Ahrden was sitting in his cosy study going through potent spells, which were still beyond his reach to perform, when he felt something strange. Awe and worry simultaneously rippled through so many members of the capital that Ahrden could sense it even at his desk.
Putting the heavy tome down, Ahrden concentrated inward, heightening his senses to further investigate what was happening. Now that he explicitly focused on it, he felt the situation to be more urgent than he would have guessed in the first place. He felt masses flowing towards the City Hall, shouting excitedly, and the ones closer to the building itself were becoming increasingly worried over something.
After confirming his initial suspicions, Ahrden took a moment to remember that he had read about mages who were so aware of their surroundings that they could subconsciously detect the sudden changes of even a couple of individuals' feelings if it was sudden and severe enough. Being this the first time for him to have something like this happen, he was proud to have been able to detect such change—even if he needed half the capital to suddenly become severely concerned about something.
Standing up, Ahrden walked out of the house for the first time in days and followed the crowd to the City Hall. When he got closer, Ahrden saw more than half of the capital crowded around the building and spilling into the side streets that surrounded it. This alone wouldn't have troubled Ahrden, but what caused unease in him was the faint arcane signal that came from the building.
Ahrden reached out with his senses and concentrated on the building to better understand what was happening inside. Ahrden suspected that the cause of this turmoil would be in the Map Room.
Ahrden teleported to the far side of the City Hall, which was on the other side of the building, opposite to the entrance where the crowd was. Right beyond that wall was the room he sought, so he walked alongside it, feeling through the thick wall with his arcane senses, then teleported. He materialized precisely where he wanted, inside the Map Room, right next to the wall. No one noticed the barely audible sound of his arrival. He didn't want to scare anyone, nor let them know of his arrival yet. Ahrden hid himself with cloaking spells so well that it almost seemed excessive. He started walking around, sticking to the wall that encircled the room, trying to get a better understanding of what was happening. The ring of high-ranking officials all stood around something that was positioned next to the map table as they intensely argued, while the ones who were further back did everything they could to get a glimpse of that something. The scene must have been somewhat common, but what struck Ahrden as odd—and something that couldn't be normal—was the number of soldiers who stood guard both inside and outside of the circle of leaders.
'I've lost twelve good men of mine to capture this abomination, and you are telling me that it was all for nothing?!'
That was Durthel, the leader of the nation's elite warrior division.
'This Thing is unnaturally resistant to anything we have tried on it. We simply cannot make it talk—if it is even capable of that,' a council member said, whom Ahrden didn't know by name.
'We need to rid ourselves of this atrocity. I'm telling you,' someone else added.
'Don't you dare kill it! Not after what we have gone through to get it to you alive!' bellowed Durthel.
'Do we even know what this Thing is?'
'Nothing we have ever seen, nor does it match any record we have,' this was Ferdan speaking.
'I wish Berton was still alive. He might have had something useful for us,' someone commented to Ahrden's surprise.
'Not that fool, he had never been useful,' the anonymous disapproval came from the depths of the crowd, and said what Ahrden believed was everyone's opinion about his late teacher.
'What about his apprentice Ahrden?' asked Ferdan.
'We don't need that disgrace,' Kirthen answered in a tone that ended any further counterarguments. 'He does nothing but fail those who are around him. We don't need him here.'
No less than the general of the nation proposed to involve Ahrden, but it proved futile when he stood alone with his opinion in a room full of people who saw Ahrden as nothing more than a stain on the nation's reputation. Anger rose in Ahrden after hearing how the president talked about him and how his knowledge was dismissed.
He was silently walking around the group, listening while trying to get a glimpse of what the root of everything was. With rage rising within him, he was about to abandon his initial goal to find out what was going on and address the matter of how he was talked about by the leaders of the nation that only stood because he stopped Inferno, when he finally found a gap through which he could directly look at the reason for all of this.
The first feeling that came to Ahrden was shock and fright. The creature was indeed gruesome and horrendous. It was hard to accurately tell the size of this Thing since it was lying down in the middle of a massive cage that had thicker bars than the width of Ahrden's arm. Its skin was fully covered in scales with an overall muscular build; it had claws at the end of each paw and huge fangs protruding from its mouth. The scales looked sturdy and resilient as they dimly shone in the half-lit Map Room. The eyes of the creature could not be seen because it buried its head under its forelegs in front of it. The beast radiated power and confidence as it lay there, but when Ahrden first looked upon it, the creature immediately shot its head up and looked directly where he stood. The movement from the creature sent a ripple of gasps through the people present; some even let out a brief cry.
