The Past...

“That was very well done.”

Hazé froze.

She had Detect Life up, and yet nobody was registering on it. Her Ranks in Perception had been bought up with her Human Racial Levels, the only Levels she had been able to gain while saddled with so much Karmic Debt, yet even her heightened senses had felt no one behind her.

She started to move, and felt something like gossamer pulling at the magic around her. It danced over her personal mantle of spells, and she watched them fall apart like snowflakes, the power in them sucked away.

She had no way to Cast spells, and even her shape-altering spell was gently and easily stripped away, dropping her a foot in height and reverting her attire.

She turned and looked at her interlocuter, and the two Helices spinning around him.

Multi-colored flames danced around him in the thaumaspectrum, drawn into him by one strand along a spiraling path. Along the other, a colorless mist was constantly exuded into the manasphere, pure mana to a degree she’d never seen before.

He was a tall human, broad-shouldered, rangy, long arms and legs made to reach and grasp, with shadowed dark eyes to match his dark hair and a grim expression... which still couldn’t hide all its astonishment as he looked down at her. His large hands rested on the slender Longsword and long Dagger at his hips, and his every motion showed he knew how to use them.

Hazé looked at the lines of fire and mist that had extended out around her, her eyes narrowing. She understood that she was well and truly caught, and there was no way she was going to be able to survive if this man in front of her wanted her dead.

“That was very rude,” she replied, looking up at him huffily. “I keep that Astral Ward up for a very good reason.”

He seemed amused at her cheek. “It is not often I see a Ten Archmage who is a child.” His voice was grim and level.

“I was reborn as a child here, as I’m sure your Helices have verified. I am not a body stealer,” she replied crisply, shaking her short Staff at him. “You have no business with me, Void Brother. Why are you bothering me?”

His eyebrow rose in reproof. “You seem very certain of that.”

“Would I not be dead if it was not true?” she replied coolly, glaring up at him.

He actually gave out a short laugh, unable to hide his amusement. “Your age has not cost you your tongue, I see.”

“Or you yours,” she replied tartly, which only made him smile more. “What do you want? I am rather young to be offered a bondmage position.”

He visibly flinched at that, a shadow of pain crossing his eyes. “Nothing so important. I merely wished to verify exactly who the spellcaster was who was terrorizing all the lowlifes I often spend time putting to the knife. I crossed your trail some twenty miles back, and followed you here.” He lifted his eyes to the valley behind her.

A palatial manor house was in flames... purple flames. The fires had spread over the lawn, which had cracked open in numerous places and was venting more purple flames from below. Additionally, the cemetery behind the manor house had dozens of similar fires rising from the graves there, as if they were taking out their ire on the long-dead, too.

“May I ask what brought you to the Quierdaz family’s estate?” he asked simply. It was quite literally in the middle of nowhere, a sleepy barony where nothing ever happened. Even he had never been here before.

Hazé reached inside her Vest and pulled out two folded letters, holding them out to him silently. He plucked them from her hand, opened them up, and without difficulty began reading them by the moonlight.

It took him only a couple of minutes, his eyes flickering over the flowing script. “Interesting,” he admitted, eyes flickering to the manor house. “I shall have to alert my brother Bonescythe of this. We had no idea the Kingdom of Ghouls had reached into the Empire like this.” He held up the letters, she waved them away, and he tucked them into his own vest calmly. “Have you others like this?”

“Where do you think I’ve been getting my targets from?” she asked with a sniff. “Getting the cipher wasn’t all that hard after questioning the dead. The mere existence of it is enough to get me more targets to put down.”

“And they have not been going to ground?” he asked archly.

“Do not play the fool with me, Brother Firesword,” she admonished him sharply. “If they’d word someone was hunting them, of course they would have fled. Happily, all that has been involved are horrible accidents. After all, they are delving into some fantastically dangerous matters, and mishaps are to be expected.”

“Mishaps.” He eyed the purple flames burning so strongly, dark eyes showing faint appreciation deep within. “Always a fine method of distracting the foolish.”

“I need to re-establish my Astral Ward.” He looked at her for a moment, then nodded, and the feathery touches of his Helices withdrew from her skin, allowing her to reach out and touch the manafield. She was surprised to feel how vibrant it was, and could only attribute it to the mana he was exuding as she once again raised her anti-divinatory defenses.

“Do you have another target you plan to strike?” he asked calmly as she finished.

“Many. I alternate between them to keep them off-balance,” she replied.

He was tapping the pommels of his Blades thoughtfully as he regarded her. She looked back without flinching, knowing that if he hadn’t killed her by now, he was not going to, and thus she had nothing to fear from him.

“If the Brotherhood were to supply you with some viable targets, would you be interested in pursuing them?” he inquired of her.

