William paid close attention as she slowly meandered down the stairs- each step resounded in the silence of the basement, and as she passed the two guards knelt. The stranger looked familiar to William, and he knew instantly where he had seen her before. She had appeared a few times within the memories. Prominently the one on the cart, where she briefly spoke with the one named “Wyrran”.

She stopped once she was five feet away from the makeshift cage that was created to contain him. She had heard from Aella how dangerous the assassin was, and did not intend to give him any chance to grab her from within the prison.

“My name is Wynter Liacyne.” the woman stated with a blank face, and went silent for a moment.

Still in the thought that perhaps making this woman emotional would provide him with more information, William responded sarcastically, “Is this where I am supposed to introduce myself?”

Wynter smiled slightly at the comment and replied, “You’re welcome to. I doubt you would be inclined to do so however. Aella told me that you asked who ‘Wyrran’ is, and I would like to know where you heard that name?”

William narrowed his eyes at the woman, who clearly had more control over her faculties than the last, and said, “If you answer my question then perhaps I will answer yours.”

A sigh escaped her lips as Wynter heard his answer, and she replied, “I could just look into your mind and figure it out. I am a master soul mage.”

William’s face returned to its usual emotionless mask, after realizing Wynter would not be dissuaded with his provocation, and he confidently replied, “You are certainly welcome to try. I am certain that you heard about my skills from your friend, and I assure you that I am no less proficient in all kinds of magic as I am in armaments.”

Wynter’s eyebrows furrowed at his tone. It was clear that he had no intention of giving the information willingly without receiving something in return, but she had thought that after finding out she was a master soul mage he would buckle. Although soul mages were not entirely uncommon, masters were extremely rare. Being able to look into someone’s soul and finding information that they needed was something that many would pay handsomely for, and usually the masters were feared throughout the continent. Seeing this man not even have his facial expression change at the mention of her being one was unsettling and lead to her believing his statement wholeheartedly.

This just became increasingly more difficult. Wynter thought briefly.

“What exactly do you want to know?”she asked.

“For now information on Wyrran.” William asked again, “I asked your friend, but she refused to respond and merely shouted in my face requesting I answer her question instead.”

Wynter stared into his eyes, looking to see if she could find deceit in his words. Perhaps he wanted to goad her into letting him know more information on Wyrran so that he could use it against the King. However, the men who took Wyrran had extensive information on the interior of the castle, so she doubted they lacked information on the child himself. What would he need he to tell him that would make Wyrran more useful to them?

As she stared she became increasingly aware that the man looked familiar. She had hardly left the Elven Kingdom, but this man appeared to be someone she had seen before. His white hair and bright blue eyes weren’t very common, but she held a belief she had seen them before. His ears were rounded, like a human, and that made it less likely that they had come across each other before, but she couldn’t shake the feeling.

“If I tell you some information on Wyrran then you’ll tell me what you know, and why you are asking?”, Wynter asked warily.

William thought about her question for a second and, seeing as he wouldn’t lose anything in telling her information she probably already knew about the man, responded, “Yes.”

“I want you to take a mage oath.” Wynter replied as she raised her hand, began calling on her mana and a white ball of light formed beside her when she said, “I swear to tell this man before me some information on the one named Wyrran so long as he provides his own information.”

William rolled his eyes and said in kind while doing the same with his mana, “I swear to tell Wynter the information she requested on Wyrran after she provides me what she promised.”

Wynter nodded acceptance and asked, “What exactly do you want to know?”

“Who exactly is Wyrran and what is he to you? Why do you appeared to be looking for him, and what made that woman react the way she did when I asked the question?”

She sighed heavily, and looked back up toward the door that lead to the manor. Aella had always been more emotional than she, and Wynter alway knew it would affect how she handled certain situations. Perhaps if she had not reacted that way in the first place then the man before her wouldn’t request to know. However, he appeared to know Aella already so perhaps that was wishful thinking.

She reluctantly said, “Wyrran was my little brother. We are looking for him because he was taken from my home when he was only 80 years old, and we have heard nothing since. It has been nearly two centuries since he was kidnapped. As to why Aella was so upset that is a complicated answer. They were childhood friends before he was taken, and also while she came here to negotiate with the human king, I also had her come here to seek information on Wyrran if she could. Is that enough information?”

William’s head tilted slightly as he heard her response and he asked, “Is this Wyrran someone important to the elves?”

“He is important to me.” she replied diplomatically and kept an impassive face.

William had deflected questions many times on the various jobs that he received, some of which required him to allow himself to be captured first and tortured for ‘information’, so he knew that she was doing the same. However, seeing that she had already satisfied most of his curiosity of who Wyrran is he figured it would be fine. He nodded, signaling her to start her questions.

“Why did you ask about Wyrran?” Wynter questioned.

William explained the odd flashes that he had begun seeing, and the wards that he had placed on his mind. He didn’t speak of the one who had placed it there, as that would be information that could lead to the Master, however mentioning the creation of it wouldn’t hurt anything. He also told her of his placement in the memories, where he was watching from Wyrran’s eyes, which seemed to surprise her. Although he was proficient in soul magic that did not mean that he knew all information regarding it. He was taught enough to be considered a master, and to be able to source information he may need from his targets, and then was moved onto other more important matters. This woman, since she focuses on soul magic alone, may be able to unravel what was happening.

Wynter was stunned after the man, who never gave his name and she mentally hit herself for not putting that as a requirement in the deal. The amount of energy it would require to create the ward inside of his mind, which he described but she had not seen, would require a powerful soul mage. There were only a few that could do that on this continent, and most were elves because of their large mana sources. Silence pervaded the space after he was finished explaining, and she just continued to stare at the man. As time went on, her feeling that the assassin looked familiar continued getting stronger. She was certain that they had met before.

