Ascendant

Analia did not take the news well. “I’m just starting to get comfortable,” she whined.

Nym looked around the room. There was no furniture other than the bed, and it wasn’t that big. Sure, it was a nice bed, but he knew what the rooms at the Silk Box looked like. Spending the better part of a month sleeping outdoors had done wonders for her perspective.

“It’s not a guarantee. They might not do the draft. If they do, they might not want you since you’re so young, or because of your family. I’m just saying that maybe we should make some preparations in case you need to make a quick exit. How much are you willing to leave behind? Can you buy a cart or wagon now to haul your books?”

The longer Nym talked, the more Analia’s face soured. “If that happens and I need to dodge the draft, I’ll leave this all behind. You can come collect it and get it out of town. You’re already working for the army, so it’s not like you can be drafted anyway. Pack it up and store the trunks somewhere, and we can collect them later.”

“That… could work,” Nym allowed. “We should probably also figure out where we’re going to meet if you have to make a run for it. Or, you could try to find some work with the army now.”

“No way. These hands were not meant for hard labor.”

“Hate to break it to you, but if you’re serious about getting away from your family, you won’t be able to keep spending their money. Someday, you’re going to have to do some work.”

“I have work. I research new spells.”

Nym eyed the air golem spell notes pinned to the wall. “I don’t think it’ll be that easy. Just take some time and really think about the future, okay?”

“Fine. If you think this draft could really happen, it wouldn’t hurt to have a plan prepared.”

“Thanks, Analia.”

He wasn’t sure why he was thanking her for letting him convince her to look after her own best interest, but sometimes it was easier to just play along. He knew how smart she was, and that she’d take the warning seriously, but for some reason she just had to act the spoiled noble brat.

“Of course. By the way, I did find something about the Creator in a bestiary of magical beasts. I can dig the book out for you, but the short version is that around three centuries ago, all sorts of animals started showing the ability to use arcana. Most of them were intelligent, and some could communicate. There were multiple accounts of them describing a man who spun the first of them out of nothing and breathed life into them.”

“So the Creator was a real person then. The wolf matriarch didn’t think he was human, but… could an archmage really do something like that?” Nym asked.

“I don’t think so. It’s not like they go around publishing lists of their most secret magics and techniques, but there’s been plenty of archmages over the last few hundred years, and the book I read said all of these species of magical creatures popped up around the same time and nothing new has ever come about the same way since.”

“Do you think he was an ascendant?” Nym asked.

Analia shrugged. “We don’t really know what an ascendant even is, other than a mage beyond human limits. What makes them different? Why can they do magic that humans can’t?”

“What makes them different,” Nym repeated. “I wonder.”

Could it be as simple as being able to see arcana? The only other living being he’d ever met who’d been able to see arcana like him was the wolf matriarch, and she had a direct tie to a being that very well could have been an ascendant. That didn’t even take into account his apparently monstrous soul well size.

Analia’s dad might not be the only person in the world trying to create an ascendant, and Nym’s own past might contain more clues, if only he could regain his memories. Professor Langdon had told him there were seven knots, seven memories, at the beginning of his timeline before it had been sliced away. He’d pulled two of them loose and digested their contents.

It concerned him that they were memories of him learning to do magic. He didn’t know if those memories had been prepared specifically, picked out of all the hours of his life being happy, playing, eating, spending time with his family, just being a normal child. Or were all of his memories of him being prepared to be a living weapon? Maybe it would be better not to remember that. Maybe someone cutting away his entire life was a gift in disguise.

“Nym?”

“Huh?”

“You were just kind of lost in thought. Did you figure something out?

Nym sighed and shook his head. “No. If we’re going to look into ascendants, our best lead is probably your father.”

“It probably won’t be the first thing I have to say to him the next time I see him.”

“That’s fair. I’ve got to get going. I promised Bildar another batch of those custards from that pastry shop and I’m not sure how late they’re open.”

“Oh, they closed an hour ago.”

Nym grimaced. “Bildar isn’t going to like that.”

“He’s a big softie,” Analia said. “But go on, get out of here. I’ve got researching to do. And… Nym… thanks for everything. Not just today, either. I’m glad we met.”

“Me too,” he said.

Even though he knew the store was closed before he’d gotten to town, Nym swung by anyway to confirm. It wasn’t really a surprise once he thought about it. A bakery would open early and close early. Bildar wouldn’t be happy, but there was nothing to be done about it except make an early morning run tomorrow.

He walked out of town and flew through the dark back to the construction camp. It was almost nostalgic, flying over the forest at night. The trees looked just like he remembered, but now they were almost a blur as he flew over past them and he wasn’t worried about freezing to death or something trying to eat him while he slept.

He stopped just once to kill a ghoul he spotted trudging through a tiny glade near a stream. He took a few minutes to burn the corpse, and then he was on his way back home. It was a very different experience than his first trip through the forest.

* * *

Nym was in the air again before the sun was even up and in Ebalsan with the dawn. His first and only stop was the bakery, where he spent three shields on enough pastries to stuff all four earth mages. It was so many in fact that he couldn’t physically carry them and had to resort to creating a cushion of air to rest them on.

Whether because of the early hour and lack of traffic, or just because of the heavy military presence, or maybe nobody would have cared anyway, no one stopped Nym and his three separate baskets on their way out. By the time he got back, Ophelia was already up and drinking something steaming from a stone cup.

