A moment of uncomfortable silence settled in the chamber. There was nary a cough or any other sound at all. Everyone simply awaited with bated breath to hear Welman speak.
“You need only say the word,” Welman finally said, “and they’ll all be arrested at once.”
The already tense atmosphere further intensified as Kiran became painfully aware of how many more armed guards there were all around them.
Lucias clasped his hands together in his lap as he kept one leg crossed over the other. “You would have me treat our guests with such utter disdain after having invited them with such grace?” They shook their head towards the man demanding their immediate arrest. “Why don’t you first elaborate a little for us all before we take such dramatic actions.”
“Of course,” Welman bowed a little. “I merely make this request to ensure—”
“You ensure nothing by delaying an appropriate answer.”
The man had accused them of being responsible for a slew of murders, and yet even then, Lucias was wanting to exercise patience before taking the actions of someone serving beneath them. It was a surprising quality to see in a leader, especially one that he was quite wary of still.
“There have been no murders my lord until their arrival. Reason would dictate that they are responsible. Therefore, if we are to be cautious, we ought to arrest them now and begin a thorough investigation before more murders possibly occur.”
“Do you have actual proof of one of them being responsible or is that mere conjecture?”
“No actual proof exists yet my—”
The man fell silent as Lucias lifted his hand and cracked a slight smile. “Mere accusations and suspicions are far from sufficient in my mind.” He directed his eyes towards them. “What say you,” he said eyeing Rinas, “to this troublesome matter?”
“I cannot say for certain. What I do know is that none of us are responsible for whatever it is that we’re being accused of. Although, I do fear that someone who may have tagged along with our entire group could be.”
Lucias began to furrow his brows.
Rinas cleared his throat. “I had wanted to explain this to you earlier, but it appears I should especially do so now.” He paused briefly as he pulled his hands behind his back. “The truth is that we came to the fourth domain for a reason. That reason has to do with the actions of a single individual that caused Liall’s demise. Unfortunately, this person has so far eluded us and we’ve had no way of knowing whether they have been hiding among us or not since before and after our arrival to this domain.”
“But you suspect that they might be the one responsible?”
“If it is indeed someone from our camp and not yours then perhaps.”
It could always be Noreko getting up to no good, but just because they all recently arrived, didn’t necessarily mean it was him or another one of them that they did not yet know about. It could also be just somebody in Valak, although he’d be a liar to suggest that he didn’t have bad feelings about this development and thinking of who may very well be responsible for them. If it was indeed who he thought it was, then they had serious cause for concern for not just their own safety, but for the people here in Valak. Perhaps the one good reason for magic to not work properly was that it would lessen whatever damage Noreko could inflict if he was responsible.
“If I may.” Lucias gestured for Welman to continue speaking. “These weren’t just murders that occurred. By all accounts, what remains of their bodies is truly horrifying. Their bodies have been mutilated with their skin peeled away. Given that this man has just now admitted to knowingly allowing for someone dangerous to enter this city, we must hold them and the rest to account for these reckless actions without first informing you of this.”
“We did not knowingly bring them here nor was that our intent,” Rinas argued back.
“Intent matters little. What matters are actions and the effects thereafter. Your actions have put Valak in danger, therefore—” His face grew sour as Lucias silenced them once more. “Master, please—”
“I’ve heard enough. Know that I truly appreciate your cautionary nature Welman, but in this instance, it goes too far. We must conduct ourselves in a civilized manner. I will not order the arrests of everyone we have graciously invited here solely due to one particular individual that may potentially be responsible. I’d rather we instead employ their help as I imagine they’ll be willing to offer it to us.”
“We would,” Rinas said.
“Very well. In the meantime,” he said directing his gaze towards Welman. “Begin issuing out more guard patrols and getting the word out to our people about what is going on and to be on the lookout. We need to find whoever is acting in this way and do so quickly so that they can be swiftly put to the sword.”
“So it shall be.” The man bowed and began to leave with his footsteps echoing out.
“Tell me more about this person that you think is responsible for this.”
Rinas gave them an explanation about Noreko. They appeared somewhat dismayed judging by the rising and lowering of their brows at multiple points during the explanation.
“Maybe I do regret letting you all in here,” he said somewhat jokingly. “Ah, but it’s too late now. I suppose in the meantime that you’re all free to go until we determine what proper actions to take next. All I ask is that you tolerate more of my people monitoring you more closely out of mere precaution.”
“Perfectly understandable. Your city, your rules,” Rinas said.
As everyone appeared ready to set off having successfully managed to not end up arrested, Yorais stepped past Rinas looking intent on speaking herself.
“If I may,” she said loudly. “I would like an opportunity to broach another, particularly concerning subject with you.”
“Go ahead then.”
“I don’t believe I have properly introduced myself to you quite yet. I am Yorais Dumiar. I am a sorceress and someone quite knowledgeable over a multitude of arcane matters. I have some questions concerning the state of this domain.”
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“Please ask away.”
“I visited this domain decades ago briefly. At the time, there was no perpetual darkness nor absence of mana back then. Had there been, I would’ve never been able to reach the fifth domain from here.”
“Am I correct in assuming you’re capable of creating portals to other domains?”
“Correct.
“So you’re the one who led everyone here. How fascinating.”
“I was wondering if you had any ideas on why things are dramatically different here than when I briefly visited back then.”
If she came here decades ago and was capable of such magic back then, he wondered how old she truly was. By her current appearance, visiting this domain several decades ago would have her being nothing more than a child. Somehow he doubted that was the case and if anything, she must certainly be older than what her appearance would suggest.
