“Wow,” Gandash said.

“It must have hit the ground less than a league away,” Bel said.

A murmur of conversation filled the camp as the soldiers sat back down around their fires.

“Guys,” Xerxes said, “remember what we were talking about back in the Yellow Forest?”

Bel nodded. “I remember. You’re wondering what’s inside that thing, aren’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“Probably metals, minerals, that kind of thing,” Gandash said. “There are quite a few spell component ingredients that can only be found in meteorites.”

Xerxes rubbed his hands together and then cracked his knuckles. “We should go check it out. Think about it, Gandy. You cast two Spawn Duos. How much do you think those doses of blisterscale reduction cost?”

“A lot.”

“If that meteor has some rare stuff in it, you could probably recoup what you spent on those spells. That’s not to mention the green belladonna sand Bel used, and my crabnickel powder.”

They would get compensation for their time on this mission, but it would hardly suffice to recoup their losses. And though they could submit applications for additional remuneration, there was no guarantee the Mage Parliament would approve of their spellcasting decisions. In other words, they might be completely on the hook for their components.

Xerxes could see Gandash hesitating, and scrambled to think of something further to say that would pique his interest.

Before he could come up with anything good, Bel reached out and put her hand on Gandash’s forearm.

“Gan,” she said. “The blisterscale reduction was a gift, so it’s not like you need to replace it. But Xerxes and I have to pay for our own components. We didn’t get preemptive approval to cast spells on this mission, and who knows if we’ll end up getting compensated. And even if we do, it could take months before we see the actual components….”

Gandash shook his head as if he felt embarrassed. “Of course. I was just thinking of myself. We should go check it out. Or at least, ask the captain her opinion.” He looked over in the direction of Captain Ishki’s campfire. While he was looking away, Bel caught Xerxes’ eye and gave him a look that said, thank me later.

Xerxes covered a smile by clearing his throat.

Well, who could have guessed? he thought. Apparently, all it took was a girlfriend to get Gandash to understand how money worked.

“I’ll talk to her,” Xerxes said. “You two finish cleaning up.”

Hurrying across the camp, he found Captain Ishki and Sergeant Tamharu in deep conversation. Not daring to interrupt, he clasped his hands behind his back and waited off to the side. Ishki noticed him fairly quickly.

“Can I help you, Seer?”

“Captain, the other mages and I were thinking it would be a good idea to investigate that fallen star.”

“You mean the meteorite?”

“Yeah, that. It could contain valuable components for spellcasting. Besides, we figure the Mage Parliament might want information about them.” The last part was something that had occurred to him right before he said it.

“Believe it or not,” Captain Ishki said, “that’s what Sergeant Tamharu and I were just discussing. It’s likely the Parliament already sent mages to investigate other meteorites, but given the fact we’re so close, I feel we’d be remiss to not take a look.” She turned to Tamharu. “Sergeant, pick four other soldiers and two of the mages. The horses are already picketed and calmed down, so go on foot. You should be able to make it to the point of impact, look around, and get back before it’s completely dark. If it turns out to be farther away, turn around. I don’t want you tramping around the countryside after nightfall. Got it?”

“Yes, sir,” Tamharu said.

Xerxes opened his mouth to ask if all three mages could go together, but apparently Ishki had guessed he would do so, for she raised a hand to cut him off.

“I’m not going to send all my mages off to investigate a mysterious space rock,” she said. “Have our resident bookworm stay behind. Seer Bel is the healer, so take her with you. There’s virtually no chance of combat, but going over rough terrain in the evening isn’t the safest thing to do. Do you agree, Sergeant?”

“Yes, sir.” Looking at Xerxes, he said, “Ready yourself, Seer. Make sure you and Seer Bel both have your component pouches. We’ll leave in ten minutes.”

Xerxes hurried back and informed Bel and Gandash of what was happening. Gandash was disappointed to be excluded, but wasn’t the type to gripe about orders.

And thus, ten minutes later, Bel and Xerxes followed Sergeant Tamharu out of the camp on foot. Behind them were four other soldiers, including Private Ap, Rihan, Goran, and Tekinalp.

At the far end of the camp was a ridgeline. Beyond it, they slid down rough shale and then started hiking toward the forested region. They were soon climbing through boulders and scraggly trees. At least it wasn’t the Yellow Forest.

They hiked for about an hour, until the sky began to fill with evening colors.

“Look, over there,” Private Ap said, pointing.

Beyond a hilltop not too far away, a wisp of smoke rose up, then disappeared. A moment later, another wisp could be seen.

“That must be where it fell,” Sergeant Tamharu said. “No time to waste. We only have about two hours of light left.”

The climb up the hill seemed to take forever. Xerxes cursed to himself every time his foot slipped in the dirt, all the while wondering what they would see when they reached the top. About halfway up, his nose twitched as he detected an odd smell. In response, he inhaled deeply, but the smell was gone.

Tamharu reached the crest of the hill first. “By the grace of the Pontifarch,” he said, stepping to the side to make more room for those behind him.

Bel was next, then Xerxes.

The hill curved both to the left and right, creating something like a horseshoe shape. On the other side was a wide valley that had once contained trees and vegetation. However, the falling rock had destroyed everything around it. They were looking at a smoking crater surrounded by blackened trees and crushed boulders.

The crater was only about five or six cubits in diameter, but was so deep that, from the hilltop, it wasn’t possible to see its bottom.

Xerxes’ nose twitched again.

“Did you smell that?” Sergeant Tamharu said, his face wrinkling slightly.

“No, sir,” Private Ap said.

Xerxes had indeed noticed the strange smell. But it passed so quickly, he wasn’t sure what it was. It wasn’t anything comforting, though. And it caused a seed of unease to form in the back of his mind.

“Looks, something’s moving,” Bel said.

Xerxes’ hand dropped to his spell component pouch as he craned his neck looking for any sign of motion.