Magnus persevered with the tests Verdan put him through, and while he was hardly a prodigy, he showed more natural talent than the Chosen.

Now it was down to him to make the choice.

“Very well, that’s enough,” Verdan said as Magnus correctly identified where the Aether construct was with his eyes closed. “Good job on those last few.”

“Thank you,” Magnus said, his voice a little strained from pushing himself like this.

Verdan smiled slightly as he remembered his own first introduction to using his Aether. It had been a rough process, but he’d been lucky enough to have more natural talent than Magnus.

Talent wasn’t everything. Any Aether sensitive could become a Wizard with enough work, and the harder the journey, the better the Wizard that came out at the other end.

“So, now comes your choice,” Verdan said softly. “Do you want to learn like the other Chosen, or would you like to follow the path Dirk is walking?”

“Will I be able to do the things Dirk can do?”

“Perhaps. It will take longer to see results and each step will be harder than for those the Chosen take, but if you persevere, you will end up stronger.”

“I’m not afraid of hard work,” Magnus said with a defiant look in his eyes that told Verdan exactly which path he would take.

“Very well, if it becomes too much, simply tell me and we will change to the easier path. For now, I want you to learn to meditate.”

“Wait, I thought we were going to work on this gathering spiral?”

Verdan laughed mirthlessly and shook his head. “Oh no. Today, we will work on meditating and splitting your focus. Until you can split your focus to my satisfaction, you will not make a single layer of your spiral.”

Magnus paled slightly, but nodded and listened closely as Verdan explained what he wanted.

-**-

Teaching Magnus helped the day speed by, and night was falling in no time at all.

They were off the trade path now, which meant no more fortified camps for them to rest in.

Instead, the Pathfinder had found them an abandoned farmstead near to the road they were taking.

There wasn’t that much space, but Hursk asked the Brecan to reinforce the walls of the buildings, giving at least some of them somewhere to shelter overnight.

Of course, despite good weather for the last few days, having a lack of shelter meant that it rained heavily overnight.

A poor night’s sleep had them slow to get underway the next morning, but once they were going, they made good progress.

The road was poorly maintained and overgrown in places, but not quite badly enough to cause any real problems.

True to what he’d been told, they saw no sign of anyone still living nearby as they continued deeper into Mhorgain territory.

The few villages and farmsteads they went past were all destroyed, abandoned or a mix of the two.

At the end of their second day on this new path, they came into full view of Blackpeak.

Much like the other Enclaves that Verdan had seen, Blackpeak took full advantage of its natural surroundings for its fortification.

What had once been a hill had been shaped to form a multi-tiered city, with the lowest tier sitting forty or fifty feet above the surrounding ground, as far as Verdan could tell.

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Great walls of dark rock obscured the interior for the most part, but a set of imposing city gates sat within view, though they were blackened and broken.

The same damage could be seen across the whole Enclave, but particularly around its fortifications and defences. The worst were the towers of worked stone stood at each tier, providing vantage points for the defenders, most of which were crumbled and broken.

Even the great curving road that led up to the city gates was damaged, though it was also heavily overgrown.

“By Govannon,” Magnus said breathlessly as he stared out at the towering Enclave.

“Call a stop,” Verdan shouted up to the Kranjir driver as he swung down from the wagon.

The rest of the caravan came to a halt as the driver passed on the message, and Verdan was swiftly joined by Dirk, Benlen, and Sinead.

“Such damage,” Benlen said softly, his eyes on the broken towers and the large sections of wall that were broken and ruined.

“What did this?” Verdan asked, tearing his gaze away to look over to the Blade.

“Monsters of all kinds,” Benlen said in a choked voice. “The Rising shattered our lands, but Blackpeak stood tall. Our Chosen fought to the last, drawing the enemy here and breaking them against the walls of Blackpeak. When they eventually fell, they had done enough that the damage was contained to just our Clan.”

Verdan could almost picture the valiant last stand of the Kranjir, the long and bloody process of pushing them back from each tier.

“One day, it will be ours again,” Dirk said with a certainty that caught Verdan by surprise.

He was still underestimating how committed Dirk was to rebuilding his Clan.

“A worthy goal,” Verdan said approvingly, glancing up at the darkening sky. “We’re running out of daylight, so we need to camp soon. Do you want to scout it out tonight or in the morning?”

“Tomorrow,” Dirk said with a nod. “We’ll hold back with a select group while you head south. Once we’ve taken a look, we can catch up in no time.”

Verdan frowned and was about to argue when he caught himself. He needed to let Dirk do this alone, even if he didn’t like it. Besides, he would have his Thearns with him.

“In that case, let’s get our camp set up.” Verdan turned and spotted the Pathfinder waiting a short distance away with a pair of her scouts.

“Wizard Blacke,” Elspeth acknowledged him as Verdan approached.

“Pathfinder,” Verdan returned the greeting before nodding to the path ahead. “Is there somewhere to camp for the evening nearby?”

“Nowhere good, but a few manageable options,” Elspeth said, turning to one of her scouts and having a whispered conversation for a few moments. “The best of the lot is a mile or two away. We should be able to get there while we still have light.”

“Okay, let’s make it happen. Dirk and some others will head off in the morning. Could you send some of your people with them so they can catch up?”

“Not a problem,” Elspeth said, waiting a moment longer to see if Verdan had any further instructions before hurrying off to get things moving.

“You’re letting Dirk head off alone?” Kai asked as he came over to join Verdan.

“Hardly alone. He’ll have Benlen, a scout or two and his Thearns with him,” Verdan said with a laugh.

“But you won’t be nearby to watch over him,” Kai said, giving Verdan a look that told him he wasn’t fooling anyone.

“True, and I don’t like it,” Verdan said, sighing and shaking his head as he led the way back to the front wagon. “But I have to let him do things alone when the time comes. He’s growing in power quickly, and I don’t want to be the one to hold him back.”

“It sounds like you’re surprised by how fast he’s growing.”

“I suppose I am,” Verdan said with a shrug. “When I first started teaching him, I expected it to be an effort to simply keep the knowledge of Wizardry alive. Instead, Dirk has flourished and achieved far more than I expected.”

“And you’re now teaching the basics to the Chosen.”

“True, and I’m giving Magnus some lessons as well. He lacks Dirk’s talent, but he has the determination to see it through.”

Kai gave Verdan a considering look as they climbed into the wagon and set off for the site that the Pathfinder had picked out. “Your attitude to your magic has changed a lot since we first met. Are you sure you’re doing the right thing?”

“Sure? No, not at all.” Verdan turned to look at the distant, battered remains of the Blackpeak Enclave. “But given the circumstances, I don’t see what choice I have. I’ll keep control as long as I can, and train the new Wizards my way, like you suggested. Hopefully, that will be enough.”

“If it isn’t, we’ll deal with it.”

“Yes, we will,” Verdan said softly as he accepted that the time had come to start thinking about expanding what he was doing.

The Chosen could take the basic techniques back north with them, but if he wanted to ensure Wizardry could survive him, he needed to take another apprentice or two.

Magnus was a good start, but having both of his direct apprentices be Kranjir felt like it was sending the wrong message to everyone else.

Taking a breath, Verdan turned to face Kai, who sat up straight as he saw Verdan’s expression. “Once we’re back, I’d like your help in identifying candidates for me to teach. I can show you how the test works, but I also want you to judge their drive and determination.”

“Isn’t this something you’d be better off doing yourself?”

“Yes, but I have a lot of work to do, and we can’t afford for this to fall by the wayside while I study the Sigils.”

“Understood. I’ll get it done for you.”