The Lightbearer's Gift

My shield popped into existence an instant before a boulder the size of a carriage smashed into it with enough force that I almost lost control of the spell. The boulder practically disintegrated as its momentum was reduced to zero.

While my mind was focused on controlling the spell Sten shouted.

“Ambush, Moon keep that shield up, Sarah, Brandon start taking pot shots at the ridge line the boulder came. Everyone, make for the exit of the Canyon”.

Everyone burst into action heading for the exit of the canyon, careful to stay inside the shield.

I couldn't sustain much more than a slow jog as I focused on keeping the shield up. As we ran more and more boulders smashed into it. I glanced up to see the man casting the spell before ducking back into cover as Sarah and Brandon returned fire.

Other than his bright red hair and black armor I couldn't make out much. He cast another spell, this time a bolder rose from the ground next to him and splintered into hundreds of smaller rocks. Instantly the rocks were fired forward sounding as if a thousand whips were cracked at the same time. One part of my mind realized they had to have broken the sound barrier.

The rocks smashed into my shield and the surrounding area, kicking up a large amount of dust as they destroyed the ground around us. The hundreds of supersonic rocks hitting my shield was enough to drive me to my knees from the strain of sustaining it.

“Come on, Moon, we're almost to the exit. You can do it.” Breala said as she helped me back to my feet. Her normally stoic tone betrayed the fear she was feeling, since the only thing keeping us from certain death was my shield.

The ridge line slowly sloped down eventually leveling out with the riverbed. While this was happening Brandon would poke his upper torso outside the shield for a second and fire. Hitting a target from low ground while moving and firing through a cloud of dust was enough to make the normally expert marksman constantly miss.

Sarah would occasionally cast low powered fireballs up at the mage but being on the low ground made it difficult to aim. It was impossible to move a spell construct through the shield so she had to completely exit to fire up at the mage. As we neared the end of the canyon the bombardment finally ceased.

“Formations, keep a close and watch for the enemy”. Sten ordered. We immediately turned around and headed to where the mage and his group were but there was no one to be seen. They had likely rushed back into the hills since their ambush had failed.

“Lilian anything? “Sten asked.

Her eyes were trained on the surrounding woods as we approached the sight of the ambush. Her ears twitched as she tried to detect any sound.

“No, they're gone. “Lilian confirmed.

“Can I drop this shield now?” I asked.

Sten nodded and I canceled the shield. I let out a long sigh and started to repeatedly clench my fists as the chill was starting to creep in.

“Good work on the Shield Moon. “ Sarah said, sounding sincere.

“Lilian, I want you to start tracking these bastards down, so we don't get surprised again,” Sten ordered.

He turned his attention to me. “Moon, how much of your strength have you used up.”

“Perhaps two thirds I'll need around 10 minutes to recover. “I said.

“Alright everyone drop your packs, down some water and rations we move out in 10. Lilian, I want you to scout the area to make sure that we aren't surprised. report back in 10.” She nodded in affirmation and dashed into the forest using her stealth abilities to disappear.

“Hells, I didn't think they would come even further south.” Sten said, chastising himself.

“Don't worry about it too much Sten, we all assumed they would be days away, but we survived.” John said.

“Thanks to Moon here, we didn't all become paste. “Tanner said as she slapped my back.

“Ain't that the truth, if we don’t die on this contract the first round’s on me.” Mikah said, looking down at the devastation we escaped. Dozens of boulders littered the ground all the way to the exit.

“I for one will die old and fat not on this gods forsaken hill. When this is over Moon, I'm taking you to Gardenia’s to celebrate, my treat. “Brandon said.

“As long as you're paying, “I said. Sharing a smile with him.

Lilian came back a few minutes later and started to give her report.

“They retreated a few leagues further into the forest. I put their number around 30.They are probably wearing the plate looted from the Baron's last group since their impressions in the dirt were so deep. Their trial is easy to follow.”

Sten brought out a map that showed the local area.

“So they likely headed in this direction” he said, using a finger to draw a path perpendicular to the canyon.

