Back on Earth it was said that hindsight was twenty-twenty. In this world the phrase went “a trick is obvious once uncovered.” Of course a countess wouldn’t go against an Archduke unless she had serious backing. Dallion just never expected the backing to come from the Academy. On the other hand, given the number of mage visits as well as the establishment of an Academy village in Countess Priscord’s lands, one could guess she was getting something in return.

If Havoc was to be believed, the confrontation between him and the mages was an unexpected mishap that had provided a huge opportunity. The countess had covered the entire incident and seen to it that the respective people were punished. In return, she had obtained their silent support, and possibly a few trinkets along the way. Having two major cities was a good hint that Dallion had overlooked, focusing on his own problems at the time. To any noble, however, it was clear she was preparing for a higher position.

“I’d tell you to be careful when dealing with the countess, but you probably know that,” Havoc said. “She’s staked your life as well as hers. If things go badly, all that were involved in her scheme would suffer serious consequences. Ironically, it’s possible that she’s the only one that remains unscathed. Even an Archduke wouldn’t do against the Academy on a whim. Maybe he’ll force the countess to make a Moon vow to serve him, then pretend nothing happened. There’s strength in showing everyone that you’re too strong to be taken down.”

“So, I’ve heard.” Dallion sighed.

When he had come here, he had expected to learn practical things relating to finding the phoenix. Instead, he had uncovered a conspiracy around it. Also, he had just received indirect confirmation that the countess had only started the hunt for political reasons—unlike Havoc’s story, this time the Academy hadn’t openly gotten involved.

“Did you find it?” he asked after a while.

“Oh, we found it. We brought a whole pouch of feathers to the mages, but they expected more.”

“What more did they want?” Dallion asked.

“What do you think? They wanted the whole bird. As if it’s that easy. One of the group died in the attempt. We were the best, but that doesn’t mean we were good enough. Only the Moons can do the impossible.”

Dallion had no reason to disagree, even if he was getting the impression that the Moons had their own limits as well.

“Apparently, the aetherbird appears all over the world at specific times. The mages somehow figured out part of the principle, so they told us where to go.” Havoc went on. “It was a good offer, at least what they promised. They’d provide everything necessary to find and capture the aetherbird, we just had to go where they told us and do it.”

“Why you?”

“Some of us asked that question, but we never got an answer. Mages really disliked the place. They were stronger than all of us combined, though not there.”

Nil? Dallion asked.

It’s difficult to come to a conclusion on that little data, the echo grumbled. I can tell you one thing. The Academy didn’t have a way of predicting the phoenix’s location.

Maybe you didn’t.

You don’t understand, dear boy. It’s not a matter of someone hiding it from everyone else. Mages and scholars hide their ideas every day. The results, on the other hand, cannot be hidden. If there was a way for them to know when and where the creature would appear, they either would have captured it by now, or there would be people going after it all the time. Someone would have noticed something, and if one does, all do.

That sounded like a bit of a stretch, even if Dallion didn’t doubt that mages constantly kept an eye on each other. He had seen as much in the memory fragment of the mage that had the plague sword.

You remember your encounter with the shadow dragon? That’s what happens when mages get too enthusiastic. Very much like what happened when this group received the news of the apparent failure? There are many things that a mage can hide. Ego and arrogance are not part of them.

“Where did they send you?” Dallion asked.

“Not far from here. Well, not close, either. How familiar are you with the area?”

“I was born here.”

“You were also kept in a brainwashed village, same as most of the places here. It wasn’t a big secret.”

“I’ve been about since then.”

The look Havoc gave Dallion was the epitome of doubt, like a tiger looking at a cub. In terms of experience, he was right. The man had been assisting hunters at least three times as much as Dallion had. Dallion could feel uncertainty emanating from him, mixed with gratitude and fear.

“Continue east from your village, then after half a day go south. After a few days, you’ll reach a valley.”

The fallen south, Dallion thought. You’re talking about the fallen south.

The point from which Dallion had entered the domain was a lot further out, but it stood to reason that it was the same place. The phoenix feather avatar had said that it enjoyed living in a place that was before the world. What if that place and the fallen south were one and the same?

“You’ll need lots of rope to get down there,” Havoc continued. “You need to keep on walking until you reach the mountain on the other side. It’s not immediately visible, so you’ll have to get to the crescent tower first. Things might have changed since then, but if you keep on walking south, you’ll reach it at some point. Once you’re on the mountain, it should be obvious what to do.”

Dallion leaned forward. Now they were getting somewhere. The place was easy to find the way Havoc described it, and thanks to his familiars Dallion was able to reach it by the morning.

“Of course, you need to know the precise day and time. The mages were very specific about that.”

“Care to share?”

