“I wanted to discuss what you said in your report,” Ciaran said. “About this Brotherhood of Indagnum and their involvement in what we faced in the north.”

Verdan motioned for him to continue. “I’ll tell you what I can, but I don’t know much more than I mentioned to you.”

“So you do know more, then,” Ciaran said, the corner of his mouth twitching up into a smile as Verdan hesitated. “I’ll do my best to stick to what you can share. Starting with how confident you are that this Brotherhood orchestrated the attack on my people?”

“As confident as I can be without having direct witnesses,” Verdan said, taking a moment to gather his thoughts before continuing. “The person in charge had the same equipment in both cases. Equipment I’ve never seen before or anywhere else. She also referred to him as Zoisam when I spoke of killing him.”

“I see,” Ciaran said, falling silent for a few moments before looking back at Verdan. “We are already with you until the destruction of the Host, but if you see any opportunity for us to weaken or combat this Brotherhood, we will support you. That position will become more official once we can report back to our Clans. For now, though, I will spread the word among the other Chosen.”

“If it comes to it, I’ll be glad of your support,” Verdan said as Ciaran dropped back to head for the Kranjir section of the camp. Once he was sure they were alone, he turned back to Bastian. “So, what was it you wanted to discuss?”

“Almost the same thing, actually,” Bastian said, keeping his voice quiet. “I’ve never heard the name of this organisation before, but I’ve caught glimpses of them. I’ve had a theory for a long time that someone was actively working against us. Now, I think we finally know who.”

“You think they are Annwae worshippers?”

“Perhaps, or they are just using them as a means to destabilise things. Either way, there’s been one too many coincidences in recent years, and I thought you should be aware of that.”

“Consider me informed and on the lookout,” Verdan said. “My concern, though, is that if they’re operating in the far north and working with these Cyth, then what else are they doing?”

“That is exactly the question that is worrying me,” Bastian said, shaking his head. “I also wonder how deep their connections go into some of these Sects and what exactly keeps that going.”

“I think that we won’t know more until we can capture one of them, or find wherever they’ve hidden themselves,” Verdan said, sighing slightly. “Unfortunately, they just aren’t the priority right now, or else I’d try to track them down.”

“We can only deal with the problems in front of us,” Bastian said, patting Verdan on the back. “Get some sleep. We’ve got a long few days ahead of us.”

-**-

The caravan got underway slightly later the next day, a delay that they could ill afford, but a necessary one. With Morag and the Eternal Wardens joining them, they needed to restructure and reassess, which took time.

Ideally, it would have been done the night before, but their reinforcements had travelled hard to reach them and had needed their rest.

Thankfully, the hard working people who managed their logistics got everything done in as little time as possible, and they were underway only an hour late.

The delay also gave Verdan time to work on the new breathing method he’d learnt from Vaijon. The Elder had found him after he’d spoken with Bastian the night before and had shown him enough that Verdan was able to shift to the new style.

Not being able to get the physical benefits of these techniques was a shame, but the new style was certainly more effective than the old one at raw Aether movement, which was exactly what Verdan needed.

The potential for incorporating this technique into his spiral was staggering, and Verdan felt sick at the thought of how much more Aether he could have had if he’d known sooner.

Crushing his errant thoughts, Verdan kept his focus on what he was doing. If he could get the two techniques working smoothly together over the next few days, he’d have a real advantage ready to deal with whatever was coming.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

-**-

“Verdan?” Natalia’s voice dragged Verdan out of the deep meditative state he’d been in and he blinked at the bright light before moving up to join her at the front.

“Yes?” Verdan glanced around to see what she might have called him forward for, only to spot a familiar figure riding alongside their wagon with a spare mount.

“You have a visitor,” Natalia said, shaking her head. “It never stops, does it?”

“No, it doesn’t,” Verdan said with a long sigh. “Is it important, Val?”

“Oh no, not at all,” Val said, flashing him a brilliant smile. “I just thought you might need a ride to stretch your legs a bit.”

Val was an air and water Sorcerer, one of the first that Verdan had met when he woke up from his curse. Their relationship had been strained at first when she immediately abandoned him, but since then they’d come to an understanding and she’d proved quite useful.