“There is a significant increase in incline a few minutes walk in, yet they maintained their pace. More than likely they are preparing a secondary ambush at the very least they are falling back to a position of Strength.” Sten said, rubbing his chin.

“Lilian, I want you to discover where they’re setting up. Make sure you're not detected. We will move into the forest and slowly follow their trail since they didn't bother to mask their path.”

“It will be done.” Then she sprinted off into the forest masking her presence once again.

“Weapons out, keep your eyes and ears peeled Moon. I want your shield up at the slightest hint that someone is about to attack us.”

We walked slowly following the obvious trail of stomped grass and broken leaves. Tensions were high as heads were on a constant swivel twitching at every animal cry or call of a bird. Our paranoia at being ambushed rose as if every tree would have a waiting enemy. 20 minutes of this and I was almost hoping we would be attacked since the tension was somehow more stressful than being bombarded by boulders. We followed the trail up the hill as the incline increased gradually to at least 30 degrees.

Eventually there was a sound of Lilian clicking her tongue, meaning she was closed and wanted to stop for a report. She came out of nowhere and we all crouched around close to hear her report.

“They are a few minutes’ walk ahead if we continue. The mage has walled off the area around a small plateau so we can’t approach from the front. Since he has an excellent view, he can throw rocks down at us from his elevation. He has men standing on top of his fortifications likely looking out for us.”

As she was talking, she was drawing out a crude dirt representation of the small plateau up ahead. The hill was quite tall so there had to be a break in the steep slope. If we were to approach from behind we would have to navigate up the hill then down a steep slope and somehow get past the fortification.

“How strong are the conjured stone walls?” Sten asked.

“They're crude but they're at least 5 paces across and 10 tall. It's around 20 in the rear and thicker. ” Lilian said.

“Could you get through it with a fireball?” Sten asked Sarah.

“Yes but the power required would leave me effectively useless for the rest of the fight…..unless”. She said as she glanced at me.

“Unless I cast invigorate on you after you use it. Then you will completely crash when the spell wears off.”

The crash afterwards would be severe. Using invigorate so soon after magical exhaustion would make her effectively useless for the next few days.

“Can you find us a path behind them since approaching from the front is certain death? “Sten asked.

“I could,” Lilian said.

“Ok here's the plan Sarah I want the single most powerful fireball you can muster hold nothing back when destroying that wall. Moon as soon as she fires the spell. I want you to cast invigorate on her.”

Sten erased part of the wall then drew an arrow to the opening in the wall.

“Once we approach, Moon I want you to use your radiant lance to take out the people on the upper wall including the mage if you can. Then I want you to invigorate yourself and flash the opening. Assume the earth mage will try to respond so I want an immediate shield.”

He then drew another arrow entering the opening. “Since most of the men are within the wall, I want us to remain close to Moon so we can defend against the earth mage. With Sarah as fire support inside the shield we can quickly kill off the defenders.”

“Sarah and Brandon Once we have finished them off it's going to be your job to take out the mage standing on the wall. It isn't very tall so a massive cone of fire or an expert shot should take him out. ”.”All agreed?” Sten asked the entire company.

“Agreed” everyone said.

Lilian led us around the makeshift stone fortification at a far enough distance to where we couldn't be seen. We were higher up the hill to the point we were looking down at it. The small plateau couldn’t be any more than a hundred feet across. We could spot figures upon the wall.

We were well outside Sarah’s range, so we had to slowly ascend the hill towards the taller back wall. Once we were within Sarah's range of around 400 feet. Sten nodded to her.

Using her amplifier she began to cast. Her spell circuit grew more and more saturated with Ether to the point where it began to crackle with red lightning. It grew even stronger still to the point where any further would likely lead to spell circuit destabilizing.

Then she fired. The pulse in the ether felt almost physical as the unleashed the spell. The 20-foot wall was obliterated as it expanded into a hundred-foot ball of fire. Instantly I cast invigorate on Sarah.

She went from pure exhaustion to brimming with energy in an instant.

