Chapter 086:

Anton, Verona, Kal, Cetina, Citrio and Livia were shown to six large and well-furnished chairs inside one of the larger tents in the sprawling camp near Fort Acidava. The tent clearly belonged to a commander of some sort. The material was red and gold unlike the normal dull and dirtied white. A large dark wooden table stood in front of the six chairs, laden with soft fruits, dried meats and bottles of wine. Other tables littered the room filled with other assortments of food and drink. A few contained large stacks of fine white paper, a small dip feather pen to the side. To the side of the room a small fire burned in a metal brazier giving the tent a strangely warm and homely feeling. A soldier grunted and motioned towards the chairs again. Anton knew it was more of an order than a request, the dozen soldiers a few meters away made sure that point was made, but they acted the part all the same.

The elite Graterious soldiers had said nothing on their journey, only for them to follow and not to speak or make an unnecessary movements. Anton saw the looks in their eyes and knew they weren’t joking or playing around. He, Verona and Kal had initially followed but Cetina, Citrio and Livia were brought along with them, simply because they were nearby and the mages hadn’t given them specific instructions. Cetina appeared rather nonplussed while Citrio and Livia were positively panicking underneath a thin veneer of confidence and indifference to their current circumstances.

Anton took a seat, with Kal and Verona either side, Cetina next to Kal, while Citrio and Livia sat next to Verona. The soft chairs didn’t belong in a military camp, rather a mansion, but he wasn’t complaining when his rear made contact with the seat. Any hint of fatigue left him as he made contact with the incredibly soft cloth covered chair and rested their weapons against the chairs. It didn’t seem to matter to the soldiers that they were potentially covered in sweat, oil and dirt. While the others visibly relaxed Verona let out an inappropriate groan as she wiggled deeper into the chair, resting her spear against the inside of the armrest.

“This…This.” She smiled inanely at him as she patted the armrests of the chair. “We need to get…three of these.”

Anton caught Kal giving a tiny nod as she ran her gloved hands over the fabric, a tiny wiggle from her rear as she tried to get more comfortable. “Sure.” Verona’s face lit up at his words. “Getting it back might be a problem. I’m just wondering how much something like this costs.”

“A substantial amount.” A womanly voice said from behind. “Though I’m sure that we could let those go cheaply since you’ve sat on them with dirty armour.”

Anton turned to the source. The three mages entered alongside another ten Graterious soldiers. The iron mage, wearing the silver robe, entered first and smiled warmly at them. Anton tried to stand up, as did everyone else, but she gently waved them down.

“It’s fine.” She continued to smile as she waved at the soldiers and pointed on the other side of the table. “If such fleeting and material goods really mattered we would have made a point for you not to sit on them.”

The Graterious soldiers produced another three chairs and placed them on the other side of the table. All three mages moved around and sat opposite them. The iron mage sat in the middle with the fire and water mage sitting either side.

“I’d just like to start by saying thank you.” The iron mage began. “Thank you for not making a scene and coming with our soldiers peacefully.”

Anton smiled as he looked back to the new soldiers. They kept their eyes planted on them as their hands rested on the pommels of their swords. As Anton turned back to the mages he saw Verona’s hand resting on her filled pot of blood, her fingers idly picking at the lid. She was ready to fight at a moment’s notice. Kal remained perfectly still but he could tell that she too was ready to fight, like a coiled spring ready to let loose. Anton didn’t know if the mages could tell if he was about to use magic so he prepared a few lightning bolts and kept them within him. The mages made no sign that he was preparing to fight as he turned back.

“We really didn’t have much of a choice.” Anton smiled at the mages. “Not if we wanted to survive. You can’t really argue with twenty well-armed and sour looking soldiers.”

All three smiled, the fire and water mages chuckled.

“Perhaps.” The fire mage spoke with a very light and faint voice. “But this is the easiest way.”

“So…Let’s skip the formalities and pleasantries.” The water mage began. His voice was far more scratchy and hoarse but it didn’t sound like it strained his throat. His fingers, old and weathered, tapped on the table. “We know that one of you-”

“What is the meaning of this?!” Someone new barked from behind the mages.

All three inaudibly groaned and rolled their eyes, all three slumped slightly in their chair while the water mage began to sneer and open and close his mouth like a pouting child. For all their magical strength and seeming authority they behaved a lot like children. Anton found it strangely endearing.