The ears. That is the only thing that doesn’t fit for me. She thought.

William noted that she was staring, but couldn’t tell what she was looking at when he asked, “What?”

“Your ears. Are they actually rounded like that?”, she asked.

He stared at her blankley. That was what she got out of that entire conversation? He just talked about soul magic, which he had believed she would be interested in, but she asked him about his ears instead? He looked at her askance for a second, before he dropped the enchantment on his ears and facial features, allowing her to see that he was an elf. Perhaps that had some sort of significance to her helping him with the ward?

Wynter looked at him for another second before she froze on the spot. To William’s surprise she immediately began crying without warning. He gave her a bewildered look as the tears flowed unabated. What she said next wasn’t exactly what he expected.

“Wyn?”

************************************************************

Alerius Otravion (The Master) POV:

The wind whipped back his hair as Alerius Otravion continued pushing his horse as hard as it could go. The mustang’s ribs expanded and shrank with great speed as it tried its hardest to meet Alerius’ harsh demands. The stranger that had given William to him had asked him to head to a desolate area inside of the forest for a meeting. They had several of these in the last century, but this was by far the most alarming. He couldn’t help but think back to how he had snapped the neck of that mind mage to keep him from speaking against him.

He had it coming. Alerius thought without any remorse.

If there was one thing that he had mastered it was the separation of his emotions from times like these. It was work, and the man had been in his way. This was not to say that he was a sociopath like William, but being able to compartmentalize his feelings was an effective way to continue living a without feeling guilty for his actions. Alerius and his two brothers had lived most of their own lives as assassins. The group was first rate and had never gone without completing a mission, though their tasks had not been nearly as difficult as some of the projects they sent William to.

The trees moved by in a blur while Alerius continued focusing on the current situation. The man had not given any hint as to what their plan would be, but losing memories as an adult was much more dangerous than as a small child. If the ward was placed over and over, even after William had reached the thousands of years, it would be no issue. However, after the memories escaped it would be much more difficult to contain them without forcing William to lose all of his current memories. This would mean that Alerius and his brothers would have to retrain the bastard right back to where he was, which would put their profits back by another hundred years or so.

As he was lost in thought, Alerius broke through a clearing amongst the many trees that had been surrounding him. The sun in the sky hit Alerius in the face and broke him from his reverie. This clearing was the place that the stranger had instructed him to meet, and he dismounted immediately. After doing so the horse fell flat on its side heaving deep breath from the rough run.

A few words of power left his lips, helping the horse breath so that it would not die before his trip back to the fortress. After doing so he took a seat on a small rock near him, and pulled a sword from the sheathe at his back. As a former mercenary, cleaning and sharpening his sword would ease his troubled thoughts. After pulling his whetstone from his bag Alerius began to run it alongside the blade, honing it.

Alerius was not sure how much time had passed since he began his sword maintenance, but another being walked from the forest at this moment. He wore a long dark cloak that covered his entire being. Not a identifying feature could be seen on the being before him, which had always been unnerving to Alerius and his companions. They could not have even known if it was a man or woman if the stranger hadn’t spoke.

He bowed deeply in respect, in an attempt to appease the man in case he was angry with Alerius. Though he was not certain what sort of martial prowess the stranger held, Alerius was not keen to test it out. All he cared about was that his gold was real, and it seemed to be in endless supply.

“Did you bring the body?” the stranger’s grave voice resounded in the empty clearing.

Alerius did not hesitate, responding with a nod, and untied the stirrups which tied the mage’s limp body to his saddle. It was the body of the soul mage, his head completely turned in the wrong direction. The stranger walked up to the corpse and inspected it.

As if looking at it had confirmed something, the man nodded and said, “Do you know who killed him? Is it possible they know of William?”

Alerius’ beating heart continued pounding within his chest as he nervously shook his head and said, “N-No. We f-found him that way within the forest. Not another being within sight, and it did not appear like the mage had defended himself. No magic residue was within the vicinity.”

The man, underneath his hood so Alerius could not actually see his eyes, looked in the direction of Alerius and nodded.

“Tell me.” the man stated concisely.

“William left fourteen days ago now, and he went to the capital of Trace, Aston.” Alerius said, and without thinking continued, “The mind mage said that if it was not administered within the same day he would undoubtedly receive all his…”

Alerius’ face became pale, and sweat began to fall from his forehead, as he realized what he had just said. Had the man not even believed Alerius’ story that the mage died in the forest for a second? He turned around and made an attempt to run the moment that he caught on to what was happening, but was stopped short.

In a familiar fashion of way the stranger appeared directly before Alerius, and lifted the man from the ground. Alerius was not nearly as large as William, but his tight muscles put quite a bit of weight onto his body the same as the boy. Alerius choked as the hand on his throat tightened dangerously, and the stranger put the hood of his cloak down.

Onyx black hair fell long behind the man’s back, and his forehead showed prominently. Light blue eyes shone in contrast with the dark hair, and his features struck out to a point. The man was slender, but athletic in appearance. The only issue was Alerius recognized this man.

“Elyon Dafiel.” Alerius choked out in surprise.

The closest advisor to the King of the Elves was Elyon Dafiel. He was known as a quiet man that spoke to only a select few people, the King included in these. He had been serving the Liacyne family for generations, but had never moved from his post as advisor. What in the hells was this man doing here?

Otravion smiled at Alerius darkly and said, “We need to have a serious chat Alerius.”