We sprinted down the hill to the base of the destroyed fortification. I charged my radiant lance and walked the beam along the top of the walls when I was in range. I hit the 4 that weren't blown away in Sarah’s blast, their bodies completely cut in half by the beam. Even that was a significant amount of power. At the opposite end of the circular wall the earth mage finally got his wits about him and began to launch boulders at us.

There was still a lot of fire and dust from Sarah’s blast, so he was firing blind.

“Secure the breach, don't let them inside.” a man shouted.

Once we reached the base of the wall, I spent a few seconds casting invigorate on myself. “And overcharged the flash spell.”

I immediately yelled “FLASH” the company knew to close their eyes when I said this.

There were some screams as the spell went off.

I immediately summoned my shield as we crossed through the breach in the fortification. My shield was a much better target so the Earth mage on the wall started raining down boulders. It wasn't enough to break my shield, so the rest of the company moved in. Only a few of the bandits were stunned. There were about 30 of them vs our twelve.

We rushed in and the ones who weren't blind immediately went on the attack. 20 men sprinted towards us. My shield allowed slow moving objects, so they passed through it and went into combat with the company.

Sten took up the front line and with Breala and Caan to his left and right and started carving away at the bandits number. Tanner and John were in the rear to guard me. Sarah was close by expertly lobbying firebolts over the heads of our allies, peppering the enemies with fire and incinerating anyone who tried to flank us. Her ability to fire lob those in an ark was impressive. So I made a mental note to ask her if she can teach me.

“Kill the light mage you fools.” the earth mage on the wall shouted. He had a few archers next to him, but arrows would do little good against my shield.

One after another the bandits started to fall. Their greater numbers meant little with Sarah as support. Whenever one tried to run around the front line they were hit by fire or pierced with an arrow. I put all my strength into maintaining the barrier as the earth mage pummeled it with spells. Men and women yelled and cursed as sword and spear met flesh and bone. Slowly we began to turn the tide.

“Aaaaahhhh”. John yelled next to me. To my horror a sword pierced directly though his breast plate and came out the back. No normal sword could ever do that, so it had to be enchanted.

“Enchanted blade” Sarah yelled as smothered the man in a cone of fire. Caan fell to the ground, the blade still buried in his chest. But none of us could spare him the time since we were still outnumbered by 3. The mage seeing this yelled in frustration “Damn worthless fools.”

A cold chill of fear ran down my spine as I watched him pull out an amplifier from a satchel. No one else seemed to notice him doing this so I yelled.

“Brandon Sarah, he has an amplifier. If my shield breaks you have to take him out or we're all dead.”I practically screamed.

A look of dread came over her face as she looked up at the mage. He was in the middle of casting a spell. My dread was rising as the power started to surpass even Sarah's fireball. I didn’t know what he was going to do but I knew it would be massive.

Deciding to throw caution to the wind I poured every ounce of Ether I had into the shield. It glowed so bright that it was getting difficult to see outside. An instant later a spike of stone rocketed out from the ground at a low angle. The sound it made when it contacted my shield sounded like an oddly metallic explosion and caused my ears to ring. The spiked tip broke against my shield,but the sheer power of the spell nearly caused me to lose control.

The rest of the company was still furiously battling with the remaining bandits. It was commendable that they were able to maintain focus on the fight while the mage hammered the shield. Another spike erupted from the ground striking the shield again. I reeled from the strike and still his spell didn't end.

“Another strike like that and my shield is done for. When it goes down you two have to end him. “Sarah and Brondon Nodded.

A third spike rose from the ground and struck with even greater force than the first two. My shield shattered; I simply had nowhere near enough power to block the final spike.

The spike went over our heads and pierced the partially destroyed wall behind us. The spell still wasn't done. however, the mage in his overconfidence had left himself wide open and Brandon loosed an arrow.

It struck true and managed to catch him in the upper chest in an exposed portion of his armor. It was enough to break his concentration. Seizing the opportunity Sarah instantly reacted and fired a spike of earth that erupted from the ground. Her aim was true as it had enough force to bury itself in the mage’s chest.