The mages turned around as the tent flap was pulled back by several of the elite Graterious soldiers to allow General Ricimer entry. Up close he looked even younger, there was just the hint of a spotty beard beginning to shine through his soft skin, and not an age someone expected to be a general.

“General.” The iron mage flashed them an awkward smile as she turned around. “General Ricimer. Whatever seems to be the problem?”

“Why did you start this without me present?” He spat out to her as he approached. Anton saw the fire mage holding back from rolling her eyes. “I am the General in command here. Not you. Not any of you.”

“This is a matter of both the army and The Academy.” The iron mage gently replied. “Far more important to The Academy. As Masters of The Academy we understand far more of magic and those who use it than you ever well. So please, let us do our job without interference.”

The last few words held a hint of venom towards the General. Ricimer appeared to understand and softened his stance and expression. He waved to an elite soldier to bring forth another chair and sat next to the fire mage. She didn’t look too happy but instantly changed her attitude when he looked towards her. To Anton’s left Citrio and Livia were looking ever more like ghosts as more important and powerful people gathered. Verona, Kal and even Cetina kept calm as Ricimer fidgeted with his golden armour and tried to get more comfortable.

“As I was saying.” The iron mage continued. “One of you created that magic. We-”

Citrio raised his hand, the four opposite turned towards him. The mages looked indifferent to him while Ricimer looked slightly confused.

“Forgive me for saying this, your graces, but my wife and I…don’t have anything to do with this.”

Oh, so you are married.

“We were merely nearby when it happened.”

The mages looked to the Iron mage, who slowly nodded. She nodded to the soldiers standing behind them and smiled sweetly. “I understand your predicament. I can also tell that neither of you are involved in this incident. So, my apologies for taking up your time. We will compensate you for your time lost and the inconvenience thrust upon you.”

Two soldiers moved forward and loomed over the seated Citrio and Livia. Livia seemed rather relieved to be leaving alongside her husband. The soldiers escorted them out the tent, both gave a small nod to them as they left.

All attention returned to them. “So…” The Iron mage continued. “Which of you was the one that created those flame pillars?”

Cetina glanced towards Anton, the realisation of what she did immediately washed over her face. When the mages and Ricimer looked to Anton a light flush of embarrassment rose over her scarred face.

“Sorry.” She mumbled. “I didn’t meant to…”

“It’s fine.” Anton said, Cetina awkwardly smiled back. “Yes. It was me.”

“You?” The fire mage asked, genuine surprise on her face. “You made all six of those ridiculous flame pillars? By yourself?”

Anton nodded. The Iron and Water mage looked to the Fire mage with a look of incredulity. The Fire mage slowly nodded as she held a red leathered glove to her chin. “It…It may be possible, though the supply of mana would need to be enormous. It is possible...but the fire charm alone would need to be at least a foot wide, made from Adamantium and a quenched Gliyrhil core, with at least twenty flawless rubies in a spiral formation.” She looked him over, her wise eyes focused on his armour visible underneath the Brackenlace cloak. “You have some money for that armour…four…three of you have.” She frowned as she looked at Cetina’s plain steel armour. She made a tiny noise as she looked back to Anton, Cetina frowned as if she was being considered cheap. “So, where is your charm?”

“I…” Anton looked to Verona and Kal. Verona flashed him a small smile while Kal gave a small nod. There wasn’t a way to lie their way out of this and this could be their only chance to get to Seocuria quickly. “I don’t have a charm.”

“That…” The Iron mage looked him over again. She didn’t believe his words so she looked to Verona and focused on her hair. She didn’t know what to make of Kal’s mask either. “I find that hard to believe.”

Anton raised his hand and summoned a small fireball. All three mages eyes shot open while Ricimer appeared rather confused by their reaction.

“Why are you all looking like that?” He asked. “I’ve seen students in The Academy do that after their first winter of training. It’s not that impressive.”

“He didn’t speak any chants-”

“So?”

“So…There’s one way for someone to use magic like that, without a charm and without chanting.”

Ricimer’s eyes became distant for a moment, even forming a faint squint, before they burst back into clarity. “A mark of the Old Gods.”

The Iron mage nodded. “Indeed.” She smiled as she smiled towards him. “A mark of Esperit, the Goddess of Fire. You don’t see many of them.”

“Are there more?” Anton asked.

