Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 48

A month had passed since what the commoners were calling the ‘Battle of Four Couches’.  I absolutely loathed the name.  Certainly, the was a commonality between their being four armies, four mages, and four couches, but it just left a bitter taste in my mouth.  It wasn’t the first time a battle was given a ridiculous name, though, and my expectations for humans’ ability to name things weren't high, to begin with.

I shook my head, as I considered the matter before me.  I stood before my tower crystal with the inert dungeon core in hand.  The tower crystal could absorb it to improve somehow, though I wasn’t certain exactly what it would do.  There were few records on the topic, and most were simply suppositions. 

This was also the first time  in more than a month that I had visited this room.  I was happy to see that the giant spider I had placed as a guard was still alive, given that all those tasked with feeding it had been preoccupied elsewhere.  That it could survive on mana alone was a little troubling, but I would annotate that as another area of study.  Between the doorways available through my new Authority, the studies on the Asrid Flower, and the research into a Longevity spell, I had more than enough to occupy me. 

And that was just the magical studies I had tasked myself with.  Jax had requested to depart my service to apply the new Beast Bond spell across the country, supposedly in preparation for the coming Pestilence.  While it might save a few lives, I doubted it.  That didn’t stop me from agreeing to the matter, though.  The young man had the urge for adventure, and I wouldn’t keep an assistant that didn’t want to be here.  I'd provided him with a bracelet crafted for conjuring two wind elementals to fly with, somethung I hoped might speed his journey.

With both he and Leslie off on quests, it left Philipe a very busy mage.  Between his responsibilities and assigned studies, the man was teetering on the edge of a stress-induced breakdown, and only the advice given to him by my former assistant now Alderman Kine seemed to keep that from happening. Still, the three of them had proven more trustworthy than the Pyromancer Diedre. 

After her supposed revenge was sated, she had absconded with everything the Silverflame had owned without a word to anyone.  Given her promises to me beforehand, I couldn’t help but to be disappointed in her duplicity.

Loralie and Pyl had returned with me, as well as several new guards and magic-users.  A shaman named Nictus, among them.  Pyl had been able to study the growth of Death Crystals among the battlefields around Gold Castle. and was working on a new project that excited both he and the witches to no end.  Some sort of crystal mirror to commune with the spirits of the dead, and possibly summon them forth into the world.  I was both apprehensive about it and enticed.  

If it worked, I would be able to speak to my mother, Ram, or an entire number of lost comrades and friends. 

Even the ghosts of old mages with secret knowledge.  The opportunities presented were worth the risks, even if I urged them to proceed cautiously.  I believed I fooled them all on the matter, except for Loralie.  Somehow, the woman seemed to be able to see right through me in a lot of things. Still, the matters of romance and the heart were a distraction I didn’t need at the moment.  Hopefully, we would survive long enough to have time to explore a relationship, but that was only if we survived.

I sighed and shook my head.  Even here in my sanctum, the woman distracted me, and I could hear her musical laughter tinkling in my ear.  

With a glance at the tower crystal, I chose yes on the option for it to absorb the dungeon core.  Some other time, I might have been able to reconstruct the original artifact, but I wasn’t certain how long that kind of research would take.  Rather, empowering the Tower Crystal would give me a more immediate gain, even if I wasn’t certain what that gain would be until after it occurred.

I analyzed and documented the changes for the next few hours, before I proceeded back upstairs to attend dinner.  Lilly was conspicuously avoiding me since my return, and I planned to address that today.  However, as I reached the first-floor dining hall, I found my former assistant Baron Alred Froom sitting at the table eating.  If I had thought Count Wilchrest’s expression after victory was smug, Alred’s looked like a cat that had just eaten a bird.  

Beside me, my seneschal bowed, and spoke, “Presenting Alderman Nemon Fargus.”

I gave him a look that said there would be discussions concerning this afterward.  While I might have given orders not to be disturbed when left to my sanctum, and turning away a guest wouldn’t be appropriate, there had to be a better solution than this.  So dour, he didn't even smile when I informed him his family in Gold Castle was safe and sound.

Alred bowed his head, “Good Evening, Nemon.  I was just telling your seneschal how great Derrick’s cooking is.”

I quirked an eyebrow, “Derrick?”

My seneschal politely coughed into a fist politely, “Derrick is your new cook’s name, my lord.”  

“Ah, yes.  Quite so.” I answered quickly, though I was thankful neither of them pursued the topic.  After the pause, I spoke again and moved to take my seat at the table, “Good to see you, Alred.  You look excited.”

Excited might have been an understatement.  Despite his advanced age and his noble dress, the man looked as giddy as a child getting sweet cake.

“Nemon, I was able to reach the fifth-tier.  Not just that, I was able to select Planar Lord following your instructions.  I have been to the different planes, and I think—I think we might have a place to retreat to.  You may have given me the key to saving humanity, my friend.”  He spoke quickly, ignoring the crumbs that flew out of his mouth.  His eyes were alit with an excitement and hope I’d only seen in wizards and freed slaves.

Yet more than his tone and expression, I was taken by his words.  The different planes had always held an interest to me.  They were close to the frontier of magic, and even I could only reach a small part of their power.  If Alred shared what he learned there—I was beyond interested in hearing.

“Alred!  Tell me everything.  Where did you go?  What did you see?  Your class, what skills does it grant?  Have you created your own—”

I couldn’t keep speaking before something crashed through the wards of my tower.  It wasn’t an attack, but a signal of divine might.  The odor of blood, and the loud piercing cry of a raven echoed through all of us.  Both Alred and I looked at each other in surprise. I rose and rushed up the stairs to the top of my tower.  I could hear his footsteps behind me as we ran.  When we reached the top, I could see all my guards staring south, and I looked in that direction as well.

There wasn’t much to see. I thought there was the barest shade of red against the black horizon, but it might have been a trick on my eyes.

The sun had set. Beyond the stars and darkness, the skies were clear.  Yet we all felt it.  The Tervans had summoned their Blood-God.

“What does this mean?” Alred whispered behind me as we started in the darkness.

“My old friend, it means we have much less time than we suspected.  The Pestilence is here.”

This chapter is the epilogue for the second book / arc!  Thank you for reading and supporting the Wizard's Tower story.  I hope you enjoyed it.   

As mentioned previously, I will be taking about a week from today to outline the next arc/book.  

If you have suggestions for what you liked and didn't like for this arc, please feel free to mention them here!  No suggestion or comment is a bad one, and I will be collecting them all for when I looked to edit and rewrite this arc.  

Again, thanks for your support and for reading, Wizard's Tower will be back soon!