Chương 56: The Point of Ardark

"Our unsanctioned detainees have been transferred to the official city dungeons," Lord Wanderbilt assured the man seated across from him in his parlor. He didn't go into detail about how this was now possible because the fall of Dabaux had all the people on his payroll scrambling to distance themselves. Which meant that the bandits weren't going to be granted bail again. He had a feeling that the other man wouldn't want to concern himself with such details.

"Good," Archmage Havlo said. When he'd received the letter from his nephew talking up the abilities of the man before him, Lord Wanderbilt never expected that the letter would actually be understating it. In two days that man had completely unraveled a conspiracy that had sunk its roots into half the important personages in the city.

"With Poshit now on the lam, the mages guild has a new opening for an archmage," he said.

"If you'd like—""No," Archmage Havlo swiftly turned the offer down.

"In case I haven't already made it clear, I don't want you revealing my capabilities to anyone. I don't want credit for this."

"People will be asking questions. Everyone will be wondering about the mage powerful enough to have Poshit running scared."

"They can wonder all they like, so long as they never make the connection to me." Lord Wanderbilt had dealt with many powerful people in his life—in the political sense as well as in the physical sense. He thought he had enough experience to handle anyone. But the weight behind those words seemed to choke all the atmosphere from the room.

"I assure you, they won't hear it from me."

"I do have a request for you," Archmage Havlo continued.

"Of course. You've done us a great service. That deserves a great reward."

"The Amber Temple's food pantry. Make sure they always have enough that anyone who asks gets what they need." Compared to the wealth that would be seized from Dabaux, who controlled the largest trading company in Ardark, the request was asking for a mere pittance. Just a portion of the farmland that the merchant had controlled would be enough to service this request.

"I can make sure that happens," he said.

"But what about for yourself?"

"I just told you what I want." He couldn't in good conscience leave it at that.

"I don't think you understand how great a service you've done for our city. With the trafficking victims freed, their testimony will allow us to break up the merchant cartel and restore a proper economy to Ardark. Since the merchant cartel was funding the highwaymen, they'll disband once the coin stops flowing. The Lorear Hills will soon be safe to travel again. Which means Lorelark will also owe you a great debt."

Throughout the entire meeting, Archmage Havlo seemed distracted, like there was something more important on his mind. Lord Wanderbilt waited to see if he would decide to bring it up. After a moment, he did.

"What are the current relations between humans and demons?" The question took Lord Wanderbilt by surprise, coming seemingly out of nowhere. He tried to think of what would be most important to the man sitting across from him.

"I'd say it's defined by an absence of relations. We leave them alone and they leave us alone."

"Then what if someone were to summon a demon in Ardark?"

"I'd say the demon would be very annoyed at being pulled thousands of miles from home."

"The possibility doesn't bother you?" Archmage Havlo asked. He shrugged.

"No more than I'm bothered by all the crystal-rankers, and the villains they hunt. Anyone with the power to do great harm to the city already has many ways of getting in or out without us knowing. But the demon kings are more concerned with each other than they are with us." Archmage Havlo scratched his chin.

"Then I suppose there's nothing more than usual to be worried about."

"I'll be sure to let Captain Ozstin know. That way if anything mysterious happens, he'll have someone to blame." Archmage Havlo rose to his feet.

"I'm afraid I can't stay any longer. My party is leaving the city today, and I still have some preparations to make."

"Wait." Lord Wanderbilt rose too while fishing for a letter from his gown. He handed it over to the archmage, who turned it over and looked at the seal.

"What's this for?"

"It's a letter of recommendation. I heard that you're heading to Ygg Latten Bay. If you give this to the governor, I'm sure he'll make every accommodation for you."

"That's very generous of you," Archmage Havlo said as the letter disappeared into his inventory. Once the archmage had left, Lord Wanderbilt spent a moment alone reflecting on how much one's fortunes can change in only two days. And then he reached for a pot of peppermint tea.

That evening someone in a dark hood entered a vacant shop by the back store room. She didn't remove her hood until she was safely alone inside. Under the illumination of her floating [Light] orb, she went to work putting the finishing touches on the demon circle drawn on the floor. First she removed all the components she'd gathered and laid them out. Everything was in order.

