“By the first hunt,” Zhalia whispered as she and Verdan recovered from watching the overcharged lightning bolt strike the centre of the village. “Such power….”

Verdan said nothing as he watched the battered few survivors slunk away from the impact site. The spell had been just as terrible as he remembered, though his version was nowhere near the scale of what he’d witnessed.

The wind and the lightning in the clouds were signs of poor execution on his part. The Aether had bled out into its surroundings, influencing it according to his intent.

Perhaps this show of force would get the Sect to back off somewhat, but he doubted it. The door to strategic spells like this was open now, and Verdan couldn’t in good conscience use anything less when the fight came to Hobson’s Point.

“Verdan, look,” Zhalia said, seemingly recovered from her initial shock at what he’d conjured.

Following her gesture, Verdan watched with concern as Kai and the others charged out to engage the Sect forces. He had faith in Kai, faith in all of them, but they were still heavily outnumbered.

Fortunately, the Sect leader was unable to leverage his numbers against Verdan’s companions and, in short order, was left without defences.

The appearance of the Laethir was just as shocking for Verdan and Zhalia as it was for those closer to the fight, and Verdan watched in mounting horror as the pristine white shape crossed the whole of the village and its surroundings with two sedate steps.

Aether was shunted aside behind Verdan as something large stepped into an unoccupied space, and the Wizard whirled around, a shield spell on his lips as he saw the intimidating form of the laethir standing mere feet away from them.

The creature cocked its head at Verdan and waited for him to calm down before turning to face Zhalia, who picked up on what it wanted and cast the same communing spell as before.

As the last word tumbled from Zhalia’s lips, the laethir slowly turned back to Verdan and let out a warning growl that seemed to shake his bones before simply stepping forwards and vanishing from view with a gut-wrenching twist of their local reality.

Zhalia was pale-faced and sweating, but she seemed to be holding up better than last time.

“What did it say?” Verdan asked, eyeing their surroundings for any trace of the deadly creature.

“It thanked us for drawing out its quarry and that as a favour to us, it would hunt down the remaining members of the Sects in that force.” Zhalia paused to take a breath as they heard a distant scream of terror from somewhere in the village. “It also warned us that despite today’s events, we are not allies.”

“Abyss damn it,” Verdan muttered as he moved back to the opening in the rock and saw flickers of white appear here and there among the fleeing survivors of the Sect group. “It used us.”

“The visions it gave me, you think they were entirely made up?”

“No, not entirely, more like what could happen if things went badly. It provoked us into coming here, hoping for just this situation.” Verdan shook his head, too tired to be upset with the manipulative creature.

“At least the villagers are safe, and this is a victory for us,” Zhalia said, though Verdan thought she was trying to convince herself more than anything.

“Yes, a victory,” Verdan echoed, eyeing the crater in the village where his spell had struck. “Come on. The Airta will have secured the prisoners by now. It’s time to get everyone moving.”

-**-

Despite Verdan’s best efforts, it took time to convince the prisoners they meant them well, and it took even longer to get them moving at something like a good pace.

Verdan considered leaving them and heading on alone, but the potential risk of them coming across a Sect patrol was just too high.

When they failed to reach the city by the end of the day, Verdan conjured a few large lights, making sure to keep them only a touch brighter than a full moon. The last thing they needed was to draw anything else down on them.

The looming walls of Hobson’s Point eventually came into sight, and Verdan sighed in relief as Delia and one of the other Airta loped on ahead to announce their presence.

A tired-looking Commander Griffon received them at the city gates, reassuring Verdan that the villagers of Braysford had made it to them safely already.

With that worry taken care of, Verdan happily unloaded the responsibility for all the rescued prisoners onto the Commander and headed home.

-**-

Verdan awoke in the mansion the next day, less tired than he’d expected but not exactly fresh either. A glance out of the window showed the sun already high in the sky, meaning that he’d slept a good way into the day.

The temptation to use an energy spell to banish the lingering fog in his mind was strong, but Verdan reminded himself of the promises he’d made to Natalia. He wasn’t going to let her down.

Taking a few deep breaths, Verdan made his way over to the workshop in search of some food.

Tim and Tom were already present and deep in conversation off to one side when Verdan walked into the makeshift canteen, though he supposed after this long, it wasn’t really that makeshift any more.

Henry appeared not long after Verdan had taken a seat, a plate of food and a mug of hot coffee in hand for him.

“Thanks, Henry,” Verdan said, taking a sip of the coffee and groaning aloud. “I really needed this.”

Henry nodded, giving Verdan a grin before pausing and looking meaningfully over to where Tim and Tom were.

Following Henry’s gaze, Verdan saw that Sylvie had come into the canteen with Delia and Cristian.

More importantly, however, Tim had gotten up to meet her, and Verdan could see the tension in both his and Tom’s posture.

“Sylvie, listen, I’ve made a decision,” Tim said, his words echoing in the suddenly quiet room.

“Yes?” Sylvie replied in a flat tone, her chin lifting as she looked at Tim with a carefully school expression.

“Seeing those people driven from their homes made me realise how little chance we get to really live and how we shouldn’t waste time on things we things we’re unsure about.” Tim paused, seemingly struggling to put his thoughts into words.

“I see. You don’t need to explain any further,” Sylvie said, her face an expressionless mask as she turned and started to walk away.

“No, no, that’s not what I’m saying,” Tim said, hurrying forward to catch Sylvie’s hand. “I’m sure of you, of how I feel around you. I might not understand this bond you talk about, but I don’t care anymore. I’m all in.”

“Meu drassul,” Sylvie said in a mix of adoration and exasperation. “You use so many words when a single action will do.”

