Silvy and Lindrl sat down in the study, talking about the evening events.

“Are you alright?” asked Silvy. Lindrl looked tired, almost falling asleep.

“Yes, I’m fine,” answered Lindrl. “Just tired from the fight. You?”

“Fine, thanks. They hid me in a house, not far from the main road. What happened?”

“Those three were elves, and one of them was a Grand Master. It’s a title given to their ruling elves, and it’s said they are their strongest mages. They never appeared in the previous war, hiding instead deep in their forest, so we know of them from prisoners. Now that one invaded the city, it’s probable that the empire will decide to respond in kind…” Lindrl stopped speaking, musing the possibility.

“Why was he here? Was it for my… situation?” Silvy asked, a bit of panic passing through her voice.

“Most likely. In fact, I don’t see why else he would be here and, especially, interested in you. It’s clear the elves know about you, about what is happening, and they decided you couldn’t be left alone. They also destroyed the brothel and everything that was inside, and a few rooms of the castle have been hit as well. If I had to take a guess, that’s where they kept the records of what happened in the brothel. Of course, this is just speculation, but I’m quite sure of it.”

Lindrl looked at Silvy, who had stood up and was marching up and down the room.

“Should I escape? Will they come from me, Lindrl?! I don’t want to die!” Silvy could feel panic coming and going, even the suppression unable to remove it for long.

“Calm down, Silvy. Right now, the soldiers are investigating the attack. The official explanation will be different, of course, but I will receive the real one, even if I have to nag Kal for the following months. But no, escaping right now would be a bad idea; I feel like the whole empire would search for you, creating the grandest manhunt ever seen. No, if you remain here, I can protect you, at least a bit.”

Silvy stopped in place. Yes, if she escaped, humans and elves would search for her. No place would be safe on either Ivirill or Grumira. Sitting down again, she resumed her questioning.

“Alright. So, elves know I exist. Who else knows about me?”

“Kal, for sure: he was the one locating the elves, and he decided to protect you instead of the royal castle; that’s not something he should have done normally. And if the royals actually had the records, then one or more of them know about the experiment, and also about you. Gorvan knows something is up at this point, but I’m not sure how much he knows; anyone else is a mystery.”

So many people, and not all of them friendly. She closed her eyes, trying to figure out a way out of this mess.

“Silvy, listen to me.” Lindrl tried to comfort her. “I am here, and I will help you. The royals here might have conducted this experiment, but I believe they didn’t have the support of the [King]. I can pressure them to back down; at least I have that much power. Kal might be the biggest problem, as he’s more powerful than me, both magically and politically, but that’s for the future; he’s been wounded in the fight, so I doubt he’ll come out of the tower for a long time.”

“Why doesn’t he use a healing potion?” Silvy asked.

Lindrl chuckled. “Because he’s old, too old. He’s one hundred twenty years old, or thereabout. That is beyond any human has any right to live: he uses a complex rune system below the guild to funnel mana in his tower to sustain the shapeshifting that keeps him alive, using alchemical potions to help the transformation and lessen the pain. That’s why he barely goes out of there and why he lost the fight: his mana, without the rune system to help him, drains constantly to sustain his form. A healing potion would probably kill him, as it would divert most of his mana to repair the wound, leaving his, let’s say old age problems, unattended for too long. No, the only way he can heal himself is through time, and he won’t come out of there while wounded.”

“But isn’t the tower broken? I saw it cut off…” Silvy asked.

Lindrl chuckled again. “Well, this is actually a secret, but I see why you ask. The tower itself is just a smokescreen, hiding the real deal below it. Kal stays mostly underground, not at the top of the tower. Most people would think he stays in the tower, right? A grand, powerful [Archmage] surely lives atop of it, right? Nah, he lives underground, in a more secure location. Don’t go around speaking about it, alright?” Lindrl admonished her.

