Verdan’s features were hard as stone as he butchered the darjee. The fwyn behind him were restraining and pulling down the odd one here and there, but the majority of the damage being done was by Verdan's spells.

He’d chosen the site of his trap carefully, ensuring that the darjee would be funnelled down a narrow stretch to reach him. He was confident that his first empowered fireball had killed a few, but it had been little more than the bait to get them over here.

‘Hoer niwlla,’ Verdan spoke with a throwing motion, causing a fresh wall of freezing mist to fill the area in front of him. It wasn’t thick enough to obscure anything, but it was incredibly cold, sufficient to sap the strength of the darjee. Releasing the old mist and focusing instead on the new one, Verdan threw a pair of lesser fire bolts at two darjee still standing. The bolts of flame lost some strength entering the mist but were still enough to finish off the wounded darjee.

A few moments passed without any further enemies presenting themselves, so Verdan started forward, one hand at the ready to form a shield.

It was foolish for a group with no magical support to take on a trained wizard, especially without surprise or being able to prepare the battlefield. It seemed that no one had ever taught that to the darjee, and Verdan was going to rectify that.

The fwyn followed Verdan as he picked his way through the bodies, letting the mist disperse as he reached it. He’d renewed the casting in case another wave had been coming, but it looked like this was all of them.

All being well, Tim should be releasing the captives now, with the other group of fwyn supporting him. Verdan was a little concerned with what the darjee might have in place to stop magic-wielders from escaping, but he was sure Tim would figure it out.

Rounding the corner of the narrow street he’d chosen as a kill zone, Verdan found himself at the entrance of the plaza. In the distance, he could see large cages framed against one of the larger ruined buildings he’d seen here.

Verdan could see movement around the cages, too much for a few darjee guards. It looked like Tim had been successful.

Hurrying over while still keeping a general eye on the surrounding area, Verdan saw the fwyn slowly breaking into the cages by clawing through the wooden bars. It looked like most of the cages were already dealt with; there were just one or two left to break into.

Looking closer as they joined with the other group, Verdan saw the bone charms dangling from the ceiling of the cage. Sweeping it with his Aether senses, Verdan wrinkled his nose in distaste and instinctively incinerated it with a blast of flame. He knew the oily sensation of abyssal energy anywhere.

Forcing himself to examine a second charm with more restraint, Verdan could tell that the energy it held was different from that of the cyth. It was still abyssal energy, of that he had no doubt, but it was different. Darker, somehow, less corruptive than the energy of the cyth, but more stifling.

Even now, he could feel the presence of the charm pushing on the Aether around him, leaving a low-Aether zone around it. The charms weren’t powerful enough to banish the Aether completely, but he could now understand how the fwyn were being kept prisoner.

‘Thanr,’ Verdan all but spat out the word as he incinerated the charm, unable to restrain himself any longer. Verdan had some ideas as to the foul origin of the raw material for the charm. Thankfully, his attack only destroyed the binding and the extras to the charm. He would make sure the bones themselves were buried.

‘Where is Tim?’ Verdan asked a nearby Fwyn. It was time to finish regrouping.

‘He was injured. We took him inside the building,’ the fwyn replied, pointing out the large building that Verdan had noted earlier.

‘Injured?’ Verdan echoed with concern, hurrying in the direction the fwyn had pointed. He mustn’t have been able to draw off all the darjee with his opening attack. Damn it, Verdan had considered sending all the fwyn with Tim, not just half them, but he hadn't wanted to make their group too large.

Cursing himself for the mistake, Verdan raced through an archway in the stone to find the makeshift medical area the fwyn had set up.

Dirt had been gathered and formed into half-a-dozen beds, upon which lay Tim, several darjee and a silver-furred wolf.

