The next day arrived before Verdan knew it, and they received their orders from a harried-looking messenger at dawn.

Everyone who was going would muster at midday outside the city, and then they’d be setting off within the hour.

The entire estate was a hive of frenetic activity as they all prepared as best they could. Almost everyone was coming. Even Natalia was going to be heading with them, despite Verdan’s protests.

He disliked the idea of her being so close to the fighting, but she’d rightfully pointed out that any potion supply, no matter how robust, was limited.

By coming with them, she could forage for materials and save lives far beyond what she could do by staying behind.

Verdan still didn’t like it, but he’d seen the determination in her eyes and had stopped arguing. Thankfully, Natalia had grown close with Feli, the green Witch, and the two of them were planning on working together to provide the fresh potions.

Feli wasn’t exactly the toughest Witch Verdan had ever met, but a green Witch was at their strongest out in the wilderness. That meant that if something went wrong, at least she would have backup.

Even so, Verdan had spent the night before warding all the clothing that she’d packed. He’d spent Aether like water to make sure that she’d be protected, and that he’d know if those wards were triggered.

“All set, Verdan?” Nikau asked, stepping into his office with Ruan tagging along behind him. “We’re ready to go when you are.”

Verdan nodded and packed his last few things before grabbing his staff and making for the door. “Then let’s go.”

-**-

The great mass of guards, heavily armoured Steel Custodians, wagons, wolves, and everything in between that was gathered outside of the city was an impressive sight indeed.

As a rough estimate, Verdan put their numbers at six to seven hundred in total. Almost half of that was purely from the city’s guards, with two hundred and fifty of the regular guards volunteering, and fifty more of their Sorcerers. There were even a few independent Sorcerers that had joined in, like Val.

Quite a few of those guard volunteers looked suspiciously like adventurers that Verdan had dealt with in the past, but that wasn’t anything to do with him.

Some of the council had wanted Lieutenant Jenkins to lead the force, but fortunately, Silver had talked them out of it.

The head of the city’s guard force was a member of the council in his own right. That meant that Silver joining the expedition gave it extra weight. Not to mention that it would hopefully help stop the Sorcerers walking all over him.

That was the one pleasant surprise of the morning so far.

The matching bad one was that the Steel Custodians who were travelling with them, all thirty of them, would be led by Disciple Brenn.

Verdan hadn’t recognised the name, but the blonde woman who’d shown up with the rest of the Sorcerers looked just as disinterested in the rest of them as she had during the council meeting.

Thankfully, Macannan was also joining the group, but he was clearly of a lower rank than Brenn.

To make matters worse, Disciple Brenn seemed particularly displeased with the small group of non-humans who were joining them.

Gruthka, Dru, Aeva and two other Fwyn had volunteered to come, as well as Lan’Wai and one of the other Brecan. The Fwyn coming was a little surprising, considering that they were leaving the city, but the Brecan presence was a shock.

Verdan could already feel the stupid arguments coming about trying to make the Brecan fight, but their aid would far, far outweigh whatever annoyance that brought.

“Verdan, the last wagons are out of the gates,” Nikau said, coming over to join him.

Glancing over to the winding path that led down from the city gates, Verdan saw the tail end of the long line of wagons that would keep them supplied from here to the mustering point.

“Alright, get everyone grouped up. We’ll be moving out shortly,” Verdan said, leaving Nikau to organise things as he made his was over to where Silver and Brenn were in the middle of discussing things.

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From how tense Silver’s stance was, Verdan didn’t think it was going so well, though he saw none of that in the Sorcerer’s posture.

As with all the Steel Custodians, Brenn was wearing thick metal armour that had been expertly crafted and stood in dramatic contrast to the simple guard’s armour that Silver wore.

The Commander saw him first and turned away from Brenn while she was still talking. “Wizard Blacke, thank you for joining us.”

“My pleasure. I was just coming to let you know the wagons are all out of the city and to see if you needed any help.”

“I’m sure we’ll manage without you,” Brenn said, giving Verdan a dismissive look before turning back to Silver. “Now, you may think you know what’s coming, but you’re out of your depth. You can remain in charge on paper, but obviously I will take control of this expedition so it can be better managed.”

Silver’s back was rigid and his expression painfully neutral, but Verdan could feel the anger radiating off of him as the Sorcerer carried on telling him how they needed to change the logistics of their group.

