Ascendant

The Quarterhouse was as full as always, but there were already two empty chairs between Bildar and Ophelia waiting for them when they got there. The host waved them past, pointing out the table the earth mages were seated around. Nym and Analia joined them, with him making introductions.

“Hi everyone, this is my friend Analia. This is Bildar, Ophelia, and the twins are Nomick and Monick.”

“You got us backwards,” one of the twins said.

“Oh, sorry. Then this is Monick and that’s Nomick.”

“Nah, he’s messing with you. You had it right the first time.”

“So these are the two blockheads who think they’re funny. Their individual names aren’t important.”

One of the twins mimed gasping and clutching at his chest. “Such hostility! So cold and ruthless! I’m dying over here. Monick, save me!”

“If you die, I’m merging our names and becoming Monomick.”

“Treacherous… dog,” Nomick let out another fake gasp.

“Ignore those two,” Ophelia said. “It’s nice to meet you, Analia.”

They’d agreed before arriving to use Analia’s first name only and not reveal her connection to a noble house. It wasn’t that Nym thought anything bad would come of it, but she had technically run away, and the search for her was probably more focused than anything Nym had to worry about. The less her full name was said aloud, the better.

After the introductions, Nym and Analia ordered some food and the group talked while they ate. Bildar told them again about the meeting with the contractors guildmaster and the city council for Analia’s benefit, and then laid out their plan.

“We’re going to head out the west gate tomorrow morning. I’ve already got a wagon purchased for it and a pair of oxen for pulling it. It’s not that big, but it’ll hold enough supplies for three weeks of travel. Our first stop is going to be a town about four days west of here called Valcort. We’ll stay the night and see if there’s any work. The town’s small enough that there shouldn’t be any guild presence, but it might also be small enough that there’s nothing for us to do or not enough money to pay for our services.”

“What about going to the battle front to make fortifications for the army?”

“We’ll get there, don’t you worry. But it’s about five hundred miles and to be perfectly honest, we’re not exactly sure where they’re stationed. A lot of what’s out this way is just rumors.”

“Their main base is in Ebalsan,” Analia said.

The whole table turned in their seats to look at her. She just shrugged. “It’s not news. This has been going on for months now.”

“Right, well, that could be. We’ll know more for sure when we get there. We’ve got two or three other towns to pass through, depending on supplies, which depends on how much the weather slows us down. With winter dying down, the roads are going to be getting muddy.”

“You’re earth mages though,” Nym pointed out.

Bildar laughed and shook his head. “Sure, and if I need to firm up forty or fifty feet, that’s no problem. Doing a few hundred miles is a different story. We’ll get there quicker than someone who can’t use magic, for sure, just not as quick as we would if we waited two months for the roads to firm up.”

They took a break from planning to eat. The food was so good that even Analia had nothing bad to say about it, and with Nym’s new-found appreciation of how expensive upper-class amenities were, he couldn’t really say too much about the price either, not that he was the one paying. The Earth Shapers really did treat him far better than he had any right to ask.

Once they were done eating though, it was back to business. The route had been laid out, all four of the earth mages at the table were set on it. Supplies had been purchased and a departure time scheduled. Bildar had argued for a slightly later time, but Ophelia bullied him into starting early, much to the twins’ amusement. All the details for their trip were set, except one.

“Are you coming with us, Ermy? Your friend is welcome as well, providing you don’t mind doing a bit of foraging to help offset the food cost.”

“That’s… I’m not sure. Analia, it’s up to you,” Nym said.

“Let me think about it tonight and we’ll meet you at Sunset Lane’s end tomorrow morning,” she said, naming the street that merged into the major west-bound road they’d be traveling.

Everyone trouped out, this time without all the alcohol that had marked Nym’s first dinner with them. It was a somber affair, with them saying their goodbyes in the street, and then going their separate ways. Nym and Analia went back to the Silk Box together, talking quietly as they walked.

“I know you don’t want to go to the battlefront, but there are a lot of stops between here and there,” he said. “We could split off at any time between now and the at least six weeks it’ll take to make it all the way to their destination.”

“No, you’re right,” Analia said. “I think we should probably go with them. You like them, and trust them, and they trust you. But, if we’re doing this, we need to tell them the truth. It wouldn’t be fair to get them caught up in our troubles if my family’s retainers catch up to us and attack them one night while we’re camping on the side of the road.”

“That… yes, we should do that,” Nym said. “I guess I should tell them the truth about me too.”

“Nym, nobody is looking for you,” Analia said.

“What?”

“Not after the first day or two. I mean, if you walked back into Abilanth and announced to the guard who you are, they might put you in a room until someone came by to ask you some questions, but my family knows it was my decision to go with you, and the guard is more interested in Valgo than they are in you. I told them what you did to rescue me, and even if anyone tried to do anything to you, my family would come down on them.”

“I bet Malk would probably still try to stab me.”

“Oh come on. He wanted to do that from the first night he met you. It’s not anything new.”

Looking back on it, it was almost disturbing how casually accepting he’d been of the man’s dislike, if only because he was assured that Malk was on a leash and wouldn’t do anything without being ordered to. That had obviously not been true. He could still remember the toe of the bodyguard’s boot digging into his chest.

“If I never see him again, it’ll still be too soon,” he said.

“Well, he was rather insufferable for the last few weeks. He basically stopped doing anything I told him and only followed my brother’s orders. It was like being a prisoner the way he escorted me around.”

Nym thought she had a rather distorted idea of what being a prisoner actually meant, but he kept that opinion to himself. “So we’re doing this then?” he asked.

“I think so.”

“What are you going to do tonight?”

