It took time for Verdan to go through the Words that he knew and find which ones resonated with Magnus, but they eventually settled on Torr, the Word for cutting.

It wasn’t an ideal first Word as far as Verdan was concerned, mainly because of the restricted usage, but it did have good potential for the future.

Right now, he had Magnus sat over to one side practicing how to say the Word correctly. Once he had the pronunciation down, then Verdan would start teaching him how to visualise and cast spells using it.

Verdan had to give the odd piece of advice or repeat the Word for Magnus now and then, but that was all, which meant that he had plenty of focus for his other task.

Taking the wand apart was easy enough, and it quickly revealed the secret to what was happening. The wand was made of lacquered wood and had a wrapped leather hilt, but inside the wrappings was a finger-sized piece of some sort of crystal covered in Sigils.

The crystal was mounted onto an iron rod and when Verdan turned over the wand, he could see a tiny piece of iron right at its tip.

He saw it now, the wood was just protection. Clearly that rod was the delivery mechanism, and that meant the crystal was doing all the real work here.

“Torr,” Magnus said, getting the pronunciation perfect. “Wait, was that right?”

“It was,” Verdan said approvingly. “Now do it again a dozen more times and get it locked in.”

“Right yes, got it. Torr.”

Verdan waited just long enough to nod again before turning back to the crystal he’d pulled out and examining it more closely. There were two Sigils here, though they were each within their own sets of three, and there was more of one than the other.

Rummaging through his research notes on Sigils, Verdan pulled out the part that had the Sigil for light and quickly added these two new ones.

Motioning for Magnus to continue, Verdan stepped out briefly to send a runner to Elliot for scraps of iron before going back in to make sure Magnus didn’t accidentally cut a hole in the ceiling somehow.

It wasn’t likely, but novice Wizards were uniquely dangerous to their surroundings.

Verdan was pleasantly surprised, however, to find that Magnus was quite adept at keeping his Aether under control. The work with the enchantment machine might have helped with that, now that he thought about it.

Regardless, it meant there was little chance of Magnus casting a spell by accident, which was a relief.

A knock came at the door and Verdan hurried over, eager to get his iron scraps for testing.

“Bring it in,” Verdan said, opening the door to find a confused-looking Kai standing in the hall.

“Bring what in?” Kai frowned, looking even more confused as he saw Magnus sat on a stool, repeating the same Word over and over. “You said to come by to discuss that matter. Is now not a good time?”

“Oh.” Ice formed in Verdan’s gut as he waved to get Magnus’s attention. “Good job so far. Come back in the morning and we’ll try casting spells, alright?”

Magnus nodded and hurried away, still repeating the Word under his breath.

“What was all that about?” Kai asked, arching one brow questioningly.

“Magnus is learning his first Word to become a true Wizard. He’s doing quite well, actually.”

“Natural talent?” Kai asked, closing the door and taking a seat.

“Enough to make it possible. The rest is hard work,” Verdan said, sitting back down and nodding to Kai’s arm. “How are you feeling?”

“The pain has lessened, actually, which has been pleasant. It doesn’t look good, though.” Kai hiked his sleeve up to reveal a web of dark veins running down his arm. “I’m going to lose it, aren’t I?”

“Honestly, I don’t know,” Verdan said, leaning in close to get a better look before shaking his head. “I’ve never seen anything like this, and I don’t know what to do.”

“If it comes to it, would you be able to make me a prosthetic, like Barb has?”

“In theory, yes, and I could even make it compatible with your Essence to an extent, but the drain for a full arm would be high. It might not be workable.”

“I understand,” Kai said, his jaw working as he stared down at the dark veins in his skin. “I just don’t know what happened. Others were struck by the Thrall, and aren’t having this problem.”

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Exactly, something has to be different for it to be in your bone…” Verdan trailed off as something twinged in his memory. Frowning and getting to his feet, Verdan paced back and forth as he tried to figure out what had just bothered him.

A soft knock came at the door and Verdan opened it to find Adrienne bearing a tray with coffee and biscuits for them both. “You missed lunch, Verdan.”

Verdan winced at the disapproving tone and managed a shaky smile. “Sorry, Adrienne. Could you get Henry to send up some sandwiches for us later on? We’ll be here for a while.”

“Of course, Dear,” Adrienne said, favouring him with a sunny smile as she carried the tray over to the table. Kai still had his sleeve up and Adrienne gasped as she saw the dark veins. “Oh, you poor thing, I had no idea it was so bad. Have you managed to take out whatever is causing it?”

Verdan closed his eyes and cursed himself for a fool before putting on his best smile. “Yes, don’t worry, I’m looking after him. Could you send someone to fetch Natalia, Gwen and Zhalia for me, though? Tell them we need to talk about Kai’s condition.”

“Henry is feeding some of those strapping Airta boys. I’ll make sure they work for their food,” Adrienne said, pausing at the door. “Should I expect that we’ll be feeding all four of you up here?”

Verdan’s smile was genuine this time as he nodded and Adrienne bustled off to get things in order. Hiring Adrienne and Henry had been one of his best moves by far, not just anyone could roll with the chaos like they did.

