Chapter Thirty Two

Validus approached Xorvos, sword pointed forwards, ready to impale. Xorvos, not wanting to be impaled, was backing up, but he could only go so far until he hit Aurulin’s desk. Maryam looked ready to pounce, but Validus had his eye on her too. Aurulin got up from her desk looking very distressed at the impending violence.

“Validus please, there is no need for this. These two people came to me seeking help, I can’t have you attacking them in my office.”

“You’re being tricked Aurulin. That Quanso is working with a witch, he needs to be captured and interrogated.”

“Even so, please don’t fight. I’m sure this can all be resolved peacefully.”

She had gone around her desk now, trying to get between the paladin and his target.

“As long as he surrenders, no harm will come to him.”

Should I just surrender? I can’t see us getting out of this with him blocking the way to the door, and if Shuka isn’t here I might be able to explain that this is all a misunderstanding.

It seemed like surrendering was the best option, at least to Xorvos. Maryam on the other hand, had a different opinion on the matter.

“Like hell are we just going to give up! I’ll surrender when I’m dead, let’s go!”

“A fight it is then.”

Scales began to creep back up Maryams arms as a shimmering shield of magic coated her body. At the same time, Validus’ shield began to glow to go with his already flaming sword. Before either of them could strike the other though, Aurulin activated some magic of her own. She spoke a single arcane word and a set of normally hidden runes that ran along the walls and floor of the room lit up in bright red. The effects were immediate as all the magic Validus and Maryam were putting on themselves vanished in an instant. Maryams magic shield was one thing, but her arms were magic now too, and whatever Aurulin did made them fall limp to her side. The flames on Validus’ sword were put out, and his shield stopped glowing. Apparently he also had an invisible helmet too, because one appeared on his head. His helmet wasn’t the only thing that was invisible though, as twelve crossbowmen in black robes with covered faces appeared. They had their backs to the walls, and half were aiming their weapons at Validus, while the other half were split between Xorvos and Maryam. The only person in the room who didn’t have at least three crossbows aimed at them was Aurulin. She had managed to get right up to the Grand Paladin and put a stiletto to his throat in the confusion. The tip of the long thin dagger had gone right between his helmet and his breastplate to reach vulnerable flesh.

“…What is the meaning of this Aurulin?”

“What is the meaning of you fucking up two of my operations in two days asshole?”

Gone was the nice and kind priestess, now there was steel in Aurulin’s eyes. Validus refused to be cowed though, even with a dagger at his throat.

“Two? Were you working with the slavers then?”

“No you dumbass, I was going to kill them. In a way that wouldn’t piss off Draconia or give our resident pirate queen any new books either. But I guess thinking that far ahead is a bit too much for your little brain, isn’t it?”

“I did what I believed to be best at the time. How was I to know you even knew of their existence, let alone that you had a plan.”

“Well maybe you should have tried asking then. I would have been happy to tell you not to be an absolute moron.”

What is going on right now? Why is Aurulin saving us from Validus, aren’t they supposed to be on the same side? Is she even saving us at all? These crossbowmen look ready to kill, I hope Maryam doesn’t try to fight back.

Worriedly Xorvos looked over to his friend and found she wasn’t going to start any fights. She looked like she could barely stand. Her arms were limp and her skin as sickly and pale. All the energy she normally had was gone. Neither the priestess, nor the paladin had noticed in their argument.

“H-hey, I think Maryams not doing so well. Is that supposed to happen?”

“Huh? Shit, fucking dragon blood. It must be reacting badly to the anti-magic zone. Hey, put some anti-magic cuffs on her and the Quanso. Validus, are you going to start some shit if I turn the magic back on?”

“Why shouldn’t I? You obviously can’t be trusted and I don’t know what your intentions with the witch are. Give me one reason why I shouldn’t try to stop you.”

“Because even you’re not that dumb right? If you start a fight here and now, what are you going to achieve? Listen, I can get a lot more information out of those two than you, so leave them to me for a bit, and we’ll see what happens afterwards okay? I’ll even get you Shuka too, if she really is as dangerous as you say.”

