For a while, they simply sat in companionable silence. Edwin was studying the wall next to the door when Bordan spoke.

“So, Edwin, now that you got Salissa to tell us all the things she didn’t want to talk about, I think it’s only fair that you tell us the truth as well.”

Edwin met the other man’s gaze, a sinking feeling in his stomach.

“What do you mean?”

Bordan gave him a flat look.

“Oh please. None of us are stupid. That story you told us was weird from the start, but we let it slide. It definitely doesn’t explain how you seem to know everything there is to know about magic, including the inner workings of the College and magic law.”

Edwin winced, lowering his head. He had known this day would come eventually, but he’d done his best to ignore the concerns slowly gathering in the back of his mind whenever he lay awake at night. He’d hoped he would have more time.

“Leodin thinks you’re a noble.” Bordan continued. “Salissa thinks you’re a mage who somehow lost his magic, although she can’t explain how that could’ve happened. I don’t know either way, but I’m pretty sure that you’re not as young as you pretend to be.”

His eyes narrowed as he fixed a searching gaze on Edwin’s face.

“Sometimes I feel like you’re not even human.”

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Edwin couldn’t help a barking laugh from escaping.

“Really, Bordan? So what, I’m some kind of skinwalker from a fairytale? Pretending to be a man to become an adventurer and hunt monsters?”

He chuckled, shaking his head.

“And here I thought Leodin was the one with the active imagination. No, Bordan, I’m a man. We were probably born in the same area, although at different times, of course.”

Bordan didn’t share his amusement.

“This is not a joke, Edwin. After all we’ve been through, after all the times you asked us to trust you, after all the times we covered for you when others noticed your strange behavior, you owe us an explanation.”

That gave Edwin pause. Even if he’d wanted to make up yet another fake story to explain away the things he’d done, there was nothing he could think of that would do the trick. The others were suspicious anyway, and they’d see through something half-baked in a heartbeat. On top of that, if he lied to them now, he would break their trust. After all the time spent living and fighting together, they had become some of the best friends both he and Walter had ever had.

“You’re right.” He said slowly. “Nothing of what I’ve told you so far was true.”

Having already prepared for another argument, Bordan closed his mouth in surprise. Leodin and Salissa, who had watched the exchange uncomfortably, were now listening with rapt attention.

“I didn’t lie to you without reason.” Edwin continued. “You’re right, I’m older than I look. I was born in Pel Harvand and used to live in the south of the duchy. That was the main reason why I came to Pel Darni: Fewer chances to meet someone I know. As you might have guessed, I haven’t been Edwin for long. The person I am now began to exist shortly before we met.”

Edwin rubbed his eyes, then ran his hands through his hair and cracked his neck.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you the whole story.”

Bordan’s eyes narrowed again, and he opened his mouth to argue, but Edwin cut him off.

“It has nothing to do with trust. There are people, powerful people, who would stop at nothing to find and kill me if they so much as suspected who I really am. My only protection is that they think me dead. I trust that none of you would give away my secret on purpose, but a single wrong word spoken in jest or a stupid comment while drunk would be enough to put them on my trail, which would put all of us in danger – you even more so than me.”

There was nothing the Inquisition hated with as much fervor, or hunted with as much tenacity, as Liches. While people like Walter were notoriously hard to kill, inquisitors were the only mages in existence who weren’t limited in the spells they could learn. Their experience in hunting Liches and renegades went all the way back to the Mage Wars and was well-documented. They knew what worked. If they found out about him, they wouldn’t worry about collateral damage. They’d come at him with everything they had, leveling city blocks just to make sure he didn’t get up again.

Edwin might survive their attacks long enough to flee, but his companions didn’t have his advantages, nor would they be met with mercy if the Inquisition thought that they’d known about him and didn’t report him.

Several different emotions flashed across Bordan’s face as he digested Edwin’s words.

“It’s nice of you to worry about our well-being,” Bordan began, “but I think we deserve to make our own decisions about our lives, don’t you?”

Edwin cocked his head, meeting Bordan’s gaze for several long seconds. Finally, he shrugged.

“You know what? Fine. If it’s that important to you, I give you a choice. The first option is that I tell you everything. The whole truth.”

Bordan was opening his mouth, but Edwin quickly continued.