Then she lit the frankincense candles, poured the lamb's blood, sprinkled the crushed brimstone, and retraced the main circuit with powdered cinnabar. Once the preparations were complete, she stood back and spent a moment admiring her handiwork. Then she extinguished her orb and, with only the light of the candles to guide her, channeled her mana into the circle.

The blood boiled until the bowls ran dry, the cinnabar melted to give the summoning circle a toxic sheen, and the candles went out, plunging the room into utter darkness. She continued to pour her mana in. The circle seemed intent on sucking up everything it could. But she wasn't about to give up. She surely had more than enough mana in reserve to satisfy it. Abruptly the draining stopped. And then a sensation like her body had been turned inside out. It passed in a moment.

And then— Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Poof! All the candles flashed back to life as flames washed down and out from the center of the circle. And in the middle of it all stood a demon.

"I awaken!" Its booming voice filled the room. Then it saw its summoner and its mood immediately turned sour.

"You!" Echo roared.

"Me." Rava grinned cheekily. Echo sniffed.

"Why's it smell like a devil's armpit in here?"

"That must be the brimstone," she said.

"I thought it would give the summoning a more authentic flavor."

"Do you think my kind grow up inside a volcano?" Echo looked down.

"Is that mercury? Did you just ruin my boots by summoning me in a puddle of mercury?"

"The puddle wasn't there before the ritual. The cinnabar must have melted." Echo stepped out of the circle and shook her boots clean.

"You only need the circle and the mana, you know. Everything else is just for the sense of authenticity. There are so many fake rituals out there with candles and blood work that when you teach a cultist the real ritual, their puny minds can't grasp its simplicity." After a moment's thought, Echo added, "How'd you learn this ritual anyway?"

"I saw the circle back in Lorelark, remember? I was just checking if it really worked." Hearing this, Echo snapped angrily, "You think this is funny? I was in the middle of something important."

"You were in the middle of a pound of cake," Rava said, touching a spot at the edge of her mouth. Echo rubbed herself at that spot and came away with a crumb that had stuck there.

"That was from dessert," Echo grumbled.

"You've had plenty of time to get your business sorted in Lorelark. But we've got a problem. The Supreme Council has provided new intel."

"Are we still headed for Ygg Latten Bay?"

"Yes, but it might not be so easy anymore," she said.

"It seems those heroes who have been trying to get up in our business are very close to getting up into our business. We'll need to throw them off our tail. I was thinking Bull and Dozer could do that while the two of us handle the bay."

"The boys are still back in Lorelark, you know. It would've been easier if you'd come to us."

"But it would be more convenient if these heroes were also distracted trying to track down a powerful demon summoned to Ardark."

"But I'm not staying in Ardark," Echo said.

"They don't know that," Rava pointed out.

"Oh, I get it!" Echo said.

"You want me to leave breadcrumbs around the city so these heroes waste their time chasing a ghost."

"And maybe send them on a false trail toward Cisteen."

"Or what about the Moonfoot Keystone?" Echo said gleefully.

"Can you imagine the looks on their faces when they see what's become of it?"

"Don't do that. It'll trigger them to come check on the one at Ygg Latten Bay. We can't have them there until we figure out how to destroy the keystone." But Echo wasn't listening.

"While I'm here, I might as well check out the chimera lab. I'd love to see what they've managed to do with the techniques I showed them. While humans might not be very smart, they can certainly be very creative sometimes." Rava decided not to say anything. Maybe she could stick around here a little longer just to see the look on Echo's face... Echo turned to the demon circle.

"So we're going to leave this behind for them to find?"

"Is that going to be a problem?" The grin on the demon's face looked absolutely evil.

"Maybe I'll add a nice little surprise in case they try and use this ritual against me." While Echo made some changes to the circle, Rava said, "There's another reason I wanted to bring you here. A new nuisance has popped up. I need you to tell me everything you know."

"About what?"

"She calls herself the Hooded Winker."

