Breaking the tower’s locks and sneaking inside wasn’t hard. Climbing the several flights of stairs wasn’t either. What was difficult was collecting every instance of magical notes along the way to the top. Methods to increase the efficiency of fire spells by drawing in ambient heat, ways to bypass magical defenses, and how to cheaply enchant rations to last longer. She didn’t have time to check them through for anything about rune magic, so she opted for grabbing everything she could find.

By the time Ashley had reached the top floor, both of her hands were filled with a massive stack of papers whose weight she strained against. It was a miracle that Arla didn’t hear her approach, what with the ruffling of papers and swears muttered under her breath.

Ashley slowly placed the stack of parchment on the ground and pulled out a serrated dagger. With a final sigh, she inched towards her prey, ready to do what she had to.

“So few symbols, but so much that can be done with them!” the sorceress whispered to herself as she pored over the notes on the table before her. “I wonder if I can figure out how to achieve teleportation, I would go down in history as the greatest mage ever! The ‘Arla teleportation Matrix’, I can see it now! Haha-”

Her laughs were cut short as darkness quickly took her. Ash looked upon the sorceress with a look of pity. As she took a closer look around the room, she found additional copies made of TOAL’s notes, including ones that were hidden behind posters and even underneath the floorboards.

“Dammit!” she swore to herself as she fished out the red, plastic canister tied to her back. “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to do this.” Unscrewing the cap, her nostrils were hit with the smell of gasoline.

“Ugh, my head,” groaned Arla as she returned to the land of the waking. Bright light from the afternoon sun shone in her eyes, forcing them shut as the sorceress was not ready to take in the luminous assault.

“Oy, she’s awake!” shouted a nearby woman, forcing Arla to clutch her head in pain. “Come on everyone, but make sure to give the poor girl some room.”

“Poor girl? What happened?”

Before the mage was a gaggle of townsfolk, eyeing her with a combination of curiosity and pity.

“And what’s with those looks? Have you never seen a mage before?”

“It’s not that, Miss Arla,” replied the woman without making eye contact. “It’s… your tower.”

“What about it?” she huffed in annoyance.

“Well…”

In that moment, fear was driven into her heart like a metal spike with a sledge hammer. Adrenaline flew into her veins, forcing her headache back and feet onto the floor.

“Please miss, you mustn’t get up like that! You’re injured!”

“Why would I be injured? What’s wrong with my tower? What’s… by Allivaine!” she shouted as she looked out her window. Before the other townsfolk could reach her, she ran past them and out the tavern’s door, screaming at the top of her lungs.

“Miss Arla, no! It’s too dangerous!” shouted the woman as the rest of the townsfolk were able to quickly catch up with the sorceress and hold her down.

“My life’s work! All of it! The secrets of the runes! They’re in there, I need to save it!”

In the distance lie her tower, standing majestically in the setting sky, matching the yellowing horizon by being completely on fire. Bright stone turned dark gray as it was fractured by the conflagration, black smoke rising to meet the clouds, carrying Arla’s dreams with them.

“Let me go, I need to save my notes!”

“You want to run back into the fire after someone saved you from it? Are you insane?!”

“Wait, saved me? I was inside, and then I just woke up here. What happened?”

“Well, I just said it! Some nice woman carried you out of there as the fire was starting, and dropped you off at the tavern. Apparently they were in quite a hurry and had to leave immediately, but they left a letter for you!”

“Letter? Maybe it’s my notes!” shouted Arla as she looked at the older woman with a hopeful smile. “Where is it?”

“Back inside. Now come, let’s get something in you before you start reading that thing,” she replied softly.

As they did just that and the sorceress sipped on some hot barley stew while opening the envelope, her bright eyes began to dull as she looked over the parchment with shaky hands.

“Should’ve taken the biology textbook.”

She dropped the paper into her soup, unable to keep hold of it. Retaliation. That’s what it was, plain and simple. She should’ve seen something like this happening, but she didn’t. After all, why would she? They only ever showed her their gums, so why would she assume they had teeth?

Memories of their first meeting and how they had annihilated king Reginald’s royal guards filled her mind, her eyes now filling with tears. Right…

The rest of the night went by like a blur. The townsfolk took the sorceress in and provided her with a bed and dinner free of charge, a sort of final thank you for the splendor her tower was able to bring them. In the morning, they sent several of their own men and women with her as an escort to the nearest town.

“You’re welcome to stay with us, you know. We could use a mage such as yourself to make life interesting,” said one of the townsfolk as they arrived at the city gates. “Could probably earn enough to stay at the tavern or build yourself a house by helping out here and there.”