“It’s been over a decade.” Havoc frowned. “And I got delevelled in between. I remember some of the big things, but not a date years ago.”

“Right. Any memory how you caught it?”

“No luck there. Our job was to keep the bird from escaping. My friend did the work.”

“You keep calling him that…”

“How do you call someone who has no name? I knew his name before my banishment. I don’t anymore.”

The next five minutes, Dallion spent having a bit more food. He had learned a lot of things in this visit, though not everything he had hoped for. While the main questions were answered, a lot of vital details remained missing.

A few more topics were discussed regarding Eury’s mentor and the aetherbird before the conversation moved to casual issues. For someone who couldn’t leave his village, Havoc was rather well informed. He knew all the gossip relating to Dherma, including details of Gloria’s wedding, Veil’s latest plan to increase the size of the city, as well as the war clerics armies frequenting the region. The last was increasingly concerning. Everything was moving about with the wars between the empire’s battles to the north, the internal aspirations in the Wetie province, and the Academy poking its nose in weird places, but it was the Order that remained of most concern. The rate at which their armies were moving about was ignored during the time of the poison plague. Now it was obvious even to those who weren’t looking.

Packing some food for the trip, Dallion had Gleam put an illusion on him and left Havoc’s home. It was a quick goodbye with neither of the two having anything more to say.

You could have stayed a bit more, Nil said as the village was left behind.

We didn’t know each other that well. We only were together during the hunt.

That’s not how you reacted upon meeting Dame Vesuvia or your cleric friend.

There was no denying it. Upon first seeing Havoc, Dallion had been enthusiastic as well. However, during the conversation, his enthusiasm had decreased. As the saying went, the two never clicked. There was little of the old Havoc Dallion knew, even after he had helped remove part of his restrictions. It was like seeing a childhood friend after a decade, only to realize that everything in common had been lost. Maybe the reason was Dallion, maybe Havoc was still bitter about not being able to leave the village. Either way, he was little more than a distant acquaintance now.

Dallion set off south. When the settlement was out of view, he tried calling Dark. This time, the dragon didn’t show up. Left with no alternative, Dallion resorted to using his whip blade as a transport device. It was neither as fast nor as comfortable, but still better than running.

Just for reference, I’m not aware of a mountain in the valley, Nil said.

Not even beyond?

No mage has gone beyond. You have a skewed image of mages since the only ones you’ve seen were rogue outcasts or questionable individuals. Magic requires a systemic approach to things. Bending the rules or finding the right loophole is not a random process. It takes study and experience. Those who wish to try their luck always end up dead.

No one ever wanted to see what lay beyond?

Everyone wants to, but that doesn’t mean that they rush on blindly. Havoc himself said that the Academy hired mercenaries for the job. What more could—

The echo was abruptly cut off mid-sentence.

Nil? Dallion asked. He was about to enter his realm to see what was going on, when he noticed that time itself seemed to have frozen. Although not Dallion himself.

“Gleam?” Dallion looked down. The whip sword remained beneath his feet, but stuck in place a foot above the ground.

Dallion tried to split into a dozen instances, but found that he couldn’t.

“There’s only one instance of an instant,” a familiar voice said. The moment Dallion heard it, ice chills ran down his spine. It was the very thing he had been fearing, the very thing he had spent the last two years preparing for. “Jump off if you want. The sword won’t fly away. I’m not that petty.”

The initial reaction was for Dallion to resist. However, the urge not to show fear took hold, making him force himself to do the very thing he didn’t want to. Cautiously, he stepped off the sword and turned around.

“There you go.” Arthurows clapped with a smile. A few years ago, Dallion thought of him as just a friend and member of the Icepicker guild. Later it turned out that this was the Star himself. “You’ve really come far.”

The Star took a few steps forward. He was wearing casual denim jeans and a black t-shirt that had “Claim All Power” written on it in large red letters. Back on Earth, no one would give him any thought. Here, though, he was the embodiment of evil, as Dallion had learned firsthand.

“And you actually got the pocketknife.” The Star laughed. “That’s outright impressive. I always knew you’d achieve much. I was just wrong about the time.”

“The time?” Dallion asked.

“The time you’d agree to work for me. When we were part of the guild, I thought I’d convince you there and then. Now I see my mistake. I should have given you some more room to develop.”

“You didn’t give me a thing.”

“I gave you time,” The Star corrected. “Did you seriously think I didn’t know what you were up to? Your trip to the destroyed country? You taking my empathy gem? I know what you’re up to even now.”

“Everyone knows that.”

“Probably, but I know what your good friend didn’t tell you.” The Star’s smile widened. “You know, one of the locations the phoenix might appear. I know when, and more importantly—how to catch it. And I’ll share it with you. All you need to do is give me something in return.”