“Of course that means that afterwards, I will have to disappear. The danger of being found out is too great, so I’ll walk up these stairs and you’ll never see me again. Nor will anyone else, for that matter, because I’ll have to become someone else once more.”

His companions looked at him with shock, and he continued a little more softly.

“The second option is that you guys trust me. Yes, what I told you about my past wasn’t true, but is that so important? You know me. No matter who I was before, I am who I am now, and as long as nobody knows about my past, it won’t be of consequence.”

The expression on Bordan’s face was a mix of a lot of different feelings. The former solider exchanged looks with Leodin and Salissa, then addressed Edwin.

“I… I think we should talk about this between the three of us. Give us a moment, we’ll go into the other room.”

“Stay.” Edwin said, climbing to his feet and cracking his back. “There is no place in this ruin where I couldn’t hear you. I’ll climb up and make sure there are no more goblins creeping about.”

He grabbed his glaive and made his way up the stairs, the stares of his teammates burning into his back.

After having been in the ruin for so long, the sunny forest clearing was a welcome change. The dead goblins lay where they had slain them, although a few birds had already begun to add them to their diet. Edwin took a deep breath, the cool autumn air filling his lungs while birds sang in the trees above him. He didn’t see anything dangerous, so he walked to a clear space and hefted his glaive. Might as well use the time to get used to his new weapon.

--- ----- ---

Edwin was just leading the polearm through a wide sweep when Bordan’s head emerged from the hole in the ground.

“Wasn’t sure you’d still be here.” Bordan grunted. “Come on, we’ve decided.”

His head disappeared again, and Edwin followed him down the hole.

When he arrived back in front of the door, the other three were waiting for him. He scanned their faces but couldn’t tell what was going on from their expressions. Bordan clearly wasn’t happy, while Salissa looked worried and Leodin determined.

“We’ll choose option two, under one condition.” Bordan opened without preamble.

“Which is?”

“You have to tell us why they’re after you. I’ve sworn to protect Harvand with my life. If you’re a criminal, I can’t stand by and cover for you.”

Edwin cocked his head, then nodded slowly.

“That sounds reasonable. Obviously, I can’t tell you the exact reason because that would defeat the point. But I can tell you that they would kill me for who I am, not for what I’ve done. I give you my word that I never killed anyone, hurt anyone or stole from anyone.”

Bordan’s eyes softened, and Edwin gave him a wry grin.

“As you may have noticed, the person I was before was a scholar, not a fighter. In fact, I’ve seen more violence since I met you than my entire previous life.”

Leodin and Salissa looked at the former soldier expectantly, and he rolled his eyes.

“Fine, I agree. But mark my words, one day I’ll get you to tell me why you’re so weird.”

Edwin chuckled. “If I knew I’d tell you right now. I don’t, though, so I’ll tell you something else instead. Something better if you ask me.”

His teammates looked at Edwin questioningly, and he pointed at the door.

“Or didn’t you want to know what’s behind that?”

Salissa furrowed her brow.

“I thought you said the ritual isn’t for opening it.”

Edwin tsked at her. “No, I said that isn’t a ritual at all. Don’t mix up your language please. The runes on the door are a sign. The Pioneers saw art in many things, their writing included. Where we wouldn’t want to hang a sign onto a wall like this to not spoil the artistry, they worked their runes into it, making it even more elaborate.”

“So, what does it say?” Leodin asked impatiently.

“As I said earlier, the placement of the runes in the circle formation can mean different things. In this case, it signifies direction.”

He pointed at the right edge of the circle. “Servants’ quarters.” Then the left. “Workshop” And finally, the middle. “…and this tells us what’s behind the door.”

“Which is?” Bordan asked. It was a shame that the man had no sense for showmanship.

“Why don’t we open it and find out?” Edwin asked with a smile, which Bordan answered with a flat look and a frown.

“How does it open?” Salissa asked. “I don’t see a latch anywhere, that’s why I thought it might be the runes.”

“Fun fact about the Pioneers:” Edwin said, raising his teaching finger. “They’re probably most well-known for their rituals, but that’s not what they were best at. Those were a means to an end. As far as we can tell, their passion was building things, especially intricate and beautiful structures. This one is nice, the forest theme is definitely pretty, but it’s a hovel compared to places like the Cavernport. While they used magic in the building process, the structures themselves worked without mana wherever possible. Two of the four lifts at the Cavernport were designed to be operated manually, through a complex system of gears and pulleys. Their doors are usually similar.”

