Ascendant

The Quarterhouse was probably the largest restaurant Nym had ever seen. It wasn’t as fancy as the inside of the Felstal manor, but it was plenty expensive. In fact, it was too expensive. Nym could afford a meal there, but he would never waste his money on something so frivolous. He really only came to see if he could actually learn more about elemental earth magic, and also because the bearded mage had promised him a free steak.

Nym didn’t know what steak tasted like, but he figured if a place like the Quarterhouse served it, it was probably delicious. He was eager to find out, and eager to learn more about their magical construction company, the Earth Shapers. And since he didn’t have anything better to do, Nym meandered through town until he arrived early, and then he found a nice, shady, out-of-the-way spot to wait.

It did not take long for the four mages to arrive, chatting happily with each other and their pockets jingling with each step. No pickpocket would be stupid enough to target a mage, as the four clearly were, so their coin was safe. Of course, he would have thought a common mason or carpenter would be smarter than to try to ambush them, so he supposed there was no accounting for the bad decisions of stupid and desperate people.

Nym hopped off the barrel he’d been sitting on next to a water trough meant for horses and approached the group of mages. The bearded one spotted him and said, “Oho! There he is. Come, my young friend, tonight you dine in style.”

The inside of the restaurant was every bit as impressive as its exterior. There were three different bars set up around the walls and two doors leading back to the kitchen. At least twenty girls ran in and out, delivering food to the dozens of tables and booths scattered around the floor. A young man waited at a desk near the door, and when he saw them, he said, “Your usual table?”

“Plus one more. We’ve got a guest with us tonight,” the bearded mage said.

“Very good. Would you like me to show you to the table?”

“Nah. We remember where it is. Thanks though.”

The mage led the group to a table in the middle, one of six tables Nym counted that were empty. Apparently, it really was a standing appointment, because none of the staff so much as blinked at them seating themselves. Once they had all taken their places, the bearded mage said, “Alright, introductions are in order. Everyone, this young man is Ermy. Going around the table, I’m Bildar, this is my sister Ophelia, and the twins over here are Nomick and Monick.”

“Don’t worry if you can’t tell us apart,” one of the twins told him. “No one else can either.”

“Maybe if you’d stop dressing and acting the exact same,” Ophelia said.

“But that’s what makes it fun!” the other twin protested.

Once Bildar mentioned it, Nym could see the family resemblance to Ophelia. Their hair was the same color. They shared the same wide nose, and if Bildar’s face was obscured by his thick beard, Nym could still see the same lip structure. Ophelia was about half a foot shorter than Bildar, but she was just as solid looking.

The twins, on the other hand, looked nothing like their boss. Their skin was darker, so dark actually that Nym didn’t think he’d ever seen anyone quite that color. They had black hair which they’d each pulled back into a bun using some sort of elaborate knot and a simple leather tie. Each had fine facial features with pronounced cheekbones and was clean-shaven, and as Ophelia had said, they were dressed in the exact same outfit.

“I told them what you told me,” Bildar said to Nym. “Awfully decent thing to do, giving us a warning like that.”

Ophelia scowled. “Damned contractors guild has been glaring at us all month. Are you surprised one of them finally found the balls to take a swing at us?”

“Not really,” Bildar said mildly. “It’ll end badly for them and there will be guards and paperwork and it’ll be a giant headache. It would be much easier if it just didn’t happen.”

“We all knew it was a matter of time,” one of the twins said. Nym thought it was Monick.

“There’s a reason we don’t work town jobs, boss,” the other added.

“I know! But what was I supposed to do?” Bilbar turned to Nym and explained, “Normally we do big, big, big projects. Think new castles and fortresses. We were supposed to start on the new keep for the border crossing into Nordram, but a whole bunch of resources got diverted out west. I guess it’s getting bad over there. Some big damn disaster, so the project is on indefinite hold and I didn’t line us up anything else to get through the rest of the year because why would I when we already had work?”

 “I heard there were a bunch of undead that popped up out of nowhere, and the king’s army is calling for all the help they can get keeping it under control,” Nomick said.

“Where’d you hear something like that?” Ophelia scoffed.

“Just something I heard,” Nomick muttered.

“How drunk were you at the time?”

“Enough,” Bildar cut in. “It doesn’t matter why. The fact of the matter is we’re here trying to make the best of it, and if that means stepping on some locals’ toes, so be it. Now, Ermy, I invited you here for two reasons. One, I want to thank you for the tip.

“Two, you know some runes, so I’m guessing you know some magic. And you’re a bit on the young side for second circle spells, but that just means you must be smart as well as bold. Now, I’m guessing you’re about thirteen, give or take a year.”

