Harlan saw the old man, so feeble he needed his own golems to wheel him around.

The guards standing around were ready to draw on Harlan at a moment's notice, why Dearil had agreed to meet in person instead of through an intermediary, they had no idea.

His reason was simple, a gut feeling.

“I don’t work with people I cannot trust. Tell me, what do you want from me? And more importantly, why have you come here?”

“I want you to help me kill a count and take credit for it. For why I’m here, who better to do something like this than Dearil.”

“Bold to accuse me of being some boogeyman from Ragne.”

“I know you are him because we met in the past. I’d change my face back to normal, but if you killed me in that moment, then you’d have my body, and with it you could cause a lot of questions I’d rather not have to answer.”

“What work did we do together?”

“I gave you soulsmithing, and you gave me designs for golems.”

He leaned forward in his wheelchair and adjusted his glasses.

“Harlan Fomoria?”

“Yes. Not that you leaning forward was anything but theatrics.”

“Then I assume you are going to kill Count Haldren. I’m guessing that you realized the legal system is broken, that a man like him could get away with murder, two murders.”

“If you already know what happened. That makes this easier.”

Harlan just didn’t want to repeat the story again.

“Yes, two servants were murdered. Your maid, and a former tailor.”

“She was a dear friend, and he was her husband. That they worked for me doesn’t matter beyond it being what got them killed.”

“And that is not all I know. I’ve heard you have gotten close to the king.”

“I refuse to call him a good man, but he is a competent leader.”

“I never expected you to turn royalist.”

“If his replacement was one of his children that I hated, I’d leave the country. I might even see about killing them so they can be replaced by someone better. Half of them seem to hold a grudge against me for existing under Rosewell and her getting praise for my successes.”

“Hmm… My sources say that she is likely going to be queen because of you.”

“The king wants to bring an immortal to the kingdom’s side, and he has no qualms using his daughter.”

“With the preamble out of the way. How do you plan to kill the count?”

“In one week, he will be traveling from his home to the capital of Haldren. I put out a great deal of statements against him, so I’m being sued for defamation. Along the way, he is going to be under guard from his personal army and the very few remaining Black Sheep mercenaries. When I found the assassins who killed my friend. They were waiting to be picked up by gate, and I sent my golems into one of their camps, got almost all of them too. I’d like to ambush them on the way back from the trial where they determine how much I give up to him.”

“Why not along the way instead?”

“There are 3 roads he could take, but I don’t know which one he is going to use. I’m guessing, more hoping, that he takes the same road there and back.”

“How many do you expect to face?”

“Five, six hundred. I can supply your people with body enhancement, double their strength or more. I think 100 of your men, and then a few hundred of my own flesh golems that look like beastkin can handle it.”

“And what comes after?”

“I’m going to be honest. I killed the man who was in the swamp about 200 miles from here.”

The guards pointed their spears at Harlan, but he remained unfazed.

“I was sent there by my god to do it, making dragons is not allowed, making creatures who can reproduce is not allowed, he broke these rules. For my reward, I asked for your location. I intended to kill you because you could be a problem for me.”

“So if I refuse to help you. You’ll kill me, is that it?”

“No, I’d leave, give you a week to run, then I’d kill you. I came here asking for help, it wouldn’t sit right with me if I killed you for coming to see me in good faith. But if you do help me, I’d stop trying to kill you unless you do something that makes me want you dead again.”

“Knowing that I am a problem for you, why wouldn’t I assume you are going to kill me anyway?”

“Because I’m telling you I won’t. That is all the guarantee that I can give.”

“Amulets, I want you to teach one of my men how to make them.”

“I will make amulets for you, but I won’t give you the spells and process to make them.”

“I want 500.”

“200.”

“450.”

“300.”

“425.”

“300. Each of them will take me 30 minutes to make even if you bring me the materials for them, that’s 150 hours. 100 if I use both of my bodies, but I won’t.”

“Both bodies?”

“I can control two bodies, the lesser is mostly autonomous. But it isn’t as fast mentally or as strong magically and is more morally restricted just in case.”

“Which am I speaking too now?”

“I am my main mind, but in a secondary body. If you killed this one, it wouldn’t have anything that points back to who I am.”

“If you give me this magic, we can cut the amulets from the deal entirely.”

“For starters, Xol the Lich gave me this spell, so I cannot give it to you for any price without upsetting him. Secondly, it won’t make you immortal or extend your life more than a few years of body swapping.

Soul decay is a built-in time limit to force us to use every moment to improve ourselves, when we get stronger and invent new magic, it generates more mana for Life. Look at magical creatures, they are born so strong that they never need to be clever, but they never organize into a kingdom, or a village, they rarely work together to cover their weaknesses and they are limited to only a handful of elements. They exist as obstacles to force us to be stronger.”

“Where did you hear this then?”