Silvy nodded, now a bit calmed down. It looked like she would be in danger in the future, but right now, she was safe with Lindrl.

“Right, what happened during the battle? Why were you just watching each other in the beginning?” Silvy asked, confused. The various mages had stood in place, looking at one another without casting a spell for a long time; why was that? She expected a magical duel to be incredible, with spells flying around from the get-go; instead, they just squared off as if they were wild animals trying to scare off the opponent.

“Ah~, I keep forgetting how little you know about magic. Sorry, I thought you wouldn’t need to know for some time, seeing as your capabilities are still… lacking. No offense. Indeed, mages of low level, or even average ones, start casting spells the moment an opponent is in front of them. This is a bad idea in general, but the higher level you reach the worst it becomes. Most offensive spells use the elements, which are four: water, fire, wind, earth. As a rule of thumb, water beats fire, fire beats wind, wind beats earth and earth beats water. Of course, a stronger fire spell will still overcome a weaker water spell, but with greater difficulty than if it was, for example, wind. This becomes extremely important at higher levels, as it’s unlikely to be able to completely overpower another archmage of a similar level. This means the best way to start a duel between archmages is not to waste mana on a spell that will be countered by the opponent but try to be smarter than the other archmage in rune creation.”

Silvy was quite confused by the explanation, and it probably showed on her face, because Lindrl stopped for a second and then continued.

“Alright, let’s assume you are an archmage dueling with me. You see me draw a rune and cast a fire spell: what do you do?”

“I cast a water one, right?” Silvy answered, uncertain.

“Correct. This means, if we have invested a similar amount of mana and the spell is of a similar level, yours will win against mine and I will have to defend myself, for example with another spell or using more mana to power my spell to win against yours or receive damage. Now, let’s say you see me almost casting a fire spell, the rune almost complete; what do you do?”

Wasn’t it the same thing? “I cast a water spell?” Silvy told, a bit more certain.

“No. Because, at that point, I would change my rune to an earth spell, and I would be the one to overcome you. See what I’m getting at? You need to outsmart your opponent; either you make him commit to a certain spell and then counter with one of yours, or try to understand how much faster you are compared to him and maybe draw a rune so fast he doesn’t have the time to draw his rune to counter yours. Do you see my point now? Low-level mages don’t have the finesse to do this kind of thing and just randomly throw spells at each other, which results in the victory of the lucky one or the one with most mana. Of course, it’s a different story if you have the surprise element: at that point, you cast the spell and try to catch the other mage off guard.”

That was… strange. This sounded more like a card game, trying to outsmart your opponent to commit something he couldn’t afford or to retreat from a battle he’d win; it was a lot more cloak and dagger than she expected.

“I understand. It’s more complicated than I thought.” Silvy said, after having thought about it for a bit.

“It is, indeed.”

“Right, you told me they escaped? How did the fight go?” Silvy asked.

Lindrl sighed. “Well, we lost. The Grand Master was stronger than Kal, and he chased him back here in the guild; luckily, the construct intervened, pushing him back; its materials are quite resistant to spells. When he fled back to us, I thought we were dead; fortunately, the construct had been following him, putting too much pressure for him to stay long. The other elves disengaged, and Gorvan and I didn’t feel like pursuing and risking our death; it would have been suicide. He quickly overcame the gate defenses and opened it, running for the forest.”

A hint of fear showed on Lindrl but was quickly hidden. Silvy noticed it, but decided to not mention it; Lindrl had just brushed with death, after all.

“So… what do we do now?”

“Now, we wait. The city will be on lockdown for the whole night at least, and no one will be going outside. The best we can do is remain here, where the army can find us if we- I am needed. Come on, show me your progress; surely you made some, no?” Lindrl asked, trying to relieve the tension.

Silvy complied, showing Lindrl her line creation; Lindrl stopped her after the first attempt.

“Your progress… what level of [Mage] are you?” Lindrl inquired.

