Ahrden was standing by a creek, gathering fish like others gather berries from bushes. In the beginning, he felt uneasy about being able to lift them out of the water so effortlessly without even giving them the slightest chance to escape, but he got used to it over time. He never caught more than what he—now he and Alia—ate, and they didn't frequently eat fish. This balance was something he always considered to ease his mind about how efficiently he could harness everything as a mage.
Months had gone by since the battle at Belentedor, and although the political relations had changed, it wasn't enough. Since the battle, all nations had kept to themselves, not even crossing the borders for scouting. As a result, there were no skirmishes or casualties whatsoever, but information also had not travelled between the nations.
Everyone was reluctant to send spies to find out what the enemy was up to, afraid that the rogues might get caught and the chain reaction that would ignite from this could lead to an all-out war in these politically suspenseful times. The alliance between the Polenteus and the Nethedral nations was put on pause, with no timeline even to have a discussion about it. Alia and Ahrden were beyond disheartened by it, but they understood that Durim would not budge until he felt his nation was in danger, and Kirthen was not yet removed from power.
After Ahrden broke Felinda's counter, she tended to him for days. After he briefly awoke, he fell back into a deep slumber that lasted for more days. When he woke up again, he could not believe his eyes, for he saw Felinda and Alia both looking at him. Ahrden could not get enough details of the story about how Alia had disregarded her role as a leader, her orders from her superiors, and her duties to her nation when she decided to sneak into the very capital of the Polenteus nation on a mere hunch that she might find Ahrden there.
After Alia did not hear back from him, she thought of the worst but didn't accept that for a second. She waited for as long as she could force herself to, then she went looking for him. She knew that Ahrden's go-to place was Felinda's workshop when he was on the brink of death. What she didn't know was where this workshop was. The specific location or the description of the outside had never come up before, and now she paid dearly for not asking.
Patience, experience, and surveillance allowed her to find the place without once being detected. Based on what Ahrden had told her, she was looking for a potion shop in the good district of the capital, but the building itself was battered down. She found a few, but one was closed, which made sense if only one person worked there and that person now had to take care of someone.
When Alia first snuck in at night, she found Ahrden there alive and healing—to her biggest relief. The next morning, she waited for Felinda by his bed, which almost gave her a heart attack, but they became fast friends afterwards. It made sense since they were both fascinated by the arcane—and by Ahrden—which wasn't true for many.
After months now, Ahrden still often found himself reliving this story in his head, as it was still beyond him to fathom. He was sure glad that the only two people he now cared about got along well, but Alia's drive to find him was what made him come back to this topic every time.
Like always, Ahrden smiled as he thought back to how he first saw the two sitting by his side, when he felt Alia signal him through the medallion. It was odd because she was on a scouting mission, which had started that day and lasted at least two more, so he wasn't sure what the signal could have meant. As he was thinking about it, he felt her signal him again and again, in a similar fashion as she did on the night when his house was destroyed. Now he was sure that she could only mean trouble.
Ahrden threw the fish back into the creek and focused on the medallion, seeking Alia's location. It took him some time to locate her, but eventually, he did feel her presence. There was a wide range of options for how Ahrden could have approached her while staying safe from any potential danger that might have been around her. It very well could have been a trap for all he knew at the moment. Ahrden, however, disregarded them all and teleported right next to Alia.
Ahrden found himself in the midst of thick foliage with Alia in front of him and two other rogues at her side. Alia had gotten used to both the process of teleportation and dealing with the arrival of one. Since she was expecting Ahrden to come the way she came, she didn't so much as flinch when he arrived—unlike the two rogues. She must have prepared them for what to expect, but they were still blown away by his arrival and could barely keep themselves from jumping on him.
Alia looked at Ahrden in a concerned and emotion-filled way. He could tell that she was happy he came, but it was apparent that the situation was dreadful. This was the first time she had called Ahrden while others were around her, and since their relationship was to be kept a secret for very obvious reasons, all Ahrden could think of was the worst. President Durim had kept his word and hadn't made their secret meeting known to others, for which Ahrden was grateful, and it told him that, on his part, an alliance was not completely out of reach. But now there was a threat so big that it required Ahrden to step out of the shadows.
