"Gregory, Cooper, Leviana!" Olivander called out as he summoned his grimoire and began drafting a series of ritual circles in the air.

Gregory and Cooper ran over, surprised at the alarm in Olivander's voice. Leviana hurried over from the other side of the room where she had been speaking to McKenzie and another constable.

"Giles, can you craft your own key ritual onto that?" He pushed the nearly complete ritual to Giles.

"Portal suppression field? It will take me a minute to find the right components."

Giles summoned his own grimoire, it glowed with a deep blue light. He began looking through it for the ritual components he needed.

"Gregory, Cooper, I have a job for you. It will be dangerous, but Cooper might be the best way to track these things back to their domain. Cooper, can you use your advanced search?"

"I think so!"

"Good. Get a scent and get moving. Leviana, can you convince Reginald to join them in case there's trouble? After that I need you to organize everyone else here, and the constables. Get the people back to their homes. I'm going to get help, and we'll purify the city as fast as we can."

"I can do that!" Leviana said, hurrying to where Reginald was speaking with Allison.

Olivander turned back to his friends. "Don't leave without Reginald. If you find the domain, stay away from it and contact me immediately."

Olivander channeled mana in his new personal assistant construct. It unfolded and manifested back into a small floating golem.

"Oh, hello again! Honestly I wasn't sure if you were going to use me ever again. Ha…" the diminutive golem said.

"Of course, you're a valuable tool. Can you contact me if I send you with these two? I will be portalling away briefly, but I should remain within a couple miles when I get back, for the most part."

"I can, though I only have an hour's worth of mana. You'd have to be relatively close to channel more."

"Can you take extra mana now?"

"Uhhh, probably? I've never tried it before…I mean, I haven't really tried anything before…"

Olivander wasn't exactly flush with extra mana, and he had already drawn attention he really didn't want, but he pulled through more mana from his connection with the Realm of Madness.

Olivander…come home Olivander…I want my eye back…

"Oh! Ok! Wow, that's a kick in the pants isn't it?" the golem said as Olivander pushed the mana into it.

Olivander shook out his head, trying to clear his mind and banish the whispers.

"Get moving! Giles, are you done yet?"

Cooper ran over to the Ghoul Mimic in suspension, giving it a solid few sniffs while the golem and Gregory tagged along behind.

"You know I'm no portal expert Olivander. But yes, I'm just about done."

Giles crafted a complex ritual ring of his own. Once it was complete, he shrunk it down and attached it to Olivander's ritual next to another small ring that Olivander had crafted.

"Great! Can you power it?" Olivander asked. He didn't like to admit weakness, but he had been through a lot today.

"I suppose you did just go through a personal trial. You have the whispers?"

Olivander nodded.

"Damn if that isn't shit timing. I can power it. Are you ready?"

"Today, Giles."

Giles scowled, but he began channeling mana.

"Traveler's spell authority, break down the channels of passage and movement. Portal Suppression Field!"

The huge ritual began to turn and the rings began rotating like they were interlocking gears. Then the whole ritual flashed and a gentle wave of power emanated out, stretching a blanket of suppressive power all over the city. Unlike most rituals, which activated an effect, then faded away, this ritual was more like a construct. It persisted, hovering in place, continuing to emit power.

Seeing the ritual and feeling its power, McKenzie hurried over.

"You have a plan, Olivander, High Magus? Leviana just informed me of the stakes. I'm about to whip the constables into a reverse evacuation. It's not a procedure we have, but we'll make do."

"We've just suppressed all the portal abilities in the city. Only Giles and myself will be able to use them. That should stop much of the worst spread. Giles, are you willing to work with the constables to move people around? I will be leaving the city for a short time to recruit some help. We're going to need backup."

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"It's my city Olivander, of course I'm going to help. You best get moving. Amegnon isn't in the capital so don't bother trying to find him there."

That was curious, but Olivander didn't have time to ask or care. Amegnon wasn't who he had in mind.

"I'm going to get Lucindre."

Giles just barked a laugh and shook his head.

Giles and McKenzie moved off, and Olivander saw Gregory, Cooper, the golem, and Reginald rush out of the great hall. He silently wished everyone luck, and then stepped through his portal.

* * *

Olivander emerged onto a high cliff above a churning sea. The wind howled like it was a wrathful ghost, and it seemed to try to pull him off the cliff to a watery grave far below. Olivander rarely visited the homes of the other High Magi, they were an eclectic bunch, and Giles was the only one, besides Olivander, who seemed to maintain a more or less regular home.

Lucindre didn't like visitors. She lived in a cave in a seaside cliff, only accessible by portal or flight power, and typically shot lightning at anything or anyone that showed up unannounced.

Today was no exception, and a thick bolt of energy blasted into Olivander's mana ward. He had prepared it, knowing the danger. He winced as the ward stole more of his waning mana, giving him the start of a fresh headache.

"Lucindre! It's me, Olivander!"

A fierce older woman wearing heavy gray robes peaked her head around the edge of the cave opening. She had a floating green grimoire by her side, and she had her hand extended, full of crackling lightning. She shook out the prepared magic when she saw him.

"I'll be damned. Olivander! I thought Amegnon killed you."

"Who told you that?"

"Rolaf, I think."

