Chapter 13
The last of the mountains of the Mourngrym Range were barren rocks with cliffs jutting out like spears toward the valley below.
It was on one of these cliffs that Clive Bane stood along with the rest of his party, gazing below at the charred forest and the dried riverbed near the city that was once called Hamlet, later Wilted Hamlet, and now… now it was ruins and smoke.
From this far up, it was difficult to make out the scale of the war that had waged down there.
Stone lay crumbled, columns shattered and toppled.
Fire streaked across the streets. Smoke rose from the wreckage of buildings.
And that was just the outer city. Near the center of the city, the scale of destruction was more grotesque.
Where once the city’s square was, there was a crater.
Light shone from within the dark crater, making it look like there were two full moons—one in the sky, and the other being unearthed from Wilted Hamlet.
“That’s just fucking miserable. I can’t believe we came all the way for this,” Elias Solwyn said, unimpressed. He chewed on his nails, leaning against one of the cliff walls, apparently bored of everything that had happened so far.
Lesya resisted the urge to respond. She had an interesting night filled with uncertainty.
Would Elias say anything to his grandfather?
Would Cassian return before dawn? They were, after all, supposed to go on the mission together.
It was a long, sleepless night, and none of her usual distractions worked.
Books—the ones she stole from the library as well as the older ones she kept in her bag—were the last thing she wanted to read, especially with Cassian not around.
Without him, the house felt like a prison.
The analogy she’d created to amuse herself was that of a woman being stuck at her in-laws’ without her husband, and the in-laws happened to hate her very existence.
That analogy had then created a thought spiral, leading her to wondering what would happen after this war.
After things went back to normal, would Cassian and her have a life together, one where he’d introduce her to his family?
He only had his mother, Moira, who lived a very quiet and secretive retired life with her two sisters, Elise and Victoria, in a little village called Roost.
There had been opportunities in the past where he’d wanted to introduce her to his mother, but Lesya had been far too nervous to be introduced as “the girlfriend.” She hadn’t been anyone’s girlfriend before this, and the thought had always brought with it mind-numbing panic.
Cassian, of course, had been a complete gentleman in this regard as well as others. He’d understood her worry, and had promised that they’d make it official once Lesya was out of Umbrveyl and had had enough of a chance to stand on her own two feet and make something of herself.
She didn’t want to be introduced to her future mother-in-law as a student from Umbrveyl, but preferably as Lesya Rosefield, owner of a successful alchemy business in Rubien.
The thought had brought her some comfort.
The idea of an alchemy shop in Rubien’s market district, a shop with shelves lined with ingredients and equipment, and Lesya wearing a leather apron, experimenting away, working on her clients’ requests, making stronger and more precious metal out of weaker and common metal.
Enchanting channeling devices and imbuing them with powerful traits.
Oh, she’d absolutely kill at her future shop in Rubien.
She’d become, in due time, one of the foremost alchemists of Aladria.
In time, maybe she’d decide to franchise and open up shops in other parts of the world.
Her business would generate enough revenue that she’d be able to hire help, use her newfound wealth to build a house, a life for herself and Cassian, travel widely, see all the places she’d always wanted.
Reinvent herself once more. Define who she was more than just a gifted student. More than merely Cassian’s girlfriend.
When she’d woken up, it was to Cassian gently shaking her shoulder, telling her that it was another hour to dawn, and that they had to go now. He’d looked tired, and any question that she asked him about his whereabouts ended in the statement, “I’ll tell you later, I promise.”
She’d gone down into the main hall where Eldric Solwyn was briefing the people already assembled there—Clive, Elias, Freya, Theo. When he saw Lesya, he simply nodded in affirmation.
“This time tomorrow, you’ll all be back here,” Eldric had said, handing the homing beacon to Clive Bane.
The homing beacon was a device of Eldric’s own creation—an untraceable device that several people could use at the same time to teleport to a location.
“And we’ll go over your findings, revise our strategy, and decide what we do from there.
Do I make myself clear that this is a non-combative mission?
Only reconnaissance. Elias, I am looking at you. Consider this your last chance.”
Lesya could appreciate the worry in the headmaster’s voice. He was bound by his own rules, rules of reward and punishment, and it just so happened that those rules now applied to his grandson.