‘Iacha hast!’ Verdan intoned, forming the image of a healing effect that both healed directly and sped up the body’s inherent healing in his mind. Once ready, Verdan went down the line, tapping each injured person one after the other. Tim drained the most Aether from him, but the wolf was also oddly difficult to heal. It was as though Verdan had to push his Aether into it, not simply establish a connection.

The wounded fwyn thankfully had little more than superficial cuts. Some were deep, but the fwyn were hardy folk, and a little healing was all they needed to get on their feet.

Tim was in worse shape, with multiple deep lacerations up his side and a nasty bite wound on the shoulder. Thankfully, the main issue he faced in the short term was blood loss, and Verdan’s spell would directly counter that by greatly increasing the rate at which Tim’s body replaced it.

Satisfied that all the wounded were on the road to recovery, Verdan went back to the wolf and examined it more closely. There must be something that was causing the issue with his Aether. Verdan had never come across a creature that was naturally resistant to Aether other than the things that dwelled in the Abyss.

Looking the creature over with both his regular and Aether senses, Verdan quickly spotted the source of the issue. The wolf was wearing a collar of some description, but it was hideous, using the same abyssal energy as the bone charms outside.

Verdan ran his fingers around the collar, searching for a buckle or some other method of release. No, nothing there, which was odd, as the collar itself was flesh against the wolf’s skin.

Looking closer at the collar itself, Verdan saw that the leather was threaded with small pieces of bone, and a few of them seemed to actually hold the collar onto the wolf’s neck.

Standing back and wishing he could wipe the greasy feeling from his hands, Verdan contemplated what the collar represented. The bone charms it contained were to restrict Aether flow, and the ones piercing through both the collar and the wolf’s flesh allowed the effect to pass through the creature. That explained the difficulty he felt healing it.

Verdan had seen many abyssal items and effects in his time, but this was truly something horrific. He could only assume that this was intended as a long-term method of controlling the creature and preventing it from accessing any Aether.

Kai had said that the darjee were slavers, so it made sense that they would have something like this to prevent their slaves from fighting back.

The problem they faced now was how to remove it. Verdan refused to let such a vile thing continually hurt the wolf, but he was unsure of what he could do to help it. There were some similarities to what he had done with Gwen, but this was far more complex. For one, Gwen had only been suffering from prolonged exposure, not having the thing actually inside her. The second issue was the difference in energy. The energy the cyth used was like a sickness that attacked life and drained it dry. What Verdan was facing here was a more subtle effect; it might be that prolonged healing wouldn’t be enough to cure the aftereffects.

It went against the grain to leave it alone, but Verdan wanted to examine the wolf more carefully, and he needed a proper location for that. A dirt bed in a ruined building wasn’t the place for magical experimentation.

‘We’re taking the wolf back with us. Could you get one or two of your people to watch over it?’ Verdan asked Gruthka, who had arrived partway through the examination.

‘Yes, of course,’ Gruthka said, calling out for two of his people to watch the wolf before turning back to Verdan. ‘I want to thank you for what you have done. We have rescued almost thirty fwyn, far more than we ever hoped for.’

‘It was my pleasure. No one deserves this fate,’ Verdan said, looking down at the collar on the wolf’s neck with a disgusted expression. It should have shocked him that such practices were not stamped out immediately, but it was yet more evidence of how far things had fallen.

‘There were three non-fwyn here from what my people have told me. Two humans and the wolf. One of the humans was dead when we found him, recently at that.'

‘Damn,’ Verdan swore, unable to help but wonder if they could have saved the other human by getting here a little faster. ‘What about the human that lives? Where are they?’

‘This way,’ Gruthka said, heading back outside and off to the right, where the darjee bodies were being piled. About thirty feet from the pile, a large man with red hair was sitting against a wall, drinking from a container of some sort. ‘We’ve been able to speak with him, unlike the other humans. He is no wizard, though.’

‘Thanks, Gruthka,’ Verdan said, nodding to the fwyn before heading over to the big man. ‘Greetings, my name is Verdan. I’m in charge of this expedition. Are you injured at all?’ Verdan swapped to common for the moment to ensure he was understood properly.