Ahrden recognized the two rogues at Alia's side from also being next to her at the Wooden Jug. All three of them were fully clad in their stealthiest outfits, while what Ahrden wore looked unprofessional in this setting. They even had paint on their faces to cover the parts not hidden by their scarves, so Ahrden only noticed the new rogue who had arrived there when Alia turned towards her.
'Not now. Stay at your post; await orders.'
Alia was firm and confident when she spoke, and giving orders felt natural to her. When she turned towards Ahrden again and spoke, many of her qualities were retained, but she acted in a kinder and softer manner as she addressed her equal.
'The Velintenal nation is marching on our capital. We are still counting the total size of the army, but by my estimation, they have more than enough to take Merktin. They are about one and a half hours away from the capital if they keep up this pace. I've sent scouts ahead, but they haven't even reached Merktin yet; the army will not be able to get ready in time to face the coming forces.'
Ahrden remained silent while Alia talked. He was devising a plan while he focused on the sounds and heard the marching soldiers not far from them. More than once, he got the urge to just teleport to the soldiers and wreak havoc, but he restrained himself. He had a plan, but it was not without flaws, and this time he wouldn't be able to limit the number of casualties the same way he could when his own capital was under attack. This time he was afraid that a very violent and blood-soaked battle was the only way, but with his help, he believed that the conditions could be leveraged to favour the Nethedral nation.
'The road is similar to this in qualities all the way to the city?'
'Yes.'
'No change in its width?'
'Not significantly.'
'If I force them into the forest, can your army handle the larger numbers?'
'We were born and raised in these woods. If you can get them there, we might be able to. But they know this too, and they will surely do everything in their power to avoid the forest.'
'Yes, how exactly do you propose to force the army into the woods?' the rogue next to Alia asked while looking at Ahrden. 'I've heard you can do magic, but I've also heard that you are only strong against a few, not an army.'
'Silence!' Alia said, not even looking at the one who spoke. 'What is your plan?'
'I'll take you home and the ones you deem necessary. You get your forces ready and march them into the woods on both sides of the road. I'll intercept the army some distance ahead of the capital and force them off-road so they'll have to continue in the forest. Hopefully, they'll split equally on both sides, so your army can meet them in the forest. You have to stop them from re-joining behind me on the road. In the forest, everything will be up to you. Can your army handle that?'
'You can force them into the forest? They know exactly how deadly we are in there. They'll do everything to avoid going in,' Alia voiced the same concern after disregarding Ahrden's question.
'I can get them in there, but you have to do the rest. Can you do that?'
'Sure, we can, but… I understand. This is the plan, and we follow it. Lehgin, inform the others about the plan and move with the front of the army. When you near us, send ahead with the precise count of the forces. Mudron and I—we go back with Ahrden.'
Neither of the two rogues understood how any of this would happen, but they didn't object to the orders. Lehgin disappeared towards where the others must have been. Alia waited for Ahrden to reach towards them, and when he did, she accepted it and motioned for Mudron to do the same. When all three of them were connected, Ahrden turned towards Mudron.
'Worried?'
'No.'
Ahrden smiled. When they materialized in the empty square in front of the Wooden Jug, he and Alia were functional at once, while Mudron buckled over trying to recover from the jump.
'Where do I take you from here?'
'We got it from here; Mudron, get it together! Inform the general, I'll talk to the president.'
Without a word, the still sick rogue ran away in the most inelegant way possible. When he was out of sight, Ahrden grabbed Alia's hand and took her to their home. They fell into each other's arms immediately. For the first time, Ahrden saw fear in her eyes.
'Ahrden… Their army… Are you certain that you can handle that? If you fail and they march into the city unopposed…'
This was the first time Alia was not confident that she could come out victorious from the coming conflict. This time her own people were at stake, and the odds were highly against them. She felt powerless in the situation. Although she trusted Ahrden, she knew best his limitations when it came to dealing with a large number of enemies.