Between her bronzed skin and long brown hair that she kept in a ponytail, Val stood out from the blonde southerners and dark-haired northerners. Apparently, she was from the Southern Reaches, which included a peninsula that hadn’t existed during the days of the Grym Imperium.

One day, Verdan hoped to head down there and take a look, but the southern end of the continent was firmly under the control of the Sorcerer Sects. Until that changed, he doubted he’d risk the trip.

With her air magic and naturally shifty ways, Val filled somewhat of an intelligence gathering role within their group. While her demeanour seemed perfectly at ease, Verdan had a feeling that this was a conversation that he couldn’t afford to ignore.

Turning back to Natalia, Verdan gave her a weary look. “I’ll be back soon.”

Dropping down from the wagon, Verdan swung up onto the horse and followed Val out to the edge of the caravan while she told him about an experiment she was doing about transferring force through compressed water.

It was actually quite interesting, but he caught her checking around them to see who was nearby, so he was reasonably confident it was just a cover.

“Actually,” Verdan said, interrupting her. “I had done a similar experiment recently, but with some key differences. Let me just put up some security measures and then we’ll discuss it. Tawel gward.”

Val gave him a crooked smile as the silencing ward swept over them. “Have you actually been working on it?”

“No, but it felt like a reasonable excuse,” Verdan said with a wry smile that quickly faded. “Now, how about you tell me what you really wanted to talk about?”

“It’s always a pleasure to work with people who understand,” Val said, her smile widening briefly. “In short, we might have an issue with Disciple Skarv. Though, from the look on your face, you don’t seem shocked by that.”

“I think it’s safe to say that I expect the worst from our dear friend Kurgane,” Verdan said with enough bite to get Val’s attention.

“Well, just what has he done to get that kind of reaction?”

Verdan cleared his throat pointedly. “How about you tell me what brought him to your attention first?”

“Well, he’s not at all a fan of non-Sorcerers being in anything close to power. That includes you and the Witches, by the way. Especially the Witches, he really doesn’t like them. Oddly, though, he goes out of his way to never badmouth Gwen. To the point that it’s noticeable.”

“I see,” Verdan said thoughtfully. “It seems you’ve been spending quite a bit of time monitoring him?”

Val shrugged and nodded. “Ever since he took over on the Sorcerer side of things I’ve been watching. He likes to have large gatherings of Sorcerers in the evening, some of which I’ve attended, some of which I’ve listened to from afar. They started off innocuous, but they’re getting somewhat pointed now.”

“How so?” Verdan asked with a sinking feeling in his gut.

“Well, he’s not criticising Commander Silver, just like he doesn’t badmouth Gwen, but he’s talked a lot about how only Sorcerers can lead other Sorcerers effectively. He’s an ambitious one, and he’s building up a platform to try and take control away from Silver. At least, that’s where he seems to be going, I could be wrong.”

“No, I don’t think you are,” Verdan said, pinching the bridge of his nose for a few moments before exhaling and turning back to Val. “So, what you should also know is this….”

Val listened intently as Verdan lay out what they knew about Kurgane, both past and present, and how Vaijon had asked them to hold off to keep everything stable.

“I see,” Val said once Verdan had finished. “This is a thornier issue than I expected. Elder Vaijon is right about the leadership, though. Morag could take control back if she tried, but he’s actually keeping everyone organised and moving smoothly. She doesn’t strike me as a political animal either, so he’d eat her alive if she tried to play that game with him.”

“Which is a problem,” Verdan said with a sigh. “It would be much easier if he was incompetent.”

“No, he’s been annoyingly useful actually,” Val said, explaining more at his questioning look. “The administration part is fairly easy, we’ve only been on the road a few days. He’s also been addressing issues between Sorcerers as well, mediating things and generally just being the leader they need.”

“We should have just killed him straight away,” Verdan said darkly. “We’ve given him a chance to get his hooks into it all now.”

“I could take care of it if you need me to,” Val said, tapping the side of her neck. “I could make it look like an accident, or as close as is needed.”

Verdan was tempted, very tempted, but he shook his head. “No, the reasons we agreed to before still stand. Keep watch, though. If he does make a play for power, I want to shut it down immediately.”

“You got it,” Val said, giving him a cheery wave as he dropped the ward and they rode back to rejoin Natalia.