“Well, the room is already paid for tonight, so I guess I’ll stay here. And you?”

“Same, at the Lucky Barrel.”

“Meet me here in the morning with your stuff and we’ll go to the edge of the city together?” Analia asked.

“How much luggage do you have?” Nym asked, squinting at her. “Is it so much that you need help carrying it?”

“No! …yes.”

“Of course it is. At least we don’t have to fit it through a window this time. I’ll meet you outside the inn? Last time the doorman didn’t want to let me through.”

“I’ll tell them to let you in,” she said, “But yes, I’ll try to meet you out here and avoid the hassle.”

“Sounds good.”

She went into the Silk Box while the doorman stared daggers at Nym. It was the same man he’d dazed earlier to get through. “Uh… hi,” Nym said.

The man gave him a rude hand gesture.

Laughing quietly, Nym shook his head and walked away.

* * *

Nym was up before dawn, quietly stuffing his few possessions into his pack and leaving his room key with the overnight attendant at the bar. Then he trudged across the city, rubbing sleep from his eyes and watching as the shadows slowly shrank with the coming dawn. At least the foot traffic was virtually non-existent, though it was a strange experience walking through a city that almost seemed abandoned.

Analia was sitting on a trunk just outside the Silk Box, looking almost as tired as Nym felt. There was a glow of arcana around her, and he noticed the trunk floating an inch or so off the ground on the air cushions he’d taught her how to make. “You’ve been practicing that, huh?” he asked as he walked up.

“It’s too useful not to use. I can fly with it, but only for short distances. It’s still easier to use my old wind spell if I have to fly for more than a few minutes.”

“Hmm. You’ve just got to build your stamina up. I used to only be able to fly for a few minutes at a time too, and barely faster than I could run. Six months later, I’m doing cross-country flights.”

“Sounds cold,” Analia told him.

“I bought warmer flying clothes, but then when I got stuck in a blizzard, I figured out how to modify a kinetic barrier spell I got from your library into a thermal barrier. It won’t help you warm back up, but as long as you keep it solid, you won’t ever get cold.”

“I think I’m a ways from that still. I don’t know how you can just keep two spells running at the same time forever.”

They talked while they walked, with Nym giving in and taking over the flight spell on the trunk after a few minutes when it became obvious that Analia was running out of stamina. Her aura winked out and she let out a grateful sigh. “Thanks,” she said.

“How did you ever get all of this to the Silk Box in the first place?” he asked.

“I bought it a few things at a time, and for the heavy stuff, I paid porters to deliver it for me.”

“Ah, right. Money. That’s how you did it. How could I forget?”

“Oh shut up.” She gave him a good-natured shrug, and Nym retaliated by bumping her with her own trunk.

Neither of them realized that the people around them were not random cityfolk until they were fully surrounded. Twelve men and five women, about a third of which Nym recognized as guildsmen, formed a wide circle around them.

“’scuse me, kiddos. We’re going to need you to come with us,” one who was bolder or stupider than the rest said.

“Didn’t you guys already try this a few days ago?” Nym said. Without waiting for an answer, he turned to Analia and asked, “Did you ever get your license?”

“Nope, you?”

“Nope, but a constable told me they make an exception for self-defense.”

“That’s good to know.”

“Hey, I’m talking to y-”

“Shut up,” they both told man at the same time.

“Screw it. Pile on ‘em. It don’t matter none if they’re in good shape, long as they’re still breathin’ at the end.”

“We were leaving anyway,” Nym said. “I guess we could cut loose.”

“Try not to kill anyone this time,” Analia said.

“Don’t take all the fun out of it.”

Then the guildsmen were on them, lunging in to grab at limbs to restrain the kids. Several of them had knives, clubs, or hammers, all typical craftsmen tools refurbished to weapons of war. It didn’t help them much though, since Nym simply lifted himself, Analia, and her trunk up into the air.

“Do you want to handle offense, since I’m not allowed to use anything big?” he asked her.

She rolled her eyes. “I’m sure you have something that isn’t instantly lethal to a dozen people, but fine. Watch.”

She built a simple construct of air and water that materialized into a cluster of hailstones, then sent them flying at high speeds to pelt the guildsmen. Before they could recover, a strong wind ripped down the street, throwing up dust and dirt and blinding them. Nym hardened the air into a dome around them to prevent the spell from splashing them.

“Thanks,” Analia said.  “I didn’t account for all the loose dirt on the road. I was just trying to knock them down.”

One of the guildsmen took a running leap and flew into the air, far higher than a human could jump unaided. Nym saw a faint aura around him, almost completely clear, and figured the man was using some sort of first circle enhancement spell. It didn’t much help him though, when Nym hit him with a daze spell and then caught him in air cushions to prevent him from landing on his head when he fell down.

“See, I have restraint too,” he told Analia.

A hammer came spinning through the air and struck him in the arm. “Ow!” he yelled, turning in place to glare at the woman who’d thrown it. A dozen telekinetic hands slapped her at once, bruising her face and arms and knocking her into the dirt. The attack seemed to inspire the rest of the guildsmen though, and all sorts of weapons were chucked their way.

Nym quickly threw up a kinetic barrier to protect them, and the weapons bounced off to fly back down towards the crowd at higher speeds than they’d been thrown. A few of the guildsmen took bad hits from their own thrown weapons and went down.

“Okay, I’m annoyed now and also not in the mood to deal with this,” Nym said, rubbing his arm. “Should we just leave now?”

Analia agreed, and the two flew off to the shouts and jeers of the guildsmen who were still on their feet. None of them were stupid enough to chase after the two mages.