“I hope your food budget can stand up to feeding everyone,” Kai said with a chuckle as Verdan came back to the table. “Once they taste Henry’s cooking, I doubt you’ll be able to get rid of those Airta.”

“One of the downsides of having a good cook,” Verdan said, pouring himself a coffee and taking a biscuit or two. Now that he had some food in front of him, he did actually feel quite hungry.

Kai took a single biscuit alongside his coffee and munched at it quietly for a few moments before clearing his throat. “Are you going to tell me what stroke of genius you had while Adrienne was here?”

“Not until Gwen and the others are here,” Verdan said, shaking his head slightly. “Better that we discuss it all together and then see what we can do.”

“Alright, in that case, why don’t we discuss the other reason I’m here?”

“Ah, yes, the Imperium.” Verdan set his cup aside with a sigh. “I think the time has come for a frank discussion of my origins. I know you’ve figured out a lot, but I doubt you know the full truth. Before I continue, I’d like your word on keeping this between us, though.”

Kai looked more curious than offended, which was something and did as Verdan asked.

“Tawel gward,” Verdan tapped the table as he wrapped a ward of silence around them, stopping anyone from overhearing what was coming.

The Sigils, his plans and even his lessons on techniques were one thing, but this was his biggest secret.

“I suppose the first thing you need to know is that I was born into the Grym Imperium, which ruled over the entire continent and was comprised of a dozen or so different species. The main three were Humans, Vesperai and Neisar. There were no Sorcerers back then, and Wizards ruled over all.”

“Back then?” Kai echoed, cocking his head to one side. “I don’t understand, I would have heard of such a thing.”

“You have,” Verdan said in an almost gentle tone. “But only in legend. As best I can tell, I was born at least three or four thousand years ago, and I spent most of that time sealed into a bolthole in magical stasis.”

“Four thousand years…” Kai stared at Verdan in shock. “That’s not possible, no magic could last that long.”

“True, I had to keep waking up and casting it again for it work,” Verdan said, shivering as he remembered that time. Waking up in agony and marshalling every last scrap of his will to cast the spell again as he did his best to pull in as much fresh Aether as he could.

“I had no idea.” Kai shook his head, but it seemed more reflex than actual disbelief. “No wonder you were so confused when we first met. How long had you been awake?”

“About an hour,” Verdan said, chuckling at Kai’s expression. “I know, I kind of threw myself right into the thick of it from the very start.”

“And this is why you are still making your spiral, because the stasis broke it somehow. It all makes sense now. Wait, did you say that Sorcerers didn’t exist back then?”

“Yeah, it was just us Wizards, Witches and then Clerics and a few strange exceptions. No Sorcerers at all. No Airta, either, for that matter.”

“I wonder how the first Sorcerer came about,” Kai said, sitting back in his chair and absently sipping at his coffee. “Same with the Airta. I thought they’d always been around.”

“Not at all, and the reverse is also true. I’ve seen no sign of the Neisar, the Giants are all dead and the Vesperai are a corrupted shadow of themselves.”

Kai began to ask a question before stopping, his eyes going wide. “You don’t mean the Vespa…”

“Oh yes,” Verdan said, smiling sadly. “Back in the Imperium what we know as the Vespa were instead a race of Wizards with a love of academia and the stars. My Master, Zathir, was a Vesperai. He taught me everything I know and showed me the beauty of Aether.”

Kai’s mouth worked soundlessly for a few moments before he shook his head mutely and rubbed his face.

Verdan barely noticed, so lost in his memories of Zathir and his time at the Heolaeth Institute. He hadn’t thought of it much since he woke back up, it had been too painful.

The Institute had been where he met Aadan, his closest friend and the man he would eventually kill, which would start the chain of events leading to where he was now.

“This is so much, and it changes everything about how I viewed the world,” Kai said eventually, a distant look in his eyes. “Not the least of which is the idea of this Imperium belonging to so many species.”

“All that mattered in those days was magic,” Verdan said, his recollections turning darker. “That meant that the three races capable of becoming Wizards ruled over the rest. Don’t mistake me, things were far from perfect back then. We had our own issues by the bucketful.”

“Somehow its oddly reassuring that things weren’t just some idyllic paradise that we’ve ruined,” Kai said, absently rubbing at his arm.

“Well, regardless, now you know,” Verdan said, spreading his hands palms up. “Only you and Natalia know the full truth.”

“I’m honoured, thank you for trusting me with this,” Kai said seriously, catching Verdan’s gaze with his own. “Once this crisis has passed us, we should discuss what else we can do using your knowledge.”

“Agreed…” Verdan cut off as there was yet another knock at the door. Getting up, he opened it to find a worried-looking Gwen, who hurried inside.

“Kai, are you alright?” Gwen asked before waving aside the Sorcerer’s attempt at reassurance and pulling up his sleeve with a dismayed look. “Oh no, your arm.”

“Don’t worry, Verdan had a plan.”

“You do?” Gwen turned with hope in her eyes but Verdan held up a hand to stop any questions.

“I do, but I have questions, so let’s wait for the others first.”