“Hoer drae!” Verdan called out, making a throwing motion with one hand as he launched a slew of Aether-infused icicles at the Vespa trying to rip Silver’s head from his shoulders.

The icicles stitched across the creature, each digging slightly into its flesh and pushing it away as the Lieutenant moved steadily back and kept his shield up, seemingly unbothered by the attack.

Even in the midst of a fight, Silver was unflappable.

This was just the last in a series of Vespa that Verdan and his assigned group had come across, but he was hopeful that they were near the end. It had taken a lot longer to find a new one than before, and this particular creature had already been wounded when they came across it.

The Vespa screeched in pain and leapt into the air, its large wings unfurling to beat down and launch it further up and out of the range of the guards closing in on it.

Unfortunately for the Vespa, however, this put it directly into the line of fire of the arbalests that were with the group. Within moments, four bolts slammed into the Vespa, one lucky attack catching it in the neck and seemingly nicking the edge of a blood vessel.

“Torr,” Verdan called out, keeping it simple as he wrapped bands of Aether around the creature and pulled it toward him.

Holding such a powerful creature still would be Aether-intensive, so Verdan kept the spell focused on the vertical aspect, making the creature struggle to gain altitude. He didn’t need to deliver the killing blow, just keep it contained.

A second volley of bolts drove home into the Vespa as it tried to flee, this time doing enough damage to bring it down. The heavy impact of the Vespa hitting the street was followed by a final screech of pain as Silver’s troops fell upon it and finished it in short order.

“Another dealt with,” Lieutenant Silver remarked as the group reformed around Verdan once more. The Lieutenant bore a few small injuries, but he waved off any attempt at doing more than binding them, directing the healer they had with them to his troops.

“Indeed, there can’t be many more,” Verdan said, more with hope than any certainty. They’d encountered almost a dozen of the creatures since he’d joined forces with the guard, but they had a working tactic now. Scouts would search the area and then signal for them when they found Vespa, at which point Verdan and the others would engage the creatures.

When they’d first encountered the Vespa, they had been in groups, but the last few had been on their own. Hopefully, that was a sign that they were dwindling in number.

“I’m running low on bolts, Boss,” Pania said, motioning to the quiver on her hip.

“Me too,” Declan added quickly, looking at Verdan with an expectant expression.

“There’s not much I can do about that right now,” Verdan said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at Declan’s expectation that Verdan could simply wave a hand and solve the issue.

“It’s time to head back to headquarters,” Silver said abruptly, turning from where he’d been quietly conferring with a subordinate. “The scouts are reporting no new activity nearby. We’ve got several patrols going through the city, but the need for us to remain on standby is gone.”

“We’ll come back with you to check in before we head back to the estate,” Verdan said, somewhat relieved that they weren’t finding any more Vespa. He’d used quite a bit of Aether one way or another, and he still wasn’t fully healed from his injuries earlier on.

Ideally, Verdan wanted to go home, rest and start helping everyone recover from this in the morning. Still, he didn’t want to head back until he was certain that the guard had the situation in hand; the last thing he wanted was to leave and then find out they got in a bad situation without him.

Really, this was a good reminder that he needed to speak with Elliot and get the physical side of his enchanting magi-tech built. Thinking of Elliot made Verdan wince a little in memory of the distant look in the big man’s eyes.

Elliot might not be in the best place for work like that at the moment; Verdan might have to see what he could get done locally. It would complicate things, and give more exposure to what he was doing, but that couldn’t really be avoided.

Ruminating on his plans and what to do next, Verdan nonetheless kept his detection ward active, though with a much low amount of Aether being devoted to it. With the number of people around and actively watching for the Vespa, Verdan didn’t feel quite so open and vulnerable, but he couldn’t quite convince himself to deactivate it altogether.

A slight shudder ran down his spine as Verdan remembered the sudden attack and how close he’d come to dying right then and there. Aeva was the only reason he was alive, and that was downright terrifying.

Thankfully, Silver seemed to be correct about the lack of Vespa, and the group came into sight of the headquarters without further incident. Commander Griffon had set up an impromptu command post outside the headquarters in their absence, so Verdan headed straight for him.

Verdan hadn’t had much of an opportunity to watch the Commander in action, but what he did see was testament to the man’s organisational capabilities. As they approached, he saw Griffon take control of incoming guards from other patrols and orchestrate their moves directly. All while still managing three or four other tasks.

Verdan could see the respect the guards had for their diminutive commander, and having him take a personal and direct hand in things seemed to reassure them somewhat.

“Wizard Blacke,” Griffon greeted them as they joined him. The command post was all of a table with a map pinned in place by several markers that the Commander was using, but Griffon gestured to it like it was an official war table. “The city has been mostly scouted for remaining Vespa presence, and we look to be clear, for now. Additional watchers are being deployed to vantage points to give warning of any new Vespa, but we’re mainly dealing with the aftermath of the attack now. Your people are to thank for the speed with which we’ve dealt with the attacking creatures, and you have my thanks.”

“I’m glad we could help,” Verdan said, waving away the thanks. Fighting alongside Silver and the others had been nostalgic, reminding him of his time working with the imperial guardsman before the war. “How have Gwen and the witches fared?”

“They took down several elder Vespa that were attacking the eastern side of the city, along with the normal Vespa that were accompanying them. I tasked a squad to move with them, and they’ve suffered no casualties in the process. You’ve mentioned this format in passing before, I think I’m beginning to see the strength of it now.”