'I will not let them.'
'But how can you be certain? They are many and…'
'I won't fail. I promise.'
They embraced each other again.
'Are you ready?' asked Ahrden, knowing that his presence allowed her to let loose for a second, but she certainly didn't want others to see her like this.
She dried her eyes and composed herself in seconds.
'Yes.'
'I'll give you some boost.'
Ahrden closed his eyes, focused for a moment, then opened them again. With palms open, he pointed them towards Alia and started channelling the spells he had practised just so he could enhance her. He had given her arcane enhancement before, but this was going to be more potent and longer-lasting than ever. Purplish-blue light shot forth from his palm like never before and entered her body in a wild rush. Alia's eyes went wide as she watched the spell but didn't move. The power he was giving her was similar to his own enchantment; it lasted longer, but it wasn't as strong as his own, and it was specifically tailored to heighten the skills that a rogue would use instead of what a warrior did. Ahrden placed several homing beacons on her that, too, were short-lived—a day at most—but would signal her location very accurately to him and would even warn Ahrden if she suffered life-threatening wounds. He wished he could make these spells permanent, but unfortunately, that could not be done—not by him anyway. What mattered now was that the spells would last just long enough to give Ahrden the peace of mind to focus on what he needed to do.
As the vivid beam of arcane power was flowing into Alia's chest, she could not move, talk, or do anything. When Ahrden was coming to the end of the spells, she started quietly moaning from the overflowing power that she was receiving. She fell quiet the moment the flow stopped but started breathing heavily from what looked like physical strain. She looked down at her hands, turned them over, touched her legs, and tilted her head, listening to the sounds.
'Incredible,' whispered Alia, unable to move on from how she felt.
'Use it well; don't become overconfident. I gave you this to stay safer. Where to?'
'Up in the air.'
Ahrden smiled. They locked hands, and Ahrden teleported.
Once above the entire capital, Alia scanned the buildings lightning fast.
'There,' she pointed.
They arrived at the front door to what appeared to be the City Hall. Ahrden focused, scanned the building, and felt one room with a lot of people. In the next second, they were standing among the leaders of the Nethedral nation. Before anyone could react, Alia spoke up with firm authority and confidence as if she were talking to her own team, not the highest-ranking leaders of her nation. It was clear that everyone knew her and respected her, something Ahrden had never experienced before. Nobody interrupted her, and the growing fright on their faces told Ahrden they believed every single word she said. When she was telling them the plan—how he would split the army in two and force them into the forest where they could fight on their own terms—more and more eyes started falling on him.
'Act as you may, and I'll do the same,' Alia finished her speech and took Ahrden's hand. 'Let's go to the main gate of the city.'
'In a second,' Ahrden said while looking at the president. 'President Durim. I'm here to stop your nation from being erased. We didn't form an alliance, and what I predicted came to pass. It is too late now. Let's hope I can correct your mistake. I'm confident that the bodies buried this day will be sufficient for you to feel the time right to form an alliance. Let's just hope that you will have a nation to command at the end of this day. You waited while I prepared. You failed your people, the way I told you would. Now let us hope that your men and I won't.'
Alia and Ahrden materialized at the main gate of the city, looking out into the empty road, but they immediately heard the forming army behind them. When they turned around to face it, the numbers defied how little time they had to assemble. Ahrden had heard stories about General Werret, who commanded the Nethedral forces and now stood at the front giving out orders by the dozens.
Their arrival was quiet but didn't go unnoticed. A growing number of soldiers started staring at them in utter disbelief and shock. When the number of soldiers reached the point that even the general could not disregard, he stopped shouting orders and turned around. When he, too, saw Ahrden, he couldn't utter another word. Complete silence fell on them. The only noise that remained was the marching of the newly arriving soldiers as they took up their positions—and another deep rumble.
'Can you hear that?' asked Ahrden, then fell silent so everyone could listen.
The enemy army was still far away, but their rhythmical marching could already be heard. The noise of the preparation had drowned it out thus far, but now everybody could hear and feel the incoming threat.