“Relax, Grandfather,” Elias had said cheekily. “This’ll be great.”
Oh yeah? Lesya had wondered. How quickly he forgets he killed a person yesterday. Whatever madness runs in his mind, I’ll be glad to be as far away from it as possible once this is over.
Everyone going on the mission was wearing a black uniform, one intended for camouflage, a stark departure from the usual bright uniforms and ceremonial clothes of the Solignis Covenant.
Not for Lesya, however. Black had always been her color, and she was glad at every opportunity she got to wear her favorite shade of the void.
* * *
“Sooner we gather information, sooner we leave,” Clive Bane said, looking diligently at his group. “We’re splitting in two groups to flank this place. Cassian, Lesya, Elias, you’re group one. Me, Freya, and Theo, we’re group two.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?!” Elias spat. “You leave me with two Balthazars?”
“What’s the matter?” Clive grinned. “Where’s all your bravado now?”
“I’m not going with them.”
“You don’t get a choice. Headmaster’s explicit orders. If you’re not willing to oblige, perhaps we all need to go back to headquarters.”
“No!” Elias said, red in the face, trying to reconcile two unpleasant facts. “No. That won’t be necessary. I’ll do it.”
“That’s good,” Clive Bane said, nodding affirmatively. “Should something happen, a red streak in the sky. That’s our signal. We’ll home in on the distress signal.”
“Which group gets the homing beacon?” Lesya asked.
“Neither,” Clive said, wedging the beacon in the cliff wall.
“This is where we come back to in twelve hours, sharp. Whichever group arrives first will wait for an hour for the other.” Clive cast a concealment charm on the beacon such that it was only visible to them and not to anyone else.
“Cassian knows the recon checklist by heart by now. He’ll tell you what to look for.
Now, if we don’t have any questions, let’s make our way to Wilted Hamlet before the sun goes any farther up in the sky. ”
“All right then,” Cassian said, shaking Clive’s hand. “See you in the evening.”
“That’s right,” Clive said, his gaze going from Cassian to Lesya, and then finally at Elias. “Don’t make trouble. Your grandfather isn’t here. If you end up doing something that jeopardizes the mission…let’s just say I’ll be dispatching you myself. Can’t have a liability at the Covenant.”
Elias did a mock bow, lips curled in a smirk. Then he gave Theo a hug, and finally tried to do the same thing to Freya. She backed away, looking away from him.
“I guess someone’s still not over what happened yesterday. Remember, Freya, what happens in combat training stays in?—”
“Shut the fuck up, Elias,” Freya said, walking away.
“I guess that’s our cue to split up,” Clive said, chuckling uncertainly.
“Mr. Bane,” Freya said from afar. “Why can’t Elias go with you? I can pair up with Cassian and Lesya. I’d feel safer with them. You can keep a more direct eye on Elias this way.”
It was certainly a suggestion, one that Lesya liked far more than the initial grouping.
“So Cassian gets all the pleasant company, and our group is a bratwurst-fest? Get the fuck out of here,” Theo snapped in anger.
“I’ll do it. I don’t want to be paired with these two,” Elias said, jumping at the opportunity.
“Cassian?”
“I think Freya’s onto something. Besides, we’re supposed to report our findings, not how we found said findings,” Cassian said a little too casually. “If the majority agrees with the decision.”
Theo got humiliatingly outvoted.
“Relax, Theo, you’ll get your girlfriend back when this is over,” Elias said, slapping his friend on the shoulder far more forcefully than a friendly pat. “Come on. Let’s see what all the fuss is behind this whole thing.”
The two groups parted. Cassian’s group headed toward the left side of the city. Clive’s group traveled right.
“Glad I’m with you,” Freya said, giving Lesya a little smile. “Though, I’m not exactly sure what made me do that. I’m not that kind of girl.”
“I wouldn’t want to be on a real mission with someone who killed me,” Lesya said, making sure Cassian was out of earshot for Freya’s sake. “Just saying.”
* * *
Traveling with just three people was far easier than having an entire group of six. Freya was as fast as Lesya when it came to covering ground. And Cassian…well, Cassian was faster. He’d scout ahead, make sure it was safe for them to come out, and then give them the go-ahead.