Looking directly into the creature's eyes, Ahrden saw that it was more humanoid than he would have initially guessed, but it was still closer to an animal than a human. The eyes bore a certain intelligence in them, and Ahrden no longer found it strange that the council wanted to make the creature talk. It was fully aware of its surroundings; it didn't try to break out of the cage like a trapped wild animal would have. It knew its limits and didn't go against reason to try to do what was not possible.
Ahrden could see the unmistakable marks of magic on the creature, and he could sense potent arcane radiating from it.
At first glance, it seemed that the creature originally didn't have magical origins, but it was later introduced to it, becoming what it is now by a powerful mage. Ahrden had read a great deal about magical creatures; there were two types, with each having two subcategories. The two types were the animals born with arcane powers and those who were later given it. Among those born with it were the ones who could either actively use it, and there were those who just passively gained unnatural advantages from the arcane power. None of the animals that were not born to possess it could actively use magic, but that did not make them any less troubling to deal with. Among the creatures that were given arcane, there were ones that were subtly enhanced in a way that the beast at the clearing was—which almost killed Ahrden—and others that were more drastically tampered with. The beast at the clearing resembled a bear in almost every way except maybe its size and its eyes. The presence of magic was only revealed when the animal came under attack. Although the spells protecting the beast were very responsive, they were not controlled by the animal, but instead followed the instructions of the one who created them. With animals such as the one in the cage, the transformation was done in a way to irreversibly change almost all attributes of the animal in order to make it suitable for whatever purpose the creator had. Given what Ahrden knew and saw, the threat was severe, and the danger grave.
Members of the crowd started looking through the gap where Ahrden stood, trying to figure out what got the beast's attention, but they couldn't see anything.
'It senses something,' an older member of the council said based on the many years of experience he must have had.
'It sees something,' Ferdan corrected him.
'There is nothing here,' someone directly next to Ahrden said.
Moments passed, and when no response came from any council members, someone in the crowd's cover worriedly asked,
'Could the creature be… of magical origin.'
With that, Ahrden dropped his disguise, making everyone around him jump in shock. Multiple soldiers drew their swords simultaneously and were ready to charge him, but Ferdan ordered them to stand down. Only Ahrden suspected how dangerous the creature in that cage really was and how important it was to deal with it promptly, so he couldn't waste any time.
'The creature you captured is a lot more dangerous than any one of you can begin to fathom. It was enhanced by very powerful arcane. I need a moment, so I'd appreciate a little cooperation. Do not agitate the Thing and do not give it any reason to try to escape. Wait for my momentary return.'
Utter silence ruled the room while Ahrden spoke. When he was done and no immediate objection followed, he wasted no time and teleported out of there and into his study. The last thing Ahrden saw was the widening eyes of the beast as it saw him casting the teleportation spell.
'How dare he sneak up on us!' a council member shouted when he was sure that Ahrden was gone.
'He wants us to wait here while he can read some books about magical animals?! I don't think so,' Renthard, the general's second, said and sheathed his sword again but did nothing afterwards.
'This boy thinks too much of himself to just order us about; he should be punished for this,' Lendal said, another vocal member of the council.
'And what do you propose we do, Lendal?' Ferdan shot the question back. 'Or I could be asking any of the other wise members of the council. Do you have any plans regarding this Thing which killed a platoon of our best soldiers?'
Ferdan was overstepping his boundaries, but he knew that if he didn't stand up for Ahrden, no one would, and in this unlikely situation, they couldn't do anything without the young mage. The whispering and murmur that arose after Ahrden had left died down again, and everyone was looking at the general now.
'No matter how much any of us dislike magic or anyone capable of wielding it, we have to have the wisdom to at least see when we are incapable of solving a problem without it. When we need the aid of the one you all so despise. We should be grateful that we have someone in our nation who is able to help us now. Unless any of you can come up with a plan on how to learn anything about this creature, I say we let Ahrden aid us.'
