after them.

“He really did use too much magic today. Even if he regained some of his power, he will have sacrificed a great deal of stamina,” the mage explained quietly.

“I’m worried about him too.” Eloise Morozov appeared suddenly then, her expression firm as she gave a quick curtsy to the King before folding her arms across her chest. “Forgive my intrusion, but we are relying heavily on a witch whose ability is so far removed from warfare, it is incredible that he isn’t already unconscious with no hope of waking for a full week.”

Norman fixed the newcomer with an interested stare as he slowly straightened and tilted his head. “Ms. Morozov, we know very little about witches, and furthermore, the Viscount has not spoken a word about any of this to us. Would you perhaps enlighten me?”

The witch nodded, her confidence and steady nature somehow very reassuring. “Lord Ashowan will continue to deplete his magic more quickly than the rest of us because this is the antithesis of what the Goddess gifted him with. There is a reason his most powerful move is expelling threats from his space. Danger and harm do not exist in a harmonious home, and right now, this is not a home. This is a battlefield. Lord Ashowan either needs to be tasked with something else, or we need to try and do things his way, by his rules.”

“You want us to… bake… the enemy… pie?” Lord Fuks asked slowly, though in fairness the man sounded incredibly intrigued as though he were willing to accept the notion as an acceptable solution.

“No. Either we reassign the Viscount and fight as we have strategized- a wise idea. Or we do things Lord Ashowan’s way. Whatever that may be. I’ve heard rather strange stories from the Knights here… a drinking competition that somehow led to one of the Knights becoming a Duke? Then there is the mystery of how Lord Ashowan and his wife fell in love… and of course I’ve heard stories about a series of fountains around the gardens. Yet no one speaks of the mysterious tenth one…”

Norman let out a small snort as mage Lee blushed a crimson red.

“Yes, I… will admit… whenever we have done things the Viscount’s way things have always… gotten better…” the King let out a long sigh. “However, I can’t risk every life in Daxaria on his outrageous luck. He may not even have any ideas on what could turn this all around.”

Eloise bowed her head. “I defer to you, of course, I was just offering my input. Lord Ashowan is an incredibly powerful witch, but… a sword when attempting to sew a tapestry is the wrong kind of steel.”

The men shared meaningful gazes at the Coven Leader’s wisdom.

They knew she was right.

It was not going to help anyone if they merely burned away Fin’s ability to defend.

Just as Norman was opening his mouth to speak, the Viscountess suddenly rushed into their midsts.

“Has anyone seen Fin?” she breathed, a missive clutched in her hand.

Captain Antonio stepped forward worriedly. “He went to sleep. The man is barely conscious; My Lady, is something amiss?”

Brandishing the missive in her hand, her beautiful brown eyes slightly crazed she burst out, “I want him to summon that damned cat of his.”

Norman was on his feet in an instant. “What did that spawn of satan do now?”

Eloise Morozov blinked in confusion. Why were they all so distressed over a mere cat?

“Apparently a clowder of cats have torn through my keep and disrupted not only… sensitive powders I carry, but our food storage! That little beast has already burned down a building, I don’t want-”

“He did what?!” the King demanded, the manic hysteria in his eyes matched only by Annika’s as everyone around them faded more into the background.

“Is there… something wrong… with this… cat?” the Coven Leader was beginning to wonder just how sane the King and Viscountess were.

“Fin’s familiar,” mage Lee interjected quietly. “His Majesty and the feline seem to be at… slight odds with one another.”

“Slight odds?! Slight odds?! That wretched beast has wrecked more shoes than I care to count, and clawed up our bed frame. Not only that but he is persistent in stealing my dinner rolls, and at one point drank a goblet of wine he purposefully knocked over-”

“I beg your pardon… are we still talking about a cat?” Eloise was at a true loss as to what was happening.

“I would like to go back to Kraken burning down a building. What was that about?” Captain Antonio insisted with a deep frown.

“The furry beast is the one who set the fire that led us to discovering the Troivackians!” Annika explained briefly before turning her attention fully to the King.

“Fin is able to speak with him, and I want to know what the hell this cat is doing! I swear, that animal has known everything going on and-”

“Wait a moment… Is this cat black, fluffy, white patch on his chest and another on its nether region? Green eyes?” Eloise Morozov asked suddenly.

Everyone’s heads whipped around to be fully attentive to her.

“It’s just… the witches who were sent to rescue Lord Ashowan, mentioned that part of the reason the mission went so smoothly was that a cat bearing that description, and a greyhound appeared to have somehow steered a ship into the one the Viscount was being held. They collided and sank two vessels as a result. Now I’m hearing Lord Ashowan can even fully communicate with his familiar? This is incredible! There are so many questions witches have never been able to ask and learn!”

No one said a word for a moment as they all instantly became desperate for answers, yet one thing had become abundantly clear…

The familiar named Kraken, seemed to be up to something, and given his track record, it probably had something to do with protecting his House Witch.