“15” answered Silvy. Levels were important secrets, but she trusted Lindrl with this much.

“Yes, that explains it then. Your progress is too fast for a normal level 1 [Mage]. The multipliers given by your levels are helping you reach better control.”

“Multipliers?” asked Silvy, not sure of what Lindrl meant.

“Well, it’s how classes and levels work. Every class enhances certain features of a person: for example, a warrior will enhance the speed, reflexes, strength, endurance and toughness of a person, but not by augmenting it a certain value, but by multiplying the potency of those features; that is why the higher the level the larger the gap.”

“Wait, you mean the stronger a warrior is, the stronger he gets with each level?” Silvy asked.

Lindrl laughed. “Yes, even if it’s a horrible explanation. If a normal person can lift, let’s say, ten kilos, then when he becomes a warrior he’ll be able to lift more than another person who had been able to lift five kilos before becoming a warrior. The same thing happens to [Mages], but in different areas; we become better at shaping and controlling mana, how deep our pool becomes and our concentration. In other words, you progress faster because the better you become the stronger the multiplier influences your capability. Is that clear?”

Silvy nodded, then asked another question. “What about classes that overlap these multipliers? Do they exist? What happens?”

“Yes, they do exist. For example, the [Thief] class multiplies, among other things, the speed of a person, just like the warrior. But, if two classes overlap a certain feature, there will be diminishing returns, so much so that there will hardly be a difference from not having an overlap. And of course, the system will use the highest multiplier.”

Silvy thought about it for a bit and then resumed her exercise with Lindrl reminding her various tips, not sure on how to take advantage of this new information.

After half an hour, Lindrl stood up, going to bed in the room next to her study. She offered Silvy to sleep together, but Silvy refused. She didn’t need sleep anyway; she would just disturb her.

Hours passed, and it was almost dawn when a knock on the door interrupted Silvy’s magic exercises. Silvy stood in place, not sure if she should answer or no, when Lindrl came out of her bedroom, no sign of weariness on her as if she hadn’t just woken up.

Deala was at the door, a gentleman with a butler outfit right behind her. Both bowed to Lindrl, Deala speaking first.

“[Archmage] Lindrl, this is Sosvir, a butler from the royal family.”

The butler, Sosvir, spoke after that, bowing once again. “Forgive the late hour, [Archmage] Mizhal. The royal governor is asking for your presence, and for Silvy as well. I presume this child is Silvy?” the butler studied Silvy with inscrutable eyes.

Lindrl responded, ignoring the butler’s question. “I suppose Gorvan is being summoned as well?”

The butler nodded deferentially. “Yes, [Archmage].”

Lindrl stood on the spot for a few seconds, staring at the butler. The butler made no sign of motion, standing perfectly still, but with no challenge in his eyes. His message was clear: he would not force them to come, but he would wait for them or send a message back.

“Fine. Give me five minutes.” Lindrl said, closing the door and turning to Silvy.

“Listen, Silvy: let me do the talking. Even if they ask you something directly, let me handle it. And, by all means, stay near me.”

Silvy nodded, and after Lindrl readied herself, the group moved towards the castle. The city was bustling with activity, guards running around, saving people from below the rubble, or trying to calm down the various citizens, with many guards also patrolling the walls and shining strong lights outside.

The noble district was much calmer; the guards at the gate stopped the group, but let them pass shortly after the butler had shown a document of some kind, but were escorted nonetheless by a group of four guards. The entrance to the castle, however, was much more time-consuming. Gorvan was already there, the guards at the gate demanding his disarm, and when Lindrl arrived the situation got worse, with Gorvan now support by Lindrl and refusing to hand over their wands. The two butlers, one accompanying Lindrl and one accompanying Gorvan, were trying to defuse the situation between the two parties, but it seemed like everyone would come to blows when another soldier stepped in, coming from the castle itself. He was of a higher rank, clearly, and let the group pass armed but escorted by ten guards, all of them with weapons drawn. Silvy felt like an animal in a cage, ready to be butchered; the guards were keeping close eyes on them and seemed ready to attack them at the slightest wrong move. She was not sure coming here had been a great idea.