“Shuka?”

“…I can’t fucking believe you didn’t even know her name. Look, you need me on this case if this is how much you have figured out on your own.”

Xorvos was still a little disorientated by Aurulin’s sudden personality shift, but he was more worried about Maryam at the moment. Two of the crossbowmen had broken off and were approaching with manacles that were engraved with runes.

Aurulin’s not going to turn off the anti-magic field until me and Maryam are restrained and magicless, and she can’t heal her until she can use magic herself. Aurulin seems… meaner. But it doesn’t look like she wants us dead.

After thinking about it, Xorvos decided not to resist. Maryam might’ve if she had the strength, but whatever was happening to her was leaving her helpless. The manacles were on, but the anti-magic zone in the room stayed. Aurulin and Validus were still arguing. Maryam was looking worse by the minute, and Xorvos didn’t know how bad it was going to get. Doing nothing wasn’t an option.

“Validus.” Xorvos interjected. “Maryam has done nothing wrong, and she needs help. The longer you argue the worse it gets.”

That got his attention. For the first time the paladin really looked at Maryam and saw the condition she was in. Finally, he relented.

“Fine. I won’t cause trouble, but only if you help the girl.”

“That was always my plan, asshole.”

Aurulin said another arcane word and the glowing runes that lit up the room vanished, although the runes on Xorvos’ and Maryams manacles started glowing in their stead. Taking the dagger away from the Grand Paladins throat, Aurulin went over to Maryam and started inspecting her.

“Hmm… She doesn’t seem to be getting better, but she isn’t getting any worse either. Good, I was worried the cuffs word affect her as well. This may take a moment but I believe I can heal her.”

Relief washed over Xorvos as he heard that. He couldn’t relax too much though, he still had crossbows pointed at him. Validus wasn’t giving him a kind look either. Then, out of the corner of his eye, Xorvos saw the door to the office open. It was Ralisdor of all people who walked in, almost nonchalant. What was even odder was that no one else seemed to notice. He walked right past a few crossbowmen who did nothing to stop him, or even acknowledge his existence. It was incredibly odd, but Ralisdor was kind enough to clear things up.

“I have altered the perceptions of everyone in the room so, you are the only one who can see me right now. They won’t notice any odd actions you take either so it is safe for you to talk right now. We need to leave though, I can’t keep this up forever, and someone might notice you aren’t acting normal.”

“…How did you know we were in trouble? Actually no, you can explain later. Hopefully Maryam has been healed enough to recover on her own by now.”

Xorvos moved to retrieve his friend who was currently being healed by Aurulin, but Ralisdor stopped him.

“We can’t bring her. The spell can’t bypass touch, so if Maryam starts moving around they will notice something is up and reactivate the anti-magic zone. She’s an archmages daughter so the worst they will do is detain her for a bit an ask her some questions.”

“Validus won’t. As long as he thinks she is involved with Shuka he isn’t going to just let her go. It might be a bit risky, but as long as I just grab her and run I think I can make it to the exit in time.”

“Are you crazy? It’s suicide and I will not be a part of it. We would have a better chance of breaking her out of jail afterwards, lets just leave without her.”

“But we won’t break her out of jail.” Xorvos replied “They will notice I’m gone and the whole city will be on high alert after that. The moment we regroup with Shuka you are going to take us out of Lancrin because it will be too dangerous here. We won’t get another chance, so either help me take it, or watch me die trying.”

*

Shuka was alone. Maryam and Xorvos were already gone when she woke up, and Ralisdor left around half an hour ago. She never used to mind being alone, but she was never in so much constant danger either. She knew everyone would be back soon, but she was still worried. Her thoughts were interrupted by Ralisdor rushing into the room with a rare frantic look on his face.

“We need to leave now. Validus is on to us.”

Before he even finished his sentence Shuka was up and grabbing her things. In less than a minute she was out the door following her teacher.

“What about Xorvos and Maryam? Where are they?”

