But, the noise had a pretty mundane source. It was just Jacob, who arrived here before us. He didn’t go to For’s chambers though, he was a floor lower, in one of the guest rooms. And with him was Felix. I already knew that he was in here, but seeing his face was still surprising.
Especially after I noticed that he too got caught in Caleb’s weirdness.
He was lying on the bed with a clearly broken leg. But, unlike the one of the guards downstairs, his was not swollen and twisted. Didn’t mean that it was not as painful, though.
-Did you really have to run so fast up here to just check up on his broken leg?
For was not amused by his behavior.
-Why… Why am I here…?
Felix looked a bit confused, and only just noticed us come in.
-Oh! Miss For!
He wanted to stand up, but he couldn’t even move his leg, only managed to shuffle a bit.
It also made me notice that not only was his leg broken, there was also a large, sword shaped bruise on the side of his head. So he also got knocked out like this, huh?
-Lay down, it’s fine - she waved him off. - What happened here?
-I… I don’t…
-I am not sure - picked up Jacob for him. - I assigned Felix to guard my brother and ordered to notify me as soon as he awakes. But I never expected for him to recover so quickly.
Felix opened his eyes wider, seemingly remembering.
-Right! The… he…
-They know - assured him Jacob.
-He’s already contained - added For. - Thanks to our new guests here… - she gestured towards me and Kon, who now entered the room behind her.
Felix looked a bit confused, but nodded.
-But do tell us, what exactly happened? - I asked. - We know he awakened somehow and managed to assault multiple people just to… do what exactly?
-I don’t know - he shook his head.
He immediately regretted the decision to move.
-I only know that he got set free because I came here to check up on everything… He was already gone then, and I found Felix lying down on the floor, unconscious. I never expected that he’d attack anyone… Especially someone from here…
-Yeah… that’s weird… What got into him…? And that strange manner of speech too…. - wondered For aloud.
-Can you tell us anything more, Felix?
-I… Everything seemed fine… - he started. - When I was ordered to stay here, I thought it was just another boring guard duty… but apparently not. I mean, it was, for a while at least. He laid there like a lifeless body for a good while. I even thought that he might be dead…
-Oh, come on. I didn’t drain that much… - I muttered to myself.
-Yeah, apparently not enough - agreed with me For.
-After a while he suddenly stiffened on his bed. I approached, curious, but he jolted up and stood up completely, looking right at me. He was unresponsive at first, I even shook him a few times, but got no reply. After a moment though he turned and looked directly at me, asking where he was.
-Where he was? - For was confused.
-Yes… I know that seems very weird, but I already knew that he’s a bit… eccentric, so I thought that’s just him being strange. Or that he’s confused after being knocked out. His voice was strange though…
-And you replied?
-Yes. I told him that we are in the Red Edge and he got moved here after he fainted. He didn’t say a word, just stared blankly at the wall. I wanted to go and notify you about the sudden change, but as I was about to leave, he started walking out. I was told to not let him go under any circumstances, but he just shoved me away and started walking, so I had to pull out a weapon.
-Weapon? Not use magic? - I asked.
He immediately turned red.
-I… I don’t have much magic… So no, I did not use it.
-Okay, whatever works I guess…
-But it didn’t work - he frowned, visibly ashamed. - Quite the opposite. He pulled his own weapon and swung at me. I managed to block one swing, but the next one has knocked me off-balance.
-Ah, so that’s how you broke your leg…
-Yeah… - he mumbled. - He noticed my lapse in concentration and immediately aimed at my head, knocking me out completely. Then I blacked out. Next thing I remember is being in this room, lying on the bed and…
-And Jacob running in - I finished for him.
-That does not explain shit - said For, a bit annoyed.
-You say you didn’t drain that much, but you really did drain him dry - commented Iloa. - The fact that he managed to wake up is straight up weird.
-Right?
-I thought that was strange too… - agreed with us Kon. - But we are in an infused place… is that maybe why…?
-No - I immediately disagreed. - He was not even remotely close to the real source of mana.
-And he was living here for a long while - added Iloa. - He had to be used to this kind of environment.
-Right… So why then?
-I assume that he had to get mana from somewhere else… While that sounds absolutely insane, it’s not the first time we’ve seen something like this.
-Right. Axelrod.
-Like when you were under that village?
-Yep. But there’s a problem. Then I was easily able to tell who was speaking with the voice alone.
-It changed when he took over?
-Yep.
-There’s another issue. We also deduced that back then it was not some kind of possession… It was just Odar taking his form… or other way, depending how you want to look at it - I pointed out.
-Exactly.
-So it’s not him? - asked Kon.