‘Greetings, I apologise for not rising. I’m still recovering from that cage. I should be fine soon, though,’ the man said, nodding in greeting to Verdan. Now that he was up close, Verdan could see that the man had bright green eyes, and though he wasn’t overly muscular, he gave off a powerful feeling.

‘Not a problem. Do you mind if I attempt to help with that?’ Verdan asked, cocking his head to one side as he spoke. ‘I have another that is struggling from the affliction of these charms, so seeing what helps with a healthy subject would be useful.’

‘Not at all, as long as I can remain seated. I owe you and your people greatly for my release.’ The big man said, turning slightly toward Verdan to face him.

‘I’m glad we could help, we came here for the fwyn, but no one deserves this. Do you know of any other areas they keep captives?’ Verdan asked, stepping closer as he did and laying a hand on the man’s shoulder. He could feel the lingering effects of the charms' abyssal energy, though it was far weaker than in the wolf.

‘No, just this area. I’m surprised that you would come to rescue the fwyn; most humans have poor relations with the other races these days.’ The big man looked Verdan over and frowned in thought. ‘Are you a sorcerer? You don’t seem to be, but I saw the power you wielded.’

‘No, I’m not a sorcerer. My name is Verdan Blacke, and I am a Wizard, perhaps the only one left from what I can tell.’ Verdan gave him a short bow before whispering a word of power and injecting a small amount of Aether into him with a cleansing concept.

‘Well met, Verdan. My name is Elliot. Thank you for whatever you just did. That made things much nicer,’ Elliot said with a sigh, some of the tension fading from his posture.

Touching Elliot’s shoulder once more, Verdan sensed a reduced amount of abyssal energy within him, but it was still there. It would need either a much large use of Aether or repeat sessions to clear it.

‘So, tell me, how do you know low imperial?’ Verdan asked, finally speaking the question that had been burning within him.

‘Low imperial?’ Elliot echoed with a frown, shaking his head slightly.

‘The language the fwyn use,’ Verdan said, swapping languages and continuing in low imperial. ‘This language.’

‘This is the language of the ancients, one passed down through our people as part of our heritage. As far as I was aware, only my people and a few of the non-human races still spoke it. You cannot be a relative of mine; you are far too small. How have you learnt it?’ Elliot asked, surprise written across his face as he openly stared at Verdan.

‘Where I am from, it is one of our main languages,’ Verdan said truthfully. He didn’t want to go ahead and start spilling his secrets to just anyone at this point. Besides, he was a little insulted by Elliot calling him small. Verdan wasn’t the tallest or strongest out there, but he’d never been considered small before.

‘Fascinating, I would speak more of your homeland with you if you are willing,’ Elliot said with a thoughtful tone.

‘Perhaps another time. For now, what do you intend to do? You are free to do as you wish, though you are welcome to journey back to Hobson’s Point with us.’

‘Hobson’s Point, is that the city to the south of here, the one that used to be known for its glass and metal?’ Elliot asked, quirking one bushy red eyebrow in Verdan’s direction.

‘Indeed it is. You are welcome to join us there as my guest for a time,’ Verdan said, feeling the pull of his oath to ensure that those he rescued didn’t fall immediately back into trouble.

‘Very well, I accept. It has been a long while since I stayed in a city for more than a few days. Perhaps it is time to change that.’ Elliot nodded slowly to himself and flashed Verdan a smile. ‘I will be well enough to move shortly. Please, do not let me keep you from your responsibilities.’

‘Thank you,’ Verdan said, returning Elliot’s smile with one of his own. He was growing to like this red-headed giant of a man already. ‘If you need healing again before we leave, please just ask.’

Verdan left Elliot to his rest and went to go get a complete report of what had happened here. Some of what Elliot had said had seemed a little odd, but now wasn’t the time to press him.