“Good, I’m glad they were able to help,” Verdan said with a slight sense of relief. He’d worried at the time that he’d sent the inexperienced witches into a situation too dangerous for them, but he’d clearly underestimated the impressive learning curve witches demonstrated. Part of the benefits of being an instinctual caster, he supposed. “As bad as this has been, at least there is some benefit in showing we can work together and throw back an attacking force.”

“Taking some form of positive from this would be welcome,” Griffon said, motioning to the map as he continued. “For now, I will focus on cleaning up this mess. You’ve done your part here; head home and heal up.”

“I will, thank you, Commander,” Verdan said, nodding respectfully to Griffon before turning north and heading back toward the estate. Declan and Pania fell into step alongside him but didn’t say anything, letting Verdan work through his thoughts as they trudged back to the estate.

-**-

Kai and the others had returned from their patrol by the time the three of them got back to the estate, and Verdan got a quick update on who was where from Barb, who was on guard at the gates, before being directed to the mess hall.

Satisfied that his guards had things in hand, Verdan sent Declan and Pania off to get some rest and then report to Ruan, who seemed to be their leader when Kai wasn’t available.

That dealt with, Verdan made his way to the workshop, noting as he did that despite how tired it felt, the sun was only now dipping toward the horizon. Taking a moment before going in, Verdan refreshed himself with an energy spell, clearing the worst of his tiredness away, but leaving a slight ache in his throat.

He’d cast a lot of spells today, and even if they had mainly been only two-word casts, they were taking their toll.

Feeling better, Verdan turned his attention to the ongoing detection ward he had in place. It was still running with the dregs of the Aether he’d added earlier, though it would fail momentarily. Memories of the fight were only a thought away, but Verdan ignored them and dispelled the construct.

He’d been arrogant and paid the price, but he couldn’t afford to keep the ward running all the time. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Verdan pushed open the door to the workshop and headed inside.

Kai was waiting for him in the mess hall, along with Tim, Sylvie and Natalia. The four of them were engaged in an intent discussion, or at least, three of them were. Sylvie seemed to be following along with what they were saying, but wasn’t adding her own opinion.

“Everything okay?” Verdan asked with some concern, noting their tense body language.

“Sylvie found something in a warehouse we helped protect. Natalia has been taking a look at it,” Kai said, launching into an explanation of the concoction they found, as well as a quick report on the steel custodian and the two hunters that Kai had asked to come speak with them tomorrow.

“I see,” Verdan said, taking a seat and considering their words carefully. The mention of a smell at each combat area made him remember the cart that he and Ruan had found a Vespa digging into. “Is it a herbal smell, but with a bitter aftertaste?”

“That’s similar to what we found, but there was a second scent layered underneath it,” Sylvie said, shaking her head slightly. “I can only just get a trace of it, but it’s definitely coming from those bottles, and it extends far past the range of the herbal one.”

“I think that the herbal smell has been deliberately added to mask the other. I need to test it to try and work out what I’m dealing with, though. For now, work under the assumption that the areas were being marked somehow.”

“I see,” Verdan said, sharing a concerned look with Kai. This potentially spoke to the weeping death stepping up their attempts to weaken the city. Of course, it wasn’t necessarily them behind the attack, but they were the only group Verdan was aware of with the means to organise something like this.

“There’s more,” Kai said, somewhat reluctantly. “The warehouse seemed to be how everything got into the city, to begin with, before it was distributed. The workers said it was marked as a special shipment on their lists, and the whole place was owned by Tobias Brock.”

“He had nothing to do with it,” Verdan said instinctively, thinking back to his interactions with the gaunt merchant. Tobias was seeking more purpose and more things to do, not to try and hand the city over to Sorcerers who would install their own lackeys in key positions.

“You don’t know that for sure,” Kai said with a touch of anger that was unusual for the Sorcerer. “We don’t know him that well. He might have decided to jump ship when he realised what we were up against.”

“I don’t see it,” Verdan said before holding up a hand to stop Kai before he continued. “However, I agree that we need to look into it. I need to speak with Elliot first. Let’s go visit Tobias in the morning.”

“He might already be on the run. We should go now,” Kai insisted with surprising force.

“No, if he was behind this, he went to a lot of trouble to hide the process and what he was doing. That means he doesn’t want to run, which means we have time.” Verdan said, not letting Kai push him into acting rashly.

“I see what you’re saying, but I don’t like it,” Kai said, shaking his head as he got up and went to claim his spear from where it was leaning against the wall. “I’m going to go walk the streets, and make sure everyone is okay.”

Verdan watched the Sorcerer go with some concern. This was possibly the first time they’d truly disagreed on what to do since Verdan had arrived, and having Kai backing him up each step of the way had been helpful in keeping him on track.

Part of Verdan worried that maybe he was in the wrong here, and Tobias had betrayed them, but he just couldn’t see it. He’d investigate what had happened, but Verdan thought it more likely that there was some other explanation.

What was more concerning was seeing Kai so angry about it, far more so than Verdan would have expected. He had a feeling they’d hit on an old pain for the Sorcerer, which would make navigating this problem difficult.

More than anything, Verdan would have to make sure that Kai didn’t jump to conclusions because of his anger and do something he couldn’t take back.