Though Rovenna was forced to relive the mortifying experience of riding horses for most of the day, as soon as her entourage began to leave the castle behind, she felt relieved at the thought of returning to her beloved, sunny Nemertya where her home, her books and her tea awaited her. She was even willing, if possible, to take a few days of well-deserved rest for having successfully completed the not so easy task of convincing that big-headed man, who called himself Guardian of the Circle, to reinstate the Order of Shadowrock.

As soon as she had obtained confirmation, without wasting any more time she communicated the news to Theo through the elven mirror: he had ten days to select the candidates who would become his own subordinates once he had assumed his new position as Master Leader of the Order. And once Rovenna finally arrived in the capital the new Order would set out on its journey to the south.

From the mirror, the transfixed wizard looked at her with his lips parted as if he wanted to say something but the breath had left him. He had never expected it. In all that time he had worked for Rovenna, she had not made him any promises of promotion. However, the surprise was followed by some objections, as was to be expected. Theo did not understand why she had to send him so far away from Nemertya to a place that had no connection to him.

Precisely, Rovenna had explained to him that this was the perfect opportunity to recruit as many wizards of commoner origin as he wanted, not only Masters, but also Acolytes and Initiates who would be trained by him himself. Away from the control of the Conclave and under the wing of the Count of Shadowrock, who in turn was in strained relations with the royal power, Theo would be free to make his own decisions as long as they aligned with Rovenna's plans, of course.

In the face of this, the young Master could not object. Rovenna was offering him, to a certain extent, what he had desired for so long.

There was nothing more pleasurable for the Master Arcanist than to shut everyone's mouth especially when it came to subordinates who did not hesitate to question her decisions. As Fidelia had done so many times.

Ah, Fidelia. It had not been among Rovenna's plans to send her to the mountains but that turn of events would be good for her, and, besides, someone had to ensure that Myrius did not commit any recklessness. If the situation were different, Fidelia would be the leader of the expedition, but her seal left that out of the question. Still, her former ward would know how to handle it. She had already proved it by uncovering the mystery of the Elementals and playing a crucial role in the capture of the traitors. And all without being able to use magic. Too bad no one but the people involved were aware of all that.

Rovenna had not yet lost hope in her, but neither was she willing to make things easy for Fidelia. She had already proven that she still kept her integrity by not abandoning her team to head for the island. Now the time had come to earn absolution.

The other good news was that Eldrin Caedos, who in a matter of days would be found and brought before the High Arcane Tribunal to answer for his crimes, was out of the way. Zoran had chosen several wizards from the Control Division to immediately head out in pursuit of him. It was ironic to Rovenna that the vengeance she had once craved to consume was now being handed to her on a platter by him, and it hadn't even been required to plan a conspiracy. He had ruined himself.

Though that no longer mattered to her. The old grudges of the past had been extinguished, and after so many years all Rovenna could feel now for the wizard was uncaring pity. To think that he had been on the verge of taking her seat and now found himself being pursued by the very Council he had dreamed of presiding over.

Time was a whirlwind that could throw you into the most unthinkable places.

However, all that story about the chimera...

Rovenna still suspected that there was something else that the count had not confessed to her, but as a concession of their new alliance she had let it slip.

But doubt lingered in her mind. If Eldrin wanted to marry off Lady Olivia at any cost, why had he not turned to the royal family when the king would have no impediment in forcing the count to do his bidding? It was highly unlikely that the count would risk armed conflict, or so she would have thought before she discovered what was cooking in the Shadowrock experiment tower.

Behind all that, though, lay a far more crucial question: why were several players on the board so obsessed with a powerless girl whose alliance with the prince would bring nothing but political headaches?

The path was strewn with traps, and Rovenna would have to move much more cautiously than usual. The mere fact that she was now concealing the existence of both the chimera and the arcanio made her worthy of a nullification seal as much or perhaps even more than Fidelia. It was a clear betrayal of the Conclave that if discovered would mean immediate death.

But unlike her, Rovenna would not let herself be caught so easily, not when something far greater than her position as Master Arcanist was at stake. Even her own life meant nothing compared to the disaster that was advancing towards Terrarkana like a giant wave, sighted in the distance, from which one tries to run thinking that there is still a chance for salvation.

