“Thank you all for attending the meeting today,” Varen said, getting to his feet and casting his gaze across the assembled mix of people.

It truly was an eclectic mix, and one that was only broadened by the presence of four new groups.

The first were Sylvie, Tim and Blane who were present to represent the Airta and their interests. Tim seemed to be an honorary Airta by this point, but Verdan made a mental note to check in on him and see how he was.

Airta culture seemed a little odd, to say the least.

The next group was one that Verdan was pleasantly surprised by. Hursk and Gar’Dru were at the rear of the room, the elderly Fwyn sat on a stool with the imposing Brecan standing silently beside him.

The third set of newcomers was Zhalia and Branwen, who seemed to be present in their role as Clerics, rather than anything else.

Finally, there was a trio of robed Sorcerers dressed in dark brown and black who were powerfully built and had so far said very little.

“And welcome to our visitors from our sister city of Dresk. Elder Dun and his companions have travelled here with the latest news of the Cyth Host.” Varen continued, answering the unspoken question of who the new Sorcerers were. “Elder Dun, would you care to speak?”

One of the brown-robed Sorcerers stood up and regarded the room quietly. The Elder was a middle-aged man with close-cropped brown hair, a strong, square jawline and dark eyes that seemed small beneath his heavy brow.

“The Cyth have begun to raid our territory,” the Elder said in a voice that seemed raspy from disuse. “War parties have sacked and corrupted villages and towns to our east. Those that have approached the city have died. The Host is yet to come.”

“Thank you, Elder.”

“Our watch is eternal,” Elder Dun said with a surprising amount of fervour before sitting down once more.

Varen cleared his throat, seemingly unsure how to respond to that. “As you’ve all heard, the situation is getting worse, and while the Eternal Wardens can hold Dresk against the current foe, the Host is another matter. Sorcerer Ferd?”

“Thank you, Councillor,” Ferd said as he got to his feet. “The Cyth Host has effectively broken out of the cordon we established in multiple places. Several war parties of Cyth have laid waste to settlements throughout the area, and the situation is worsening.”

The silence in the room was deafening as Ferd paused, the weight of it bearing down on all of them until he continued.

“The joint alliance is forming as we speak. Sorcerers from my sect are marshalling alongside any Stormlords that weren’t already in Ramoria. Joining us will be detachments from the Eternal Wardens, the Defiant Flame, the Unbound Gale and the Disciples of Adamar. Will Hobson’s Point lend its own force to this group?”

Verdan shared a surprised look with Kai at the mention of the Defiant Flame. Perhaps there was something to the story that their involvement with the Weeping Death had been a rogue element after all.

The Unbound Gale and the Disciples of Adamar weren’t Sects that he was familiar with, but hopefully he’d be able to get the details from Kai after the meeting.

Not that it would really matter, but Verdan liked to know who and what he was dealing with.

“Hobson’s Point will join the alliance,” Varen said, getting to his feet as he spoke. “We will send a detachment to join this mixed force and invite our allies to contribute to this.”

Ciaran stood almost immediately, drawing the attention of the room to him. “Clan Thrain will lend its support to Wizard Blacke for this venture. I pledge myself, my fellow Chosen and our Thearns to this cause.”

“I speak for the local Coven and those we have established nearby,” Gwen said, getting up once Ciaran had finished. “We are moving to help defend Dresk, and will also join this force.”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Elder Dun gave Gwen a respectful nod as she sat down, showing none of the disdain Verdan had half expected to see from him.

“The Airta will assist,” Sylvie called out, not getting to her feet.

“The Fwyn and Brecan shall assist as well,” Hursk called out in common, drawing surprised looks from quite a few of the others. “We are not fighters, but we can assist in other ways.”

“What Clerics are in the area shall try to join and assist as well,” Branwen said, getting to her feet and folding her arms. “We are few, but we will do as much as we can.”

“Thank you,” Varen said, nodding to each of them in turn. “Your assistance is greatly appreciated by the city.”

“My Sect thanks you,” Ferd said, his eyes lingering on Verdan. “The Steel Custodians remember their friends.”