The mage fell backwards while clutching the spike of earth. This was actually the first time I've ever seen Sarah use earth magic. The rest of the company fought furiously to finish off the rest of the bandits.

Sarah and I threw small bolts of fire or light to help finish them off. Breala buried a sword into the chest of the final man and as soon as the fight finished, we rushed over to John.

Immediately I placed a hand on his head and examined him. I knew instantly that there was no chance he would live. The sword pierced through his liver partially into his diagram. At some point the sword was pulled out and he was lying in a puddle of blood. Maybe if I was at full strength, I could heal him but I had barely 5% of my stamina left.

I could see in the ether that his life was fading away. “I can't heal him, it pierced his liver and he's lost too much blood.”.

“What no you can't just give up on him like that I've seen you heal worse.” Sten said, his voice full of concern. He was partially correct. Sten did see me heal a guard who had a blade buried in his chest. But I pushed myself to near complete exhaustion and had to use invigorate to complete the healing.

“I just don't have the stamina Sten, “I said.

John was barely clinging to life at this point and was gasping for air.

“What about invigorate? You can use that to get your stamina back.” Tanner pleaded. She had a nasty cut across her forehead that was bleeding into her eye. It looked as if she was crying blood.

“It loses effectiveness with repeated use. I would probably get half of it back and be unconscious for the next day or two. It still wouldn't be anywhere close to enough to heal him. I'm sorry but there is nothing I can do. "I said, unwilling to meet her eyes.

I was lying though, there was one thing I could do. In their rush to get to John some of the bandits were still clinging to life. I could rip the life from them to recover some of my stamina or even give that life to John. Unlike invigorate, this didn't have any side effects.

But to do this I would have to explain what I was doing and one look in the ether would be enough to tell him that I was not healing him the usual way. This would lead to questions that I did not want to answer.

The fact that I was a unique mage would be known since I was using ether no one could see. How would Lilian react, or Sarah. Can I trust them to keep it a secret from those who would wish to exploit me. I couldn't know. I took a deep breath as I resolved to let John die so I could keep my secret.

“It’s alright Tanner, save the Moon’s healing for yourselves. “John gasped out.

“Sten” he gasped out, “You take care of Bennet and the boys you hear me.” he forced out through the pain.

“Of course, I'll make sure of it,” Sten said, his voice full of grief.

“It was a hell of a fight” John said as his eyes started to lose focus.

“I'll see you in the next life, my brother,” said. Sten.

Mark, John, Mikah, Caan, Tanner, Breala , Brandon and even Sarah and Lilian repeated it.

I kept silent.

No one seemed to notice.

“I'll-see you…….” He tried to force it out but there was no strength left in him.

I watched within the ether as his life faded into nothing. The white glow within him dimmed then flickered and then finally snuffed out like a candle.

There was about a minute of silence before Sten said.

“Moon see to everyone’s injuries. Those who don't need it start looting, pick everything you can off that mage and bring his body. It's Part of the contract.” Sten said, his eyes still locked on John.

One by one I stitched bandaged and healed wounds. I didn't have the power to heal them fully so I used just enough so that they wouldn't get infected. Cann seemed to get lucky as his armor prevented the blade from peircing deep enough to hit anything important.

30 minutes later the mage’s body, the sword and everything else of value was brought into a small pile. Curiously, I picked up the amplifier. There was small staff similar to Sarah’s if a bit more ostentatious. The gold and diamonds were a bit much for my taste. The bronze colored gem at the top glowed much brighter, likely meaning that it was far more powerful.

I brought it over to Sarah who was taking a seat on a random boulder. “What is something like this worth?”

She took it and cast the same earth spell she used to kill the mage with the amplifier.

“It's a 3 to 4 times amplifier, it's worth thousands of golds” she said with wonder in her voice.

“There's an empire seal on the bottom so this had to be issued by the Earth Magic Institute. This is a bad sign. What’s some random earth mage doing so far south with such a treasure?” she said looking at the corpse said mage.

“That is the million-coin question. What do we even do with it and the blade? “I asked.