“Good morning,” she said. “Is that what I think it is?”

“Yep. This basket is full of nothing but custards. The other two have a bit of variety.”

Ophelia rifled through the basket for a minute and pulled out a whole pie. She fetched a knife, a fork, and a plate, then cut herself a slice. “This is delicious. I’m adopting you. You’re stuck with me for life now,” she said around a mouthful of it.

“And have to fetch you breakfast every morning? I don’t think so.”

“What’s that I’m smelling?” Nomick said, entering the room. His eyes lit up at the sight of not one, but three, baskets. “Truly you know the way to a man’s heart, Nym.”

“Thanks? I think.”

“Why is this basket full of nothing but custards?” Nomick asked, peering into it.

“It’s for Bildar. Pilfer from it at your own risk.”

“Which basket is for me then?”

Nym shrugged. “You guys can figure that out. I’ve got to get going before all the good assignments get handed out.”

“Good luck,” Ophelia said. “Be careful.”

“Will do!”

Waving goodbye, Nym took to the air and skimmed over the tree line to the forward command post and landed in front of the freelancer administration office. Judging by the crowd already gathered there, it looked like showing up an hour after dawn was not going to be early enough to get first pick of anything.

Nym got in line to talk to the clerk, only to have the woman in front of him turn around and look down her nose at him. “What’s a kid doing here?” she asked. “You get lost or something?”

“No. I’m just looking for work, same as you.”

She was young, maybe twenty years old, skinny with long blonde hair that hung loose down her back. She was dressed in threadbare mage robes that looked suspiciously like the ones worn at the Academy, if they’d been burnt and sliced and poorly mended.

“Oh, sure. No doubt you’ll be heading right into the thick of things, blasting ghouls left and right with that second circle earth shot spell you just learned yesterday. I bet you can cast it a whole six times before you need a break.”

“Maybe even seven times on a good day,” Nym agreed.

There was a smattering of snickers from the line, and the woman’s face started reddening. “Listen here you little-”

A hand came down on the woman’s shoulder and she cut herself off. “Take it easy,” the man standing next to her said. Unlike his companion, he was well-dressed with tanned skin and a short beard cropped close to his jawline. An axe hung from his belt and he wore a breastplate complete with greaves and gauntlets. He turned to Nym and added, “Sorry about that. We’re just a little tense today. It’s been a rough week.”

“It’s fine,” Nym told him, even though the woman’s glare made it clear that nothing was fine with her. He wasn’t sure what exactly he’d done to offend her, other than having the misfortune of being next to her in line. At least it was moving quickly, and in a few minutes, he would be far away from the unpleasant woman.

The line inched forward, and Nym caught the woman giving him nasty looks every time they moved. He just kept telling himself that whatever her problem was, it didn’t affect him. Eventually, the couple in front of him made it to the front of the line.

“Morning, Roly,” the man said to the clerk. “What do you have for us today.”

“Well,” Roly said slowly, dragging the word out. “That entirely depends on whether it’ll be just the two of you again.”

“You know it is,” the woman snapped at him.

“Then I’m sorry to say the guidelines still haven’t changed, and you need a third for any sweeper jobs.”

“Oh come on! You know we don’t actually need a third. We could kill a hundred ghouls by ourselves. A hundred each!” the woman said.

“Be that as it may, you still need a third before I can sign you up for a job. I’m sorry. I don’t make the rules.”

“Calm down,” the man told his companion. Instantly, arcana flared up around her and she looked ready to tear his face off. The man ignored her and asked the clerk, “If not a sweeper job, what do you have for two people?”

“You could run a supply train through the wall camps. There’s one leaving in an hour that’s got two slots left.”

Nym thought the woman was angry before, but she was livid now. “A supply train? Are you serious? That’s an all day job for what, four shields between the two of us?”

“I’m sorry, that’s all that’s available at the moment. If you’d like to wait, I’ll let you know when something else comes up.”

The pair moved off to the side, the man speaking softly to his companion the whole time and trying to calm her down. Nym moved up to the front of the line. “Wow, she’s intense, huh?” he asked.

“Every single day,” Roly said with a sigh. “What are you looking for today? I should warn you that you’ve picked the worst possible time to come in for work.”

“Courier jobs if you’ve got them. What’s so bad about right now?”

“The morning rush just came through and grabbed everything they could. More jobs will trickle in throughout the day, but right now we’re almost completely tapped out. I don’t have any courier jobs right now unless you want to be attached to an outpost captain and relay whatever orders you’re given throughout the day? It’s an all day job, pays two shields, and you’ll spend most of your time standing around waiting for work.”

Two shields wasn’t a terrible wage for the day, but he could do better back at the wall doing earth works. Nym had switched to freelancer jobs on the promise that he’d make good money. Something must have shown on his face, because the clerk nodded and said, “Most people don’t want to do them either. That’s why it’s still here. Look, there is one sweeper job on the books, but it’s got to be a team of at least three and at least one person in the group has to have combat authorization.”

Nym groaned. “So what you’re telling me is if I went over to those two and offered to round out their group, we could take this job? What’s it pay?”

“One crest four. Thinning out ghouls on the northeast flank before they start pressuring the wall crews stationed there.”

Nym glanced back at the two freelancers, who were now sitting a table and talking in a low voice. He grimaced. “I’ll go talk to them and let you know.”