“I’m the champion of darkness. I can speak directly with the god of darkness. She has told me these things and she heard them from Aarde who spoke to our sun who can speak to Life.”

“Life, you said it again, like it is a name.”

“If you want a lesson on gods, I can give it, but the two highest in this galaxy, which comprises billions of habitable planets, are Life, and her husband, Time.”

“Fascinating. Even if I don’t believe it, I think I would like to kill some time with this.”

Harlan switched bodies, the other one knew everything he knew anyway and there shouldn’t be any problems that require his extra mental abilities.

Back at his home a messenger arrived.

“Sir Fomoria. I’m from Tole. Sara had no known relatives, as such, all of her things are to be transferred to you. Normally the town would simply seize the assets as no will was found. But the mayor decided that-”

“Thank you.”

Harlan politely nodded to the man and then made his way to Liat’s room.

She didn’t know Sara and she didn’t think she was going to be good at consoling anyone. So she made herself scarce after what happened.

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“How are you feeling?”

“I’d like you to move into Sara’s home. You are going to be working for the guard, so you should live in the town, get used to the people.”

“I’m not so sure that is a good idea.”

“She would want someone to live there. I don’t think that it should be left to rot, and I can’t sell it.”

“Can we talk?”

“Always.”

He stepped into her room.

“Honestly. I don’t want the house.”

“It’s fine.”

“Also, I’m not sure I’m comfortable being around you right now. You… I watched you pour pitch over a man and burn him alive. Whatever you have planned, I don’t think I want to be around when it all blows up. Harlan, I understand why you did it, you were… you are still hurting. But that was too far.”

“Do you want me to gate you somewhere? Or are you fine with walking?”

“I hate to ask, but can you give me some money for travel?”

“That’s fine, I understand that I crossed a line.”

“I’ll gather my things and be out by tonight.”

“I’ll give you a few hundred silver, a couple dozen gold.”

“That’s too much.”

“Ten gold, forty silver.”

“That’s still-”

“Just take the money. I’m sorry for what you saw that day. I never wanted others to see me like that.”

“Be honest, how bad are things going to get?”

“I’m going to kill him, kill his army, work alongside enemies of the state to do it. But that is it. I’m not going after his wife, his children, I don’t want collateral. This is between me and him. And If I get caught, I’ve got another plan, then things might get really really bad. If that happens, you’ll know, and you should leave the country if that happens. Go to the Confederacy, find a state that doesn’t mind you, and lay low for a while.”

“What do you have planned?”

“If I said it, that idea would be out in the world.”

“If something happens, can you get Yara out of the academy?”

“I can.”

“I’m sorry to leave you right now, I know things are hard with… what happened. But thank you for everything.”

“I’m sorry that I made you feel like a stranger in my home. I hope things are better when next we meet.”

Harlan sent a message to Black-1 to get the money ready, he had other business to attend to.

There was a marked decrease in many species of dangerous magical creatures over the next week; strange sounds came out of the forests of the frontier.

Brig was working overtime to forge weapons and armor for an army that could never be tied back to them.

He never showed up at the funeral, he never came in when they had their remembrance, but he liked the girl, she could banter back and forth with the old man unlike the others.

Unmarked plate in several sizes, swords far too large for any man, maces, even guns, they lined the walls of the bunker, waiting for pick up.

Gates opened at all hours, and creatures that looked like beastkin, but whose presence was distinctly wrong, came to pick them up.

A bird overhead watched the carriage, the amulet fused to its back giving a constant read out of the position.

100 Kalaks and 600 flesh golems waited in position, the trial was expected to take two hours, and then he would come back along the only bend in the road.

Harlan was glad to have overprepared, his enemy had as well.

Count Haldren’s forces numbered 1000, he expected retaliation, or perhaps it was nothing but a show of force, an intimidation for Harlan.

Kaiak was among the soldiers.

“These things really are strange. From the outside, they truly do appear to be people.”

He waved his hand in front of its face.

“Refrain from doing that.”

He jumped back.

“We are given many phrases and responses to certain actions. I can tell from this knowledge that you expected me to be a machine. I am, but I can pretend to be more.”

“Can you answer questions?”

“I have been given responses to certain questions.”

“Do you feel anything?”

“I can feel my flesh, but only for the sake of knowing where I have been damaged, I feel no pain, and I do not feel the gentle breeze.”

“How do you know it is gentle then?”

It pointed at the trees.

“I can see the sway. I estimate seven miles per hour winds, we must take that into account when we fire from long range.”

“So you really are just a machine.”

“I have no mind, my soul is limited. I am a shell of meat meant to hold a weapon and then disappear into cold storage when this is over.”

“Do you have… parts?”

“No, we do not.”

Kaiak stood next to the Ursa-like thing, asking it many mundane questions to kill time.

He was a man of action, he disliked waiting.

The capital city which was named for the count, or rather, some distant ancestor, was beautiful and bustling. For however many crimes that the man might’ve committed, he made his money and used it to keep his things in order so more people would come to his cities to expand his taxable population..