Hazé frowned slightly. “Mercenary and cruel as it may be, financing is a requirement in my choice of targets. I do pick those who prey on others as a matter of course, and am far from unwilling to lay the blame on other equally duplicitous sorts... but I will not just attack someone on your say-so, Brother. There must be compensation in loot, or you must pay me directly. My time has value.

“And don’t even think about sending me after some pure soul who must die because the Land says so. I’ll leave that shrivening of the soul to you.”

A pained smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, but only for a second. “Reasonable enough. We have to support ourselves on the wealth of our foes, too.” He seemed rather impressed that a Caster was standing up to him. “If you are willing to work with us and keep silent about it, we are willing to do the same with you.”

“Not worried about power corrupting absolutely and all that?” Hazé didn’t bother to hide her amusement. “Very well. How do I contact you?”

“We will contact you.” He took something out of a pocket, tossed it in the air, and put it away smoothly.

Hazé just stared at him. It was a tin of Mama’s facial cream.

“Your Helices are obscenely sensitive,” she muttered under her breath. He must have felt the faintest traces of her Aura in the alchemically-mixed cream, and matched them instantly to the teleport traces and her Aural trail, even through the interference of the Astral Ward. His Helices were like parts of his body, while Casters, even powerful entities, worked through spells and similar effects for the results. It was like comparing the sense of touch of someone working with their fingers, and another using yard-long probes.

“Why do you even bother with necromancies?” he asked her directly, his eyes intense on hers. “Your Aura holds traces of them, but they seem to be routinely purified.”

“They are a requirement for Star Magery. I can count the number of pure necromantic spells I have Cast on one hand, and only for specific purposes. I mostly rely on white necromancy, and even Speak with the Dead uses a mix of energies if done properly.

“Likewise, I do not believe in enforced servitude, and so seldom use Summons, or Enchantments. I will Conjure something for service, but there will be compensation involved, or it will fulfill their natural purpose. Enchantments will be used normally to bypass more violent means.”

“Casters with morals are rare in the Empire these days.” His nostrils flared as the Helices drifted around her, but did not touch her. “You are capable of a truly impressive amount of channeling. It reverberates in your Aura. Just what did you have to kill that required such a tremendous burst of power?”

He seemed honestly interested, and it wasn’t good to lie to a Void Brother. “A Hag came to our shop, with doppelganger cohorts, probably intending to do a slay-and-replace. She took the main hit head on, survived it, fled, and ate an auxiliary blast while doing so, surviving that even with four holes punched right though her.”

Hazé flicked up her Shards, Paired them, and left them spinning around her arm for him to inspect.

He eyed the two sets of ten Shards spinning in different directions without fear, but with great interest. His misty Helix strand washed through them, and they flared with light at the passing touch. Hazé’s eyes widened despite herself at the contact with her magic.

“I know three different Hags that might be able to withstand that. What type?” he asked.

“An Annis, judging by the blue-black skin.”

“Mmmm. Tusk Annie.” She filed the name away for more research. “She has been active across a fair breadth of the Empire of late, and she’s also a Twelve Witch.” He looked for signs of reaction, found none. “Whatever force she is working for naturally has great plans. I doubt she’ll return without sufficient reason, but being paranoid is the price of what we do, is it not?”

“It is.” And being crept up on so easily by a mage-slayer like him was definitely not soothing any nerves. “May I go now, oh Fire and Sword?”

He waved his hand. “Teleport away, if you like. I will wipe the traces on this end.”

She gave him another look, but pulled out a sheet of thin wood from her pack, glowing slightly with a Seal drawn upon it, fully Energized. She stepped on it with her small feet, extended her thoughts back along her Lived-Line, and found the bright light at the confluence of so many paths in and out.

With a step, she moved along the path of her life to a previous position in space, and was gone.

---------

Brother Firesword watched the Seal burn into ash and blow away. His Helices swirled through the area, removing any trace of a Caster from the manafield and restoring it to passing purity, almost on reflex.

A reborn Archmaga, and likely a nigh-direct servant of Sylune. That she had managed to retain so much power in her rebirth was likely due to direct intervention by the goddess. Already going about facing the darkness, even if profit and the rebuilding of her personal arsenal and defenses was behind it.

She was spirited, and aware of Void Brothers, an interesting combination. She looked like she would grow up to be a true midnight beauty, too. The Silver Queen had put a powerful and concealed piece on the board through a back-handed method.

Ah, he had not asked where she was reborn from. In truth, he hadn’t even bothered to ask her name. He knew her Aura now, far more intimate an identification than eyes, ears, or even scent.

It would be interesting to see what time made of her. He sincerely hoped he would not have to hunt and put her down in the future...