No one dared to oppose the general, not even the president, although they all would have if it wasn't the battle-hardened Ferdan saying all of this.
When Ahrden materialized in the exact spot he always did, he knew which bookshelf to go to and which book to take off. He had a rough idea about what the creature was, or what spell was used to turn it into what it was now. The book he was swiftly going through was an exploration journal of a mage who wrote about what he had encountered when discovering previously uncharted areas. Ahrden had read the book before and remembered having seen a drawing that looked very similar to the creature he saw today.
When he found what he was looking for, his heart sank, and he became even more tense. The creature the council had captured was most likely a wolf once, that was turned into this incredibly powerful and evil apex predator, which had basically no equal among those who did not wield arcane magic. Ahrden could not be sure of it, but he suspected that the only reason the beast was still inside that cage was because it chose to remain there.
This was not good news for the ones in the Map Room, but none of this alone would have caused Ahrden to be as anxious as he was, since it was just an enhanced animal at the end of the day, which couldn't directly use arcane magic. What had him worried so was that he remembered what the journal's author wrote after the general description.
As Ahrden read on, his fear came true about what he was truly up against. If the host animal proved adequate, the mage who turned the wolf into this apex predator could establish a mental link between the creature and himself, and through this connection, the mage could control the beast. If the mage was skilled and powerful enough, he could even channel his magic through the link, which resulted in the beast casting spells despite how the animal on its own wasn't able to. Based on the mage and his power level, the creature could function as an avatar, enabling the caster to send his arcane powers across multiple regions and carry out his will from a protected location.
Without knowing anything about where, how, or why the Thing was captured, Ahrden was certain that Kartesta Malitez was the mage behind the Thing.
Ahrden didn't have time to read on. He was fairly certain the Thing in that cage was controlled by Malitez, and that was the worst scenario that could have happened. What further supported this point was that such an apex predator, which had already killed many soldiers, wouldn't have rested peacefully in its cage as its captors circled around it if it weren't controlled by someone, and that peace wouldn't have been disturbed by the arrival of a well-concealed mage such as himself if the one controlling it weren't looking for him specifically. After refreshing his memory with what he had just read, Ahrden questioned whether the Thing was even captured or whether Malitez let the soldiers take it. It had to have caused enough damage to be sure to be brought to the nation's council, where eventually he would show up.
Ahrden had had several encounters with the Velintenal soldiers by now, but lately, he had also piqued the interest of their Evil King. When Ahrden made the attacking Velintenal army retreat in the forest after they had already won the battle, Malitez was forced to believe the rumours that had been circling for a while now about an active mage in the Polenteus nation.
The Evil King did his best to correct this defeat by attempting to single-handedly force the Polenteus nation to its knees by wiping out its capital. This again was prevented by Ahrden, which came as a much grander shock to Malitez because he was more than confident that Ahrden would be unable to stop his Inferno. Ahrden was sure that Malitez didn't let up with his efforts to conquer the entire Valley, but he thought about a different approach afterwards. The extended outpost that Ahrden had destroyed was one such attempt from him, and it must have been his breaking point that this too was stopped by a mere boy.
What Malitez attempted now told Ahrden that he either wanted to kill him or learn more about him. Neither of those options were to his liking, but if he was careful, he might be able to turn it around and use the situation to his advantage.
There were also other motives for creating such a beast, like to slay the ruling members of his nation, but this possibility seemed unlikely given how easily Malitez could have done it by now without going through the trouble of creating such a creature. If indeed that wasn't what Malitez was after, the most likely scenarios that remained were learning more about Ahrden or killing him. The problem was that since the Thing—and through it Malitez—had already seen him, his disappearance must have made the Evil King question whether Ahrden suspected who was behind the transformed wolf. Either way, staying away from the Thing could only further infuriate the king, something Ahrden didn't wish to do, so he needed to return promptly.
Ahrden turned to the creature's weaknesses with such transformation and mental link and learnt that a rare Kertenase crystal was the only substance that this kind of enhanced creature could not withstand. It was also mentioned in the book that the Linther flower could liberate minds that were overtaken by a stronger force. Based on the brief description, the crystal only needed to enter the Thing's system, while an elixir needed to be made from the flower. Ahrden had neither of these but knew where to find them.
