“Of course. Let me ask Lintok to go get you something.” I opened the door and did just that, emphasizing the need for broth, first. I wanted to ease Padral into eating with something simple and easy to manage. I returned to Padral’s bed and pulled up a chair.

“Dirk, you know that before all of this started, I was mainly a research mage.” I nodded. “Well, one of the main things I was researching and studying was how to join wills like the Warrior Mages of the Silver Circlet but without the need to make the joining permanent.”

I laughed. “You didn’t want to marry two other mages?”

Padral smiled. “I am not quite ready to marry anyone, yet.”

I nodded, thinking of Jade for a moment, and, oddly, an image of Rissia popped into my mind for a moment. I forced myself back to business. “Apparently, you figured it out. How to join wills for a more powerful spell, I mean.”

“Indeed, although today was the first test in the field.” He sighed sadly. “And it cost Loberth his life.” He glanced at the other bed. “Stegen seems to have suffered, as well.”

“Do you know what went wrong?”

There was some more sighing. “The mage who controls the joining of wills, which was me in this case, draws on the will of the other mages, or mage, if you are only working with one other. Simply put, you draw on their wills to magnify the power of the spell. I drew too much, obviously, and even used too much of my own. I assume I drew all of Loberth’s will, and killed him in the process.”

I sat back, stunned. “And that is what made the sleep spell so powerful?”

Padral nodded. “I believe so.”

“That’s terrifying!”

“Believe me, I am aware of that.” He shook his head slowly. “I must figure out how to prevent that from happening before I dare attempt another joining of wills, but I fear…”

“What?” I asked. “What is it you fear?”

His voice dropped to a whisper. “That a joining of wills is what will be required to destroy the Kathaldi.”

I sat back in the chair again. “You might just be the most important person in all of Mindolo right now.” I whispered back.

An evil grin lit up his exhausted face. “You must just love that.”

“It was bad enough that you saved Tarn, but now you’re going to save the world from another Great Cataclysm?” I couldn’t help smiling back. “I’m not sure if it’s worth it.”

He laughed, which led to a small coughing fit. There was a knock at the door and after I called out permission to enter a serving girl brought in a tray with a bowl of broth and two slices of bread. I stood and took it from her, thanking her with words and a couple of copper coins. She left and I brought it over to the night table, after which I handed the bowl of broth to the now extremely important mage. “Perhaps you shouldn’t continue on with us to scout Mount Kathaldi. If things go wrong, you could be killed and then we’d be in real trouble when it comes time for the actual assault.”

Padral took a sip of the broth. “Perhaps, although I think it would be extremely useful for me to see where the battle will take place. Then I’ll have the winter to prepare with the mages back in Ansdron.”

“Are you sure, Padral? We’ve lost eight of the members of our company already.” The exhausted mage’s eyes rose upon hearing the number. “That’s almost a third of us dead and we’ve only made it a single day’s journey away from Ansdron so far. A drant war is a dangerous time to be travelling. We may never even make it Mount Kathaldi and if we do, we’ll still have to come back. Travelling back to Ansdron with the heavy calvary seems a lot safer.”

Determination was evident on Padral’s face and I knew I had failed to convince him before he even spoke. “Your arguments would be more persuasive if it was safety I was after, but it is not. The Kathaldi killed my brother.” He took a slow, deep breath in. “I am seeking vengeance.”

I smiled. “Aren’t we all?” I stood. “You are more than welcome to stick with the company, Padral. Maybe having you with us will mean we actually survive to complete our scouting mission. But, for now, I’ll leave you to your feast of bread and broth. When Stegen wakes up just ask whoever’s on guard outside your door for some of the same for him.”

He nodded, so I took my leave. I decided to get two more guards up here. As much as it galled me to think Padral was so important, it was true, so I was going to make sure he was well-guarded from now on.