Hamond was starting to wonder if he should've volunteered for spear training alongside Senby.

  It had been on the Spellking's stated doctrines: anyone skilled enough at battle magic would have no need for weapons. It wasn't as if the Spellking didn't value armed men - he wouldn't have won the victories he had without them - but on a personal level, it was clear he preferred to go without one.

  Even here, at the very edge of Hyarch, Hamond found himself wondering if he would ever get away from the Spellking's teachings. Years of learning in the studies and libraries there were not so easily let go of. Although he held no desires for conquest and control, the underlying approaches to using spells were very much ingrained in Hamond's mind.

  "Are you still worried?" Edeline asked.

  Looking up, Hamond saw her standing over him with a concerned look. He'd been sitting on his set of blankets, waiting with the other two for Nela to return. It wasn't as if the Elefae healer was late. They had finished up early with looking through the stored weapons, sharpening a few. All of which Hamond could not help with, forcing him to merely watch.

  Which brought him right back to his frustrations. "More angry at myself than worried," Hamond told Edeline, climbing to his feet. "I should've realized being unarmed would be suspicious."

  "The truth is, I did consider abandoning my own sword more than once." Edeline reached down and took Hamond's hand. "But my choice to pursue sword training set me on a path that led to an empty street in Hallowscroft. Just as the choices you made led you to that same street...and to me."

  Hamond couldn't find an answer.

  "I would no more ask you take up arms than I would ask my brother to take up spells." Edeline paused, looking Hamond straight in the eyes. "A sword is part of who I am. Not carrying a sword is part of who you are. Is it not?"

  Yet again, she echoed his own thoughts, without having to hear him speak them. "Yes, although there's times I wish it wasn't."

  Edeline stepped forward and embraced Hamond. "We've both made mistakes. But more importantly, we made it past them. And we'll keep doing both, no matter where we go."

  Hamond returned the embrace, letting their shared warmth fill each other. He didn't want to release Edeline, holding on as long as possible. Just a moment for the two of them, with no need to concern themselves with any kings, any spells, any troubles. Just the two of them. Just Hamond and Edeline.

  Finally, Hamond let go. "There's something I need to talk to you about," he began.

  "Are you pretending I'm not in the room?" Myronel asked with a mischievous tone.

  Edeline gave Myronel a disgusted look. "And how many times have you and Nela only paid attention to each other?"

  "None here in Lasfont," Myronel pointed out with a smile.

  Hamond shook his head. He appreciated the effort to lighten the mood, but this wasn't the best time for that. The topic Hamond wanted to discuss with Edeline was very serious. Good humor and cheer could wait for this to be done.

  "Edeline," Hamond said, "Do you want to continue going north into Remuat?"

  Her eyes widened, if only for a second. "I would be lying if I said had no objections. While I could perhaps someday to live with this heat, I do not know if I can say the same about a kingdom where people are made to live as these ashabti."

  Hamond couldn't disagree. He'd told both of them about his earlier conversation with Senby, and there was no doubt it was weighing heavily in Edeline's thoughts. The portrait of life painted for them in Remuat grew uglier by the day.

  And yet, Hyarch remained more dangerous. "I just-"

  "You do not want what happened in Kelshir to repeat itself." Edeline grimaced. "I already admitted several times over that was my misjudgment. That's why we were working on those new spells though, so next time we have to fight a thaumaturge I will not do that again. And also...the Witch of Wrath is not here to threaten us. Have some faith."

  Hamond desperately wanted to, but his mind kept going back to the image of Edeline kneeling on the ground, broken and burned from her own failed spells. "I hope you're right, since Ugotlas also isn't here to help this time."

  "We will have Floire instead," Edeline stated, "Although I wonder if the captain might be overestimating the talents of this thaumaturge. I have the impression Takhat is far more desperate than she lets on."

  "I had the same feeling," Myronel said. He walked over the window, looking out into the streets. "The first person to show up knowing any sort of spell would get the captain's attention. While I still don't know a great deal about spellcraft, I can't rule out them knowing even less."

  "I agree too." Hamond knew that a couple of fairly simple spells could have impressed the guards here, while not indicating a deeper understanding that would allow Floire to do anything about the creatures, or the spell that reshaped their bodies .

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  "...with masterful arts shaped the flows of water and in turn shaped their vessels."

  "That's it, isn't it?" Hamond said, thoughts racing as it occurred to him. If the spell worked like that...then...it made too much sense.

  "What it is?" Edeline asked.

  "I think I figured out what the spell that was cast on the town did exactly," Hamond explained, "To confirm it, I'll need to get a look at where they've been pumping up their water. And we need to make sure we keep drinking the water we conjure, and not any of their drinks."

  "The water is a channel for the spell?" Edeline asked, catching on.

  "Part of it, yes," Hamond was glad they had chosen not to indulge themselves of the local beer or such yet. It was due in part to caution, after having their drinks drugged in that one village, but here it had saved them from far worse. "The water carries-"

  "Bad news!" They all spun to see Nela enter the room, Jylania following behind.

  "What's wrong?" Myronel asked. Soaked with sweat, Nela didn't answer, instead bending over and trying to catch her breath. She had to have sprinted with all the speed she could muster to get here. They certainly didn't need their situation to get any worse, but Hamond wasn't holding much hope now.

