There was a brief moment of silence as they all took in what Natalia had said before Kai growled menacingly and surged to his feet with murderous intent.

“When I find that worthless waste of a Sorcerer, he’ll pay for what he’s done,” Kai growled menacingly as he strode to where his spear was leaning against a nearby rock.

Vaijon and Verdan had risen as well, caught up in the moment, but Vaijon was quick to get between Kai and his spear. “You can’t do this. Not now.”

“You’re protecting him?” Kai asked in a dangerous tone, his hands curling into tight fists.

“I’m stopping you from breaking this army,” Vaijon said calmly, his hands raised to show his palms. “I mean you no ill, and if what Natalia says is true, he will pay. You can’t go after him now, though, not with the situation we’re in.”

“He hurt Gwen,” Kai said simply. “He almost killed her.”

Verdan could feel the tension rising between the two and quickly moved over to rest a hand on Kai’s shoulder. “A few more minutes won’t make a difference. Let’s hear his reasoning.”

Kai said nothing for a long few moments before eventually giving a slight nod and taking his seat once more. “Alright. Explain.”

Vaijon gave Verdan a thankful look as they both sat down. “The reason why I need you to leave him alone is the Sect leadership within our branch of the army. Currently, Morag is nominally in charge, with Kurgane being her second. Morag is far from a social woman, though, so most of the Sect Sorcerers are looking to Kurgane for leadership.”

“Wait, that doesn’t make sense,” Verdan interjected with a frown. “What about you?”

“I’m a Disciple of Adamar,” Vaijon said, spreading his hands as though that answered it all. Seeing that Verdan didn’t understand, he glanced at Kai before explaining further. “My Sect is comprised of Sorcerers from dozens of other Sects. The vast majority of our recruits come from established Sorcerers who gain the ability to sense their soul. That means we need to be able to recruit from the other Sects, so we have non-interference agreements with them all.”

“The Disciples stand apart from the rest, it’s part of why they don’t have retainers,” Kai added, seemingly getting a grip on his anger. “They ignore Sect politics and, in return, can recruit from anywhere.”

“But surely you’re still the most highly ranked Sorcerer within this army?” Verdan asked, rubbing his jaw in thought. “This isn’t exactly Sect politics.”

“No, it isn’t,” Vaijon said with a slight nod. “But I can’t lead them the way that Dun could. Their traditions force them to view me as something similar to you. Powerful, yes, and to be respected, but not part of their leadership.”

“I fail to see how this is an issue,” Kai said tightly.

“The issue is that Morag isn’t a leader, and if you kill Kurgane, I worry what will happen to the rest of the army. Without Dun, the Eternal Wardens are shaken. After Brenn abandoned the fight, the Steel Custodians are ashamed and the few Stormlords left are just going through the motions. The alliance between these Sects is tenuous at best. It won’t take much to crack it open.”

“That sounds like a problem for you to deal with, Elder,” Kai said heatedly. “What matters to me is that he almost killed Gwen. How can I rest easy when he shares a camp with us?”

Kai was getting louder as he grew angrier, so Verdan poured more Aether into the silencing ward. He really didn’t want anyone overhearing this.

“Not your problem?” Vaijon asked calmly, unphased by Kai’s anger. “So you would risk who knows how many innocents dying, all so you could feel better?”

Kai went to speak but Vaijon kept going, talking over the other Sorcerer.

“Personally, I think Natalia is right, but her recollection is far from proof. Another member of the Sect could have similar magic, or it could be a coincidence. I don’t believe it, but are you that certain it was him?”

Kai grimaced and looked away, the muscles in his jaw flexing before he eventually shook his head. “No.”

“Good, then all I ask is that you hold back. If he commits another crime, I’ll deal with him personally. Until then, leave him alone. I’d take this as a personal favour from both of you.” Vaijon included Verdan with a glance, but they both knew that Kai was the real problem.

“You have my word on it,” Kai said, grinding out the words like they physically hurt him.

“And mine,” Verdan said, giving Vaijon a slight nod before turning to Natalia. “If you see any other burns like those Gwen has, just let me know.”

Stolen novel; please report.

Natalia nodded hesitantly, looking between the three of them with a worried expression. “I will, but so far, she’s the only one. If I’d seen anything else, I’d have told you straight away. I’ve only waited this long because I was waiting for a chance to say something when he wouldn’t know.”

“I understand, and I think you did the right thing. What he’s done will be answered for, but we need to keep everyone together,” Vaijon said, getting to his feet. “I’ll see you in the morning for more training, Kai.” With a nod to Verdan and Natalia, Vaijon walked off into the camp.

“I won’t break my word, but the moment Kurgane steps out of line, he’s dead,” Kai said, fixing Verdan with a hard stare. “I want you to promise not to hide anything from me.”

“You have my word on it,” Verdan said softly, thinking of how angry he’d be if someone hurt Natalia. He agreed with Vaijon that they needed Kurgane alive for now, but that wouldn’t last forever.

When it did, Verdan would make sure the smug Sorcerer paid for hurting his friend.

