When Marley returned it was with good news.
He had bought a plot of land, it was just on the edge of Diggin between the rest of the growing village and the road that led to the actual mines.
He'd paid for a lot of cut stone to be delivered to the land as well as paying for some lumber to be stored securely elsewhere in Diggin.
By his report, the land was mostly flat already but it had many tree stumps that needed to be pulled out of the ground or burnt out.
He had hired some men to begin clearing the land in the meantime and had left them with two large areas to prepare for building upon, marked out by him personally.
We spent the better part of another week coming up with building designs, the building that would house the workshops wasn't difficult for Marley to come up with because he already knew exactly what would be needed.
It was the housing for the workmen that took the longest.
We had no real reason to wait to get started on the expansion other than my wagon, the rest of the work here in Moreland's Rest could be done by the workmen, it was only the work that Marley and myself had to do on my wagon that would have to wait.
Depending on how long the building took, or more specifically, how long both Marley and myself needed to be there to work or oversee the building process, we would have to hold off on working on my wagon for probably three weeks.
That was our best guess as how long the two of us would have to stay in Diggin.
****************
I was standing with Marley on the new land we had bought in Diggin, looking for the first time with my own eyes at just how much work we would have to do.
Bistan and Jessep had been left in charge of Moreland's Rest while both Marley and myself, along with four workmen, had travelled to Diggin with some carts, tools and a few other things we would need.
There were a lot of tree stumps still in the ground but there were three areas that were free of them entirely.
The first two were clearings that were very obviously where our buildings would be built.
The ground in these two places was already prepared, and the laying of foundation stone almost completed by the time we had arrived.
The third cleared area was also the largest, it was where a mass of materials, labourers, tools and horses were. Carts were loaded up with stone, horses pulled them and their burdens and labourers chatted as they went about their hard tasks.
I was left alone as Marley left my side, followed by the workmen and carts as they too jumped into the thick of things.
By the end of that first day, I had used my magic once.
It had caused a round of hushed whispers from all the workers as the foundations they had worked with, the mortar that was poured onto the large amounts of stone, all became solid by my will.
I did my best to ignore them, instead I remained aloof and acted as if it were the most natural thing in the world. I had walked away from the building to go read in one of our carts.
My part in all of this building was to use my magic.
Rather than cut the stone we would build with using tools, I would separate them into easy to handle bricks. They would be laid by hand then eventually they would have to be lifted up higher by using the ropes and horses.
All the while, I would step in at certain points to rejoin the stone bricks back together.
It wasn't so simple of course, there were support beams that needed to be fitted, frames put in for windows and doors and there were a hundred other smaller details that had to be seen to, but for me and my own involvement, that was mostly it.
Show up when I was told the time was right, sink my will into the stone bricks and let them blend back into one whole.
The first three days of this were tiring, I'd been moving between the two buildings constantly as the work being on the ground allowed things to move rapidly.
The labourers were able to carry and set down bricks under the direction of the skilled workmen, all under Marley's watchful eye.
It was only when the walls reached a good height that I got to take a little time to myself during the days of work.
While the workers hoisted up the bricks to their new heights I was able to finally keep atop of the workload, even Marley and Rhys, one of the workmen who had come with us to Diggin, began to spend a little time building some essentials out of the lumber they had had delivered.
The days passed a little smoother for me after that, I was required less and less until eventually the roof beams were being lifted up and set into place and I wasn't needed at all.
I'd gone into the village to have lunch at the inn and was taking my time to wander back to the workyard, pleasantly full from the stew and knowing I wasn't needed urgently, if at all, I decided to take a roundabout away back.
I'd been to Diggin plenty of times over the years but those visits had been short things, visits with a purpose to buy things I needed.
As the small outpost had expanded into a true village, I'd become more and more unfamiliar with the place, instead heading directly to the places that I knew during my infrequent visits.
Having the time to spare now though, I wandered the streets, looking at small shops that had sprung up, at the new streets where homes had been build for the booming population.
I made the mistake of cutting through a small alley way when my exit was blocked by three brutish looking men.
They weren't dressed as workers or even guardsmen, they were in rough nondescript clothing and the only remarkable thing about their appearance seemed to be their thuggish looks and large size.
“Come with us.” One of the men grunted out at me, his expression was blank but his eyes were hostile.
The tone of his voice made it clear that this wasn't a request but an order. All three of the large men seemed to try to make themselves appear taller and more menacing by glaring at me in a poor attempt at intimidation.
Maybe their size or whatever reputation they might have was usually enough to cow most people, but I didn't know who they were and had the means to defend myself.