'That is the sound of your death. Your family's death. Your legacies' death.'
Everyone there knew who Ahrden was, and he had all of their attention. Not even the general, the otherwise proud and short-tempered warrior, dared to oppose the man around whom he was orchestrating his entire strategy. He, too, knew that he could not win without the success of what Ahrden had promised, and he knew best not to upset the man who held his people's future in his hands.
'All of you, sons and daughters of the proud Nethedral nation, cannot stand against what is coming if we do not work together. Make no mistake, I'll drive them off the road; I'll do my part, but you need to do yours too. You'll have the advantage of being on the home ground. You'll be in your own elements. You'll be surrounded by the very trees you grew up next to. The environment will be yours, but nothing else. Today you'll win this battle because if you don't, your nation will not have a tomorrow. Today we will win, so tomorrow we might march on the very capital of these bastards and put an end to their reign.'
Shouts and cheers erupted from the assembling army.
Ahrden turned towards the general.
'General, how far are they?'
The general turned towards the scouts' leader, who was surrounded by his exhausted men, running back and forth to deliver the army's current position.
'Half an hour, sir,' reported the lead scout, more towards Ahrden than towards the general.
'Where would you like me to split them?'
'Twenty minutes out would be strategically the best,' Werret said in a confident deep voice.
'Twenty minutes it is. When I scatter them into the woods, you need to immediately meet them in the forest, or else they'll just surround me and get back on the road again.'
'We will meet them there.'
'Alright, then you better get moving; you have a distance to cover.'
'Yes, we have,' the general said, and with that, he turned around to bellow even louder than before. 'You heard the wizard; we have ground to cover, and we need to do it fast. Everyone fall into your designated group and head out now. Move! Move! Move!'
The assembled army started running into the woods, which swallowed them as it had many times before. They knew what they were doing. They felt safe there.
Ahrden was looking for Alia and the other rogues, but they were long gone by then, blending into their surroundings better than most animals could. The only group that remained were the exhausted scouts, because they were no longer needed for the coming conflict, and luckily, they were exactly the ones Ahrden needed. He walked up to them.
'Shouldn't you, sir, be heading out too? Sir wizard,' their leader asked.
'Yes, but I don't know where twenty minutes of marching takes me to. I needed someone here to tell me.'
'Of course, sir. I'll personally show you the location. If you'll follow me, sir wizard, we can start moving right away.'
'You are most kind. But as you've said, I'm a sir-wizard, and as such, I travel by different means.'
None seemed to understand what he meant by that, and he knew there was no time for a detailed explanation. He walked up to the still-standing leader who had offered to help, placed a hand on his shoulder, and teleported. They materialized some distance out in the middle of the road with no one to see in any of the directions. The marching was louder, and the city was gone.
'Talk to me,' Ahrden said, then sidestepped to evade the scout's stream of vomit.
'About twelve…' uttered the scout, knowing what would follow.
Indeed, Ahrden placed his hand on him again, and they travelled further out.
When they arrived, the scout threw up again.
'Atta boy. So, what is the status?'
'About twenty-three.'
Looking further down the road, Ahrden could already see the marching soldiers in their glittering armour, although they were still some distance away. Ahrden teleported again with the scout. This time he buckled to the ground after they arrived.
'What about now?' asked Ahrden.
Instead of speaking, the scout turned around and pointed at a great oak tree by the road some distance away in the direction of the coming army.
'That is at twenty minutes of marching,' the scout said without being able to look at Ahrden.
'Thank you. Do you want me to take you back, or can you manage?'
Without a word, the scout got up and ran into the woods, where he disappeared.
Ahrden smiled and started walking towards the great oak tree. The tree was only about twenty steps away, so he didn't move to the exact location that he had promised because it mattered in the outcome of the battle, but because he was going to do something that would alter this location forever. He wanted to do this change by the great oak so later on people would have a reference point to mention the change by.