Ahrden threw the book onto the table, and before it could hit the surface of it, he was already gone.
Felinda didn't startle as he materialized in her store.
'Kertenase crystal and an elixir from Linther flower! Do you have these?' Ahrden blurted out everything, forgetting his manners.
'I hoped you wouldn't need these, but the rumours are true then,' Felinda murmured, slowly turning around and shuffling to the counter that was between them. 'Crush the crystal; the finer the powder, the more effective it is. As for the elixir, try to get it into the bloodstream; if you can't, the mouth will be good enough too… But don't use it too soon; make Malitez suffer. Pain is also transferred through the link, and the crystal will be nothing short of agony for the beast.'
By then Felinda stood at the counter and spoke to Ahrden with a seriousness that was rare from her. This dulled Ahrden's rising anger that came from the fact that she had not brought any of these things with her. Next, she looked down at the counter and only then did Ahrden notice that all she had been talking about was already sitting there in front of them. She had not only anticipated what the Thing was but also knew and prepared what Ahrden would need against it. Felinda handed him a flask with a transparent liquid in it and a stone that was the size of half an apple, and it looked nothing like a crystal. She then also picked up a piece of crooked root from the counter.
'Crush the root too and mix it with the crystal. Use them together and before the elixir. The root will prevent Malitez from severing the link after realizing that he'd messed with the wrong person. This should give you enough time to make some use of this unique opportunity.'
'Thank you for everything. The council will cover the…' Ahrden said, grabbing the root too, but Felinda stopped him as he was taking a hold on the root.
'It's not going to be as easy as you might believe it at the moment. He is safe in his castle, but you and the others are not hiding behind an avatar. Malitez might be reckless because you can't truly hurt him directly, unlike the other way around. What you see is only a puppet, but the arcane will come from its master. Do not underestimate the feral beast.'
Felinda had never given such advice to Ahrden even though she had seen him go on dangerous adventures many times before. This alone scared him dearly, besides also sensing the worry within Felinda.
'I'll do my best,' was all Ahrden could utter before pulling his hands away, and in the next second, he was gone from the small shop.
Ahrden materialized on the edge of the Map Room and was relieved to see that everyone was still alive. Now that he was here again, it was his job to keep everyone living while also disposing of the threat, but not before he could learn what he needed. Members of the council started turning towards him, and some even started speaking to him, but Ahrden paid no mind to any of them. He took control of the situation.
While walking, Ahrden gathered arcane power to him. He dropped the crystal, the root, and the flask he was carrying to free his hands, but neither of them hit the floor. They stopped falling when they reached his waist level, where they remained floating and followed him. With his hands free, Ahrden reached out with his arcane power and pushed everyone towards the walls of the room in a somewhat gentle manner. Everyone standing in the room started slowly sliding towards the walls, and no one could do anything about it. When everyone was clustered around the edge of the room, Ahrden erected a dome that mimicked the actual wall of the Map Room all the way up to the top of the dome. The only difference was that his dome was smaller and fit under the real one, while there was just enough room for the people stuck between the dome and the wall to stand and observe. All that remained under the dome was the cage with the Thing in it, the round map table, and Ahrden.
The animal remained motionless; it just stared and examined the developments around it with its eyes that were too human to belong to any animal. The Thing hadn't shown any sign of aggression yet. Ahrden wanted to believe that he could recognize Malitez behind those eyes, but unfortunately, this was not the case. He continued walking towards the cage, but it still got no reaction out of the Thing. He wanted to make the situation more appealing to reveal the answer to his question as to why this beast was really here.
He focused on the cage, wrapped his power around all the bars it had and fed energy into his arcane hold on it. Once he felt the stored energy to be enough, he pulled the structure apart, and the whole cage was torn to pieces from around the Thing. The parts went flying everywhere, hitting the inside of the dome and making the blue arcane wall flare up from the contact. This seemed to have been more fascinating to the Thing than the fact that it was no longer a prisoner of the cell. The calm with which the still motionless Thing observed the spectacular display of Ahrden's power further deepened his suspicion that the only reason it hadn't escaped so far was that it didn't wish to do so, although it easily could have at any moment.
Once no more parts of the cage were flying, the Thing brought its attention back towards Ahrden, who hadn't stopped walking towards it. When he was only a few strides away, he stopped. By then, Ahrden had a protective shield around himself if the Thing tried anything, but it seemed to be peaceful for the time being.