Someone else would deal with Eldrin Caedos. He had long since ceased to be a match for her.

For, in truth, her real opponent was galloping not far behind her.

She and Zoran hadn't had much occasion to talk while he was busy inflicting torture that had done little to find the truth... or so he thought. The traitors kept moaning that there was a chimera on the loose in the kingdom, but the Leader of Control was unwilling to believe such nonsense. The chimeras had taken refuge in the Roaring Mountains like the cowardly beings they were, and posed no threat to the wizards.

Rovenna could not predict when but someday the arrogance of the wizards would be their own undoing, though she herself was not one to condemn them.

At least Zoran was so busy with the idea of capturing Eldrin that he had forgotten about the matter of the disbanded Order of Shadowrock, leaving Theo a free hand. Rovenna couldn't help but smile thinking about how the young plebeian and the count, two men of very different backgrounds and ideas, would have to deal with each other. Too bad she couldn't be there to witness it.

But now she had to focus on how to survive that unbearable journey. Only two days had passed since they had crossed the gates of the castle, and already, since the first day, a burning pain pierced her whole body and every now and then she felt the desire to jump off the horse and let herself be crushed to death by its hooves, although this time the idea of seeing herself again in Nemertya in a few days helped her to bear it all.

That illusion vanished on the third morning. As they were about to set out as soon as the first rays of sunlight appeared, a messenger galloped towards them. After bowing his head, the man handed the parchment to the Master Arcanist, who already feared that something serious had happened in Nemertya, although she doubted it since every night she went away from the camp so that Theo could keep her abreast of the progress in his selection of aspirants. Apparently everything was going smoothly.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

However, as she finished reading the parchment, she wished it had been the opposite.

The report the messenger gave her spoke of strange energy fluctuations that had occurred in the gulf, some distance from Misty Dream, and another second episode occurred on the way between two towns on the eastern fringe.

A suspicion struck her like a bolt of lightning, and her body stiffened even more.

If the Count had not lied to her, Olivia and the chimera were heading east.

But they were supposed to be traveling by sea, unless some mishap had befallen them along the way and they were forced to continue by land.

It was too much of a coincidence but in view of the events of the last few days she could leave nothing to chance when so much was at stake. Even Jasper Bloom could be involved in all that, although that did not explain the second episode that had occurred far from the coast.

She had no choice. Nemertya would have to wait. Even if it was nothing more than hearsay from wizards who had nothing better to do in those tedious little towns, she couldn't rest easy until she could verify it for herself. The only thing she truly regretted was that she was forced to continue riding and sleeping outdoors.

She passed the parchment to Zoran.

“I must head east,” she informed him. “I will take some wizards with me, and you will continue with the rest to Nemertya.

Zoran's eyes grew darker than they already were.

“If my superior allows me,” he said scrunching the parchment, and avoiding the discomfort he felt from calling her Master Arcanist. “I don't see the need for you to take care of the matter yourself. It would be a waste of your valuable time that you should use to deal with more important matters in Nemertya. It is up to the Control Division to deal with these suspicions.”

Under normal circumstances, even Rovenna would have agreed with him. Besides, she was not happy about the idea of him returning to the Council on his own while she was absent from her post, but there was nothing to be done. Theo would keep an eye on him even though he was already carrying enough on his shoulders. But, well, if the boy was willing to become Master Leader, he'd better get used to the weight of the duties that awaited him.

“Maybe so. But if this were to be related to the attack on the lake, then all the more reason for the Master Arcanist to be involved,” she answered, emphasizing the last words. “Your duty now is to escort the traitors. It is not a request. It is an order.”

Zoran did not like to be left aside just like that, and raising his voice he began to complain.

“If it's Eldrin Caedos all the more reason...”

“Zoran Wildheart!” she said in an authoritative voice, stopping him from continuing. “Know your place. If this is Eldrin's doing, I will be the one to deal with him. As you well know, I have done so in the past, when you were still a whining child who could not tear himself away from his mother's skirts.”

The rest of the wizards in the retinue looked at each other, some suspicious, others hiding their smirks. Rovenna knew that several of them supported Zoran's future appointment so, as she gave them a stern look, she called out the names of those most trusted to escort her.

Zoran held the reins so tightly in his hands that they might as well have bled at that moment.