Two figures in hooded robes stood at the edge of a molten crater in the managed forest west of Ardark. The crater was not that far from the compound soon to be formerly known as the Dabaux estate. Sapphire badges were pinned to their robes. Since that rank was second only to amber, to which no one had been promoted in two hundred years, this marked them as among the strongest active adventurers in the world.

"Such needless destruction," the man commented.

"We were one step too slow," the woman replied.

"And now we have to decipher the trail again."

"Did the prisoners from the Dabaux conspiracy not provide any good leads?"

"None that brings us as close as we just were. And also a new name. The Hooded Winker."

"An alias?" the man asked.

"I hope so. But their description doesn't match anyone we know. A one-eyed woman who can talk to monsters."

"Talk to monsters?" The woman nodded.

"Someone at the Dabaux estate overheard her telling one of the chimeras off for eating preserved meat from the pantry instead of hunting for a fresh victim."

"How diabolical."

"Her battle with Poshit left quite a trail of destruction."

"You think she's the one who took Poshit down?" he asked. She gestured toward the crater.

"Why else do you think she did this?"

"You think she killed Poshit here with [Eruption]?" He shook his head.

"But wouldn't that make her a hero? Poshit was involved with Dabaux and the chimeras."

"I hope you're right," she said.

"I don't relish the thought of the Supreme Society having gotten their hands on yet another fifth-circle archmage." The two individuals rose up into the sky and flew toward the city of Ardark.

On the road west of Ardark, Amberlin gazed up at the quarter moon. The rabbit was taking shape quite nicely. You could see its face and chest and forepaws—and the crater that made its eye. Her brother had never been a great artist. His rabbits always looked a bit like chickens. But that's how she could tell that this world was really his. Maelle was talking to Boots in a baby voice while Havlo stirred a pot of rabbit and vegetable stew.

Adventuring was so much easier when you had an apprentice who carried cooking utensils around in a magical inventory. She didn't feel particularly bad about taking advantage of this, as it was something he'd already been in the habit of doing since before they ever met. It kind of made sense when she thought about it, Havlo having been a hermit and all. They'd left Ardark early because there had been no reason to spend another night there, and Havlo seemed particularly anxious to get to Ygg Latten Bay.

Amberlin supposed that after having lived so long up in the mountains, he was really looking forward to spending time in the water. This time they hadn't bothered to pick up another quest. While it would have been nice to make some money on the journey, guarding a caravan meant traveling with the caravan, and she felt bad about how long she'd already kept Havlo away from his beachside margaritas by dragging him all the way to Ardark.

After Boots had had enough of Maelle's attention and climbed atop a log to preen himself, the teenager came over and sat beside Amberlin.

"Why are you moping?" Maelle asked.

"I was just feeling bad for Havlo," she replied.

"What's wrong with Havlo?"

"The reason we came to Ardark was to save all the kidnapping victims. But it looks like they managed to escape on their own. We took this massive detour and kept Havlo from relaxing at Ygg Latten Bay for nothing."

"I wouldn't say for nothing," Maelle said quietly. It took Amberlin a moment to figure out what the girl meant. When she did, she broke out into a big grin.

"Of course! How could I forget about you? I suppose the detour was worth it after all."

"Do you really mean it?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, because..." Maelle hesitated. Amberlin waited patiently for her to finish her thought. Maelle looked down.

"I-I-I'd really like to keep traveling with you guys."

"Isn't that what we're doing now?" Amberlin pointed up at the sky, and the tents, and the cooking pot.

"Yeah, but I mean, like, you know... a long time." Amberlin frowned.

"Didn't we already have this conversation?"

"N-n-no?" Maelle squeaked.

"Well, the answer is yes!" Amberlin declared.

"We'll take you as far you want to go. You can stick with us forever, or until you find somewhere you want to settle, or you find a boyfriend, or start a family, or—""W-w-wait!" Maelle cried.

"We don't need to go into—""—share all the cakes! And go to the moon! And play with Boots! And..." Amberlin kept going until Havlo came over with three bowls of stew and a haunch for Boots. The friends ate and chatted under the new world's moon, marveling at how fate had brought them together, yet at the same time never quite grasping just how marvelous it really was.