“There are. But they tend to keep their heads down.” She smiled as she nodded towards the fort. “Unlike you, it seems.” Anton smiled but didn’t say anything. He wanted her to make the next move. The Iron mage immediately picked up on that and continued. “Perhaps…Perhaps we started the wrong way. My name is Terentia. The woman is red is Vistilia and the man in blue is Harprax. And you already know General Ricmer.”

Ricimer grumbled and threw Terentia a foul look but didn’t admonish or chastise her for the way she spoke to him.

Anton smiled and nodded to each. “A pleasure to meet you all. Properly. My name is Anton, this is Verona and Kal, my wives, and this is Cetina, our most recent travelling companion.”

Terentia nodded. “When I heard there was a Clansmen amongst the mercenaries I was quite interested.”

“Ugh.” Verona leant closer to Anton. “This again.”

Vistilia frowned. “You mean-”

“No.” Verona angrily replied. She pulled at a few loose strands of silver hair. “The colour of my hair, which I love, doesn’t make me one of those marauders. I’m not going to kill people because of that. Okay?” Vistilia appeared quite taken aback, a tiny flush on her face. Verona groaned as she reached for Anton’s hand. “Sorry. I got a little emotional there. Still not used to it yet.” Anton squeezed her hand in return.

“My apologies.” Vistilia nodded. “That hair is not something you should show in Lord Vulusius’s territory. You’ll probably be torn apart by the citizens and soldiers alike. The Silver Eagle Clan hits their territory the hardest.”

Verona grumbled. “Guess we aren’t going there anytime soon then.”

“I’m not too sure what to make of your masked…woman.” Terentia gently bounced around the issue of Kal’s white and green mask. “But that does bring us back to our original concern. Who are you and what are you doing here?”

“We…Think of us as a group of travellers.” Anton began. “We have been travelling for some time, away from cities and civilisation, when we arrived at Porswea. We planned to make some money there before moving onto Seocuria. For that we need a large boat and crew, and since the north is supposedly infested with bandits, and meeting Lord Cassius would be the easiest way to get that. So the plan was do all those things at once.”

The four looked on dumbfounded and thoroughly confused, though they held themselves together quite well.

“That is…” Terentia. “One way to get…That.” She coughed loudly. “But why do you want to do that? Seocuria is very far away when you could live easily in Graterious selling your...skills? Like you are now. I just don’t understand.”

Anton resisted the urge to look at Kal. “We have our reasons.”

Verona nodded while Kal remained motionless out his peripheries. Terentia looked to Cetina. “And what about you?”

Cetina quickly realised she was the centre of attention. She shuffled awkwardly as her hands scratched at her scarred cheek. “I’m…I’m in this for the money. I’ve only met them recently.”

Terentia kept her face blank and looked back to Anton. “Well then…”

Ricimer slammed his armoured fist on the table. “We’re all very impressed that you can summon a fireball without a charm.” Terentia mumbled something but Anton missed it. “But how did you know that there was a pit trap at the base of the fort?”

Anton smiled awkwardly. “I’m afraid to say that I didn’t. It was merely an accident, I just wanted to show off to gain your attention.”

“Well, you succeeded in that.” Harpax smiled as he lightly tapped his finger on the table. “None of us have seen or heard of you before today. You, you don’t belong to the Academy, do you?”

“No. We asked about visiting but we were told that we wouldn’t be allowed in.”

“That’s…A fair response.” Harpax closed his eyes and shook his head. “We have many charlatans trying to get in to steal rare and expensive books and items.”

“Do…” Verona glanced at Anton. “Do you have any books on the Old Gods? And their magic?”

Now their eyes grew interested, even Ricimer appeared vaguely interested. “Why do you ask that?”

The implication was clear. Verona took a deep breath. “Because we don’t really understand our powers all that well and we need guidance.”

“Does anyone there know how to use the powers of the Old Gods?” Anton asked before they could respond.

“N-No.” Terentia stammered out. “No one at The Academy knows how to use such old powers.” Verona huffed as she fell back into the chair. “But that sounds like you all, well, three of you, have their powers.”

“Yes.” Anton held his hand up again and summoned a small lightning bomb.

Now all four looked quite scarred, the mages incredibly so. They glanced at one another, sharing a knowing look, before focusing on Terentia. “Lightning…And fire…That’s impossible. From what little I understand of their powers.”

“Well, I can.” Anton replied, withdrawing the lightning bomb.