Finally, the group reached, after going through many hallways patrolled by guards and filled with various expensive pieces of furniture, paintings, statues and other decorations, a grand hall with a red carpet covering the whole pavement. It was at least a hundred meters long, and it seemed able to hold hundreds of people with no discomfort. Big, round, white pillars were at the sides of the room, each space in between decorated with a flag of the royalty, or of the human empire. At the end of the room, raised by about ten steps, two thrones stood, with the governor sitting on the bigger one, guards to the sides and his vicinity.

This was Padrik Klisser, cousin of the actual [King], a famous general. He was around forty years old, his face with a dominant feeling, hazel eyes that seemed to pierce through anything. His face was oval, with a square jaw, straight nose, and slightly hollow cheeks, and well-groomed eyebrows. Short, thick, black hair, his beard was impressive but orderly.

He sat straight on his throne, looking down at the approaching group; Silvy could swear he was staring right at her, but it was hard to say from this distance and by the fact she was very close to Lindrl, a bit behind her. She was not scared at all, okay?!

To the governor's side, more people were standing, in addition to the, quite numerous, guards. A woman sat on the second, smaller, throne, probably around thirty-five years old, her lean face as if she knew of everything, with a small nose, defined cheekbones, full lips, and narrow green eyes. Her hair was elbow-length, frizzy and dark brown, extremely cared for. Her body was voluptuous but not fat, with forms in the right place. Silvy didn’t know her name, but she was probably the wife of the governor.

To the left, a bit behind the thrones, two more people stood; an old man and an old woman. They both resembled Padrik, especially the man. On the right of the throne were three more men, one middle-aged in full plate armor, probably a magical item; the other two were old, but they seemed quite sharp even for their ages; their clothes were tidy and formal, but not regal; they seemed helpers of some kind.

The group reached the foot of the steps and went on one knee, except Lindrl and Gorvan, who just bowed or curtsy. Silvy didn’t want to offend the governor, so she knelt as well, bowing her head; she had never knelt to anyone before, so it was a bit awkward to do, but nothing too hard; she had fought monsters and made harder maneuvers, after all.

From the deep of her soul, outrage and fury sprouted forward, washing over Silvy with strength she had never felt. Her core was even more furious, screaming in her head to stand up.

WE BOW TO NO HUMAN.

Her body, who had barely performed the proper ritual, shot up, standing perfectly straight after a moment, faster than Silvy had intended, without waiting for the governor to speak. She could still feel indignation inside her, but it was not so strong anymore.

Lindrl and the others looked at her, the butlers with horror, the two archmages with a twinkle in their eyes, and following her example and not waiting for the king to let them stand upright. Pretty much everyone was looking at her with not so hidden hostility, guards not even trying to hide it.

An eerie silence descended in the room, so deafening that you could hear the various breaths as if it was thunder. Silvy had in the meantime lowered her head, watching her feet intently.

The governor’s eyes squinted before speaking. “So. The elves started a war for you, a child. I can hardly believe my ears, and yet here we are. Do you know why?”

Lindrl stepped forward. “Sire, she is-”

“Silence,” Padrik spoke. His voice was low and yet shadowed Lindrl, cutting her off. “I’m speaking to her, not you, [Archmage] Mizhal. Does she have no mouth to speak? I was almost murdered tonight.” He stood up, his voice climbing in volume with each punctuated word. “She is the reason for this attack, like it or not. I will speak to her, and you will stay silent. Is that clear?”

Lindrl didn’t back off, not scared by Padrik. “With all the respect, sire, we both know you know her situation better than I do. I will not let you drag her in your political games.”