Verdan gave the Sorcerer a slight nod before turning his attention back to Varen, who was starting to get into the details of where and when they were to join up with the forces of the allied Sects.

Every day made things worse, so they had a tight timeline to work with and any delay threatened to let the Cyth build their forces to a point where they could not be stopped by the newly formed alliance.

In the end, Varen and Ferd settled on the forces from Hobson’s Point arriving at the marshalling point in three weeks time.

The designated area was halfway between Dresk and Ramoria, albeit south enough to be well outside the currently threatened area.

That meant it would take them ten to twelve days to get there, which gave them ten days to prepare and get ready to leave.

Ten days. A lot of time, and yet hardly anything at all.

The meeting eventually came to a close, and everyone present hurried away to get started on preparing for bringing everything together.

For his part, Verdan left Kai to head over to the adventurer’s guild and then spent a few hours recharging temporary enchantments.

Every copper he was going to earn would go toward putting priority jobs up to try and get as many raw materials in as possible.

Once that was done, he made his way back to the estate and headed straight for the old servant’s quarters.

He wanted to tell her personally about what was going to happen next. The ingredients he’d arranged would be enough for her to make dozens of healing potions before they left, and each one could be another life saved.

Natalia answered the door quickly, but her smile fell when she saw his face. “Verdan, what’s wrong? Is it Kai?”

“No, no, he’s fine,” Verdan said, stepping inside and setting his staff against the wall. “Well, as fine as he can be right now.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“The council has decided that we’re joining the joint alliance of Sects. That means I’ll be heading out with the others in ten days time. We’ll be mustering in with all the others and then taking on the Host.”

“I see.” Natalia went quiet for a few long moments before giving him a sad smile. “I’d hoped we’d have more time together before you were caught up in it all again.”

“Yeah, I did as well.” Verdan reached out and took her hand, drawing her in for a kiss. “So let’s leave everything aside for tonight. We can talk about it all tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I’d like that,” Natalia whispered before reaching up to pull him down into a deeper kiss.

-**-

Verdan visited Elliot early the next morning, finding a tired-looking Magnus already there with the Idrisyr and working hard using the machine.

“How long has he been here?” Verdan asked the blacksmith as he watched his newest apprentice load a new medallion into the machine.

“An hour or so,” Elliot said, shaking his head in disbelief. “My people have a powerful constitution, so I can work long hours and not suffer for it. Magnus has been matching me, though, so you might need to slow him down before he burns out.”

Verdan stretched out with his Aether senses and watched what Magnus was doing a bit more closely. There was a steady influx of Aether going into him, even when he was focusing more on the machine.

It looked like he’d finally got the hang of how to partition his attention properly.

“Magnus,” Verdan said, making the Kranjir start in surprise and almost drop the medallion he was holding.

“Master! Sorry, I didn’t notice you arrive.” Magnus fumbled to get to his feet, but Verdan waved for him to stay seated and crouched down opposite him.

“I see that you’ve managed to maintain a spiral, I can feel it running as we speak.”

“Yes, Master. I finally figured it all out yesterday. That’s why I came in early this morning, to make sure I would remember how.”

“Well congratulations are in order,” Verdan said with a smile, motioning for Magnus to put the medallion down. “You need to be well rested for the next part of your training, though. That means you need to go home, rest and then come find me this evening at the estate. Understood?”

“Yes, Master.” Magnus got unsteadily to his feet before half-stumbling out of the forge and heading home.

“He’s really managed it, then?” Elliot asked as he pulled out a crate with a cloth covering.

“Yeah, but I wasn’t lying about this next part being tough. Just managing Aether is only half the battle. Now he has to learn his first Word.”

“I don’t envy him going through this process, that’s for sure,” Elliot said, shaking his head as he pulled the cloth free and revealed the trio of metal spheres that Verdan had ordered. “Where do you want these?”

“I’ll take them now,” Verdan said before hesitating. “Do you have a sack or something I can carry them in?”

Elliot laughed but produced a burlap sack from a box and carefully placed the three spheres inside.

Thanking him, Verdan hurried back to the estate, eager to get some more work done.