When Ahrden was in line with the tree, he looked out at the coming army. They were still a few minutes away, but they were closing the gap fast. As for the Nethedral army, Ahrden had no clue.
Ahrden looked at the oak tree again, then teleported away. When he arrived in Alia's bedroom, he was facing the bed. The thought of lying down to sleep brought a faint smile to his lips and emphasized again just how surreal it was to be able to wield arcane powers when no one else could.
He went to the corner where he had placed Duskedge and fastened the sword to his belt. He then turned around and went to the closet where his few things were stored along with the one book and one magical artefact that survived the destruction of his house.
Covered in clothes lay the sphere that contained the mysterious liquid in it; now he lifted it up and held it before him. The orb had softly pulsing blue lines running across it in all directions, while the liquid itself had a weak but visible aqua hue to it. He had acquired this artefact during one of his most daring treasure hunts. The dungeon where this lay was almost as difficult as the one that gave Ahrden his three most prized books, of which none remained now.
He had learned about the artefact's abilities in a great many books, and all emphasized the power and the rarity of the object. In all cases, the sphere was known for its ability to bring life where there wasn't, and destruction was not once associated with it. Ahrden was planning to use the artefact in a way that was not intended for it, and in the long term, it would surely have unforeseeable consequences. He thought about it for a few seconds, caressing the globe in his hands, before he finally decided that he saw no other way to alter the march of an entire army.
Ahrden looked around, trying to locate something else that could also aid him, but found nothing. With the sphere under his arm, he went to another closet where Alia stored her rogue clothing. He placed the artefact on the floor and started going through the accessories. He quickly found the drawer that held her gloves, and after trying a few on, he found a warm leather glove that fit him nicely. He then picked up the artefact and teleported back to the oak tree.
With the sphere between his two gloved palms, he raised it above his head. He closed his eyes and started reciting the incantation which he knew by heart and which was needed to activate the object. The spell made the liquid glow in an even brighter aqua hue, while the lines on the sphere's surface deepened in their blue colour. Satisfied with how he felt the artefact react, Ahrden let go of it and stepped back.
Despite withstanding all that it did, when the ball came in contact with the ground, it shattered into a million pieces, splashing its contents everywhere. When the liquid touched the ground, it disappeared without a trace and impossibly fast, as if it were being pulled down. Seconds later, Ahrden heard a deep rumbling from underneath, and moments after, a wide crack appeared in the middle of the road. A thick stream of water burst out of the ground, splashing down in front of him, and from there it started flowing towards Merktin. Only slightly, but the road tilted towards the city, so the stream that formed was not violent but solid and steady.
The artefact created a spring from which water would flow till the end of time. This wholesome quantity would continue for a few days, after which it would reduce to a smaller stream. Artefacts like these were used to bring water to locations where such a thing was scarce, yet Ahrden was going to use it to create destruction. With his current power level, Ahrden could not think of any other way by which he could make the Velintenal army march into the woods that surrounded the capital, where even with their superior number, they wouldn't feel comfortable.
It wasn't often that Ahrden could use spells that involved manipulating water because, quite frankly, it wasn't often that he was around a usable water source. Now, however, he had created plenty of water to work with, enabling himself to utilize this powerful branch of magic, which he had practised but never truly utilized.
Backing a few steps away from the newly born spring, Ahrden cast a small spell to make the water flow around him while facing the coming army. He closed his eyes, gathering arcane within and preparing himself for the coming conflict. He reached out with his power, sensing his surroundings, familiarizing himself with it. He enhanced his body with arcane power, knowing that he would fight them hand to hand sooner or later. He reached out and looked for Alia, feeling her not far from him, nearing swiftly in the forest. He opened his eyes and extended his palms, ready to begin.
Ahrden lifted out a column of water from before him and split it into multiple smaller pieces, which he then formed to his desires. Once done, he froze the water into sharp, long spears and levitated them around himself, then he repeated the process to increase their numbers. The enemy neared, and he was ready for them as he stood there in the middle of the road, surrounded by hovering ice spears.