'Who are you?' Ahrden asked in a low but firm voice, deciding not to reveal that he knew the answer.
'No… That is not the right question…'
The Thing's protruding muzzle was clearly not designed to talk, yet Malitez, who controlled it, could make it obey to the best of its abilities. The result of this struggle was a hissing yet deep voice, which escaped the animal's throat and sent chills down the back of everyone who heard it.
'The real question is, who are you? How did you come to be? Among these arcaneless peasants. Against all odds.' Malitez continued talking through the Thing.
'Someone whom you are already too afraid to face in person.'
'Do not kid yourself, boy. You are but a sentence in the history that I write.'
'And why is that, O'mighty Malitez?'
Shouts spread through the crowded mass beyond the dome. The Thing turned its head agitatedly; it became visibly uncomfortable.
'You think you are clever, don't you, boy?'
'For you. I did stop your army, your Inferno and your outpost. So yes. For you, I am.'
The Thing let out a deafening scream which reverberated in the vast Map Room. It came so suddenly and was so overwhelming that at first, Ahrden thought that it was a battle cry after which an attack would come, but then the harsh sound turned into a rasping laughter.
'I'll walk over your dead nation, boy, and you'll only be spared long enough to see me do it. I came here to see who I was up against, but you are nothing but a cocky apprentice with no master.'
'Are you sure that is how you want to regard the one who has bested you and will defeat you?'
This time the Thing only laughed. Saliva dripped from its mouth, and despite the ease with which the once-wolf animal was being controlled, the beast part of the Thing visibly strained from the effort to talk so extensively.
'Your own nation hates you. Do you even know what they say about you? You have barely lived. Living through a few blood-soaked days is not called experience. You have nothing but books. Any doubt, question or request you have, born and die within you, because you have no one to turn to. Where is your mother? Where is your father? Where is your teacher? You not only failed them when they lived but also when they died. I ate through your most elite fighters with this wretched dog that resembled nothing anyone here had ever seen before. It had flashing arcane on its claws and fangs and the wounds of the dead cannot be mistaken with a mere bite or a cut from some beast. Who asked for the mage to come and take a look at it? Who arrived at the obvious conclusion that the boy with arcane could maybe do something with this arcane atrocity?'
Malitez paused for a moment. He let his words seep into everyone's skin. He didn't need to wait long for the truth of what he said to cut everyone with a special kind of knife—but only pierced Ahrden's heart.
'And finally, you are utterly alone, boy. While I have more people behind me than you have people in your nation, all you have behind you are daggers, swords and drawn bows eager to end your life.'
When the Thing stopped talking, silence settled on the Map Room. Malitez said nothing but the truth, and everyone there knew that. That is why it was so powerful.
Ahrden needed a few moments to respond, and when he did, he sounded broken. How could he not? The demons he fought were brought to life by shouting their names into the air. The enigmatic Ahrden was read like a book by someone who wasn't even present, and every enemy of Ahrden was there to hear it.
'If you are so confident, why hide behind your castle? Why don't you duel me and prove your superiority?'
'That is what I came here to assess. I would have. Had you been a real threat. But you'll die under the wheels of time, like another insignificant speck. And you are not worth my time to do it myself.'
Before Ahrden could do anything, the Thing jerked its head to the side, snapping its neck with one fluent motion without any strain or struggle. The lifeless Thing collapsed to the ground, never to move again. Ahrden stood there baffled and unharmed, yet he felt utterly defeated. He ceased all spells, letting the flask, the crystal and the root fall to the ground, while the dome disappeared as well.
Others started approaching him and even talking to him, but he heard nothing. Ahrden stood there silently with a growing crowd around him until someone touched him on the shoulder. He raised his head up and looked the president standing in front of him dead in the eye.
'Next time you find something you don't understand, you come to me,' Ahrden said while looking from one leader to the other. 'You come to me because there are things that can kill all of you at once, with their mere breath. If I find out that you have been keeping such things from me out of pure arrogance and pride, I'll make you pay, and you'll pay dearly.'
'What gives you the…' Renthard started, but he could not finish what he was saying because he flew backwards in the next second, knocking everyone aside in his path until he hit the wall of the room, and from there, he slid upwards.