The governor stood still, staring right at Lindrl, who stared back without backing off. The tension in the room was escalating, the guards having their hands on their weapon, the butlers distancing themselves from the group. Gorvan seemed the only one uncaring about it all, his face an unreadable mask curiously scanning the surroundings, noticing how the old man to the left was relaxed as much as him.

Silvy, strangely, had lost all of her previous fear, ready to jump into a fight. She could feel the eyes of the guards on her, but she would fight to the end.

Padrik spoke again after an interminable minute of staring contest, voice not transpiring any emotion. “So be it. You will speak for her, [Archmage].” He sat down again on his throne. “Your attitude makes me believe you know why the elves went so far to kidnap a single child. Enlighten me.”

A small smile formed on Lindrl’s lips. “I refuse.”

Silvy could almost see a vein popping in the governor’s head, his words cutting the air. “You refuse?”

“Yes. As one of the protectors of the frontier, I answer directly to the king. I will make arrangements to contact and inform him of the developments; I’m sure he’ll be very interested.”

Padrik’s face didn’t change, not showing any emotion. “Very well. Describe what happened, then: I’ve read the report, but your recounting might be more insightful.”

Lindrl and Gorvan recounted the battle, alternating between each other, adding details the other missed.

Kal had sent a Remote Conversation to both of them, urging them to reach the east gate as powerful elven mages were moving towards it. They had then seen Silvy being kidnapped, and Kal had warned the guards to protect her; after that, he had attacked the elf with the strongest mana read, a Grand Master, given his power. The battle between the two had seen Kal in disadvantage, being forced back to the guild by the stronger opponent; he had then taken refuge in the library, using the construct’s help to wound the grand master, who in turn managed to destroy part of Kal’s tower before retreating. Lindrl and Gorvan had, in the meantime, stopped the other two elves accompanying the Grand Master; the one keeping Silvy restrained had been forced to drop her to fight them, with Silvy being hidden in a safe place by the soldiers ordered by Kal. One of the elves, a woman, had lost the upper hand in the duel against Gorvan, being forced in the worst position, advantaging Lindrl as well. The battle was going mostly in their favor until the Grand Master had come back, wounded but still able to fight. Lindrl and Gorvan were ready for a very difficult fight, but they could feel reinforcements coming from the mages’ guild, reinforcements the Grand Master could also tell were coming. He sent spells towards Lindrl and Gorvan, helping the other two elves to disengage and run for the gate, overrunning it in a short time and escaping.

Silvy could only imagine the fight from their description, but the scale was quite obvious given the state of the city. This gave her newfound respect for both Lindrl and Gorvan, who had risked their lives for her.

Padrik and his entourage stayed mostly silent, meditating on their words. In the end, the governor spoke again. “Quite a lot of resources and danger for a simple child. I’ve heard of you, Silvy. A capable adventurer, but not powerful enough to pose a risk to the elves. Nonetheless, you are obviously in danger; we can protect you in this castle if you wish.”

Lindrl spoke up again, a bit of irritation in her voice. “She is perfectly safe in my accommodations, sire.”

The governor relaxed on his throne. “Your symbol of the guild, Kal’s tower, has been destroyed. My castle has only lost a few unimportant rooms, and while this event asks for a review of our security, it’s clear that this place is safer. Maybe we should ask her, instead of forcing our will upon her.”

Silvy was dumbfounded. Why should she live here with the governor? No, Lindrl was a hundred times better. She was opening her mouth when she was interrupted again by the governor with an accommodating and soothing tone.

“[Archmage] Mizhal is very famous, and very… zealous in her interests. Think deeply of whom you trust, child.”

What did it even mean?! Think deeply, okay. It was not something she often did; usually, her quickly made up plans worked just fine, but she was quite impulsive, and the core often “kindly” reminded her of it. Of course, the core!

‘Coooore, what do you say? You are the smart one, no? What’s going on?’