“Can you do anything else?” She asked. “Since you can already beat the rules.”

Anton initially hesitated to reveal his ability to use Tethra’s power. He had no idea if she was hated in the Empire, but it was the perfect opportunity to increase potential attractiveness to Lord Cassius.

“I can also use the prayer power of Tethra.”

“Tethra? The Goddess of Prayer?” Anton nodded. Their attitude changed immediately. “Three powers of the Old Gods…One that is supposed to be dead…” Terentia looked to Verona. “What is your power?”

“I can control blood.” She pulled down the white furred collar of her armour to expose the red tattoos liking at her jawline. “Jira, she’s called.”

Terentia looked to Kal. “I can use Tethra’s power, the same as Anton.”

Something washed over their faces. “Can you please excuse us a moment?” Terentia asked as her hands disappeared below the table.

Anton had no real authority to stop them but played along. The three mages quickly rose from their chairs, the wood groaning on the hard floor, and left the tent, leaving General Ricimer stunned. He raised an open armoured hand and held it in their direction. Finally he scoffed and gave a rude gesture as he shook his head. When he looked back the stun was still prevalent. Anton looked to Verona and Kal, who shrugged weakly while Cetina looked on blankly.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Ricimer glanced to his soldiers, who kept their faces stoic and still. He sighed as he flexed his hands. “Right…Since they’ve left…And you appear to be quite…capable. How would all four of you like to serve under my father in law, Lord Cassius?”

Anton wasn’t expecting that from the General. To Anton he appeared inexperienced at military matters, simply walking into Fort Acidava, but another thought cropped up. Ricimer was more than likely a noble of some high pedigree to be leading at such a young age. Born into, what he guessed, the cutthroat world of noble politics, he would have been trained and taught to recognise boons when they came by and exploit them ruthlessly. And with the mages gone he could move freely.

“What would that mean?” Anton asked, casually entertaining the idea.

“You would work like a soldier, a combat mage, in the employ of the Graterious army, specifically under the command of Lord Cassius. I’m sure my father in law would pay extremely well to have you on his side. Far more money than you could earn with a mercenary company.”

And I’m sure that you would gain quite a bit of favour with Cassius. But this could be a good chance to get close to Cassius, but if we agree we’ll probably have to say in Graterious and fight in that civil war that’s bubbling away. And we need to get moving onto Seocuria.

“Can we please have a moment ourselves?”

Ricimer sighed and waved them away. Anton looked to Verona and Kal as they rose up and left the tent, leaving Ricimer alone. They stepped outside, finding the tent surrounded by a ring of Graterious soldiers, and formed a small huddle. Just as Anton was about to speak he saw a glint of steel as Cetina approached. When he looked up she realised that she might not have been invited.

“Oh…” The embarrassment was clear on her face. “I…”

“It’s fine.” Verona smiled. “This affects you as well.”

“I don’t know about that.” Cetina awkwardly approached them and entered their circle. “You’re the ones with the magic. All I have is my sword…And not even a shield.”

Anton grunted as he remembered how she lost her shield. That would be one of the things they fixed the moment they returned to Porswea. He focused himself on the current task. “What do you all think?”

‘What do you think?” Kal asked. Anton nodded at her, telling her to speak first. “Well, I…I don’t think we should. Even if we get lots of money from working with them we’ll be stuck in Graterious. And then we won’t be able to move onto Seocuria and Danafra. So, no.”

“I’m the same.” Verona folded her arms. “I don’t want to get involved in someone else’s war when it doesn’t affect our home.”

“I agree. But I don’t think it’s a good idea to just say no outright. That’ll just piss him off. We should try and get an audience with Lord Cassius regardless. Otherwise we’ll be stuck going the long way through Vulusius’s territory, something that’s going to be terrible for all of us.”

“Are you going use Ricimer’s desire to gain favour against him?” Cetina asked.

Anton nodded. “Exactly. Instead of us being delivered to Cassius all nicely wrapped up in a little bow as the perfect present to his father in law, alongside returning Fort Acidava to their control, we’ll say that we’ll need to speak with Cassius himself before we agree to anything. That way we haven’t declined but haven’t agreed. We might get a few things as favours, things we might need, from Ricimer to persuade us. Things that we’ll take but won’t change our decision.”

“Sneaky and manipulative.” Kal mumbled under her breath. “Very sneaky.”

