told her
good-humoredly, “I must admit you get that from me.”
“So how are things going with the
Collective?” Alia asked and she was surprised at how frankly
curious she really was. She may have handed the reins of leadership
over to another person, but there was a part of her that still
wanted to be the one that everyone looked to for guidance. A part
of her wanted to know that no matter how capable the hands were
that held the Collective together that they were not as good as
hers. She knew it was a vain desire, but could not help herself
from feeling it.
“We were visited by spies recently,” Xander
took another drink and his normally smooth brow became furrowed as
his expression shifted to one of concern. “Two Kenzai of modest
ability. We dealt with them harshly, but not before taking the time
to interrogate them first. Unfortunately, they didn’t know where
the intelligence that led them here came from, but it is clear that
someone in the kingdom knows or at least suspects that we are
here.”
Alia stopped herself from speaking for a
second, but decided to ask the question that came to mind. “Do you
think Byrn has anything to do with it?” she asked and immediately
feared the answer she might receive.
Byrn had disappeared more than a year earlier
with the Kenzai knight, Kellen, and had not been seen since. The
last Alia had heard of Byrn’s whereabouts was from the former orc
commander, Zakux Doombreaker, who tried to kill Alia and Tomlin
when they went looking for the missing fire master. The orc had
told them that Byrn was a demon-sorcerer and that he turned into a
terrible fire monster and destroyed most of the city. It was
unclear what happened to Byrn after that and her sprite friend,
Alphene was only able to track him to Silvering before losing the
trail of his essence, but from Zakux’s description of events Byrn
was nobody’s prisoner. Her own father, the most powerful
necromancer in the world, had tried repeatedly to summon Byrn’s
spirit from the underworld without success meaning that he still
lived. So why had he failed to return to her? When she first met
him, Byrn was a knight-magician under the service of one of the
warlords in the west. She did not want to think that Byrn had once
more chosen to side with the kingdom over the magicians, but who
else knew where the Collective was located? Even Kellen who had
been their prisoner had no idea where he was being held. Sadly, the
only thought that gave her hope that Byrn had not betrayed them was
that he was rotting in a dungeon somewhere while his captors
tortured him for information. A chill ran up her spine at the
thought.
“I don’t know, but fear the worst,” was
Xander’s answer. He did not care to expand on what he meant by “the
worst,” but Alia did not press the matter.
It was Xander who changed the subject as he
finished off his glass of wine. “Sending spies here shows that the
kingdom fears us already. It may be time to strike against the
noble families and cut off the heads of the hydra as it were. Our
numbers are still too small to stand up to the full might of the
kingdom if it was arrayed against us, but without unified
leadership we can bend them to our will in small patches of
territory at a time or crush them into the dust if need be.”
“No matter the size, the body cannot act
without the head driving it,” Alia agreed as she poured some more
wine. The body cannot act… Wine poured out over the rim of
Xander’s glass as she filled it.
“Alia?”
“The body cannot act without the head!” Alia
blurted uncontrollably in her excitement. “I thought it was an
enchanting spell. A powerful one beyond my ability to understand
like an ancient secret of some long-dead grandmaster, but maybe it
is something different altogether! I need to speak with one of our
manipulation masters.”
“Alia, try to calm yourself and tell me what
you are talking about,” Xander pleaded. He rose to meet his
daughter who was
good-humoredly, “I must admit you get that from me.”
“So how are things going with the
Collective?” Alia asked and she was surprised at how frankly
curious she really was. She may have handed the reins of leadership
over to another person, but there was a part of her that still
wanted to be the one that everyone looked to for guidance. A part
of her wanted to know that no matter how capable the hands were
that held the Collective together that they were not as good as
hers. She knew it was a vain desire, but could not help herself
from feeling it.
“We were visited by spies recently,” Xander
took another drink and his normally smooth brow became furrowed as
his expression shifted to one of concern. “Two Kenzai of modest
ability. We dealt with them harshly, but not before taking the time
to interrogate them first. Unfortunately, they didn’t know where
the intelligence that led them here came from, but it is clear that
someone in the kingdom knows or at least suspects that we are
here.”
Alia stopped herself from speaking for a
second, but decided to ask the question that came to mind. “Do you
think Byrn has anything to do with it?” she asked and immediately
feared the answer she might receive.
Byrn had disappeared more than a year earlier
with the Kenzai knight, Kellen, and had not been seen since. The
last Alia had heard of Byrn’s whereabouts was from the former orc
commander, Zakux Doombreaker, who tried to kill Alia and Tomlin
when they went looking for the missing fire master. The orc had
told them that Byrn was a demon-sorcerer and that he turned into a
terrible fire monster and destroyed most of the city. It was
unclear what happened to Byrn after that and her sprite friend,
Alphene was only able to track him to Silvering before losing the
trail of his essence, but from Zakux’s description of events Byrn
was nobody’s prisoner. Her own father, the most powerful
necromancer in the world, had tried repeatedly to summon Byrn’s
spirit from the underworld without success meaning that he still
lived. So why had he failed to return to her? When she first met
him, Byrn was a knight-magician under the service of one of the
warlords in the west. She did not want to think that Byrn had once
more chosen to side with the kingdom over the magicians, but who
else knew where the Collective was located? Even Kellen who had
been their prisoner had no idea where he was being held. Sadly, the
only thought that gave her hope that Byrn had not betrayed them was
that he was rotting in a dungeon somewhere while his captors
tortured him for information. A chill ran up her spine at the
thought.
“I don’t know, but fear the worst,” was
Xander’s answer. He did not care to expand on what he meant by “the
worst,” but Alia did not press the matter.
It was Xander who changed the subject as he
finished off his glass of wine. “Sending spies here shows that the
kingdom fears us already. It may be time to strike against the
noble families and cut off the heads of the hydra as it were. Our
numbers are still too small to stand up to the full might of the
kingdom if it was arrayed against us, but without unified
leadership we can bend them to our will in small patches of
territory at a time or crush them into the dust if need be.”
“No matter the size, the body cannot act
without the head driving it,” Alia agreed as she poured some more
wine. The body cannot act… Wine poured out over the rim of
Xander’s glass as she filled it.
“Alia?”
“The body cannot act without the head!” Alia
blurted uncontrollably in her excitement. “I thought it was an
enchanting spell. A powerful one beyond my ability to understand
like an ancient secret of some long-dead grandmaster, but maybe it
is something different altogether! I need to speak with one of our
manipulation masters.”
“Alia, try to calm yourself and tell me what
you are talking about,” Xander pleaded. He rose to meet his
daughter who was
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