This being the case, the attempt at intimidation was a failure but I couldn't help but be curious. I wondered what was going on, it didn't seem like an attempt to rob me.
We were already in an alley way, out of the way of people, if they wanted an out of the way place to try to take my coin or even attack me then this was a prime location.
They wanted me to come with them and I couldn't help but wonder what was actually going on or what they were trying to do..
In the spur of the moment, I made a snap decision and I played along in an attempt to find out.
“Who are you?” I asked, hoping to project the voice of a man who was scared but trying not to show it.
“Doesn't matter.” The first thug said and one of the others made a show of sneering at me. “The boss sent for you, so you're coming with us.”
“Don't try make trouble or else you'll regret it.” The third thug said and it seemed like something he had said many times before.
“Who is your boss?” I demanded trying to sound brave but intentionally lowered my eyes down to the ground, as I couldn't bring myself to keep my eyes on the man's gaze.
The two thugs moved to either side of me and put a hand on my shoulders while the third turned his back to me as he spoke.
“You'll find out soon enough.” He told me in what probably would have been frightening to someone else, someone who couldn't turn them into ragged chunks of meat with a thought.
The hands on my shoulders gripped tightly almost in unison and pushed me forwards, I moved along with them and the three of us followed the thug in charge.
I kept up the act as I was led out of the alley and into the village streets.
I demanded to know where they were taking me, who they were taking me to see and along up some weak and empty sounding threats.
Do you know who I am? My partner is an important man! and people will be looking for me. All the while the men smirked at what they thought was a scared man, trying to be brave.
My two, friends, kept close to either side of me as we followed the third.
One of them whispered down to me, interrupting one of my dire assurances that people would be looking for me already.
“If you make trouble where people can see, I'll make sure you can't do much of anything after.” The thug told me in a low voice, the other was looking around at other villagers who we passed by.
I noticed that the majority of them took one look at the situation and lowered their gaze, some people outright turned around and walked away.
Apparently these thugs were known to the village-folk and they wanted no part in whatever was happening.
The third man led us in the direction I had been heading originally, towards the outer edge of the village.
Instead of heading towards the workyard though, I was directed down a street to a stout stone building that yet another large thug was standing outside of.
There were no other people on the street, this was apparently a safe enough place for them to get a little more forceful with me.
The same thug who had whispered this threat to me used the hand on my shoulder to push me forwards, I stumbled slightly prompting my two escorts to laugh.
The leader was standing outside the door to the building, looking at me expectantly. My idiot thugs walked towards me with malicious grins, herding me towards the door.
I did what they wanted me to do and walked into the doorway, as I breeched the entrance to the building I was thrown forwards by an impact on my back and when I looked up and around from the dusty floorboards, I saw that the man who had been guarding the door was looking down at me with a self satisfied smirk.
“Get up.” The original thug told me as he made his way inside, followed shortly by my two escorts.
I stood up and made a show looking around with what I hoped was a slightly panicked expression.
I was in a room that was dimly lit, besides the dusty wooden floorboards there were, two thick and roughly build wooden tables, each of them placed in front of the two murky windows of the bulding.
Sitting around the tables were three other men, bringing the total to six thugs inside and the seventh, who had kicked my back, remaining outside as the door was closed.
Turning around to look at the rest of the room, I saw a door in one wall and a small staircase to the right.
A large hand set down on my shoulder once more and I looked to see the thug leader pointing a fat finger towards the stairs.
“Move.” He said and pushed me in the direction of them. “Don't make me tell you twice.”
I said nothing.
I walked towards the stairs, pulling my shoulder out from beneath his grip in the process. I went up the narrow stairs as they turned and into a small hall that contained three doors.
Two of them were slightly ajar and only darkness could be seen from the unlit rooms.
The third door was closed but in the dim hall, but I could clearly see light coming from under the door. Without having to be told, I moved towards the door and was about to push it open when the hand gripped my shoulder once more.
The thug squeezed tightly and pulled me back a little, he glared at me as he moved past me to knock one the door.
“Come.” A voice said from the other side of the door and the thug opened it. The light from inside the room lit the dim hall briefly to reveal more dusty floorboards and not much else. I moved forward into the room while the thug stood just to the side of the doorway glaring at me.
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“Brought him, boss.” The thug said to a man sitting behind a desk.
This room was an office of some kind, presumably belonging to the man behind the desk. There were several drawers and cabinets that looked at home in the office but were mostly empty of things to be displayed on them.
The desk had some papers on them as well as ink pots and writing equipment.