“Still, you are not...”

“You are the Control Leader and as such you answer to me!”

“The Conclave...”

“You are free to go cry to the Conclave, and on the way to your mother once you reach Nemertya.”

Hearing that, some of the wizards put a hand to their mouths to stifle their laughter.

Rovenna would have wished to add that she knew very well how much he liked to brag about his family name, and that this was nothing more than a bunch of letters put together, a consolation gift the elves had given to the first wizards to make them feel important and thus earn their vassalage. But she also did not want to fan the flames any more than necessary.

Zoran said no more and Rovenna, forgetting the pain at the pressing desire to get away from the man, broke away from the group with four other wizards who followed her at a gallop.

The fastest way to reach the eastern fringe was to head first towards the territory belonging to a nobleman who had his own port and a ship big enough to cross the distance between one end of the gulf to the other. It took them a day to reach that point, and while they were taking control of the ship, Rovenna sent one of the wizards as an emissary to the nobleman's castle to explain the situation. There was no time for protocols. They had to set sail as soon as possible and her authority as Master Arcanist allowed her to do as she pleased without worrying about offending the nobles.

It was already dark when the ship stopped near the eastern fringe and, after being transferred into a smaller boat, they broke camp for an early start the next day. They were not going as fast as Rovenna would have liked and she even came to wish, to her bewilderment, that she could have counted on one of Korinna Franko's ridiculous flying brooms. They could have used magic to travel at night, but she didn't want to drain the horses' energy or that of her subordinates, as they didn't know what they might encounter.

At a breakneck pace, taking advantage of every moment of light, it took them two more days to reach the first village and meet the wizards of the Government House. They told them that they had put all the towns in the area on alert and that many of the responses they had received coincided in that they had felt an instability of energy that had caught their attention. Some had even gone to the place where the eruption had occurred, although they did not find much. There was nothing in plain sight to indicate any strange occurrences, except for the disturbance in the Etheric Dimension that only a wizard or magical creature would be able to notice.

Rovenna wanted to inspect the scene herself, and asked to be guided to the site. They arrived at sunset, but she did not need much time to confirm what the local wizards had told her.

First they found the remains of a campfire that indicated that some travelers had passed that way, but that was very common, and, no matter how many people had been registered, no one had manifested enough magical power to provoke such an important instability as that one.

Upon arriving at the river bank, Rovenna herself was surprised when she found a magical disturbance that despite the days that had passed had not yet been completely extinguished.

As she held out her hands, streams of golden symbols of various shapes appeared before her like a mantle that someone has lifted to show what lies beneath. All around her, the symbols floated like snowflakes suspended in the air, except for a good portion of them that had piled up and swirled about themselves like a little whirlwind of leaves. It was nothing significant but still it must not have been there.

Any use of magic, however minimal, caused variations in the surroundings, not perceptible to human senses. Depending on the power of the seal, this variation could last an instant or even a couple of days, but if the reports were correct, it had already been about ten days and that anomaly persisted. That should not be happening.

Being near the shore of the lake she had sensed the trace of a similar anomaly, also quite powerful, but as she was more concerned about the political consequences of the attack she had not paid so much attention to it. After the combat between wizards and sirenians it would not have been unusual for the energy to be unstable.

A wizard could not have caused that. Not even Eldrin.

An elf, perhaps, but none of them would give up their immortality just to go for a walk around Terrarkana.

Nor could a chimera have caused it.

It was something else.

However, without any more clues than that, it was hard enough to decide in which direction to go. The creature that had caused the anomaly could be anywhere, and it had left no trace.

Among the travelers no one suspicious had been found, however, if the culprit was indeed so powerful as to cause that energy fluctuation, Rovenna was convinced that it must also be able to block its power to pass unnoticed at the controls.

And now Rovenna felt like meeting it.

It was no more than a guess, a simple bet, but still, the next morning they resumed their journey at full speed. Even so, barely taking a few moments to rest and with Rovenna's whole body boiling with pain, it took them two more days to glimpse the first signs of the town.

But it was not houses they saw first, but a dark cloud that, as they advanced, enveloped them like a sinister fog that soon invaded their lungs and forced them to stop.

Rovenna should have been surprised, but deep down she had expected something like that to happen.

A fire.

Like the one at Dragon Lake.