“There is no time to explain.”

She was worried before, but that one answer doubled her anxiety. Still, she didn’t slow as she rushed out of the inn and onto the street. There, to her relief, she saw Xorvos and Maryam. Neither looked alright though. Xorvos was bleeding from a cut on his arm as he was unhitching his horse from the inn’s attached stable. Maryam was already on her horse, but looked incredibly sick and pale. She was sitting on the saddle, but was leaned forward so far that her upper torso was being held up by the horses neck. They both also were wearing steel manacle’s that connected their wrists with a short chain. Maryam in also had purple scales going up her arm past her elbow.

“What the hell happened? Are you alright?”

“Heh… if you think I look bad now… you should have seen me ten minutes ago. I’ll be fine.”

Maryam was speaking slowly and laboriously in a way Shuka had never seen her do before. It was not encouraging.

“Catch up later, we are leaving immediately.”

Shuka didn’t need to be told twice. She got her own horse from the stable and quickly mounted it. By the time she was done everyone else was too. They had attracted a crowd of onlookers, but no one was moving to stop them. The ominous sound of guards stomping down the street had appeared though, so any notion of safety was quickly dispelled. All at once four horses galloped off with Ralisdor in the lead. He was casting magic as he rode too, concentrating for just a moment before cloaking all four riders and their horses in invisibility. The clopping sound of hooves on stone also disappeared, making it seem as if they didn’t even exist. Shuka started to panic, seeing all of her friends disappear around her, until she saw that she could still see their outline. It seemed Ralisdor accounted for that when he cast the spell. The problem was there was still large crowds of people who couldn’t see the four horses about to trample them. Ralisdor had a solution for that too though. A few seconds after he turned everyone invisible, Ralisdor created a shimmering bridge of transparent light right under the horses hooves. The bridge went high into the air and over the crowds of people.

Can only we see the bridge? Making us invisible would be kind of pointless if he didn’t. This is some very advanced magic though, could Ralisdor always do this? Making us all invisible seems about right, but he made the horses invisible too. That’s eight creatures, and four of them are pretty big, while also maintain an illusionary bridge. Would I be suspecting him if it wasn’t for last night though?

Regardless of her thoughts on the matter, Shuka couldn’t just ride off the bridge and break her horse’s legs. Trying her luck without Ralisdors help didn’t seem all that appealing in the first place. Things were almost going smoothly, until Shuka heard the sound of a solitary set of hooves thundering in the distance. She looked behind herself, and almost regretted it. Validus was there, riding his horse much faster than she was riding hers. He was coming straight for her.

“Ralisdor, aren’t we invisible? Why does he know where we are?”

Or at least that was what she wanted to say, but the silence muffling her horses’ hooves also muffled her voice. Nothing came out. Ralisdor didn’t need to be told Validus was chasing them though. He turned in his saddle and began casting once more. Shuka didn’t see what happened when he finished. All Validus did was lift up his shield as if to block something, but continued to ride towards them. He was catching up too, and fast. Just then, Shuka heard Ralisdors voice in her head. He wasn’t talking, at least not that she could see, but she could still hear him.

“He is able to track us somehow and my illusions are less effective now that he knows he is fighting an illusionist. I have a spell that will get us to safety, but it will take some time to cast. Do not die until I am finished.”

The bridge that Shuka and the rest were riding on and constantly creating itself in front of them, and also uncreating itself behind them. Now though, it extended forward right into Lancrins wall far in front of them. Everyone’s invisibility also dropped, leaving them visible for all to see. Validus especially.

I hope Ralisdor knows what he is doing. If it’s a spell big enough that he can’t concentrate on the invisibility spell while casting it, then it better be good.

Validus, who was getting closer and closer, stuck on the ground or not. He was looking up at Shuka with an intense conviction, and his sword lit up with pure white divine flame as he approached. Once he was close enough, he swung his sword in a long arc and flung the fire right at Shuka. She moved her horse to dodge it, but found that wasn’t even necessary. The holy flame splashed harmlessly against the underside of the bridge.