Tim reddened, but to Verdan’s surprise, he didn’t let it stop him and instead drew her into a tight embrace and an equally passionate kiss.

Verdan shared an amused look with Henry while Tom whooped, and the two Airta looked on with conflicted expressions.

Sylvie and Tim were quick to disappear together, leaving things to quieten down once more.

Finishing his breakfast and sipping the last dregs of his coffee, Verdan considered what the best use of his time would be.

The Sects were pushing now, that was clear, and their timeline was shrinking rapidly.

Thankfully, the lack of Sect survivors from the recent battle meant that he could potentially repeat the same trick on them, but that would be a lot of Aether invested. If the Sects found and destroyed it, he would have a problem.

They needed more allies, but Verdan had already done what he could without extreme measures. Perhaps that was the problem, though. Perhaps it was time for extreme measures.

Verdan set his mug down and took a steadying breath. There was one thing he needed to do before anything else.

Heading out of the workshop, Verdan absently smoothed his tunic as he started towards the servant’s quarters.

Verdan hadn’t really interacted with Natalia since the assassination attempt, not properly, and Tim’s speech had inspired him to address his own shortcomings.

“Hey, Boss, wait a moment,” Ruan called out, jogging over to Verdan with a wave of his hand. “I’ve had a bunch of the villagers you saved coming asking about working for you and joining the guards here. Most of them aren’t worth anything, but a few might be useful. Am I okay to bring on a few new hands?”

“Yes, no problem. Adrienne has the budget, but let me know if you need more funds,” Verdan said, forcing a smile onto his face as he silently urged Ruan to leave.

“Thanks, Boss,” Ruan nodded and headed off.

Verdan rubbed his face but started towards Natalia’s again, making it a dozen more steps before he heard arguing voices coming from off to one side.

“If he doesn’t confirm this, I’m frying you and tossing you out the gates!” Gwen came around the corner with a hooded figure a few steps in front of her, one hand sparking with restrained lightning.

“Please, don’t pretend that you caught me or something. If I wanted to be here without you knowing, I would be,” Val’s mocking tone identified the second person, but it was too late for Verdan to escape.

“Verdan, good. Do you know this woman, or can I kick her out?” Gwen demanded, her expression showing which she’d prefer.

“Yes, I know her,” Verdan said, albeit somewhat reluctantly. “What do you want, Val?”

“You promised a certain item. I’m here to collect, that’s all,” Val said smugly, folding her arms and shooting Gwen a look from within her hood.

“It’s in my room at the mansion on the table. Go get it,” Verdan said, ushering them away as he quickly walked past them.

Verdan barely got a dozen paces away before he felt the discharge of Aether behind him, but he kept his head down and kept moving. They wouldn’t kill each other, and the rest wasn’t his problem.

“Verdan!” Elliot’s voice rang out from behind Verdan, making him stop and sigh before turning as the Idrisyr came jogging over to him. “I just wanted to thank you for finding and looking after Cullan; I know what sort of a pain he can be. I don’t suppose you saw any sign of Branwen?”

“No, sorry,” Verdan said with a shake of his head, empathising with Elliot’s worry. “I don’t want to be rude, but have you spoken to your brother about staying and helping?”

“Oh, I’ve been prepared for that for a while,” Elliot said, a slight smile spreading across his face. “I made him a new sword and made him promise to stay and help before I gave it to him. He’s a bit much, but he’s true to his word, and he’s promised to help.”

“Good, good,” Verdan nodded, pleased that the one-man army that was Elliot’s brother would be staying with them. This wasn’t really the moment for such discussions, though. “If you don’t mind, I’ve got to go. We can talk more later?”

“Oh, yes, of course. I just wanted to say thank you.” Elliot gave him a nod before muttering something about not leaving Cullan unattended for too long and hurrying away.

Verdan looked around warily for any other potential interruptions before covering the last distance to Natalia’s door at a fast pace.

Between the interruptions and his abrupt decision, Verdan hadn’t really had a chance to think of what to say to her, but he found himself knocking anyway.

A few moments passed before Natalia opened the door, wearing her veil but no gloves. “Verdan, I wasn’t expecting you, is everything okay?”

“Yes, well, mostly,” Verdan said, stumbling over his words as he cursed her veil internally. It sounded like she was pleased to see him, but he couldn’t see her face to be sure. “I just wanted to check in on you to see how you are.”

“Oh, I’m fine. Our last healing session really helped with my breathing and the day-to-day pain. You don’t need to feel like you have to worry about me.”

“No, I meant I wanted to see how you are,” Verdan said, his mouth suddenly dry. “After what happened in my room.”

“Maybe that’s a conversation we should have inside,” Natalia said slightly hoarsely, fidgeting slightly before opening the door fully. “Please, come in.”

“Thank you,” Verdan stepped inside and past Natalia, who shut the door behind him.

Turning back to face her, Verdan realised just how close they were, a closeness that only intensified as she removed her veil.

Verdan was momentarily lost in the depths of her eyes, the words he’d been planning stuck in his throat.

“What was it you wanted to say?” Natalia asked breathily, looking up at Verdan with wide eyes.

Verdan’s heart was pounding, but before he could say anything further, there was a series of knocks at the door and a questioning call for him from Tom.

“Damn it all,” Verdan cursed under his breath, glaring at the door before looking back to see Natalia smothering a laugh.

“It’s okay. Go, deal with whatever it is. I’ll be here when you get back,” Natalia said, her eyes dancing as she took his hand, their fingers interlacing for a moment before she moved away.

Verdan longed to ignore Tom, to go after her and say what needed to be said, but too much was happening right now.

As much as it pained him to leave, he couldn’t justify staying.