“Excuse me,” Verdan said, cutting into her string of orders with as polite a tone as he could manage. “I’m sorry, but you aren’t in control here. You and your Sorcerers are travelling with to make the mustering process easier. Commander Silver is in overall command of this expedition.”

“But he’s not even a Sorcerer,” Brenn said, as though that explained everything. Though, to her, it probably did.

“Making friends, Ella?” Macannan asked, walking over with his helmet under his arm.

“Watch your tone, Disciple Macannan,” Brenn said in an acid tone, glaring at the other Sorcerer briefly before turning back to Silver and Verdan and continuing in a calmer manner. “Run this yourselves, by all means, but don’t come crying to me when you get slaughtered by monsters.”

Brenn turned on her heel and left without another word, leaving Verdan to share a tired look with Silver. They weren’t even fully underway and already the Sects were an issue.

“I apologise for her behaviour,” Macannan said, coming over to join them. “Ferd can’t leave his post, so command over our contribution fell to her. She’s under orders to play nice, though, so if she pushes things, tell me.”

“Your aid is appreciated, Disciple Macannan,” Silver said with a nod, before clearing his throat. “If you’ll excuse me, I must be seeing to getting us underway.”

“I don’t envy him this,” Macannan said as Silver left. “We are a comparatively accepting Sect, but even so, there are more than a few who look down on those without magic. Good old Ella is a prime example of that these days.”

“You know her well, then?” Verdan asked, remembering the vitriol in her voice when she’d spoken to him.

“You can say that,” Macannan said, grimacing slightly before waving a hand in the direction she’d left in. “She wasn’t always like that, you know.”

“I’m sure,” Verdan said noncommittally. “Will she be in charge of the Steel Custodian force joining this alliance?”

“Oh no, that will be Elder Calear Vanarr. Now him, you’ll like,” Macannan said, brightening up at the mention of the Elder. “Vanarr is the example that the rest of us hold ourselves to.”

“High praise indeed,” Verdan said, a little impressed despite himself.

“Nothing that he hasn’t earned,” Macannan said with the kind of fervent conviction that made Verdan realise that there was probably more than a little hero-worship going on here.

The distant sound of the expedition getting underway was enough excuse for Verdan to head back, but he found himself looking forward to meeting this Elder.

-**-

The first day of travel went quite smoothly, with the Airta and the Kranjir scouts pushing ahead to ensure there were no surprises in their way.

Pathfinder Galstar reported the way all clear to their projected stopping point for the first evening, only to have Sylvie arrive a few minutes later with news of a monster near the path that her people had hunted down.

The smug look on Sylvie’s face and Galstar’s narrowed eyes should have been warning enough for him, but he was too pleased about how things were going in the moment to realise the signs.

Late in the morning on the second day, Verdan was just having a conversation with Bastian and Lorcan about the reply to his Aethite query when Sylvie returned to give them the report on the road ahead.

There was no sign of Pathfinder Galstar, however.

“Verdan?” Bastian’s voice cut through his moment of distraction and Verdan turned back quickly.

“Apologies. You were saying that they approved my request?”

“Yes, for a small amount, it seems. No details were given beyond that, but it will delivered to your home in Hobson’s Point some time in the next six months or so.”

“Any is better than none, though that time frame is unfortunate,” Verdan said, rubbing at his temples with a sigh. “Did they say if there was a cost to it?”

He’d already followed through on his promise and put the temporary enchantments on Bastian and Lorcan’s armour and weapons, going for durability and strength. Whoever was at the other end might want something, though.

“Lorcan?” Bastian turned to the tall Cleric questioningly.

“They said it was in thanks for aiding Clan Thrain.”

“Understood. Thank you for the help.”

Bastian nodded and the two of them drifted back to rejoin the mixed group that had accompanied Bastian. They were a strange lot, seemingly half made of followers of Gwyll, and the other half followers of Rharth.

Functionally, it meant that fifty of the hundred were armoured defenders, with big shields and equipment to rival the Steel Custodians. The other half, however, were festooned with weapons of all shapes and sizes.

The only thing the followers of Rharth had in common was the dark look in their eyes and their ready access to both daggers and poison.

None of the hundred were Clerics, of course. They were simply worshippers of the two gods that Bastian had brought together to form this band that joined him in hunting down creatures of darkness.

Turning back from the odd group, Verdan realised that the Pathfinder still hadn’t returned, though one of her scouts had.

Silver seemed unconcerned with whatever news the scout brought, so Verdan focused on the plan for the evening.

It was time to check on Kai’s arm.