When Ahrden stopped Ferdan's second, the warrior was so high up the wall that the fall would certainly break both of his legs, if not cost his life, yet no one objected or interfered with the situation.
'Finish the sentence. I dare you,' Ahrden said while looking up at Renthard.
'Lower him. Slowly,' Kirthen said.
'Do it now, Ahrden,' Ferdan reiterated the president's command.
Looking around, Ahrden saw that he had four marksmen with drawn bows aiming at him on every side. Until now, he had his right hand extended towards Renthard to guide his power, but he in no way needed it anymore. When he lowered his hand, gasps escaped a few mouths, but no action was taken when the council member didn't fall. Ahrden turned towards Ferdan without a hint of worry in his eyes.
'Give the order… I…' Ahrden couldn't finish the sentence because the order had been given, and he had arrows to deal with.
To be honest, this move deeply surprised him after what he had been through with the general, but it seemed that it mattered little to the warrior when it came down to his own men or him. Simply teleporting out of there would have saved him from the situation, but it would have caused at least four injuries because those released arrows had to hit something, and in that crowded room, it was unlikely that it would reach the wall. Ahrden cast the well-practised shield around himself, just in time for the arrows to plunge into it. The shield was not strong enough to make the arrows break upon impact, so they all penetrated the arcane field, but about halfway through it, they stopped. Ahrden felt the four holes on his shield, and he snapped the arrows in half where they met the arcane field before discarding the shield and letting the arrow pieces fall to the ground.
Ahrden looked up and saw that Serden, the leader of the group he had saved from that ambush some years ago, which almost cost him his life, was quickly closing the distance between them, charging at him with his sword drawn. When the warrior leapt, Ahrden cast a spell that made the metal armour stop in the air. Serden himself wasn't affected by the spell, resulting in him crashing into the inside of the no longer moving armour. The incident looked rather strange from the outside, but it was clear that the clash was painful.
The lieutenant immediately went limp, dropping the heavy sword from high above where he hung. The expensive weapon loudly clanged on the marble floor, and blood started dripping onto it from the cracks of the helmet.
Ahrden felt the guards closing in on him from behind, and he prepared while letting them swing their swords in a wide arc and stopping them only when they neared his head. He trapped the three soldiers behind him in his arcane too, although they weren't hurt in the process. He wanted to freeze and display the grotesque scene as three armour-clad soldiers brought their broadswords down on top of his head from behind him. That is how cold-bloodedly they were willing to murder the one person who could, at any level, interact with and dispose of a threat such as this. This was how badly the nation's council wanted the one member of the nation whom they couldn't understand to die. All of this happened moments after he had offered his aid to them to deal with any threat they didn't understand.
Ahrden stood tall in the room, which was silent after everyone saw the blood-chilling reality about their true nature. The scene showed something that was already known by all, but seeing it so clearly was something none was prepared to witness. This had a similar effect as what Malitez said; putting the truth out there could not be compared to having it float around in the back of everyone's mind.
'Do not look away when your true qualities are revealed. I bled, fought, and sacrificed for this nation, only wanting to give more from what I could offer. My only sin was not withering under your prejudice. With great sorrow, I had to see how unfit the leaders of my nation were; now, after many years, my pain is only greater when I see that even with time, these leaders could not realise their mistake. Despite the power I wield, I cannot make you see reason. I can only do so much for the people of my nation when the leaders remain ignorant and hollow.'
Ahrden looked around in the hall, where the only sound that could be heard was the dripping of Serden's blood. Ahrden let Renthard slowly slide to the floor and carefully placed Serden on the ground. He then turned around and, with a flick of his wrist, sent the three swords hanging over his head flying upwards until they were firmly planted in the ceiling and gently shoved the three soldiers backwards while letting them go from the arcane prison.
'I changed my mind. Don't come to me anymore. Do not seek me out for help as I'll not aid you anymore. I hereby forfeit my right to be a Polenteus citizen.'
Gasps all around the room escaped everyone's mouth.
'Don't do this Ahrden, you'll regret it. Let us come to an arrangement,' Ferdan said.
'I merely lose people who had shunned me my entire life, whereas you lose that which could have been your salvation against a nation that knows powers you do not understand. Kirthen, you will live to see how unfit you have been all these years.'