“Enchanted blades are worth their weight in gold, this seems to be made of Mithrite so it's even more valuable.” Sarah said.

“It would be best to turn them over to the Baron for a bounty. Trying to keep either of them would be a great way to end up dead. These belong to someone, and they are usually someone with power and influence. It's best to keep your head down.” she said.

I would be tempted if it was a light amplifier but I didn't even know any earth spells so it was a shame we couldn't even sell it.

“How did you get your amplifier since they're so regulated?” said, taking a seat next to her.

Either she was simply too tired to act her usual haughty self or the near-death experience was enough to get her to open up.

“It belonged to my great-great grandmother from my mother’s line. It was passed down to the eldest daughter as a tradition until I received it. Fortune smiled on me since I turned out to be a fire mage” she said.

“Can I try it?”

“What?” she said, sounding slightly indignant.

“The amplifier I was curious about how it works.” She looked hesitant and just sighed and handed it to me.

“Fine look at the base through the Ether instead of channeling directly into the spell circuit , channel it into that Mithrite Sigil. Then channel the output from the gem into your circuit.”

Mithrite was a metal that conducts Ether, so I started to channel ether into the Mithrite. The Ether flowed through a complex web of Mithrite inside of the staff and then Fire attenuated Ether poured out of another Mithril sigil near the top. I could see that the gem was slowly losing power. I knew that these types of gems would slowly regain lost power.

Immediately a stronger stream of Ether began to flow from another sigil made of Mithrite. If I had to guess it was about 75% stronger than what I supplied. Dismissing the Ether vision I tried casting the flame spell. It took a few tries to get a hang of it but I quickly understood it.

The amplifier has a multiplicative effect on the ether up until it reaches a certain energy level. At that point it can no longer amplify and will simply act as a gate for the ether. Stronger Etheric Gems can have higher multipliers and higher maximum energy levels. For the earth mage’s amplifier to be between 3 and 4. It is a wonder we didn't die in the fight.

“I suppose the mage wanted to keep it a secret that he had the amplifier.” I said as I handed it back to her.

“That was my thought as well. If it gets out that he had it there would be a massive manhunt to find him, His sentence would be death along with anyone who helped him in acquiring the amplifier.” Sarah said.

“I'm sure right now you're imagining what you could do with an amplifier as powerful as this.” Sarah teased, she had a smile on her face as she said this.

“Was I being that obvious? “I said, chagrined.

She gave a slight chuckle and said “No, your face rarely betrays your true feelings. I'm sure you only show us what you want us to see.”

I suppose if there were anyone who could see through my mask it would be her.

“That's what every mage thinks when they get close to a powerful amplifier, ‘what could I do with that kind of power?’ ”

“Damn Raichon to all the hells.” Sten said. As he read a scroll.

“What is it, Sten” Mark said as he came over to read the scroll.

“Oh that is bad,” Mark said.

“Well don't leave us all in suspense,” Bast said.

“He was hired by the Baron of Suncrest to attack this trade route for what reason I'm not sure, but this could mean war.” Sten said.

“Why would he have something so incriminating on him” I asked,

“Insurance, that they don't betray each other, those men were far too skilled for ordinary bandits. I'm guessing that they are the Suncrest’s men. There's been tension between them since Baron Veron married the Baroness. There are rumors that he stole her hand away from him.” Sten explained.

“Well shit. What did we get ourselves into?” Tanner said.

“Nothing, we get our coin rest for a few weeks then we wait and see, “Sten said.

Lilian who left to scout the area earlier returned then said. “I’ve found their camp on the far side of the hill. There are 10 horses and a two-horse carriage; it's only a 20-minute walk.”

Sten brought out his map then Lilian pointed out its approximate location. “So, we could make for their camp and take their horses. We would be able to reach Crowsrest before nightfall.”

“Everyone you heard the plan Breala take the mages body I’ll carry John everyone else gather up the loot we make for camp double pace.”