  "She's...here." Nela finally managed after a moment. "The Witch of Wrath."

  Hamond couldn't stop himself from giving Edeline a sour look. Edeline was apparently too stunned to notice, her mouth hanging open in disbelief. As for him, he felt nothing but cold dread, which he barely could keep under control. Aether, this could not get much...no, don't even think that, Hamond told himself.

  "Well, with luck she doesn't know we're here yet," Myronel said.

  "We've got shit for luck," Nela answered, straightening up. "She came in looking for me."

  "Of course." Edeline groaned, closing her eyes. "There aren't that many elven healers."

  Nela was the one who, for better or worse, naturally drew attention to herself and her healing talents. None of them were foolish enough to ask her not to practice those wherever they went. Their advantage was that very few people knew Nela was traveling with people of potential infamy. Clearly whatever safety that brought them was now coming to an end.

  "You're not hurt, are you?" Myronel moved over to look over Nela. "I don't think you'd have made it here if she was after a fight. "

  "No. The Witch wanted...a truce."

  Hamond could see why. If he had never seen a spell like the one that had affected Lasfont, than it was a reasonable bet the Witch of Wrath had not either. Even if it meant working with the likes of him, she was clever enough to know any knowledge, any assistance, would be welcome.

  "I don't trust her," Edeline stated, turning away.

  "I think she figured that," Nela said, "She mentioned something about it being the same sort of truce when she killed the Spellking."

  Both hidden threat and reassurance. Hamond shook his head, not sure how he was supposed to feel about the situation. At least, they would have...wait a moment.

  "Did she mention her own name?" He hoped he wasn't right.

  "Oh, right, she did. Now, what was it again? It's right there, I just can't-"

  "Floire," Jylania spoke up.

  "That was it," Nela said, "So, why'd you want to know?"

  He should've guessed.

  He really should've guessed.

  "Shit," Myronel hissed, having also realized the truth.

  "I suppose she gets her truce, then." Edeline took in a deep breath. "And probably a very upset captain to go with it."

  "So I'm not the only one with bad news?" Nela said with a snort. "Alright, what have you gotten into?"

  "The captain figured out I was a thaumaturge," Hamond explained. All the worries building up over the day were starting to exhaust him. "And she wanted me to help another thaumaturge named Floire...and now we know who that is."

  "So what you're saying is today was completely shit for all of us," Nela said, "Great."

  "Well, Hamond figured out something about the spell that created those creatures," Edeline replied, "It's something to do with the water, like you were saying?"

  "If my idea's correct, yes. It has to be some form of thaumaturgy related to the Sluice." Hamond had his doubts, since this still meant it worked differently than any spell he'd every seen. It just happened to line up with the description of the events of the past few hexdays here in Lasfont.

  "Is this a bad time to mention one of the guards stopped by and gave us water?" Though her words were neutral, Nela's face growing pale gave her fear away.

  Thankfully, it wasn't that big a problem. "I would hope a single waterskin couldn't carry enough magical energy to facilitate a spell like that. This had to have only worked because the people of Lasfont drank the water for months or years, building up the residual energy in their bodies. Then, when the spell was actually cast anyone in range who had drank the water over that time would be affected."

  "Aether, that's good to know," Myronel said with a sigh of relief.

  "But what if the spell was cast closer to here?" Edeline asked.

  "Let's hope we stop it before that happens." Hamond paused, knowing that with his luck so far today, the world might just attempt to spite him by having the spell go off immediately.

  Thankfully, it did not, so Hamond continued, "We do have one other problem we'll need to handle. Captain Takhat did learn I was a thaumaturge, but as far as we know, she doesn't suspect Edeline. But she'll know tomorrow, because the Witch of Wrath won't be hiding it."

  "We will probably have to explain the Elemental Hex as well," Edeline said, "You think we would have been smarter than this. We probably look like fools."

  "We're living fools though," Myronel said, "The best sort of fools."

  "The four of us will find out how long that lasts in the morning," Nela remarked.

  "Won't you be going back to go check on your patients then?" Myronel wasn't the only one surprised. Leaving them alone was very much not like Nela.

  "Believe me, I'd rather do that. But if does turn into a fight, me being right there means I can just put her to sleep before she can do anything about it."

  "Better than trying to cast our spells in that room," Hamond acknowledged. He certainly didn't have any plans in mind for a battle with the Witch of Wrath. The best he'd been able to do was keep the older thaumaturge on the defensive for a short time. Edeline's new spells might be able to surprise the Witch of Wrath, but they were still a little too destructive to use inside with them all packed together.

  "How about we assume that this will be just us talking and nothing else?" Myronel's voice had a edge to it that wasn't usually there. "Not everything is a fight waiting to happen."

  "Tell that to the Witch of Wrath," Nela shot back, "She threatened Merytuya. I'm not expecting her to be nice."

  "Fine," Myronel said, clearly holding himself back. "Just...try not to be the ones who start a fight."

  Hamond exchanged knowing glances with Nela, both in silent shared agreement. It would be nice if things proceeded peacefully, as Myronel hoped, but neither of them were expecting that. Preparing for the worst was the best choice, whatever that took.

  They could make no promises, because with someone as dangerous as the Witch of Wrath, there were none.

  Check out the Heirs of Hyarch website!