-I still can be Axelrod. It wouldn’t be a stretch to think that he’s got some kind of safety mechanism embedded in his employees, right? We do live in the era of slaves and magical contracts after all.
-Yeah… We managed to do that, so why wouldn’t he?
-Wouldn’t that mean that he’s got a similar connection to him…?
-That is concerning, true… - agreed Iloa. - Especially the fact that he managed to do it on purpose…
-Hm. Yes… being able to actively reproduce something like this could be dangerous…
-Especially en masse…
-En masse? You mean…?
-Yeah, mass mind control - I confirmed his suspicion.
-Or just straight up puppeteering.
-That is scary.
He shuddered.
-Let’s not be so dramatic yet - I stopped him. - For all we know it can be something completely else.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
-Yes… But even if it is what we fear, it can’t be easy to pull off - she pointed out. - With our merge we needed a great source of mana…
-Yeah… those used to be pretty rare, but after spending some time here I am not so sure about that any more…
-We did find two in quick succession… be it luck or not, Axelrod has a lot more resources to find them…
-Well, maybe not. The elves did somewhat drain him…
-Right. Elves. Why the hell are they even attacking?
-I mean, after we heard that story of miss For, can it have something to do with her legacy?
-Why would they attack Jack then? Wouldn’t they target Jacob and For? Not Axlerod? For all we know he has nothing to do with either of them.
-Well, he is somehow connected… he did supposedly hire the brothers…
-That makes no sense…
-Right? All this is confusing…
Our discussion petered out, the lack of concrete information and overall uncertainty did not help.
Maybe for the better, because we realized that we’ve been staring into space for a good while now, and while For, Felix and Jacob weren’t exactly saying anything, they were waiting for some kind of reply from me.
-Ehm… That’s… concerning. Do we have any idea why he started acting like that? - I asked out loud, directing the question to the room.
-I know it’s going to sound insane - said Jacob - but it just feels like he's possessed… Is that even possible…?
-Good question… - muttered For. - I mean, judging by the stories I can’t say that’s not out of the realm of possibility…
-I honestly am not sure either… - I admitted. - I did think that the one explanation for this was indeed that he was not himself. I also think that this sudden burst of aggression, this way of speech, that’s not him.
-And the fact that he was actually somewhat competent for once.
-That’s debatable.
-Fine… so possession. Let’s say… I believe that - said Jacob. - So by what?
-The obvious answer is Axelrod, he’s the most powerful one.
-Yeah, he’s weird enough that I can agree - I said, not wanting to try and explain what we just discussed in our heads just seconds ago.
-Well… so where do we go from here? I can’t just leave him like this, locked in a cell.
-Hey, he can survive - I waved him off. - I had to stay there multiple times and you don’t hear me complain.
-You did complain though.
-Okay, you don't hear me complain much - I rolled my eyes.
-The point is, we have no clue what to do with him - reminded For. - Can we somehow restore him to his regular self…? Break the spell, or whatever that is?
-Yeah, if that would be so easy - I sighed. - First off, we don’t know what is controlling him. What worries me though is that, whatever it is, it has to be nearby.
-What?! - gasped For. - How do you know?!
-I tried draining him, right?
-Yeah. And failed - said For. - What’s up with that? I thought that that weird crystal of yours was able to drain anything…?
-And it is - I agreed. - As a matter of fact, I indeed drain him. Almost too much even.
-So why then…
-I don’t know, but somehow, from somewhere he got his magic regenerated… or maybe boosted by something.
-And you think that that something was the thing possessing him?
-Or at least influencing - I agreed.
-That’s annoying… so even your strange methods are out of the picture.
-Seems so. I must admit, I wanted to just straight up try again to drain whatever is inside, but by now I am pretty sure that he’d just regenerate again. Since he has that external secondary power source, I can’t exactly drain him completely…
-I guess he has to stay in the cell then - sighed Vendi.
-Wait, maybe not exactly… I have an idea.
-Oh? Please, do share.
-You said that something that is influencing him is also supplying him mana, right?
-I assume so - I nodded. - For the enchantment, or whatever that is, to constantly work even in the presence of my crystal draining the mana from the body, he has to have an external power source.
-Er… And how about reversing that?
-Reversing? What, so you want to give him mana?
-Not really, but that might work as well… You said you were very sensitive to mana… Would you be able to trace it back to the source?
-What do you think I am, some kind of dog that can track people with their smell? Come on, I might have a lot of experience under my belt, but something like this… There is no spell like that even!
-Something like this could actually work - surprisingly announced Iloa. - It just could get a bit finicky…
-You mean it? - asked Kon.
-Well, she’s saying that, but it’s more complicated than it sounds - I thought, trying to figure out how exactly we should go about it.
