A few minutes later, her father peeked his head inside the carriage. "We're about to head off," he told the two girls, his gaze lingering on Aiela as if to ask if she was sure she wanted to go with them.

"Thank you for taking care of me," Aiela answered.

Lucius nodded, resigned, then climbed on next to Venza. Their trip home went largely in silence, as Lucius struggled to think of something to say to two young girls. Venza avoided mentioning the particulars of how she'd met Aiela, conscious that the spell would send her into another coughing fit.

Magic was cheating. She realized that now. The spells she read about in books were one thing, but Oma Mala literally being able to control what she could say drove home just how powerful a tool it was.

Not to mention how largely ineffectual regular weapons were against the Bloodbeak, which to her knowledge wasn't even a particularly dangerous monster.

"Hey," Venza spoke, glancing at her new friend.

Aiela blinked, seemingly in a trance. She'd been staring out the window at the passing countryside. "Hm? What is it?"

"How does the Protection work?" Venza asked. "On those birds, I mean."

"I told you. It stops weapons without magic from penetrating the hide," Aiela answered, though she didn't look annoyed. More curious about why Venza was asking her to repeat something she'd already explained.

"But does it just work like armor?" Venza asked. "I mean, if for example I took that bird's hide and had a tanner use magic scissors on it-"

That earned her a laugh from her father, which flustered her. "Ah, that's good," he muttered. "Magic scissors."

He let them continue, barely suppressing a chuckle.

"Wouldn't work," Aiela said. "The hide isn't what makes such beasts resistant to non-magic weapons. It's the blood."

"Really?" Lucius asked, his interest seemingly sparked. "I've actually seen men try what Venza was thinking before, which is why I thought it was funny."

"You have?" Venza asked.

Lucius nodded. "There's a type of large boar in the north, to the lands of Lupa. They have the same Protection as the bird I slew, though I daresay theirs is a bit tougher. I've seen those things ram through spiked barricades without taking a scratch. One time, we defeated one with support from a trio of mages. One of the harder battles I've fought, I must admit."

"Really?" Venza asked. "But your blade should have cut right through it."

"Oh, this was before I had Dauntless." Lucius said, patting the sword's hilt. "Your grandfather was still Lord Marshall and my Revenant Arm was still in production. I was just a lowly sergeant.”

“Does it take long to get a Revenant Arm?” Venza asked. She can’t believed she’d never asked before. She’d always assumed the process was instant.

“Of course,” Lucius answered. “Getting the Imperial Mark from the Emperor is only the first step.” He patted the hilt of his own weapon. “Once the Mark determines what Revenant Arm you get, the Empire’s workshops need to actually construct the weapon, and that normally takes years. I received Dauntless a full three years after I graduated from the Academy.”

Venza stared at her father. “Don’t you get the Mark at the age of ten? It took them nearly a decade to give you Dauntless?”

Lucius laughed sheepishly. “What can I say? There aren’t many who know how to make or maintain a Revenant Arm. It’s why even people who are Marked and can afford it purchase regular enchanted weapons until theirs is ready.”

“But you were the Lord Marshall’s son!” Venza protested. “Surely, they could have jumped the production of yours up a bit.”

“No, it makes perfect sense,” Aiela suddenly spoke, reminding them both that she’d been there the whole time. “The Emperor probably didn’t want the Greyfield Heir to be too strong too early.”

There was a moment of silence as Venza and Lucius seemed to contemplate Aiela’s words. She was probably right, of course, but how could she have realized so easily that House Greyfield was kept on a tight, invisible leash?

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“Anyway,” Lucius continued, clearing his throat, “we killed the beast that was rampaging through the northern lands and one of my subordinates- Uh, damn, I can't remember what his name was- I bet Adam would know."

"He tried to make armor out of its hide?" Aiela asked.

"Yeah, yeah," Lucius said, chuckling. "Had to convince the mages to cut it up, and they didn't want to, but I was curious, so I told them to do it. And they did." His face curled into a grimace. "I can't remember the guy's name, but I'll never get that smell out of my brain. It was bloody awful."

"Even worse when the armor didn't work, I bet," Aiela said, offering a small smile.

"Damn right," Lucius said. "We made him keep watch the whole night as punishment." He laughed. "So how does it work? Do you just dip your armor in its blood?"

"Never done it myself," Aiela admitted. "But as far as I know you need to do it while the blood is fresh, and whatever you're soaking needs to actually be able to absorb it."

