Chapter 26: Divided Efforts

EVINE

A peal of thunder echoed over the castle as a downpour of rain pounded relentlessly against the cobblestone path leading from its main entrance.

A day had passed since the lion’s share of Ellesmere’s forces departed for the city of Freyr, leaving only a small contingency of guards posted as the castle’s defenses.

With the majority of the castle’s usual magic protectors also aiding in the war effort, the remaining guards of Ellesmere were also without the benefit of detection wards, requiring them to maintain a defensive perimeter on the castle the old-fashioned way.

Chancellor Agatha Alastair was on her way to check on the guards as another clash of thunder echoed above. She clicked her tongue distastefully at the atrocious weather.

~Almost makes me wish I was on the front lines,~ she mused. ~At least Freyr probably has more tolerable weather than this.~

Just then, a flash of lightning lit up the sky, illuminating a figure standing on the parapet wall in front of her, hunched over like a gargoyle. Another flash, and the chancellor watched in quiet terror as the figure pulled itself up to its full height.

“Hello there,” said Evine. Her long hair was matted to her face by the pouring rain, giving her an especially ghostly appearance. “Sure is dreadful weather for an invasion, wouldn’t you agree?”

***

LYDIA

The army departing for Freyr had stopped to set up camp for the night in a sizeable clearing at the edge of a vast forest. As the soldiers raised their tents and collected firewood for the night ahead of them, Lydia wandered through the ranks restlessly, trying to discover where Gabriel had wandered off to.

As she reached the outskirts of the encampment, she found Lucius instead, sitting by himself at the edge of a small pond.

Lydia let out an audible sigh. This was another conversation she had been hoping to avoid for the time being. Even so, now was as good a time as any…

Lydia casually strolled over to the old wizard and sat cross-legged next to him. She stared out at the pond, where a cluster of dragonflies was currently flitting to and fro between the long cattails that protruded from the water.

“So,” she said. “Gabriel tells me that you’ve stopped drinking.”

Lucius took a deep breath before replying. “As much as it pains me to admit,” he said, “I’ll actually be needing my wits about me for what lies ahead.”

Lydia stared at him. “So that’s really all it took, then?” she asked dubiously.

“Well,” Lucius scratched at his beard, “I suppose that isn’t all of it, I’ll admit.”

Lydia knew he was referring to her disappearance. Lucius would never admit it drunk or sober, but he cared deeply for the Fire Slifer he’d raised from a baby. His sobriety was an acknowledgment that he wanted to atone for allowing her to be kidnapped under his red nose.

There was a pause as the two of them sat in silence, watching the dragonflies.

“This is a dangerous war,” Lucius said at last.

“All wars are dangerous,” replied Lydia. “I suppose it comes with the territory.”

“Maybe so,” said Lucius. “But this war specifically is more dangerous than most.”

The old wizard sighed. “I won’t try to mince my words,” said Lucius. “I was a horrible guardian to you. At the behest of a higher power, I allowed myself to become cold, controlling, and manipulative. I agreed to raise you as an instrument of the Gods but never stopped to question whether or not this was the life you wanted.”

Lydia listened in silence.

While she had seen the cracks in the wizard’s armor before, this was something else entirely. The formerly guarded old drunk of a mage was letting his walls break down entirely, making himself emotionally vulnerable in a way that she had never seen before.

~This must be how children feel,~ Lydia thought, ~when they realize their parents aren’t heroes or monsters or saints, but real, flawed people...~

“I suppose it’s too late to make things right,” Lucius continued. “But at the very least, I can do everything within my power to prevent them from becoming worse. Which means I will do everything necessary to ensure that you make it out of this war alive.”

Lydia smiled faintly, tears glistening in the corners of her eyes. “Thanks, Grandpa,” she said faintly. “And for what it’s worth, I think you did the best you could have in your situation.”

Lucius shrugged. “I’d like to think so,” he said. “But still, I feel as if I’ve robbed you of agency with my complicity in this so-called destiny.”

Lydia stared out at the pond. “I think I’m going to start making my own destiny,” she replied. “And I’m going to start by saving Ignolia.”

***

ELISE

Elise sprinted through the corridors of Ellesmere Castle, not risking the chance to look over her shoulder out of fear that it might slow her down. Behind her, she heard several dozen footsteps as a group of the invading Wizard Hunters chased after her in dogged pursuit.

Still recovering from her grief, the Wind Slifer had elected to stay behind while the rest of the Slifers and Royals decided to march on Freyr. She was now beginning to regret that decision.

Tapping into her natural abilities, Elise concentrated as a strong gust of wind blew open the corridor’s windows. The air swirled around Elise before creating a tailwind, pushing her forward and increasing her running speed to evade the Wizard Hunters.

Elise rounded the corner, only to be met with a dead end. More specifically, she was back at the opening, which led to the castle balcony. Hearing shouts from the hunters behind her, Elise took a deep breath and, summoning her powers to aid in her flight, took a running jump over the balcony ledge…

...And immediately felt an intense stabbing pain in her abdomen, causing her to spiral wildly out of control and crash into the cobblestones below.

Trying to recover from this painful landing, Elise rolled onto her side to stand up. Blood mingled with the water pooling between the cracks in the cobblestones as the rain continued to pour down mercilessly.

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you that jumping out of windows is dangerous?” came a voice.

From her position on the ground, Elise lifted a bloodstained hand to wipe the rain-soaked hair from her face. She saw Evine, slowly stepping toward her, dagger in hand.

Her midriff was bare, and Elise noticed a fresh cut seeping blood near the woman’s hip, in the same place where Elise herself had just felt a stabbing pain.

“Poor little songbird,” Evine said, striding toward the fallen Elise. In her peripheral vision, the Wind Slifer could see the shapes of Wizard Hunters moving toward her as well, surrounding her on all sides.

“It looks like someone had to go and clip your wings.”

Evine crouched down, looking at Elise almost sympathetically.

“It’s over,” Evine said. “Ellesmere has fallen. Chancellor Agatha Alastair of the Magical Congress is dead by my hand. My Wizard Hunters flood the streets of the city. You may as well just surrender at this point and save me the time.”

Elise mumbled something in response, her voice drowned out by the rain and thunder.

“Excuse me?” asked Evine, feigning politeness. “I didn’t quite catch that.”

Elise spoke again, her voice a mere whisper in the sprawling storm. As she spoke, a gust of wind blew over the area, further obscuring her words.

“What did you say?” Evine demanded, the politeness gone from her voice. “I demand that you repeat yourself, Slifer!”

Through her pained expression, Elise was able to give a weak but triumphant smile.

“I wasn’t speaking to you.”