“What’s a Night Warden?” Professor Sylvara Aethralis, the head of Animus Lore inquired in a quizzical tone, reading Alaric’s mind. “Is that a type of greater demon? Perhaps a rank higher than greater demons?”
“No, demons and Night Wardens are not the same,” Valendor shook his head, taking a sip of his tea. Lying through his teeth as fast as he could make them up. “Although demons are the Lord of Night’s chosen race, the Night Wardens are created by our Lord directly.”
“By ‘Lord of Night’, you meant the Dark Lord of the shadow pillar, right?” Professor Roswen Copperleaf, head of Artificing, piped up curiously.
“Dark Lord…?” Valendor squinted, aghast. “Is that what you call m- uh, him? What an unsightly name. Do not repeat it again in my presence,”
“Understand, human?” Glaring at the professor as she shrunk back into the couch, nodding stiffly as the other council members glanced at each other, seemingly confused about something.
Valendor opted to ignore them and continued his explanation. “Picking up where I left off, Night Wardens more notably superior to demons in terms of shadow control,”
“Afterall, we are the Lord of Night’s best assets in the war.”
Alarm bells rang in Alaric’s head, the council was similarly stricken with shock. It wasn’t hard to deduce why: if this race of Night Wardens had participated in the demon wars, completely unnoticed even till now, it explained a lot of how the demonic forces were so indomitable.
“So you’re saying the Night Wardens fought in the war?” Alaric finally spoke, forcing a calmness to his voice.
Valendor narrowed his eyes in suspicion at the overreactions of the humans, for even Theodric had stiffened in surprise and Kira gaped at him, what was it that shook them so?
“Yes?” Valendor said slowly, watching their expressions carefully. “The eternal war against the terror of the Ebonblight,” Tea forgotten in his hands.
“Why? Do you day-dwellers not know of the horrors the Ebonic forces wrought?” Valendor tilted his head in an inquisitive way. “If not, consider yourselves lucky: even our great Lord pillar had difficulty dealing with the Ebonblight.”
Everyone visibly deflated in various stages of relief and confusion. Valendor frowned internally at their reactions. This war thing they were so concerned with was very suspiciously linked to demons and their shenanigans, so he made a mental note to grill Theodric for answers later.
Alaric released a small breath of suspended air from his lungs, it was just a misunderstanding, that’s all. Calming down and humming thoughtfully, Alaric deduced that wherever the Night Warden came from, the spread of the Ebonblight was probably quite severe if even a pillar had trouble with it.
“We do suffer from Ebonal forces, however not to the extent in which you described,” Alaric clarified for Valendor. “The leadership council is aware of the Ebonblight and its dangers, and the castle is fortified by powerful wards at all times, so it is very safe within these walls, don’t you worry,”
Valendor shrugged noncommittally, raising his cup and swirling its contents. “That’s good to hear, it’d be problematic if the Ebonblight were to force my hand,” Valendor sipped his now cold tea and made a face.
Alaric was surprised that the Night Warden cared enough about his school to the point that he would defend it, and that he so openly admitted it as well. It was looking like a pretty good collaboration opportunity right then, but Alaric thought it best to probe more before getting his hopes up.
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How exciting! With two powerhouses backing the school, Alaric couldn’t help daydreaming about the potential Elderglow Institute could reach: far beyond this country, even beyond this realm…!
Valendor apparently noticed the stars of ambition in the headmaster’s eyes, because he shot Alaric with a flat-look and huffed in mild irritation. “Whatever you’re thinking, don’t,” He grumbled balefully. “I have no love for your mud-hut, and will not lift a finger if its destruction has nothing to do with Ebonic corruption,”
Ah well, a man can at least dream. Alaric grieved shortly. However something more pressing needed his attention: a few of the more hot-headed council members, all of which were proud graduates of his school, were insulted on his behalf and bravely but foolishly demanded a reason.
Although touched, even a dumb song bird would’ve kept its beak shut in the face of a monster, especially an unimaginably powerful ticking-time-bomb of a monster with a bad temper.
Alaric was ready to apologise and diffuse the situation, but strangely enough, the Night Warden didn’t seem angry at their demands and actually began to explain himself.
“You see, the Lord of Night has a huge grudge against the Ebonblight for its corruption of his realm, so as the extension of his power, I have a duty to eradicate any and all Ebonic corruption,” Valendor looked away from the headmaster’s piercing gaze, opting to stare at an empty spot on the wall. “But I have personal vendetta against it as well for the cause of many of my friends and comrades’ suffering,”
Valendor wasn’t completely lying this time, only just switched some names and context around. He tried to take another sip of cold tea, but the cup was already empty, so he popped it in his mouth and chewed as he unwittingly ruminated the past in front of a disruptive audience.
Theodric’s sanity couldn’t keep up with the atmosphere shifts anymore: it was sombre until Valendor ate the cup whole like the donuts before which met the same fate. He glanced at the headmaster for the umpteenth time in this bizarre council meeting. It looked like he was about to say something, but thought better of it and wisely kept his mouth shut.
The other council members, sadly, were not as wise as the old mage.
“So what are you doing here, if you had your ‘duty’ to do?” Professor Kael Emberforge, elemental specialist of fire, infamous for his hot flames and even more so for his hotter head.
“My squad was outflanked and eliminated in battle,” Valendor answered smoothly, as he turned back at the now standing human. “I escaped to your realm in hopes of regrouping with the main forces,”
Theodric felt it all click into place, that would explain why Valendor, despite being obviously very powerful, was unable to resist his familiar-bond spells: he was injured and desperately out of mana. Theodric felt a sense of comradery with him, for he knew how Valendor must’ve felt, alone and in pain, with nothing but enemies surrounding him.
Now he felt bad for forcing the bond on the Night Warden. But Theodric silently promised to take good care of him, firstly by treating him to donuts. Especially the donuts.
“I’m sorry to hear th-”
“So to summarise, you ran away like a coward,”
The headmaster was rudely cut off by Professor Emberforge, who suddenly grew a pair of balls just to stick them in a hornets’ nest. Theodric winced when he felt the pressure in the room shift, making his eardrums pop.
“Quiet,” Valendor didn’t spare him a second glance. “The adults are talking,”
Snapping his fingers without missing a beat, the entire council abruptly vanished in a blur of darkness.
Theodric almost fell out of his chair in shock. But he didn’t even get to ask where the heads of departments went, when a series of dull thuds came from outside the door, followed by a chorus of muffled curses and yelps of pain. To be honest, Theodric was surprised that Valendor didn’t phase them all above an active volcano.
“Well now, the children have gone to bed, so it's just us,” Valendor flashed his fangs at Alaric, who sat straighter into business mode and was passively distracted by all the new information.
The Night Warden tilted his head to the side menacingly, making his silver antlers shimmer with the movement. “Enough of this posturing, we both know we have our own goals, now it's just a matter of seeing whether they align,”
“And I sure hope for you they do, because I’m in a bad mood,”