Cetina scratched the back of her head. “I don’t think that they’re going to hire me if you aren’t there. In fact I don’t think they would hire me at all. I don’t have any fancy magic. I don’t even know how I’d fare against a normal soldier, let alone against one of those elite soldiers.”

“You slaughtered those Ghlotsm with ease.” Anton said. “I’m sure, with some better gear, you could probably take out quite a few of those elites.”

Cetina smiled and flushed lightly, Anton received two light jabs to his side. He pulled them both close, Kal squeaked in surprise while Verona laughed wildly as they playfully tried to push him away.

“I wonder what made those mages freak out.” Verona looked back to the tent as she brushed down her armour. “Just because of our powers…”

“I don’t know much about how they are treated in Graterious.” Kal picked at the chin of her mask, the barest hint of a scratching sound with her touch. “It really didn’t matter to me back then. Are there any followers of the Old Gods in Bebbezzar?”

Cetina shook her head. “The Church of the Holy Father says they’re terrible people and they’re hunted down.” Cetina perked up, remembering she was from Bebbezzar. “I don’t follow their beliefs. Their empty words and promises didn’t matter to me back then.” An awkward and lonely smile graced her face. “I had other problems.”

“Well…” Verona looked quite awkward as she looked up at Anton.

“We’d better head back inside.” Anton patter her helmet. “Find out what made those mages freak out for.”

“That…That was odd.” Kal began as they moved back inside. “I know you three, probably couldn’t see it but they were very surprised.”

“Umm. I don’t think that was hard to see.” Verona flashed Kal a cheeky smiled.

Kal shook her head. “No, not like that. I could see it in their eyes and the way they breathed. Even with the mask on I could tell they were worried about something.”

“How good are you at doing that?” Anton asked. Kal said nothing and looked away, a tiny sway to her hips as she moved to the front.

The Graterious soldiers opened the tent flap. Ricimer still sat at the table, drinking from a large goblet of wine as he disinterestedly looked at a plate of food in front of him. When he saw them approach his face changed.

“So?” He motioned for them to take their seats. “What do you think about the idea? We can discuss payment at any time, though I can assure you it would be in the hundreds of gold coins.”

Cetina struggled to sit properly at the amount and the casual way at which such wealth could be thrown around. Anton bitterly smiled at Ricimer. “I’m afraid that we cannot agree to such a thing right now.” Ricimer didn’t seem too disappointed or surprised. It was a stab in the dark from him and he didn’t have much time to act. Anton continued before he could speak. “But we still would like to speak with Lord Cassius himself after this is over. Will you be coming back to Porswea after the fort is retaken?”

Ricimer finished his wine before slamming it on the wooden table. “Probably not. I will be required to stay for the next few days to repair the fortress. Which is a shame.” He didn’t seem thrilled that he wouldn’t be able to return with them. He sighed as he ran his hand through his hair, slumping lower into the chair. “Is there anything that could convince you to join our side? Money, land, an estate?”

“I’m afraid that we are not open to the idea of joining you outright right now.” Ricimer looked even more annoyed. “But we are open to the option of being hired for specific jobs, if the pay is good enough and we are available.”

Ricimer raised a brow. Anton threw him some bait and he appeared to take it. Before he could speak the tent flap opened and the mages returned. The nervousness from before had disappeared as they retook their seats. Ricimer threw them a questioning look but they didn’t reply.

“My apologies.” Terentia said as she slid the chair forward.

“I just offered them permanent employment with us.” Ricimer nodded towards them as he hauled himself upright. “However they declined. An option to hire them later is still available if Cassius can convince them.”

Terentia nodded thoughtfully. “I can appreciate that. Trying to force someone that could create those flame pillars, and still be able to move, not to mention two other users of the Old God’s power…and another with a very finely crafted sword and armour, wouldn’t work out well for us.” She smiled at Anton. “The simple question is this. Are you a threat to Graterious or its people?”

“No.” Anton answered firmly.

Terentia looked to Ricimer, who kept his face flat. “Excellent. That’s very good to hear. I think that answers that problem of whether they are a threat to us.” A strange look overcame Terentia’s face. Her fingers clenched tight as she scrunched her eyes. “Now…How much do you know about being a mage, especially one of the Old Gods?”

“Very little. I haven’t had anyone to teach me and we’ve all just had to learn on our own.”