Ahrden looked around one last time.
'And regret it; you will. You all will.'
Ahrden stood before his house with a heavy heart and an aching feeling that he suspected would come one day. He looked around and took the whole scene in as best as he could, for the last time. He looked at the neighbour's house, who always complained when some strange smoke seeped from his study's window. The other neighbour was a great friend of William when he still lived, but barely tolerated Ahrden after the Choosing.
Ahrden walked around his house, arriving in the garden at the back, where his father had trained when he was young, just like many generations before him had. Undoubtedly, William was planning to teach him here one day, had he not chosen a different path. Instead, he got to duel his father here, which proved to be the only occasion when Ahrden felt that his father was proud of him.
Ahrden walked back around to the front of the house. The street was still empty; the crowd remained around the City Hall, unaware that the threat had been dealt with. Ahrden moved closer to the front door and stopped when he was at arm's length from it.
Focusing inwards, Ahrden called upon the arcane powers. And it answered his call. Ever-present but always dormant powers started churning up from his call, which was so emotionally saturated that they could not remain idle. He felt himself fill up with arcane might, which was his to channel as he desired. Without opening his eyes, he effortlessly cast a dome that formed a protective barrier around him and the entire house as a sort of safety measure, but he doubted that it would be needed.
Ahrden then placed both of his open palms onto the rough wooden surface of the door and channelled the waiting arcane energies into it. He was strengthening the structure of the house against what he planned to do with it later. He was in no hurry, and what he was trying to achieve required a great deal of power, so he knew that the process would take a while. As time passed, Ahrden remained there, motionless, channelling arcane into the house and soundlessly mouthing the incantation. He was conscious to the degree he needed to be, but as the hours went by, his brain started to focus on only what was essential, and he stopped actively registering most of what was happening around him.
It was before noon when he started his casting, and the sun was half under the horizon when he was still pouring arcane power into his house. If he were to look at it now, the house would have glowed in a bright purplish-blue colour so powerfully that it bathed the darkening street in its light, with hundreds of people standing around it staring at the slowly progressing events.
When Ahrden felt that the house was strengthened enough to withstand what awaited it, he stopped chanting. He opened his eyes and saw the plain wooden door in front of him, which was radiating so brightly that it surprised him. He lifted his hands off the door and spread them to either side of him. He felt the arcane power humming around him, surging in the air coursing through his home. He thought of the location he had visited and memorized for this exact occasion and planted his hands back onto the door again.
Ahrden cast the teleportation spell like he had never before. He said the words loud and firm, with his voice booming from the arcane energies that saturated it, but he took no notice of the scared reactions coming from the gathered crowd behind him. When word got out about what had happened in the Map Room and what was happening at Ahrden's house, people started gathering around him in a similar way they had gathered around him when Inferno assailed them. Attempts had been made to communicate with Ahrden, but nothing could penetrate the shield, not that any of them had strained from the effort. Everyone understood the importance of what was transpiring without a single person knowing what was truly happening here. The assembled mass only grew as time went on, so when Ahrden started casting the teleportation spell, his thunderous voice sent a shock through the rows that rippled all the way to the back.
Ahrden repeated the spell three times; the subtle arcane fire from the first two spread through the entire structure of the house, preparing it for what would follow. On the third time, he poured all of his power into the spell, which activated the powers the previous two had left behind as the sparkling arcane light danced across the walls of the building. The house itself was too big to just simply teleport, but the many hours he had spent soaking it with arcane had not only strengthened its structure but also provided fuel for the spell that now came.
The immense arcane powers at play suddenly released a blinding light none had ever seen before, which prevented anyone standing there from seeing what was happening within the dome. In the next second, the light went away as fast as it had come, leaving nothing but darkness behind.
Every person standing there seemed to have immediately forgotten their ill thoughts and deep disdain, which they felt and projected throughout the many years towards the young mage that had lived in their capital. All the foul feelings they had towards the unwanted ally disappeared the moment they laid their eyes on the gaping crater that stood where his house had stood a moment ago.
'We are doomed.'
was the only audible thing anyone said in the crowd. No one reacted to it much, but all agreed with the statement as the people started walking away, knowing that whatever threat would come at them next, they would only have steel against it.