It didn't take long to find their camp nestled in a small clearing in the thick forest at the base of the hill. As Lilian said, there were horses that members of the company started to mount. The carriage was loaded with all the loot from various pieces of armor, weapons, some gold and silver pieces as well as John's body. Most importantly the amplifier and the enchanted blade.

We arrived at Crowsreach long enough to saddle our previous carriage and we headed to the Capitol. By that time the invigorate Sarah and I had worn off and we began to crash. Only the two of us sat in the second carriage driven by mark. We were largely boneless from the exhaustion. My limbs felt like lead and my mind was in a haze. Glazing over to Sarah I saw that she was in the same state that I was.

It was slightly amusing watching a woman, who normally maintains strict etiquette in all things, sprawled out on the bench, limbs spread out as if she was a drunken sailor sleeping off a bender.

Eventually we fell asleep. I almost snapped at Breala for waking me up to bed for the night. I forced down some dried meat and water and collapsed into my bed roll. This continued for two more days until we arrived at the city gate Sten ran the horses ragged as we tried to make for the capitol as fast as possible.

We had barely 4 hours of sleep a night. I understood his reasoning and even agreed with them. But each time I awoke from sleep my mind went to violence.

We finally reached the city gate, the guard who was checking travelers spotted us and ushered us forward.

“Sir mage I was told to look out for you. The captain said he wished to speak to you.” said a man I've never seen before.

I genuinely considered killing the man. I spent much of the final day, dreaming about a good meal and my bed. I was so excited by that idea that I had completely forgotten about the captain and his request for a meeting. It must have shown on my mace since the man started to back away in fear.

“I…………I could tell the captain that your contract was rough and needed rest.” the guards practically pleaded.

I hopped off the carriage and went over to Sten and whispered. “If the captain asks about the contract, what should I leave out?”

Sten considered this then said. “Just leave out the connection with Suncrest; everything else will come out with time. You shouldn't miss a meeting with the captain, I'll get your coin sorted out.”

With that assurance I approached the guardsman. “It's fine, guardsman take to your Captain.”

He signaled to another guard, and they carved a path through the crowd to the barracks.

We went up several flights of stairs until we reached a large office. The captain sat behind the large desk in his full armor.

“Ah Moon, good to see you have completed your contact, A journeyman mage is nothing to scoff at, please sit”. He said.

“Indeed. it became quite a fight when he started using an amplifier.”

“Really? It must have been some battle” he said with genuine surprise in his voice.

“It was a 3- or 4-times amplifier. With an imperial seal” I said his surprise turned into concern.

“How does a bandit get access to such an item and where is it?”.

“We're not sure how he got his hands on one and we planned on turning the amplifier and the enchanted Mithrite sword to the Baron. We also brought the mage's body.” I said slumping in my chair.

“Hmmmm. '' she seemed to digest the information. As if noticing my exhausted state for the first time, he said

“Are you well you're somehow paler than usual.”

“Invigorate along with not enough sleep to properly recover” I said.

“Ah I see well I thank you for making the time, ”he said

“I can be brief with my request. I want you to move your healing works to an outward facing clinic sponsored by the guards. This will be for more mundane healing and not magical Morah and Quina mentioned to me your medicant knowledge is sometimes as impressive as your magic. I have some recruits and staff I would like you help to train.”

“Setting up a clinic and staffing it is not cheap. Can the guard even afford that?”

“We've come into some sponsorship from people who value the guards force of late” he said. It had to be from him to leverage my healing.

“No need to be coy Captain, I fully expected you to profit.” I said a bit of humor in my voice.

“Well thank you for being economical. Now do get some rest Moon, we can discuss the specifics in a few days.”

“Of course, Captain” I said as I went to leave.

I walked through the door to the inn and said to the young man waiting at the front desk.

“Get me food with a lot of meat as well as a bath, is Sten here?”

“No Sir mage, Sten is not here. Ummmmm what would you like to eat.”

“I don't care, simply bring it to my room. Get someone to clean this armor” I tossed some silvers on the desk and headed to my room.

