After the problematic casting of the moisture-removing spell, Verdan headed back to the estate to get some coffee and get his focus back.

He was putting too much stress on himself, and he knew it, but that wasn’t all. If it was just the stress, he would manage, but the constant doubt that he was doing the right thing was only making it worse.

He knew that the others would tell him to take a break, but how could he when every moment of wasted effort could mean lives lost when the time for fighting came?

“You okay there, Boss?” Pawel asked, jolting Verdan out of his thoughts.

“Yes, yes, I’m fine,” Verdan stammered, blinking rapidly as he took in the estate entrance. He barely remembered walking here from the glasshouses.

Rubbing his eyes, Verdan took a shaky breath as he hurried inside the estate. He felt like he was fraying at the edges. He needed to get a grip.

The peal of thunder and crack of lightning echoed loudly, but a glance upward showed only a hint of dark clouds. A second thunderous crack came, this time more localised on the far side of the workshop. Gwen must be practicing.

Verdan hadn’t really had a chance to speak with Gwen since the Vespa attack, and he wasn’t in the right frame of mind to do any work, so he headed over to see if he could find her. Maybe a relaxed conversation with a friend would help keep his mind off things.

Surprisingly, Verdan found all five of the Witches, as well as Tim and Sylvie, working together to practice. Tim and Sylvie were just finishing sparring, but the Witches seemed to be working on their spells.

“Hey, Boss, you need anything?” Tim called out as Verdan came closer.

“No, just catching up on things. You’re good to carry on,” Verdan called back, motioning for Tim to continue his spar.

Sylvie said something with a throaty laugh, and Tim flushed a little before picking up his shield, rolling his shoulders and getting back to it.

Verdan watched the two of them for a few moments, noting how fast Sylvie was, and how far Tim had come in both his skills and his confidence.

Kai’s regular training sessions were clearly paying off.

Hope, the Hereditary Witch, had her familiar in its tiger form, and had it rushing around the open area, dodging roots that were snaking up out of the ground.

The roots no doubt belonged to Feli, the Green Witch, who was staring at the dodging tiger with intense concentration.

Carla, the other Storm Witch, was facing off against Gwen with Hedda at her side. The Hex Witch didn’t seem to be doing anything at first, but Verdan had personal experience with what Hex Witches could do.

A curse was a malleable thing, and though they could be physical, as Hedda had demonstrated on the Vespa, they could also be magical in nature.

Gwen lifted a hand and cast an underpowered bolt of lightning toward Carla with an audible grunt of effort as she fought against Hedda’s influence.

Verdan could feel the Hex Witch interfering with the Aether around Gwen, a nasty attack that worked particularly well against other Witches.

Carla, meanwhile, caught the blast on a shield of compressed air. A shield like that would be hard-pressed to work against physical objects, but it worked well enough against Aether-based attacks.

Gwen was panting and exhausted, but she was able to conjure a shield of her own as Carla returned the favour. The shield flickered and faded almost immediately after the strike, lacking the Aether density to continue.

Gwen’s chest was heaving as she focused and began to conjure a fresh attack, but Hedda redoubled her efforts to disrupt it.

It was impressive that Gwen was able to still cast the spell despite the interference, but the lighting barely left her hand before fading.

“That’s a win for you,” Gwen called out breathlessly, holding a hand up to forestall any more attacks.

Carla gave a tired-sounding cheer, while Hedda just nodded and cancelled her interference. The Hex Witch turned to leave before pausing, her eyes on Verdan as he moved closer.

“Wizard,” Hedda said, inclining her head respectfully to him. “Would you care to try?”

“I’ve done my share of resistance training in the past, but I need to conserve my Aether,” Verdan said with a shake of his head.

While it was the truth, the truth was that he didn’t dare do such an intensive training exercise when he’d only recently miscast a spell. He’d need strong concepts to bypass her efforts, and if one of those spells went wrong, he could hurt both of them.

“That effect is horrible,” Gwen said as she came over to him, wiping some sweat from her brow as she caught her breath.

“It’s worse for you than for other types of caster. Hex Witches are one of your biggest threats,” Verdan said softly, trusting Gwen to take the information in the way he intended it.

“I doubt there will be any with the Weeping Death, so that’s something,” Gwen said with a sigh. “It would be nice to have a few more on our side, though.”

“There are other ways to achieve the same effect, so be wary,” Verdan said, thinking of the ward he had on the estate that interfered with the spells of those he marked.

“Good to know,” Gwen said thoughtfully. “Is there anything you need, or were you just coming to see what was happening?”

“I wanted to check in, see how you and the other Witches were,” Verdan said, gesturing to the others training nearby. “Looks like everything is in hand, though.”

“Better than that, actually,” Gwen said, a proud smile spreading across her face as she watched the others train. “I spoke to Commander Griffon, and we’re going to establish a joint training group. The end result will follow the combined arms format you’ve mentioned in the past. It would be best with more than just Witches and guards, but it’s a start.”

“That’s great. How has it gone so far?” Verdan asked, proud of how far Gwen had come since the days when she hadn’t even known what her magic was capable of.

“It’s going well, we’ve not had much time to work together, but after the fight with the Vespa, we all know the basics of how it should work.”

“That’s good. I’m glad you’re making plans for when the Weeping Death make their move,” Verdan said, relieved that the Witches were taking things into their own hands.

“That’s the thing, we’ve talked more about the Covens that you mentioned, as well as about what we want to stand for. Sorcerers are more militant than we are, but you were right, we have deep ties to the land, and we should focus on that.”

“I’m not sure I follow,” Verdan said as Gwen paused to gather her thoughts. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that we want to do more. We want to make new Covens and have them be active in their area. There are rifts in our society, and Witches are viewed as unreliable, at best,” Gwen said, her face flushed as she spoke with growing enthusiasm.