What did I do wrong to have such a stupid user? You never stopped for a moment to ponder the magnitude of what happened to us, didn’t you? Nothing like you has ever happened before, at least that we know of, and even just the sheer idea is crazy. A half-sapient half-monster is unheard of, but it would be an incredible weapon; imagine a hundred, thousands like you, only trained and armed to be a real army. Facing an army of coordinated and unstoppable undeads, able to shrug off most wounds and fight forever, no need to resupply or rest. It might not be an unstoppable force, but it would be a damn strong one. Lindrl has already told that the governor has most likely something to do with your transformation; how did you miss that?!

Did she?! Right! She had spoken about the records of the brothel in the castle, no? And when she told the governor he knew the situation better than her!

‘Well, I shouldn’t accept then, right?’

Of course not!

“I prefer living with Lindrl, sire. Thank you for your offer.” Silvy said, no emotion in her voice. This guy was responsible for her transformation, maybe he’d even organized the assault on her friends. Silvy looked around, now paying close attention to the shadows. If he was responsible, maybe…

There! Behind the old man, probably the father of Padrik, a shadow stood, hard to pinpoint. But not as hard as it had been in the past; it felt easier to focus and not miss it. Was it the same one who had killed her friends?

“Very well.” spoke Padrik. “Know that I’ll welcome you if you change your mind. Now, to more pressing matters. The rooms attacked, while not important, had sensible documents inside, and we are sure some of them have been stolen. Those documents need to be recovered. A meeting will take place between you two and my best infiltrators, to work out a plan to recover said documents. Agrem, escort them to the meeting. Silvy, remain here, please.”

This was bad. Really bad. Silvy could see Lindrl’s face twisting, unsure of how to proceed. Lindrl had already pushed the governor a few times, and it’s not like she could take Silvy to this said meeting. Sending her away would be impossible; the governor would never let it happen. No, she had her hands tied, and she could only reveal something she didn’t want to.

“Silvy is my apprentice; any slight or attack on her is an attack on myself, and I will retaliate in kind.”

The governor, for the first time in this meeting, showed a flicker of surprise on his face, hidden behind a composed mask after a second. Every other person in the room was not so capable, showing various stages of surprise, focusing their eyes on Silvy.

Again at the center of attention, Silvy fidgeted in place. Shouldn’t that be a secret?

“I see. Very interesting. No worries, nothing bad will happen to her, you have my word.” the governor reassured Lindrl.

The archmages and one of the two old men standing to the side walked away, disappearing in a door to the side of the room.

“Leave us, please.” the governor ordered to the assembly of people.

Everyone left the room, except for the other old man and the shadow.

“Finally alone, dear Silvy.” the governor started. “I bet you have many questions, and I will answer them; in time, after you do me a favor. The documents stolen contained the process used to create you, and I want you to help us retrieve them.”

Silvy opened her mouth wide, but then anger filled her vision. He was responsible! He killed her friends! She felt both herself and the core riling up in anger, and she drew her sword, sprinting towards the governor with her top speed.

The governor had expected it, because the hidden shadow moved instantly, intercepting Silvy. She saw a sword coming down on her, or at least a hazy image of it; she ducked, attacking in turn. To the eyes of commoners, Silvy had just ducked and swung her sword towards the air, but the people in the room knew better than it. The governor's eyes sparkled, the old man to his side watching closely the fight that ensued. Silvy danced around the attacker, her eyes following the attacks as best as she could, never seeing them perfectly but always dodging them. After only a minute, the governor spoke up again, hand raised.

“We’ve seen enough; stop her.”

The shadow sped up, becoming too fast for Silvy. She turned, following it and trying to attack a couple of times, but it was too fast; the shadow overcame her from behind, slamming her into the ground, arms locked and sword sliding away.