-**-

Kai and Vaijon continued their lessons over the next two days, with Kai making good progress in controlling his soul.

They tried to explain it to Verdan, and the Wizard tried to emulate Kai’s exercises, but to no avail.

Still, it was interesting to watch, especially when Kai was able to successfully use his soul to blend Parada into his Essence.

For now, that took the form of Kai gaining a fine control over who his magic affected. Verdan could shape his spells to work around someone, but it took a moment and some concentration.

Even then, Verdan couldn’t work miracles.

With a minor amount of Parada, however, Kai could create a gust of wind that could knock over a target while not even ruffling the hair on Verdan’s head.

To make matters worse, he could do it without actually seeing where Verdan was. The intent to not harm his allies was somehow transferred to the Essence by the Parada.

Verdan watched as Kai demonstrated again, his control over this new magic growing slowly but steadily.

Parada really was an annoying magic.

Kai was improving, but he was still getting to grips with using Parada, so Vaijon had brought in some assistance.

The most common usage of Parada was with the Airta, so Vaijon had drafted Sylvie’s brother to help them.

Blane was a Draskir, a wielder of Parada that bound wolves and other animals. Blane had demonstrated how his shifting and binding worked, as well as forming a hunt with Friga, his frost wolf.

Kai seemed to find the demonstration informative, so Vaijon had dragged in a few other Disciples of Adamar before finally convincing Tim to take part.

Tim had joined Verdan at the same time as Kai, initially as a simple guard, but over time, his role had become more complex.

Tim had formed some sort of mating bond with Sylvie when they rescued her from the Darjee. That bond had matured to the point where Tim had managed to manifest some Airta abilities.

The Airta were still shocked by Tim’s bond with Fenn, the ugly hound he’d adopted, and by how he could call a hunt.

Vaijon seemed to think that Tim’s bond with Sylvie had given him access to his soul, and from that it had grown to give him these abilities.

“Okay, Tim, it’s your turn,” Vaijon called out, motioning Tim forward as Kai took a break. “We’ll leave the Airta abilities for now and focus on the other side of things.”

“I’m happy to try,” Tim said, stepping out into the centre of the area they were using to train. “But I don’t really have a good grip on that side of things.”

“Don’t worry, I have that covered,” Vaijon said, a slight smirk touching the corner of his mouth as he signalled someone in the camp.

Verdan turned to see who else Vaijon had roped into this, only to chuckle as a silver wolf came bounding their way.

The wolf padded up next to Tim before shifting back into human form.

Sylvie swept her long silver hair over her shoulder before leaning up to kiss Tim on the cheek and saunter off behind him.

Verdan felt just as confused as Tim looked, but he quickly picked up what was happening as Sylvie artfully fell to the ground a short distance past Tim.

“Oh no, I’ve fallen and hurt my leg,” Sylvie called out, rolling onto her side and winking at Tim. “Protect me from these savages, meu drassul.”

A brief gust of wind kicked up some dirt as Ruthin, another Disciple of Adamar, arrived. The wind Sorcerer had a pair of daggers drawn already and pointed one of them at Tim.

“If I get past you, I’m going to stab her. If you don’t want that, you’re going to have to stop me.” Ruthin twirled his daggers and waited just long enough for Tim to draw his sword before charging forward.

Verdan had seen how fast Ruthin could move, so he knew full well that the Sorcerer was holding back. Still, the threat of Sylvie getting hurt was enough to trigger whatever protective magic Tim had access to.

Verdan was getting better at sensing the presence of Parada, and he could feel it now. It was building with each moment that Tim fought off the Sorcerer.

Despite Ruthin’s greater speed, Tim was holding his own against the slender Sorcerer. Verdan’s former guard was moving with a level of fluid grace far beyond what he could usually do, and he was reacting instantly to anything Ruthin did.

“You see, Parada can take many forms. We each shape it in our own way, forming the magic that we will call upon later,” Vaijon said as they watched the demonstration.

“I think I understand,” Kai said with a nod. “I’ve been trying to find how it worked, when I should be shaping it myself.”

“It works differently for everyone,” Vaijon said with a shrug. “We all have our own realisations, our own paths to making it work. What matters is that you find your own.”

Verdan closed his eyes and muttered a silent prayer of thanks that he was a Wizard and didn’t have to deal with Parada.

The more he learned, the more it felt like a chaotic mess where no one understood the rules.

“Elder Vaijon!” An Eternal Warden retainer called out as they came running their way from the camp. “Commander Silver wants to see you and the Wizard as soon as possible!”

“Ruthin,” Vaijon said calmly, bringing the spar to an end as he got to his feet and shared a tense look with Verdan. “Scout the area. Make sure our perimeter is secure.”

“Yes, Elder,” Ruthin said, giving a nod to Tim before whispering under his breath and rushing off with a gust of wind.

“Did the Commander say what he wanted?” Verdan asked the retainer as Ruthin disappeared off into the distance.

“No, Wizard Blacke. A Sorcerer of the Unbound Gale arrived shortly before he sent for you, though.”