Edwin walked to the wall left of the door and grabbed a stone branch that was almost a meter above his head. Unlike the rest of the branches that “grew” upwards, this one was pointing sideways. With a triumphant smile, Edwin pulled on the branch.

It didn’t move.

“…should that do something?” Bordan asked.

Edwin yanked on the branch, but to no avail.

“I’m sure this is it.” He said with a frown. “I think it’s stuck.”

He grabbed it with both hands, pulling so hard that his feet left the floor. With his face close to it, he was even more sure that he had been correct. It looked just like a lever. He relaxed his arms, letting his body fall, stopping himself before he hit the ground. He pulled himself up and did it again, and again. The third time, he felt the lever move ever so slightly.

The fourth time, whatever had blocked the mechanism came loose and the lever began to slowly move down as the round door started to move with a grinding noise. It began turning, rolling into the wall opposite Edwin like a coin on its side, revealing an equally round corridor with smooth walls.

“There we go.” Edwin said, satisfied. “Just a little dust or grime in the gears after such a long time, I guess.”

Leodin was curiously sticking his head into the corridor, then pulled back, sneezing. Edwin stepped through the door, taking a whiff of the centuries-old air with a smile.

“The last people who breathed this air have been dead since long before our ancestors set foot on this continent.” He said with a wide smile. “Savor it.”

“Is it safe?” Bordan asked suspiciously.

“Sure.” Edwin shrugged. “Just old. Come on, you’ll want to see this.”

Edwin in the lead, the adventurers headed down the corridor. It was descending slowly, and within a few steps it began to change its shape. After maybe fifty meters, it ended in a triangular opening just shorter than Edwin. Without hesitation, he ducked through it and walked down the slope to where the floor was level. Then he turned around, awaiting his teammates with a smile.

Bordan was first, the former soldier’s suspicious expression turning to disbelief and wonder as he stepped through the door. Next was Salissa whose eyes were bugging out when she saw the sheer amount of Magesilver. Leodin was last, laying his head back and looking at the ceiling above. Edwin savored the look on their faces as they began to realize what they were standing in.

“This… is this…” Bordan said, speechless for the first time since Edwin knew him.

“Yes.” Edwin said with a smile. “This is a city shield. In pristine condition, from the look of it. Medium sized, I would say, maybe a kilometer in diameter. See, I told you this find would pay.”

“It’s beautiful.” Salissa breathed, following the intricate runes and lines that covered the entire spherical room from top to bottom. The corridor was sized perfectly so that it squeezed between the lines of Magesilver without disrupting them. Light crystals were placed in depressions in the wall and ceiling, lighting the room without disturbing the ritual.

“Wait, what does this mean?” Leodin asked. “Are we rich now?”

“Not rich, but we won’t have to worry about money for a while.” Edwin said. “The College is always interested in ruins and will pay anyone who finds them, but city shields are different. The duchy has a standing reward for anyone who finds one, and even with the Guild taking a cut, it’ll be generous. I think it’s time you guys started to think about upgrading your gear.”

Only the marksman was even listening to him, while the other two were preoccupied with their study of the chamber. Salissa was reverently running her hand along one of the silver veins, disturbing the light layer of dust covering every surface.

Edwin looked around with a smile. Normal people weren’t usually allowed close to city shields, so their reaction was understandable. Walter had been in several rooms just like this one, some smaller, some larger, so for him it wasn’t quite as special. Still, the perfect lines of Magesilver, dull under the layer of dust, reminded him of what he’d left behind.

Weeks and months spent poring over his research notes and reference books. Building and rebuilding rituals to test his hypotheses. The awesome power pulsing in Walter’s core, the world bowing to his wishes at a thought. The Immortalizer, his crowning achievement, a creation unparalleled in its greatness yet with so much still left to do. Imperfections in his process to iron out. Lessons he’d learned to implement. So many possibilities.

Surfacing from his thoughts, Walter regarded Edwin’s friends with a smile. The Immortalizer wasn’t yet perfect. He figured that as long as he lived, he would always find something he could improve upon. There was no question that it fulfilled its purpose, however.

He would return to work on it someday, but not yet. There really was no hurry, was there?

He had dreamed of becoming someone else, of living another life without the burdens of his old one.

The Immortalizer had fulfilled his dream and more. So much more.

END OF BOOK I