“I’m fine, thanks,” replied Arla with a strained grin and dead eyes. “I’ve got big things ahead of me, and that means joining the mage’s guild and rising through the ranks! Haha.”

“If anyone can do it, it’s you! All the best!”

“Yeah…”

The walk to the local guild hall in question was a short and simple one, thanks to the many dedicated street signs pointing the way. As the sorceress regarded the freshly painted walls, she gave herself a bittersweet smile and headed on in.

Years ago, she’d been given a chance to join the very establishment before her as a high ranking member on behalf of her academic accolades. She leveraged them into getting a job as king Reginald’s court mage instead, a much more prestigious position. And to see how that all turned out. Arla wouldn’t be able to join under her own name, of course, her previous employer might’ve caught wind and have had her executed.

Luckily, the sorceress had a false identity for the occasion, one she’d used to embezzle funds from her previous employer for various side projects. The problem was, ‘Orlo’ didn’t exactly have the kind of clout she did. Only enough to get a job at the lowest rung of the guild’s ladder. But that was better than being dead, by Reggie’s hands or TOAL’s.

“Hello, I’m here to apply for a position as a guild mage,” said Arla to the sharply dressed attendant.

“Hmm, I see,” he replied drily. “Your name?”

“Ar-Orlo. It’s Orlo.”

“Orlo? We’ve been waiting for you, welcome!”

“Thanks, I… you’ve been waiting for me? I haven’t sent you any correspondence, what’s going on?” Mortal fear spiked through the woman as her eyes bulged. Had Reginald discovered her secret identity and sent out word to apprehend her?

“But of course! We received a glowing letter of recommendation from several nobles, along with a sample of your research! I was able to get a quick peek at it, and I must say, it is quite revolutionary. Especially your work on increasing the efficiency of fire spells by drawing in heat from the environment!”

“Uh, thank you?” She’d never published that, how did he know about it?

“Oh no, the pleasure is all mine! A strange young man came by last night to deliver everything, and the entire guild has been in an uproar since!”

Yesterday… the tower! Then it must’ve been-

“So all we had to thank was the TOAL courier service until you showed up.”

Arla nodded. “What in the name of the goddess was going on?” she thought to herself. “Weren’t these people trying to kill me? They could’ve and probably should’ve for stealing such important notes from them, but instead they rewarded her.”

“And there has also been an order to have your tower repaired, all signed by the very lords and ladies who have vouched for you. So now that you’re here, please allow me the honor to show you around.”

Arla simply stared ahead and nodded once more. None of it made sense, especially with this bunch. Maybe they wanted something more out of the sorceress, despite her having been nothing but a hindrance, and any possible exchange between the two being entirely one-sided.

“Yeah, that sounds good,” said the sorceress in a haze. “Let’s go.”

Seated on a rooftop overlooking the mage’s guild, Asher looked over the building with a bittersweet look. In his left hand was a collection of wax seals belonging to several lords and ladies he’d pilfered during his previous mission of distracting the rival kings. The man idly fiddled with the intricately carved wood, feeling their magically imbued signatures harmlessly run across his fingertips.

“You should’ve just killed her and be done with it,” said Khethiwe across the phone in the agent’s right hand.

“Can you really blame her for doing what she did?” replied Asher. “I mean, they pretty much left those notes right in front of her and even said that she couldn’t look at it! What did they expect out of someone from a dog-eat-dog World like this?”

“Abhi’s not a people person, you know that,” sighed his boss. “And it’s our job to clean up their mistakes so they can focus on what’s important. And you used a toothbrush when a hose would’ve sufficed.”

“Hey, TOAL has a reputation to uphold,” said Asher defensively. “How are we going to get anyone to help us out when we have a reputation for killing off subordinates when they happen to get a little troublesome?”

“Spending extraneous effort and resources to help non-Earthers is against TOAL policy, you know,” retorted the spymaster, ignoring her subordinate’s justification. “You just wasted a lot of time that could’ve been better spent doing more cleanup.”

“Oh come on, Khethiwe!” shouted Asher. “That policy is complete bullshit, and you know it! You were even one of the people who voted to get rid of it!”

“I might’ve been one of the policy’s detractors, but I still have a responsibility as a member of the executive council to abide by all of them. And that includes the ones I’m against, even if it was a single vote away from unanimously being repealed.”

“Still, why did he…”

“Let’s leave it at that, Ash,” said Khethiwe with a note of finality. “We can say you had TOAL’s best interest in mind if anyone asks.”

“Fine.”

“And Ash? Thanks for doing what you did.”

“Yeah.”

He let out a final melancholic sigh and hung up the phone. He had more work to get to.