“That day Saint Maxwell was a nobody, with no chance to make anything of himself among his people. But The Almighty gave him a chance, and Maxwell used it to save the people who forsaken him. No mortal can gift another person with mana, not to mention the power that not even archmages can acquire, but everyone can share with others their kindness. Their patience. Their compassion. And everyone can spread those gifts further to people who also need them.”

“Thank you, brother Salm. I believe that was exactly what my homily was missing. With those kind words, I would like to wish our brave soldiers a safe journey to the lands that await them,” the priest said to the men leaving the temple. “Well, that is not a preach I would tell to a group of soldiers, but they didn’t seem to mind.”

“I’m sorry Father,” Sirius said shamefaced. “It sounded better to me when I was eight years old. When I realized what I was saying, I was too stressed out to improvise. Once again, thank you for covering up for me.”

“No problem, lad. I don’t like messing with the law, but I don’t think that you deserve such a harsh punishment. It’s not like I really know you, but I hope I didn’t misjudge you.”

“It’s strange to hear that, but thank you. I will do my best not to make you regret this decision. I’m just gonna live a quiet life at some far away place, not causing any problems.”

“Good to see that you have some end goal in mind, but you don’t look like you know what you are doing right now.”

“Em… I mean; I can take care of myself.”

“Of course you can. And now, let’s go. My sister has been letting pilgrims sleep at her house lately. I don’t think she will even notice if there is one more.”

“I don’t…”

“It’s already dark. Hurry up, Sirius.” The man didn’t even look back as he left the temple.

“Eh,” Sirius sighed and closed the temple door. With a quick tap on the door knob he locked all the locks, and followed the priest. Repairing those locks, have ultimately turned out to be a good deed that pays of.

Right before the end of the day. It almost felt like the series of miracles was about to be done with him. He decided to run away without any theft, and go by with the little money he was left. Better to be hungry than caught.

***

Thalia entered the second resonance chamber and waving her right hand in the air. Three clinging enchanted bracelets created some controlled disturbances in the Threads, making it easier to skim through them.

She absolutely loved being a Seer.

The pay was good, but she didn’t care. She had lots of resources to grow her Sight, which was nice to have. Being a respected professional was also good. But most importantly, her job was one of the few things she actually considered magic, second only to the things Archmages could do.

She took some quick notes of the few things she noticed at first, only to move to an almost invisible Thread. It was almost unstable, but she has worked with worse. Typical amateur work. Too much power send on too long intervals. Probably some rich Ruler just bought himself a private resonance chamber. She was close to becoming like her older coworkers, who think that cheap enchantments are the worst thing that happened this century. The overflow of amateurs was becoming more and more annoying.

I… I... am…

The words started to become more readable, but the lack of experience was painfully visible. Even the kids she was tutoring could do better.

She made three quick Threads to her friends, and send them some feeling of amusement. Two of them quickly answered in similar fashion, but Brea remained strangely silent.

I am The First Royal Justicius... Markus Sen Lorqeth…

Oh.

Oh, no.

That was Brea’s boss.

He’s probably in her chamber.

Reading emotions is probably the simplest thing to do. She could only pray, that he didn’t notice where it came from.

Sirius Smithson… a runaway criminal is in the... city…

The next thing she felt was a mental package with informations about that man, and even some memory-images. She had to take back what she said earlier, that was quite impressive thing to do, for someone with little to no training. For the first time since she started her work, she was really jealous of what Rulers could do with their powers. She even made a promise to herself, to go back to her daily mana-circling exercises.

Some people made a noise, about how high the bounty was, but what took her interest, were the strange orders regarding the possibility of this criminal’s death. He was supposed to be captured alive, but in case he was killed or found dead, there were official orders to cut off his head and stab his heart with something. Preferably wooden stick. Everything was sent with such a cold tone, that she couldn’t even laugh.

Markus Sen Lorqeth was one of the most powerful people in the country. Both magically and politically. He could legally make her lose her job and license for what she has sent to her friends a minute ago. He negotiated peace treaties of two wars, and was internationally respected for stopping one that was almost started by their own country.

And now he made and official order to mutilate a dead body like some vampire hunter.

***

Blood.

The smell of blood wasn’t something uncommon in the mines, but the intensity of this metallic scent was enough to wake Sirius up. He conjured a quick shield before even opening his eyes.

He almost wished he didn’t.

The man looming over him was the source of the smell. He was covered in blood. Too much to come from one person.

“Right from the start, I would thank you from the bottom of my heart. It was a long time since I was allowed to have fun like this.” The man smiled at Sirius and licked his bloodied lips. “Could you please go back to sleep? Invading your mind would be so much simpler, and your death a bit closer to painless. Do you want me to fetch you some tea? I came here an hour early, so I have some time to spare.”