"So no metals then?" Lucius looked thoughtful. "Can't be better than a properly enchanted suit like I have, but it would be a good, cost-effective design. Not everyone can afford fully enchanted armor."

"Or you could just cast a protective spell that can cover more than just weapons that aren't magical," Aiela pointed out. "Why wear a shirt that turns away a non-magic sword when you can make your skin hard as steel?"

"Well, you have to remember mages aren't always available," Lucius said. "For example, this entire company I brought doesn't have a single mage, unless you count Venza here and my blade. If this company had to fight enemies with Protection without me, they'd take a lot of casualties.”

“Besides,” Venza added, “What’s wrong with having both?”

Aiela and Lucius looked at her like she’d grown a second head.

“What?” she asked.

“It would make it extra hard to kill you,” Aiela said without hesitation.

“I agree,” Lucius said, eyeing the witch girl with some discomfort. “It would be effective against most enemies.”

"So there's merit to my idea?" Venza asked.

"It could be useful, assuming it works," Lucius admitted. "But I don't think I'd want that information being public."

Aiela hummed, as if realizing something. "Probably a good idea."

"How do you mean?" Venza asked.

"Well, it's easy to do, right?" Lucius replied. "It's one thing for the military to have it, but if the concept ever leaked out, you'd wind up with brigands wearing armor the town guard couldn't deal with."

"Aren't the Empire's enchantment methods secret?" Venza asked. "Don't you worry about those leaking, too? What's the difference?"

"Enchantment is different," Aiela said. "Permanent Enchanting requires a lot of study and expensive materials. With the whole blood soaking thing, any hedge witch or wizard who can penetrate a Bloodbeak's hide could provide a decent amount of Protected armor to whoever asked."

"Right," Venza said. "It would cause far more harm than good."

"You seem to know a lot about magic," Lucius said, watching Aiela closely. "What did you say you-"

The carriage came to a sudden halt, prompting an end to their conversation.

"Road must be tight or something," Lucius suggested.

Venza doubted that. Rentley was barely a settlement in the frontier. With almost no traders coming through, there was little reason for the single road leading out of it to be clogged.

The door to the carriage suddenly opened. Vosmer spoke to Lucius, lacking his usual cheerful demeanor. "Lucius, we've got a problem!"

"What is it?" Venza's father asked.

"There's a farm up ahead," Vosmer said. "They're being attacked by more of those birds we fought earlier."

"Ugh, I hate fighting fliers," Lucius groaned. "On my way." He looked pointedly at Venza. "Stay here, Scamp."

Before Venza could answer, he was gone, closing the door behind him. It went without saying that Venza opened the door and went right after him. Whatever it was, she had to see this. She wasn't surprised to find Aiela right behind her.

They stopped behind the line of soldiers. Venza was impulsive, not stupid. She wasn't going to charge in when there were professionals around.

What should have been the picture of a secure, peaceful farmstead had turned into a chaotic battlefield.

Dark forms swooped down from the skies, capturing smaller livestock in their talons before dragging them off. Her father was in the thick of it, constructing shields and swords of blue light to trap and kill the Bloodbeaks, but he seemed alone in this endeavor. Some soldiers took up positions to intercept the monster birds with spears and shields, but their mundane weapons could do no real harm to the Bloodbeaks with their Protection.

"Now that's just sad," Aiela said. "At this rate they'll make off with every single animal on that farm."

"I'm pretty sure some of our men have bows, but-" Venza began.

"But they're useless since they're not magic," Aiela finished for her.

"How does it work?" Venza asked for the second time that day. "Their Protection?"

Before Aiela opened her mouth, Venza realized she needed to be more specific. "I mean, is it like armor? Does it just stop things that aren't magic from penetrating?"

"It stops physical objects that aren't magical from penetrating, yeah," Aiela said.

"So anything that works on someone wearing full plate would work, right?"

Aiela looked thoughtful. "It should. I suppose."

Venza nodded. "Come. We need to find Vosmer."

They found him organizing a group of spearmen into formation. They might not have been able to mortally wound the birds, but the spiked wall they formed should still deter simple-minded animals.

"Vosmer!" she called out.

He heard her voice and immediately said, "Venza? You know your father won't like this."

His face, however, showed no hint of surprise.

"If we leave him to handle it, the farm will be ruined before he can take them all out," Venza said. "Try using heavy, blunt weapons. Aiela said their Protection functions like heavy armor."

"Easy for you to say," he answered, eyes glancing at the flying fiends above. "You're not the one who'll be swinging a mace at those blasted birds."