“Getting control of your magic and establishing Covens will go a long way toward fixing that,” Verdan said with a firm nod. He was glad that they weren’t going to just try and ignore such an obvious problem.

“Exactly, and working with the guard will help with that. We don’t just want to help defend Hobson’s Point; we want to sow the seeds of a whole new way of life for Witches!” Gwen’s fists were clenched as she spoke, her eyes all but glowing with resolve.

“An ambitious plan, but a good one,” Verdan said, liking the idea of anything that added some stability to the life of the average person.

Witches working with non-magical guards would be able to drive off most local threats, though they would be limited in their power when away from their homes.

“I’m glad you approve, as we want you to help us get the strength to make a difference,” Gwen said, holding up a hand to stop him when she saw Verdan’s alarmed expression. “Not magically. We will find our own power there. No, I remember you talking about these things as though they are active in your home. I want you to show us how it’s done.”

“Oh,” Verdan said, a little taken aback by the request. He hadn’t been expecting that at all. He’d half-expected Gwen to ask about how to use their magic more effectively, and he’d have said no.

This, though, was something else. If all they wanted was aid with the logistics and what worked well with group compositions, all the non-magical knowledge he had, then how could he say no?

“I’d be glad to help,” Verdan said eventually, happy to find something he could help with that wouldn’t have the potential to cause destruction in the long run.

“Great!” Gwen enthused, a broad smile spreading across her face. “Kai already agreed to escort us to Miyaka forest so we can examine the spirit there. He’s also said he will help with training guards in the future when we try to make a new Coven. With both of you helping us, I know we can make a difference.”

“I hope you’re right,” Verdan said, returning her smile as best he could.

He couldn’t help but think of how he’d been trying to do the right thing and help people since he first woke up, and how much trouble that had gotten him.

The Weeping Death would likely have still been a problem for the city, but would they have been as likely to mount an assault like this?

Pushing the dark thoughts aside, Verdan lingered for a little while, watching the Witches train and occasionally offering some advice.

After a while, Verdan left to grab one of the guards and head across the city to top up the wards on the walls.

That done, it was time to force his tired mind to work on his gathering spiral.

Verdan made less progress than he should have for the time he spent, but it was just down to him struggling to focus properly. He did make a few new layers of the next spiral, though, so it wasn’t time wasted.

Adrienne hunted him down to make sure he ate something, and the hearty stew that Henry had made revitalised Verdan somewhat. He really needed to stop skipping so many meals; it was just so easy to forget with everything else going on.

It was pushing into early evening now, so Verdan left his compliments for Henry and headed back down to the glasshouses.

The general busyness of the area hadn’t faded, despite the later hour, but Verdan knew where he was going and did his best to get there without disturbing anyone.

“Verdan, back for the enchanting?” Elliot asked as Verdan stepped into the hot interior of the workshop. The big man was working on what looked like a huge sword of some kind, moulding and shaping the blade with his bare hands.

Verdan had seen a few warriors use greatswords in the past, but this particular one seemed oversized, even for those.

“Yes, I thought I should get it done sooner rather than later,” Verdan said, a little more wearily than he intended.

“We can wait for tomorrow if you need rest. There’s no need to push yourself,” Elliot said with a concerned frown.

“It will be fine; it’s a simple enough job. Besides, the sooner I get this done, the more bolts we can enchant for the guard and the safer we’ll be if there’s another Vespa attack.”

“You know your limits best; just be careful,” Elliot said, shaking his head as he turned his attention back to the greatsword in his hands.

“I’ll be fine,” Verdan said, suppressing a yawn as he headed into the back room where the device was being housed.

“Right, first things first. Grym Hyn,” Verdan said, casting an empowered energy spell that gave him the boost and the clarity he needed.

After the issue this morning, Verdan was being careful to make sure he had the focus needed for a construct like this.

Creating the visualisation of what he wanted the Aether construct to do, Verdan drew on a significant amount of his Aether, channelling it ready for the spell.

Gwen’s words about everyone working together and her dreams for how covens could work alongside the guards echoed in Verdan’s mind before he could cast the spell. For her idea to work, they would need the strength to fight back, and Verdan could help with that.

He’d promised himself it was time to start doing things, and not just keep reacting to what was happening. This was one of those times.

Resolve swelled within his mind as Verdan reverted his visualisation to the modified version; he’d be letting himself down by doing anything less.

“Gward hyn liff.” Verdan created the first layer of what he had planned, the framework of the construct.

“Gward hyn durst.” Verdan created the layer that would create the enchantment itself. The third word hurt on the way out, but he knew the worst was to come.

“Gward canfo neges.” Verdan felt his visualisation struggle as he added the next layer, his mind tiring quickly. This was the third three-word spell in a row, and Verdan’s throat feel like he’d swallowed a knife, but he pushed on.

“Gward tyn hyn.” Verdan croaked the final words, desperately forcing the whole thing to stay together as he wrapped bands of Aether through and around the four layers before binding the whole thing to the device that Elliot had made for him.

Releasing it all, Verdan felt the spell take effect as his Aether drained away, layering itself on the device in a complicated weave. Keeping an iron grip on his Aether, Verdan checked over the enchantment, only letting go once he was satisfied that there were no mistakes.

Something warm was trickling down Verdan’s face, and he woozily wiped at it, staring down at the blood smeared on his hand with a distant feeling of concern.

Dimly, Verdan heard someone call his name, but he’d pushed too far, too hard, and his mind was reeling. Trying to get to his feet, Verdan felt his vision swim as he collapsed to the floor, the ground rushing up to meet him.