“Around that, sir,” Nym said. He wasn’t, but it seemed like every time someone guessed his age, the number went up, and he didn’t think it was a good idea to explain.

“Right, so like I said, that’s a bit on the young side for second circle spells, but you can do them?”

“Yes,” Nym admitted.

“What are you thinking, Bildar?” Ophelia asked.

“Well don’t interrupt me and you’ll find out! Now… where was I? Oh, right! So since you seem to be a smart fellow with a good head on your shoulders and a strong moral compass, I thought I’d see if you wanted to make a bit of coin for as long as we’re here in Thrakus.”

Nym had almost forgotten what it was like to be in demand. No one needed a little kid to do magic in Abilanth, but other towns and cities valued mages highly enough to overlook his age. “I’m afraid I’m not very good at earth magic,” he said.

“The basic stuff is not terribly difficult, but it is terribly useful. Good field to invest some time and effort into,” Bildar told him.

They hashed out the details, taking a break first to order food, and then again once it came to the table. The waiter didn’t look surprised to see them other than a briefly raised eyebrow at Nym having joined them. The food was delivered quickly, and Nym had to admit that it would have been right at home in the dining room table of the Feldstal’s manor. That meant it was undoubtably expensive, and Nym was glad he wasn’t paying for it.

They stayed after dinner, drinking both ale and wine. Ophelia refused to touch the wine, which got her some teasing from the twins, but not as much as Bildar, who refused to drink anything but wine. Both of the twins would drink whatever was placed in front of them, which included a few shots of something they called elderfury, and which had such a strong smell that it made Nym’s eyes water.

“Ermy,” Bildar said, his face flushed and his words slurred, “The thing you gotta know about earth magic is that you have to plan it all out in advance. You can’t fix it half way through. It’s got to be solid. It’s like putting together one of those puzzle boxes. But it’s worse, because you have to figure out the dimensions yourself.”

“Quit filling the boy’s head with lessons,” Ophelia scolded her brother. “It’s not even his first day yet.”

Nym, who’d also been served a few cups of wine and whose nose was just about as red as Bildar, said, “No, it’s fine. I like learning about magic. And this is so different from air magic.”

“You can do air magic?” Bildar asked.

“Yes?” Nym asked back. He was pretty sure he could at least. Maybe not right now.

“That’s great! I could never get the hang of it. It always felt like the arcana just wanted to float away when I needed it to stay put and do some work.”

“You have to want to go with it,” Nym confided, leaning over so far to whisper that he almost fell out of his chair. “You start at the bottom and keep working your way up as it goes. The timing is tricky sometimes. But it always made sense to me.”

“That’s no way to cast a spell!”

“It’s okay. Maybe you’re just not cut out for air magic. You’re doing just fine with earth magic though.”

“Hah! We’ll see how cocky you are tomorrow. There’s no floating away when you’re working on earth spells!”

Meanwhile, on the other side of the table, Ophelia was arguing with the twins. “I’m telling you, there’s no damn undead plague!”

“Why can’t there be?” one of them shot back.

“You don’t think we’d all know about it if there was one?”

“Maybe they’re keeping it secret.”

Ophelia snorted in derision. “Yeah, it’s so secret you only found out because of your shadowy connections at a local tavern a thousand miles away.”

“You just don’t want to admit that I know something that you didn’t!”

“You just don’t want to admit that you’re an idiot!”

Nym looked over at Bildar. “Should you break that up or something?”

He shrugged and took another drink.

There was a resounding whack as Ophelia decked someone who Nym decided was probably Nomick. “Okay, I think that’s enough for the night,” she declared. “Let’s get your dumb asses home so I can sleep through tomorrow’s hangover.”

It was a bit of work to get everyone vertical, but they managed it. In some cases, that was only because they could lean against each other, but the important part was that everyone was on their feet. The table was covered in empty and overturned flagons, cups, and bottles, and Bildar carefully set a stack of six shields in the middle. Then they staggered out into the night air, all more or less walking in the same direction at the same speed.

Two minutes later, a group of seven men all holding hammers and clubs stomped out of an alley they’d just walked past and closed in on the group of earth mages. “Oh, right,” Bildar said. “I forgot about this part.”

A wall of dirt four feet high shot up so quickly that the leading ambushers bounced off it. “Now just watch, Ermy, and I’ll show you why earth is better than air.”

The ambushers had climbed over or circled around the wall and closed in on the drunk mages. There was no talking, or boasting, or posturing. They came at the mages with hard looks in their eyes and violence in their hearts. Each one was wearing a scarf or mask, or even just had a shirt pulled up to cover the bottom half of their faces.

As one, they fell on the mages and attacked.