The governor stood up, moving down the steps with the other man. “Magnificent. She can even see through the invisibility cloak. She is just a child, and yet, she is so powerful; we need to recover the formula and create an elite unit, that much is certain.” the governor spoke with excitement, forgetting that Silvy was even there. “She had her head cut off and it regrew; that means she is even stronger than undeads. How does that work, I wonder? No matter. Kal will have his immortality, and I’ll have my elites.” his voice changed, now full of anger. “But first, we need to destroy those elves. Thieves, all of them. Rherdir, find me the mole; people who know about this project are few, it shouldn’t be hard to find him, or her.” His voice calmed down again, speaking to the shadow. “Zatah, what do you say? What’s her level?”

A voice came from the shadow above Silvy; she realized, with horror, that it was the same voice she had heard that night, the woman who had killed Rat and her group. “A bit higher than silver rank, probably between level twenty and twenty-five. The question is, why did she attack with a sword? She is the apprentice of [Archmage] Mizhal, is she not? And she was responsible for the slums attack, or are we wrong?”

The old man, silent until now, spoke up. “Her mana pool is not very developed. If she is her apprentice, she wasn't one for long. While it’s harder to gauge a [Mage] level, she’s probably around level eight, given her mana quantity. I’d have to see her casting to give a better judgment. Maybe the spell in the slum had an aftereffect; I do not know.”

The governor looked at the old man, the mage. “Wait, so she is a hybrid? What a waste. But that confirms it, doesn’t it? She can use magic even in her state. This is incredible news, is it not?”

Padrik turned to Silvy, speaking to her again. “Child, you have no idea of your value. If this was a different situation, I’d have you tore apart and studied this instant, consequences be damned. But I cannot have the documents stolen, especially by the elves; if they manage to recreate your kind, we will lose the war again, and this time they’ll kick us out of the continent, maybe even reach Grumira. You are an obedient child, are you not?”

Silvy was still on the ground, pinned down by the woman called Zatha, and was staring at the governor with rage. The mage quietly stepped to the side, hiding from Silvy behind Zatha, casting a spell.

Padrik spoke again, his words like honey. “You will recover those documents, then come back here, because you want to hear my answers. You won’t escape, because Lindrl would be in danger otherwise. You care about her, don’t you? Even [Archmages] die from poison.”

Silvy felt her mind muddle, compelling her to obey. Yes, she wanted answers and Lindrl… she didn’t want her to be in danger! Yes, that was the right course of action, indeed.

Her mind snapped, awoken from the trance. Again with this thing?!

The mage took a step back, the rebound from the spell hitting him. His nose started to bleed, but fortunately, this was a basic suggestion spell; he had lost some mana, but nothing too bad would happen. He looked at the governor, shaking his head. The governor was surprised but elated after a bit.

“Magnificent! Immune to mind magic, just like undeads. What other secrets do you hide, young child? Regrowing your head, keeping your magic talent after the transformation, but inheriting mind magic immunity… Oh, what a shame. Well, what I just said is true anyway; Lindrl will suffer if you don’t obey. You can shapeshift, can you not? You cast an advanced spell at such a young age…” The governor stopped speaking for some time, staring at the ceiling. Silvy opened her mouth to retort that no, she couldn’t shapeshift anymore, and she couldn’t even speak elvish, when Zatha slammed her head into the ground, stopping her from speaking.

The governor focused on her again, blinking his eyes. “Here is what you’ll do. When [Archmage] Mizhal comes back, you’ll tell her you'll stay in my castle, but you will not speak about our agreement. After that, you’ll run into the forest, shapeshifted as an elf. You’ll infiltrate their camp, recover the documents and come back here. Of course, we won’t let you go like this. Rherdir will brand a rune on you, and if you disobey, or you are captured by the elves, you will explode in many little pieces. We will see and hear everything you do, so don’t try to hide it. This procedure is illegal, of course, but you won’t speak of it, because that would mean blowing up as well.” the governor flashed Silvy a smile, the most terrifying one she had ever seen.

This man was completely mad.