I went to my room unarmored and had a bath. After a large meal of roasted pork and a fantastic pastry stuffed with meat and cheese, I was full to the point of bursting. As soon as I finished, I went to sleep in nothing but my small clothes. I managed to sleep for an entire day and only nature's call was able to motivate me to leave the bed.

Sten came by at some point during the night and left a pouch filled with 87 Gelding. I was largely insensate, so I just thanked him and threw it into the nightstand. I still wasn’t sure what he did with John's body, the rest of the loot and the horses but I’m sure I would figure that out and at some point.

It was late in the evening, and I wasn't going to see the guard captain until tomorrow, so I had nothing to do. I considered practicing some magic but had little motivation at the moment.

I am not sure why I feel so melancholy. I had, sitting on my nightstand, what most people would consider a fortune. I have considerable magical power that is growing each day. Yet I felt so unsatisfied.

The fight with the mage had brought to light how easily I could have died. And the idea of dying without finding out any of the mysteries of my own existence was infuriating. It was largely luck that Brandon was able to stop the mage’s spell and even more luck that Sarah managed to finish him off before he could recover and attack again. I couldn’t allow myself to rely on luck if I ever get into that situation again.

That means I have to significantly increase my power. I had little chance of finding an amplifier .Day by day I have come closer to successfully dual casting but that is not as much of a significant increase in my power as I would like. I wasn't going to join a magical institute or go to the elves so that leaves my life Ether.

I've only ever absorbed the life of small creatures whose life Ether did little more than give me a slightly energized feeling. I need creatures with significant life ether to consume. That would have to be some kind of sentient being. But I couldn't just start randomly consuming life, people would surely notice. I need to find people whose disappearances wouldn't matter.

Bandits, almost no one would care if they disappeared, I just need to find an area that’s riddled with them. The outskirts of Vernon should probably suffice; perhaps some of the guards or Sten would have an idea. I've only given people a small trickle of Ether with the exception of the woman who was having the reaction to the abortive. She just seemed quite healthy afterwards.

What would happen to me if I consumed several lives? Did I like the chicken, have a limit? What would happen if I forced more of it into myself than I could hold?

My thoughts eventually drifted to John. I wasn't close to the man, and I wasn't exactly grieving for him. But part of me wonders what the company would have thought if they knew there was a chance I could have saved him but decided my secrets were more important than his life.

They already consider me an invaluable ally to have. I doubt that sentiment would last if they ever found out about my other abilities. Would Tanner still joke and tease me? Will Sten still look out for me? Would Lilian try even harder to get me to return to elven lands?

I thought of the lives that I have taken, The men severed in half by my radiant lance. Should I feel something at their deaths? The rest of the company were as businesslike in their killing and looting as they were with the goblins, so I suppose I’m not unusual in that respect.

The honorable thing to do was to sacrifice my secret to save his life. The idea of sacrificing myself for others was repulsive. Yet why do I feel regret?

“Enough” I said into the empty room stomping down on my feelings. It was pathetic that I was like this after only one contract.

The Bronze Spears were only ever a stepping stone for me. In the end my life is the only one that should matter.

I will learn dual casting, explore Life Ether and move on once my contract ends. My first and only priority should be gaining power. Power so great that most wouldn't dare to challenge me.

Power that kings and queens would beg and barter and cajole to have on their side. Indulging in the inane act of caring for others above myself will only lead me to failure. As far as I’m concerned, honor only means something to dead men.

Motivation returned to me, so I spent the rest of the evening practicing dual casting. At this point I had the two spell circuits fully formed but not as of yet stabilized but any progress is progress.

A knock at my door caught my attention.

“Enter,” I yelled.

A young female servant opened the doors and said.

“Mi lord there's a Brandon here to see you he said that he's here to fulfill a promise.”

Brandon did say he would treat me to a night at Gardenia’s. That would be a welcome distraction after hours of practice.

“Tell him I’ll be down in a moment.”

The girl closed the door, and I dressed in a rather stylish purple tunic and trousers.

I had ordered several well-made suits of clothing during my time with the guards. I dressed, prepared myself to go out and wondered what exactly a brothel was like.