“Creating those flame pillars…That would have used a considerable amount of mana for anyone. Yes?” Terentia reached into her robe and produced four small glass vials containing a thick blue liquid. “If you’ve never been to The Academy, or any other magical society, than you probably don’t know what these are.”

“Mana vials?” Anton asked the obvious.

Terentia simply smiled again. “Indeed. These will restore a portion of your mana.”

“What’s it made from?” Kal asked.

Terentia frowned lightly at Kal, her eyes raking over her white and green mask. “The list of ingredients is long but I can assure you that none of them are poisonous. I’ll prove it to you.” She opened a vial with a satisfying pop and drunk a portion of the blue liquid. “Comparing mana from one person to the next is always difficult but that recovered a small portion of my mana. I don’t know how much it’ll recover for any of you but it’s much faster than waiting for it to recover naturally.”

“Is there a limit of how many you can take at once?” Anton asked. When he ate too many of the Karak fruits he became violently ill, even though Jeff, who didn’t have magical powers, could eat as many as he wanted.

“About ten a day. Though you would be feeling quite sick by the end of it. If you want more they can be bought from magical suppliers. There’s usually one in the larger cities that can be trusted. Having an angry mage descending upon their store is a quick way to be put out of business forever.”

Sounds just like eating the Karak fruit. That fruit was supposed to be only accessible to the royalty and mages of the dead Kar Kingdom. I doubt Graterious would have it, and asking about that would just bring up dangerous questions.

Terentia pushed the four vials across the table towards Anton. They felt quite cold in his hands, the coldest thin g he had touched in a world without refrigeration. He gave a tiny nod as he took the gifts.

“Thank you very much.” Anton bowed his head a tiny amount, enough for Terentia to smile lightly. “These will come in handy in the battles ahead.”

“Since you aren’t going to join us I’m calling an end to this meeting.” Ricimer grumbled as he looked them over. “A shame that you won’t join us now. I only ask that you don’t cause trouble for Graterious.” Ricimer said as he rose from his chair. “For any of its people.”

“We won’t be.” Anton replied. “Once we have completed the mission to retake the fort we’ll be leaving Porswea and be on our way. I would like to speak with Lord Cassius before then.”

Ricimer opened his mouth but Terentia cut him off. “That won’t be a problem. He’ll make time for you. And offer something far more enticing than gold.”

“Like access to The Academy?”

Terentia pulled an awkward face. “I’m afraid that almost everything related to the Old Gods has been destroyed some time ago. A fire ripped through the older sections of the library about thirty winters ago and destroyed countless tomes and scrolls. Anything of value is now nothing but ash.”

“Oh.” Anton grumbled, Verona didn’t look too happy either. “Thanks for telling us.”’

“I’d rather you not be falsely led to believe you can find your answers there.” Terentia added. “Deceiving people is not a good way to make friends.”

“That it isn’t.”

“I will strategize with my officers and create a plan to take the fortress.” Ricimer waved to the guards at the rear of the tent. “When we are done the assault will continue. Since you are not going to join us I ask that you return to your mercenary company. I…I do ask that you don’t use such large and powerful magic inside the fort. We still want it in one piece when we’re done.”

Anton nodded. Ricimer smiled weakly. “Very good. After the battle is over we will find you.”

He’s got a lot of confidence that this will be easy, even after the pitfall trap. Is it genuine confidence or from ignorance? We’ll find out soon enough.

“Will you be joining the assault as well?” Anton asked the three mages.

“We will.” Vistilia replied. “In a limited fashion. You’ll be able to see how the elite mages of Graterious fight.”

It was something Anton was very interested in seeing, to see if they had anything they used to defend themselves with and if that could be replicated with his magic. So far it was difficult to form the magic into anything than simple shapes. Of spheres and rings. There would be time to experiment later.

“That will be very interesting.” Anton turned to leave when he saw Cetina’s sword resting on her side, and her empty left hand. “I know this is a little odd to ask, but could we have a large shield for Cetina?”

Cetina raised a black brow as he head swivelled around. “I’ll be fine. I-”

“Of course.” Vistilia clapped her red gloved hands just below her chin.

When she held that pose she looked very childish, something he didn’t expect from a powerful mage. She smiled as walked up to Cetina. Cetina took a step back and bumped into the chair. When she turned back Vistilia was only a few inches from her face. Thanks to Cetina’s height she almost towered over Vistilia but her presence shrunk underneath the red robed woman’s gaze. Vistilia pulled off one of her red gloves and ran her hand over Cetina’s chest piece. Cetina looked to them out of fear as Vistilia tapped an old finger on the centre.