That’s right. We might be visible now, but the bridge must still be invisible for Validus. Thank the gods the fire doesn’t seem to have much force behind it, I can’t imagine an illusionary bridge is as tough as a real one.

Undeterred by his foiled attack, Validus lit his word aflame yet again. This time he launched the fire off to the side, past the bridge. It missed Shuka by a mile, but she was still worried it would redirect itself towards her. It didn’t seem like that was within the paladin’s capabilities though, because it just continued past her until the fire dissipated. Having learned all that he needed to, Validus used another spell. Not on himself, or even his weapon, but on his horse. A fierce steed already, it only became fiercer as the muscles on the horses body bulged with magically granted strength. A moment later, it jumped. The horse leaped impossibly far, landing halfway up the side of a building, its hooves somehow finding purchase on a vertical wall. It stayed there for less than a moment before jumping again, this time flying through the gap between the bridge and buildings. He landed, with perfect accuracy, right in the center of the bridge, just a short distance behind Shuka and her group. His sword was on fire again.

Shit, is Ralisdor still casting his spell? What am I supposed to do, shoot him? I’m not very good at horse archery, and my arrows don’t seem to do much against him anyway. I guess I could aim at his horse, but even if I hit, I don’t know how much it would even slow that beast down by with whatever spell Validus has enchanted it with. It’s wearing barding too, so unless I hit its eye, I don’t think I could kill it by hitting its head. Wait, if an arrows not going to do the trick, there’s something else I can use.

Shuka rummaged through her bag and found what she was looking for. A glass vial, filled with an amber liquid. She held it in her hands for a moment and concentrated on a spell. She covered the bottle in an illusion of purple flames, hiding it completely. She turned to throw it, but had to quickly duck and a wave of white flame almost hit her. Memories of the pain that fire has caused her almost made Shuka lose concentration on her spell, but she managed to maintain it. Before Validus could attack her again, Shuka spoke the activation phrase for the bottle of alchemists fire and threw it. Validus had seen Shuka throw purple fire before, and he knew it was an illusion, this time he made no effort to block or avoid it. The bumpy horse ride threw off Shuka’s aim by quite a bit anyway. The small ball of illusionary fire, with a vial of liquid fire inside, fell a bit short and landed just in front of the paladin and his horse. That suited Shuka’s needs just fine though, as the ground was quickly covered in some very real fire. There wasn’t enough time to stop or move around the fire, so Validus’ horse rode straight through it. Whatever liquid that made alchemists fire must have been very sticky, because it seemed to stick to the horses hooves and catch the horse on fire. No horse, not even Validus’ could remain calm in that situation. It stopped chasing Shuka and began to stomp around on the bridge in a futile attempt to extinguish the alchemically created flame. Validus himself even dismounted to save his steed from its fiery fate.

Did… did that work? Even if Validus can put out the fire and heal his horse, this should at least buy us enough time for Ralisdor to finish his spell right?

With the crisis seemingly averted, Shuka turned back around to see if Ralisdor was done or not, and found that they were all moments away from slamming into the wall surrounding Lancrin. They were reaching the end of the illusionary bridge and the only thing left was enchanted stone. Shuka was just about to pull on the reins of her horse to stop, when Ralisdor finished the spell he was working on. The wall twisted, or at least a small part of it did. It twisted in a circle, just wide enough for the bridge. Then, in the center of the distortion, a hole appeared. Only small enough for a bug to pass through at first, but it grew very rapidly. Rapidly enough that by the time Shuka reached it she could pass through easily. The bridge itself went through the newly made hole and the party followed it. Soon enough they were all on the other side, and Ralisdor who seemed to be straining really hard to maintain the spell, let go of it. In an instant the wall was back to normal, with everyone on the other side of it still on a bridge of light. Safe. Or at least as safe as you could get. But there was just one thing that was bugging Shuka.

If that spell was the spell I think it was, then Ralisdor is definitely stronger than he lets on. Just who is he?