I examined the man who was presumably the reason I had been brought here 'against my will'. He looked to be in his fifties, hair shorn tight to his scalp but the short hairs bristled with plenty of silver. He wore what I thought of as merchant garb, it was a kind of outfit that merchants thought that nobility wore, though made from much cheaper materials.
He stood up and his stubbled jaw moved as he spoke.
“Ah, the little earth mage.” He said and seemed to make a show of smiling at me as if this were a pleasant encounter between two friends who had happened upon each other while out in the village. “Take a seat, boy.” He said and the thug pushed my shoulder from behind to get me moving towards the seat on this side of the desk.
I didn't even look back at the thug, just walked silently to the chair and sat myself in it.
“Why am I here?” I asked, my voice held no hint of fear or false bravado now.
I was here now, I could get my answers.
The man raised his eyebrows as if in surprise at my words, his lips smirked though and his eyes glinted with anticipation.
“Well, that is no way to speak to your new boss.” He told me. “I am Samuel Filch and you boy, will call me Mr Filch or Sir.” The man named Filch told me
He sat back down in his chair and looked at me, as if waiting for something.
“Why am I here?” I asked again, ignoring his attempt to intimidate me.
Filch tutted at my words and shook his head as if he were sad or disappointed.
“You, boy.” Filch said and pointed a finger with a fat gold ring on it in my direction. “Will learn some respect in due time, be sure of that.” He told me. “But I'll let it go just this once while I explain your new situation.”
Filch sleaned back in his chair, making a show of seeming relaxed as his gaze moved behind me.
“Bart.” Filch said. “Fetch me a drink will you.” He said and gestured lazily with a hand to one of the only cabinets that was moderately filled.
I watched as the lead thug, Bart apparently, moved over to the cabinet.
He took a bottle and filled a glass with his thick fingers before bringing the glass over to set down upon the desk.
The room was completely silent throughout this and I got the feeling that this was a performance, one they had done before.
Bart moved away to stand back behind me, near the door, as Filch simply nodded at the small service.
“Now, boy.” Filch said taking up the glass and drinking a mouthful of the amber liquid inside. “You'll be coming to work for me now, you'll be using your earth magic up at the mines.” He told me.
I felt my own eyebrows rise at this.
“I will?” I asked without inflection in my voice.
“Yes, boy.” Filch said, clearly not liking my empty tone. “You will.”
He set down his glass and leaned forward, his voice dropping in what he thought would be a menacing tone.
“And you'll be grateful for the opportunity too.” He told me. “Not just anyone can get a contract to operate the mines. I have the connections necessary to get one and you will be clearing out the mines with your magic.”
“I already work for Marley & Edo.” I said, leaving out that I was in fact the very same Edo. He clearly thought I was just a worker who lucked out with a useful magical gift.
“Not any more you don't.” Filch told me then took another drink of his glass as he watched me over the glass. “I've spoken with your old bosses, they've decided to give you the opportunity to work for me and make some real coin.” Filch lied smoothly to me.
I didn't answer but my mind worked.
This was why I was here.
Apparently I was being intimidated into becoming a magical workhorse.
No doubt Filch would get a contract to operate in the mines if he could boast an earth mage in his employ.
He was wrong though.
Firstly, I wasn't an earth mage.
I was a wizard.
I didn't just have some gift that allowed me to control the earth, no.
I had no such limitations on my magic.
Secondly, he wasn't trying to employ me.
He was trying to press me into working for him with bullying and lies, a petty village bully with delusions of grandeur and a heart full of greed.
I could see it plainly, in his eyes, I was just a young man who could be forced into being his golden chit.
With my magic, I could strip the mines and at a pace no mundane team of miners could match. Hells, I could probably give a genuine dwarf a run for his coin.
I could pull out a lot of silver from the mines, silver that I'm sure Filch would love to get his hands on.
Call it the experiences of a traumatic childhood surfacing.
Or maybe I was just in a bad mood after having been treated this way by a petty bully and his thugs.
Whatever it was though made me angry and I might have overreacted in my response.
My mind focused and two bands of air, invisible to the thug and the bully in the room, appeared behind me, first those two and then two more.
With my will alone, they were held in place around Bart's ankles then his wrists.
A fifth flexing of my will and a ball of air hovered completely unseen before the thug's face.
Bart didn't know this though, because they weren't actually touching against his skin in any way.
Instead, they were like invisible vines, like shackles just wide enough not to make contact with the man, but floating there.
Waiting unseen, ready for my command, ready to tighten and constrict.
The ball of air in front of his face, just itching to dive forward and snuff out any sound that might come from his mouth.
I gave no sign of this, no indication that unseen magic was taking place behind me.