-Yes… and the current situation is not helping… if only we had some of our resources from the MIRE…
-Ha. You never notice how you have gotten used to automatization…
-Automatization?
Kon was confused.
-Well, yeah. I told you we used to work on different kinds of magic. You thought we were doing everything alone?
-I guess manpower is a bit hard to come by in our current situation… I myself am not the best helper, you’re right…
-Manpower? No… or, well, sort of yes - I replied, a bit perplexed. - Right, I keep forgetting the fact that the technology is non-existent here…
-Right… Listen Kon, long story short, we used to have machines that would do the most of the work for us, be it creating spells or anything else.
-Yeah. It was doing the most of the job for us.
-What?! How would that even work…!?
-A lot of ones and zeros - I laughed. - You don’t need to understand. The issue is, we no longer have it.
-Can we… rebuild it? - he asked, still not giving up. - If that was a machine…
-Rebuild? Ha. Hardly - chuckled Iloa. - Like we know how. And even if we did, it wouldn’t help much.
-I thought you said…
I sighed.
-Don’t confuse him, we don’t need him to get an engineer’s degree now. Kon, don't overthink it. To end the discussion, even if we were to rebuild it, it would be just a machine, an empty husk. Like a body without a head.
-Err…
-The main thing is, we can’t do it. We just have to try by ourselves.
-Right… - I said aloud. - That is an idea, but I am unable to just do that, I, straight up, cannot do it. I don’t know how.
-Didn’t you say that with your knowledge of magical language the spells are just a technicality and you can do whatever you put your mind to? - asked For.
-And I also said that casting spells without previously testing them is dangerous.
-Like you haven’t done that multiple times already - she said, rolling her eyes. - Even just not so long ago, downstairs. Or you’re going to tell me that the spell you did was tested and all, huh?
-Funny you mention that, it actually was. Twice.
-What?
-I told you. And you’re looking at the effects.
She still was a bit confused, but I decided to not care.
-Before we start with those weird ideas, let’s go to the source using a bit easier way, maybe, huh?
-And that is?
-Let’s ask him - I simply said. - We have a numbers advantage. And a bunch of very talented people who definitely are able to make him talk, right?
She squinted at me, not sure what to answer.
Jacob on the other hand was on board.
-I can make him talk, no problem.
-Huh?! How?
-Remember, he is my brother after all, I can control him.
-Wait, what? - I asked, confused. - I thought that Bert is his owner?
-Bert? Well, he is, but I am not talking about that. Remember, when the king appeared here he used some kind of magic that could see through you, right?
-I don’t think that was it… - I muttered. - It probably was just a way to see if someone was lying. But what about it?
-As a matter of fact I was able to hear the spell. I thought I might just try copying it.
-Oh. Good ear. But I still need confirmation. What spell was that?
He opened his mouth, about to say something, but got silenced by For.
-Stop! I don’t need a weird spell being cast on me by accident! Go write it or something!
-Good thinking - I nodded. - But unnecessary.
-Unnecessary? I thought you were the one pushing being careful with spells?
-And I still am. But remember what we just did downstairs? Noone besides you and Kon can cast any spells right now.
-What?! - yelped Jacob. - That’s impossible. I swore…
-That has nothing to do with your faith or loyalty - I waved him off. - It was a side effect of the recent tampering with the security of the castle.
-I wonder who’s been tampering…
-In any case, it’s just a matter of redoing the binding again. You’ll be fine.
He clearly was not convinced. And as to confirm, he raised his hand and attempted casting a spell.
-Ive geksu.
He stared expectantly at his palm, but nothing happened.
-Ive geksu! Usc fi geksu!
-Don’t bother, you can’t do it. Told you. Instead, better tell me what the spell was.
He tried two more times with slightly different spells before he finally made sure that indeed he was blocked.
-Okay… Well, it was pretty long, but I am pretty sure that I remembered everything correctly. It was: “Doy niptuhu itvut qypove, nepe itvut me kyhotvu, fosy me wisup ey itvut nusvohove, no usfupet em wo voekp”.
-Damn. You really do have a great memory - I mumbled, impressed. - But...I know that spell… - I said after a second of consideration. - And I was right, it was to detect lies, not to force someone to talk.
-You know it? Great! Then you can cast it! I am sure you’re better than…
-No, no, I meant I know OF it. To be honest, I never cast it myself, I was on the receiving end, actually - I said, smiling.
-Receiving…?
-Ah. It was Melle, wasn’t it? - asked For, remembering.
-Precisely. But I think hers was longer. And she had to do the whole ritual. Took my hair and stuff…
-Huh. I guess the king is more proficient…
-So what are we waiting for? Let’s go.