"Rolaf?" Olivander asked. "...I have no idea who that is."

"Prince Rolaf? You don't know the Queen's son? No wonder she hated you."

"Really? I always thought it was Ralf. Why did no one correct me?"

"Probably because you're an ass and everyone thought you deserved a dressing down from the Queen. Get in here, you're starting to look like a drowned rat."

Olivander entered the cave, within about ten feet, a magical warm breeze blew over him, drying him and making the cave seem warm and comfortable. They passed through a small opening with a wooden door. The interior of Lucindre's home was as nice as any manor home. A crackling fire and warmly glowing lamps coupled with the smell of cider and cinnamon gave the room a cozy feeling. The furniture was lavish, but comfortable. It all clashed with the appearance just outside her home so much that Olivander wondered if he had somehow missed passing through a portal to somewhere else.

Olivander sat down on one of her plush chairs. He was quite tense and anxious to get back to the city, but he didn't let any of that show as Lucindre sat across from him.

"Lucindre, I hate to be so direct, but there's a bit of an emergency."

"I don't doubt it, for you to show up here unannounced. I'm feeling charitable today though, so I won't feed you to the kraken."

"How magnanimous of you."

"You know, Olivander, I actually like you, but whenever you start spouting off nonsense words like you're the smartest man in the world it really presses on my last nerve."

"Your last nerve?"

"Yep. I only have the one," she chuckled at her own joke.

She stopped and looked at him scratching her chin. "Before I help you, you're going to tell me what happened with you and Amegnon. I can't have an Arch-magus who keeps secrets from the council. Not again at least."

"I don't really know what happened myself, besides the obvious. Amegnon challenged me for the right of command. As Arch-magus I naturally knew about all of the formal ways in which my tenure could be ended, but I never thought someone would challenge me to a duel. After the contest ended, Amegnon had me thrown out of the castle, quite literally, on my face."

"As was his right as victor. I assume the Queen had something to do with that. I had guessed most of what you said. I was always skeptical of Rolaf's claims. It does bring up two questions for me though. How did Amegnon know about that ancient custom, and how did a brand new Magus beat you in a duel?"

"Would you believe I let him win?"

"No," she said firmly. "I have a hard time believing he beat you, but I know you'd never let him win. You don't have it in you to give up like that."

"You might be surprised, Lucindre," Olivander said with a sigh. "Either way. He beat me. I don't know how he became so strong, so quickly, but I was no match for him. I hadn't seen him since he reached Magus, so I didn't know what skills he picked up. I still don't, honestly, but his magic was formidable. He blasted through my defenses before I even had a chance to really begin. He was able to negate my few attacks, and I was bested in mere minutes."

"I don't like it. If he wanted the position he should have come to the council. He was always well liked, and I think we would have granted him a temporary position and allowed him to apprentice for the position under you. It's not like anyone on the council wants the position. Maybe Giles, but that man is insufferable."

"I agree. I was honestly getting tired of my duties, and would have gladly allowed him to take my place. At least once I taught him all he needed to know."

"So he doesn't know all of his duties? Dangerous."

"He's more aware of them now at least. We spoke briefly in Serin."

"Really? And you didn't get any explanations?"

"No, I mostly just yelled at him. Then I portaled him to the top of Mount Crissian."

"Ha! Good!" Lucindre said, nodding her approval.

"Now, again, I do hate to rush you, but I need help."

"Go on, then."

Olivander explained the night's events, the actions he and Giles took, and his theory that there was a new Ghoul Mimic domain near Serin.

"Shit. You sent a couple fresh coppers to look for a domain? You're meaner than I thought."

"They have a golem I crafted with them, and a silver rank adventurer."

"Even a new domain will be too dangerous for one silver rank adventurer."

"I told them to stay away. That doesn't matter though. Will you come help? We need the people who have fled to be corralled and then cured. After that it's the same treatment for everyone else in the city."

"I will help. How advanced do you think the infections are? If they've started showing symptoms, and we need to put people down, it's going to incite a panic. Not even you will be able to control that. Not in a city the size of Serin."

"Me? No. Me and two High Magi? Maybe."

"Alright Olivander, I'll help. I'll gather my students, too. Can you portal me to the academy?"

"I'm a little low on mana."

"Is that all? Did you forget who you're talking to?"

Lucindre got up from her chair and walked to a cabinet. She rummaged around for a few seconds then turned and tossed Olivander three blue stones.

----------------------------------------

Mana Stone (High Density)

* Consumable

* Restores 250 mana to the user.

* Can only absorb up to your maximum mana, excess mana will be lost.

----------------------------------------

Olivander whistled, the stones beginning to melt into him. "How long did it take you to create these?"

"I have a lot of free time in my cave, Olivander. I create them whenever I have a chance. I have them stashed all over the place."

He suddenly didn't want to be inside her home anymore. If any of them were crafted incorrectly, they could detonate. That would cause a chain reaction that would probably move this entire cliffside into the sea. The volatile nature of the stones was a primary reason they weren't commonly used.

Lucindre had been a Magus for longer than Olivander had been alive, so she probably knew what she was doing, but it still seemed a little reckless to him.

He opened a portal to her academy.

"I'll meet you back in Serin," he said, opening another portal for himself and stepping through.