Instead gave Filch my coldest glare.
“You're a fucking idiot.” I told him in what I thought was a calm tone.
I saw his lip curl slightly as if he wanted to snarl at me like the mangy dog he was.
“You, boy are-” Filch began, but I cut him off.
“Shut your fucking mouth.” I interrupted him, my tone carrying a little more inflection than before.
The was a brief sound behind me that died away to nothing, but both Filch and myself showed no sign of hearing it.
I knew what had happened but the fool hadn't realised yet.
I spoke on before he could open his mouth again.
“You're petty little man.” I told him in a conversational tone. “You think you can just bully and lie to me to get what you want, don't you? I bet it works all the time for you, doesn't it?” I asked rhetorically, as if I were just speculating about an idle thought.
“Just lying and trying to scare people into doing what you want.” I continued. “You're clearly the kind of lazy piece of shit that would rather have others do work for you than do it yourself. I mean it's obvious after just having been here for five minutes. Just look at you.”
Filch's face grew red at my words and I could see his rage about to spill out.
“But you've fucked up this time.” I told him. “You really fucked up this time.”
I wish I knew what my face looked like because just as he was about to spew forth whatever rancid words he planned to say, we locked eyes and it was like his own body forced itself not to respond.
He looked away from me to Bart and his face took on a confused expression.
I knew what he'd see behind me.
Bart, the lead thug, straining his thick muscles, wide-eyed and seemingly unable to move or make a sound.
“I'm not an earth mage.” I said and it him took a moment to realised I had spoken, for him to look back at me, his face still confused.
“I'm not a mage at all actually.” I informed him. “You didn't even bother to find out my name did you?”
Filch just looked at me, he was clearly about to panic so I stepped up my own intimidation.
“DID YOU?” I demanded and the bully flinched at the sudden volume of my words. “WHAT IS MY FUCKING NAME?” I practically screamed at him, half standing and leaning over the desk.
“Al!” Filch got out. “You're Al! You work for the crafters!”
“You're more of a fucking idiot that I gave you credit for.” I told him my voice returned to that conversational tone as I sat back down in the chair.
It was me who leaned back in his seat, trying to seem casually relaxed now.
I can admit to myself that I was probably enjoying this too much.
The man reminded me too much of my uncle, even the way he had called me boy, that same tone of disdain.
As if being a boy was some kind of mistake, something lesser than he was, as if because of it I had to make it up to him for personally offending him, offending him just by existing.
There was a ruthless satisfaction in having my own power now, in not having to just try to survive and endure a situation, but instead actually being able to turn the fates.
I was angry.
I could feel that nest of cold anger I carried within, that mania of rage, begin to heat.
It was like small flickers of the true fire within were springing up, trying to come to life and explode forth.
My fist swung down and smashed into the desk between us.
At the same time my well of power flexed as I poured out pure force in rush of furious will.
The stone wall behind Filch, the wall that separated the office from the village outside, shattered.
The stone cracked in that instant before flying outward in chunks as if a great giant had taken a hammer to it, the mess littering the street below.
The clattering of stone hitting the ground sounded almost like the tinkling of bells after the ear-splitting roar of the shattering wall.
Filch looked around behind him, gaping at the missing wall.
I could hear men screaming and shouting from else where, I even noticed the thug who had been guarding the door outside on the street below, pulling himself up out of the rubble and getting shakily to his feet.
The thug below gaped up at the office that was now exposed to the air.
I thought Filch might be about to have a heart attack but I didn't care.
I stood up and the sound of the chair scraping on the floor of the office brought the man's attention back to me.
“Allow me to introduce myself.” I said as I casually waved a hand to one side, making the desk between us slide roughly to the left side of the room.
I took the two steps to cover the distance between us, I set my hands down on the arms of his chair and leaned down until our faces were almost touching.
“I am Lord Al Edo, of Marley & Edo.” I whispered. “And if I ever see you or your thugs again, I will keep you all alive while I turn your flesh inside out.”
My hand gestured once more and Filch along with his chair flew to the opposite side of the room that the desk had and out of my way.
I could hear men still shouting but those who had managed to make it outside had joined their thug friend in staring up at us dumbly.
I could hear footsteps pounding in the building, presumably men coming to aid their boss or find out what in the hells had happened.
I released my focus on Bart as I took a step off the gaping hole in the building.
I heard the door to the office crash open behind me but it didn't matter, the thugs below got out of my way as I floated at an unnaturally slow pace down to the street.
Not a word was said to me, nor were there any moves made to impede or get in my way.
I dusted myself off then casually strolled away down the street.