“I truly wish I could give you all of the answers you’re looking for but I sadly don’t have any. The state of this domain is rather a mystery, even to beings such as I. All I can say is that the way things are now came about around a decade ago. I remember looking up at the bright sky on that day when the light above ceased to be. And then even our ability to use conventional magic ceased as well. It was truly tragic back then and still is to this day. We have managed to survive however given these two monumental problems that suddenly appeared.”
“If I may inquire then,” she said. “How is it that you have all managed to survive? Securing food alone would be a miracle in and of itself.”
“Being the knowledgeable sorceress that you are as you stated earlier, then you know there are other methods to growing food and cultivating resources that we can make use of despite the absence of naturally occurring mana.”
She didn’t say anything for a few moments. “I can only assume then that you’re in possession of an arcane root or multiple ones at that. Those are the only things that would theoretically grant someone the ability to use magic in a domain such as this one.”
“I cannot confirm or deny that,” he said with a grin. “Just be rest assured, that we have our ways of cultivating the necessary requirements to sustain our lives.”
If Lucias was in possession of arcane roots, and multiple ones at that, then that certainly made him and his people quite powerful. Although he hadn’t outright admitted to being in possession of them, Kiran thought he clearly had them.
Kiran was still in possession of the dead arcane root that came from Queen Luvia Aenveld. He always kept it neatly wrapped up in one of his pockets. He felt somewhat wary of keeping it even though it was technically dead and unusable. There was just something about being in possession of such a powerful object that had acted as the queen’s heart. There was no denying though, that if he could make use of its power, it would be immensely useful under these circumstances.
“I realize that this darkness has become a way of life here,” Yorais continued to say, “but do you believe it possible to return things back to the way they once were?”
“I have spent much of my life trying to do such a thing. I’ve sent people to their deaths and wandered endlessly in search of a solution only to come up empty.”
“Something out there must be causing this. The sun still exists, we very well can feel its warmth still, but something is shielding the light itself away. If we can find out what is causing this, then perhaps we can change things back.”
Lucias straightened his back as he sat on the throne. “I admire your optimism. Being the outsiders you all are, it doesn’t surprise me that you haven’t been beaten down by these unnatural conditions yet.”
“It’s every sorceress’s job to solve problems, particularly of the arcane variety.”
“And you’re quite the powerful one at that if you can open up portals.” He began to lean forward. “While I don’t wish to deny your desire to solve these matters Yorais, I see seldom few options for solving this mystery. I have searched all throughout this domain for the cause. It’s quite possible that there isn’t anything we can do and that we are forever bound by these troublesome conditions. My own experiences and research have led me to believe that anyways.”
Kiran went to stand beside Yorais. He looked Lucias directly in the face intending to speak next. “Is the state of this domain due to the ruined nature of the world or perhaps by a person or group of people?”
“Who is to say. I have my doubts that any one person or group of people could cause this disaster all by themselves. The amount of magical energy required to keep an entire large swath of land covered in darkness would require more arcane energy than any of us could likely comprehend.”
An amount of arcane energy that far surpasses our own comprehension. I wonder then, what could enable such power? It didn’t take long for him to come up with an answer and a frightening possibility. “How did you come into possession of an arcane root or multiple arcane roots?”
“I don’t believe I admitted to having any,” Lucias said.
Kiran couldn’t help but chuckle a little. “I don’t think we need to act as if you’re somehow not in possession of one or more of them.”
“My, you are quite brazen to talk to me like that.”
Yorais began to breathe down his neck. “Careful with your words and tone towards him,” she whispered into his ear.
“You are in possession of them, are you not?” he said ignoring Yorais’s suggestion. I need to be assertive if we’re to get to the bottom of this. This matter is too important to let up on.
Lucias hesitated in answering. He merely smiled and began lifting up his clasped hands to his chin. “Yes, I am in possession of them. Why do you ask?”
“You said earlier that an incredible amount of magic would be required to cover these lands in darkness. An arcane root might very well serve that purpose although it doesn’t explain away the absence of magic itself.” He couldn’t be certain that a single arcane root would be capable of accomplishing such a feat, but perhaps multiple ones could.
There were a lot of arcane roots in that cave I uncovered. His mind began to wrestle with uncomfortable thoughts; they were thoughts that made him think of Lady Meredith and that woman laying on the altar and how they might have something to do with these troublesome issues plaguing this domain. Could what I saw in that place somehow be responsible? He didn’t want to believe it, but it would be irresponsible of him to not at least entertain the possibility. There was always the chance, and they couldn’t afford to leave things to chance.
“You appear as if you’ve uncovered something big,” Lucias said.
“I might have,” Kiran said still pondering on what he stumbled upon back then. “If I may, where exactly did you get whatever arcane roots that you have currently in your possession?”
“Kiran,” Rinas said interjecting during his questioning. “I apologize.”
“Oh you need not apologize at all. I get the impression that he’s truly on to something. Please, go on dear human. I want to see where all of this questioning of yours is all leading to. Besides, one of the reasons I wanted to bring you all here in the first place, was to get an outsider’s perspective on things as ours has been beaten down into submission over the years. But to answer your question more specifically, they were gifted to me by someone many years ago.”
“By who exactly?”
“They were given to me by a western neighbor of mine. She is an esteemed lady known as Meredith Duvaugn.”
“I’ve met her,” Kiran said.
“You have? How exactly did you manage that? She is not one who anyone can just meet.”
“It’s a bit of a long story.”
They readjusted themselves on their throne and gestured towards him. “Then it’s a good thing that I’m willing to listen. Tell me then Kiran because I get the feeling that this is all going to end up being a very productive day for us all. You need only tell me of this and so much more to help us all in these utterly dire days.”