“This is very good. Very good steel. Very strong. Where did you get it?”

“It was a gift from my father.” Cetina said straight.

Vistilia nodded. “Did you live in the south east of Bebbezzar?”

Cetina frowned but nodded. Vistilia smiled as she put her glove back on. “I thought so. Your armour and sword look like they’re from the De Yscar family.”

“How do you know that?” Cetina frowned lightly.

Vistilia shrugged. “I recognise the work. A simple and well worked iron. Simple yet beautiful. Very useful when fighting off the Clansmen raids.” She turned to the elite Graterious guards and their gaudy armour. “Functional and clean, compared to their useless flamboyance. It would serve you so much better than their armour against one of Clansmen’s mighty axes.”

Was that the problem they faced? Increasing Clansmen raids? Either way I don’t think Cetina’s going to talk about it yet.

Ricimer scoffed, he probably bought his armour and his was the more ornate, so it seemed like she was making an offhanded jab towards him.

“So you need a shield to match.” She looked back and to the two mages and they agreed. “What sort of shield did you use?”

“Umm…” Cetina looked in their direction but Anton held his face firm. This was her gift and he shouldn’t interfere. It might also help give her a bit more confidence, just a tiny drop, when they confront her father. She looked to her sword. “I used a large rectangular plain iron shield.”

“Iron?” Vistilia shook her head. “That simply won’t do for…not for you.”

She waved a soldier over and whispered in his ear. The soldier glanced to Ricimer when she was done but when he nodded the soldier followed her order. He returned a few moments later with a large rectangular shield and presented it to Cetina. She took it with some hesitation but took it all the same. The shield was quite large when she held it, the top was just below her chin and a foot off her thick leather boots. If anything it looked like some sort of tower shield. Her original shield was smaller, he didn’t know how she was going to fight effectively with it. She retrieved her sword and readied a stance. With the shield covering most of her body she held her sword to the side. She practiced a few swings and bashes with the shield. Anton didn’t know anything about fighting with a shield but she looked very strong and confident with her new shield. She flashed them a smile as she sheathed her sword, a tiny frown formed on her face as she ran a gloved hand over the top rim of the shield.

“It’s very light.” Cetina bounced the shield up and down. “It’s about a quarter of what I had before.”

“It’s made from iron, titanium and even some Chelium running through it.”

Chelium…That’s the blue metal. We’ve got a few swords made from that back in Atros. Strong and very light if I remember correctly.

“I can see that.” Cetina tilted the shield forward as she ran her hand over the top again. “How much did this cost?”

“A considerable sum.” Ricimer said quietly as he folded his arms, the metal plates grating against each other.

“Material goods are worth nothing in the long run.” Harprax said, earning a scornful gaze from Ricimer. “You can be the wealthiest man in the world but it doesn’t matter when you’re dead.”

Ricimer raised his hand to retort but stopped. There was nothing to object to.

“Is this really for me?” Cetina looked to the mages. “I don’t have any magic.”

“You would be surprised how many mages can be killed by a simple soldier.” Vistilia huffed dramatically. “One arrow or sword strike would kill us far more easily than it would you.”

Cetina nodded and looked back to the shield. “If this is for me…then, thank you. I’ll use this well.”

“I hope you do.” Vistilia’s eyes grew quite serious. “Make sure you do. Make sure you do.”

Anton didn’t know what to make of her last sentence. Neither did Ricimer. Vistilia’s face returned to the smile. “Thank you for meeting us. Cetina, Anton, Kal and Verona. It will not be long before the assault begins again. You should get as much rest as you can. We will be seeing you again very soon.”

---[]---

Once outside, and walking back to the mercenary section of the camp, Anton let out a huge breath of relief.

“Yeah.” Verona chuckled as she massaged her shoulder. “I feel that way too.”

“I didn’t think it would go bad, like it could have with Duchess Belinda, since they just wanted to know who we were.” Anton nervously chuckled. “But that still wasn’t the easiest thing we’ve done.”

“They’ll be watching us from now on.” Kal turned back to the command tent.