Harlan sat at a bar with one of Dearil’s golems.

“Things are ready?”

“Both sides are in position. We just need to get this farce of a trial done.”

“How much do you expect to lose?”

“Not a single coin.”

“I’ve read what you put out. Calling him the bastard son of his father and a feisty goat isn’t something that they are going to overlook.”

“I’m a bit more well versed in noble law. While he is under investigation by Seekers, any defamation suit is to delay payment. If they find that the man in question has a reputation so poor that it cannot be worsened, the suit is dropped even if he wins the trial today. So it doesn’t matter that I paid an artist to draw him being mounted by a deer and sent the painting to his wife. Actually, I think I’ll be fined for harassment for that one. But fuck it.”

“You’ve been drinking.”

“It’s a very strange sensation. I’m of two minds, one that is being physically affected by the liquor, and one that can think clearly. I’ll clear myself of it before I see the judge, I just wanted to run a test, to see how the split mind reacts.”

Harlan pounded down several shots back to back.

“And just so we are fucking clear. His kid and his woman are to be unharmed, or we will have a fucking problem.”

Harlan chucked the last glass against the wall.

“Sorry.”

He placed a few gold coins on the counter.

“That’s for my drink… and the glass. The rest, LET THE PEOPLE DRINK.”

He got cheers from the bar, and everyone there would be too drunk to remember what he said even if they did manage to read their lips when they spoke under a clear veil.

Harlan sobered himself up and waited by himself in the lobby of the courthouse.

He didn’t want the rest of the family to be there, this was just between him and the count.

He was pacing back and forth, the half an hour felt like days.

Finally the count arrived. Harlan felt… alright actually. He didn’t want to go over there and tear him apart, he just had to keep himself in check until it was over. This man was dead, he just didn’t know it yet.

The gavel struck and court began.

“I will now proside over the case of Count Haldren vs Archmage Changeling, also known as Count Harlan Fomoria. The charges are harassment and defamation. The maximum fine shall be 500 gold per offense, and if I so choose, a public apology.”

Haldren acted as his own lawyer, and he was very good at it, his arguments were quickly made, precise, and they cut deeply.

When it was Harlan’s turn however, his lawyer was a man who worked under Balor.

Every argument he made so heavily referenced laws and cases of the past that it took longer than the two hours they had expected. Harlan’s case wasn’t air tight, he was never going to win, but he was fine with wasting the count’s time.

“Your honor, I believe this has gone on long enough, Sir Fomoria is clearly trying to simply drag this out.”

“Sustained. Sir Fomoria, you will have your man finish his defense within the next 10 minutes, or I will be siding with Count Haldren.”

“I am going to forgo my lawyer from this point onwards. I believe my closing argument will wrap things up in less than a minute.”

“Very well, this is certain to end quickly one way or the other.”

“Thank you, your honor.”

Harlan cleared his throat and put on a large smile.

“I believe there can be no defamation for this gutless, chicken shit, pig fucking, son of a mother who laid with any beast under the sun. I rest my case.”

“1000 gold is to be paid to Count Haldren in one month's time. You must also issue a public apology.”

The gavel slammed once again.

“Court is adjourned.”

Out in the hallway the count approached Harlan.

“Was this really worth it? 1000 gold could buy dozens of servants. And what I don’t understand, is why you think I would bother to kill someone close to you. We’ve all heard the speeches from you, you are nothing but an animal waiting to be provoked so you can justify lashing out. If I intended to make you react, I’d kill your mother or sisters, not some no name servant girl. Unless of course you were using her for more than just cleaning your sheets?”

Harlan closed his eyes to calm himself before responding, he just needed to remember, two hours, then this is all over.

“I would do far more than this for her. I will never-”

He felt his hands touching something, so he opened his eyes to find he had been choking the count and as a result, was surrounded by guards.

“I want this man arrested.”

The guards moved in, but Harlan raised his hand.

“A count and an archmage both require a warrant for arrest, in most cases at least. Because I simply assaulted you instead of killing you outright, you must go to a judge and get a little piece of paper saying that I am under arrest. So I’ll see you in three or four days when you get it.”

The people standing around murmured to one another questioning if it was true until a lawyer stepped in and quoted specific law regarding the situation.

“This is not the end, boy.”

“Of course it’s not the end. Because I don’t want you dead, not quite yet. I’m going to find out how to ruin you, your reputation, your home, your finances. Then when that day comes, you will beg me to end it, and I’ll shove you into an unmarked grave. You and I are going to be seeing each other for a very long time.”

“Funny, because the way I see it, I’ve taken a thousand gold from you, and you lack the self-control to not let me take another thousand, again and again. We will see what you can do without a coin to your name.”

“Oh I’d still be able to ruin you, I’d just need to change my tactics a little.”

Harlan left via gate and the count stormed off.