The soldiers remained at their posts but he knew they would be watching their movements very closely from now on. While they hadn’t done anything wrong they wouldn’t just allow people with their skills and abilities just to roam free. Alfred mentioned something similar when they were in Qaiviel. At least here they didn’t have to worry about being attacked for following their gods. Kal was still unlucky in that regard.

Kal groaned as she scratched at her mask. “With this thing on I can’t see, smell or hear how I used to. I’d be able to tell if they were following us if I didn’t.”

“We’re just going to have to add our eyes and ears to yours.” Anton wrapped a hand around Kal’s. “Once we’re out of the city and away from people it’ll be pretty hard for them to sneak up on all of us.”

When he held Kal’s hand tightly it easy to tell that it wasn’t a human’s hand. All they needed to do was not let anyone touch her and she should be fine.

“Do you think they were about to try and force us into the army?” Cetina asked. “I mean you three could easily…”

“Not if they didn’t want an angry Blood Berserker they wouldn’t.” Verona spoke defiantly.

“I mean, those mages got quite scarred when you said you can…do what you do.”

Anton couldn’t disagree with that. Something had rattled them but he wasn’t sure what. If anything they seemed more than happy to be rid of them, even though they might have been more of a relatable negotiator than Ricimer. Still, they had gifted Cetina a new shield, one she kept close. She seemed far more relaxed to have the security of a shield once more.

“Thanks for getting me this.” Cetina held up the shield. “It’s really good. Far better than my old one.”

“Not thinking about getting another sword?” Verona asked.

Cetina shot her a dirty look as she furiously shook her head. “The shield was just a piece of metal to me. This.” She patted the pommel of her sword. “This means a lot to me.”

Verona nodded as they continued walking through the army section of the camp. The Graterious soldiers rested inside the tents or in large huddles around small fires. Some were eating while most kept very quiet and checked their equipment over. Judging by how they looked they were ready to move out right now.

“It’s good they told us about the academy.” Anton spoke to break the silence. “No point using that as a bargaining chip now. Though…I don’t know if we can trust them. We didn’t ask Ricimer about that…Though he probably would have said the same thing.”

“We’ll just have to ask Lord Cassius when we see him.” Verona said. “There’s no way we won’t get his attention now. Three mages, all of which use the powers of the Old Gods.”

“Not if Ricimer wants more fa…”

The mercenary tents were directly in front of them now and were abuzz with activity. Many of the mercenaries were seated and chatting amongst themselves while quite a few were standing and keeping watch towards the army section of the camp. For them, it appeared. Upon stepping around the last tent blocking their view many of the mercenaries vaulted up and ran towards them. Kal whimpered and used Anton as a shield as hundreds of mercenaries ran towards them, Citrio and Livia at the forefront.

“You made it out of there alive.” Citrio pointed out when he was a few meters away, a thought shared by Livia.

“I’m glad that you ran away.” Anton forced a silly smile on his face.

Livia threw up her hand in apology as the mercenaries began to crowd around them. “It wasn’t brave but we still wanted to live.”

“Well, you fight for money and there wasn’t anything in there for you.”

“What did they want to know?” Citrio asked.

Anton hesitated to explain he was the one to release the six flame pillars. He wasn’t sure what their reaction would be. He smiled and shrugged.

“Who we were and what we were doing. The standard stuff. Not really exciting if I’m honest.” Some of the mercenaries were getting very close and had completely surrounded them. Kal was becoming increasingly nervous and Anton wrapped an arm around her waist. “Now!” He raised his voice startling some of the mercenaries. “We need to get some food and rest before we start the assault again. We overheard that it wouldn’t be long before we head attack again-”

“Really?” A mercenary asked. “After all that?”

Anton nodded. “So we’re going to get some rest and I suggest you do the same. So could you please move?”

He gently pushed on Verona’s back for her to go first. She picked up on his intention. “Come on!” She yelled and forced an opening. “Time for everyone to get some rest before we have to fight again. Come on, move it.”

The mercenaries quickly realised they weren’t going to be discovering what happened and lost interest. The news they were about to head back into the fight was far more important than some potentially juicy gossip. Citrio and Livia joined in the chorus for the mercenaries to clear out and get some rest. A path formed as the mercenaries cleared and they made for the tent containing their packs. The mercenaries present said nothing as they moved to their packs as sat on the dry grass, Cetina sat next with them while Citrio and Livia sat to the side. No one spoke a word as they began to nibble on their food and get what rest they could before the next assault began.