The army marched, and Ahrden contemplated the odds of succeeding in what he needed to do. He knew that the Velintenal soldiers weren't expecting him here because it became public knowledge that the Polenteus nation had a young mage among their ranks, and the only thing that was more obvious to anyone was that nations didn't work together in this Valley—with the one exception of the Santord and Mentard nations merging to become one, but that was an entirely different matter, formulated over many hundreds of years and supported by countless marriages.
On the other hand, the entire army must have been heavily schooled by their king that what made them run last time was nothing but tricks, and doing so again would undoubtedly mean certain death for the soldiers by their own king. Malitez must have hammered it into all of the officers that Ahrden was no more than a weak student and that no army should run away from such a minor obstacle.
Ahrden had the element of surprise, but his projected might was probably reduced to nothing. He could not make them run; he could not make them fear him. What he needed was actual destruction, and one that didn't involve Duskedge. Without achieving something like that, he was nothing.
This was a problem Ahrden would have had a hard time dealing with. Having shown the tricks he knew, and having a mage on the other side to reveal this to the non-arcane wielders, meant that he could no longer fool those he previously could. The feat he promised to perform here was no easy thing on its own, but having all of these things against him made it even harder.
Ahrden had been a problem the Velintenal nation could not deal with for a very long time; having that "solved" when his home was destroyed was a feat Malitez had surely told everyone. But since the king had failed, the consequences of that were severe. The element of surprise was powerful but short-lived and insufficient for what Ahrden needed to do. The only other thing he had was doubt, which had been growing inside everyone since they saw him during the battle at Belentedor. He was the living, breathing proof of their worshipped leader's failure. Although they must have believed Malitez when he said that last time all he did was trick them, Ahrden could defy their all-powerful ruler. Everything that was told to them about him by their own king would surely have been shaken to the foundations. This uncertainty was what Ahrden needed to work with.
The front of the army was close now, and Ahrden could examine it. The archers were further back, where it made sense for them to be, and he could only see one high-ranking officer with a scout by him. They must have seen him by now but couldn't make much of him, probably unsure whether to believe their eyes or not. The scout was still next to the commander, but they were already talking. It was time.
Ahrden sent the first few missiles towards the officer and the scout, who were both travelling by horse, making them an easy target. They both fell off their horses, dead before either of them could react to the attack. This prevented the official means to send the information further back, but the news still travelled fast. Ahrden didn't hold back; he sent the icy missiles flying without pause while continuously creating new ones. The front of the army was still some distance away, so they could not close the gap fast, nor could they react to the situation without someone to give them a uniform order. The bodies at the front started to pile up, but the soldiers further back didn't stop their marching, which made the front rows stumble over the growing obstacle. No one dared to break formation, which caused more soldiers to fall over.
New commanders were finally sent to the front, and the order to adapt to the situation was already being issued. The marching came to a halt, and the first line arranged into a defensive formation. Ahrden could no longer effectively hit the soldiers with their shields up because the missiles were bursting into bits upon impact. However, he was prepared with a whole arsenal of spells to utilize and an undrainable source of ammunition to use for his attacks.
Ahrden reached out with his power and used a spell to gather up as much water as he could. It weighed a lot and took him a great deal of effort to move it, but he managed to lift the giant block of water. He began moving it towards the enemy army. Everyone saw as the long rectangular block of water neared above their heads, but since it didn't look harmful, nor did they understand the intention behind it, no one did anything. As it got closer, the soldiers started becoming worried, but they didn't receive an order to abandon their positions, and since that would have been the only way to evade it, they didn't do anything.
The archers were arriving at the front of the army both on either side and also in a narrow corridor within it. When they took up their positions, many drew their arrows from their quivers and nocked their bows with them. That was when the water reached its position, and Ahrden let it out of his grasp. With a loud but harmless crash it fell on the soldiers, drenching them all. Ahrden immediately started casting the freezing spell, which froze the water fast on everyone who had been soaked.
Freezing even the first few rows of the army was difficult, let alone performing it from such distance and in such haste. What Ahrden utilized to make his task feasible was the basic quality of arcane, which made manipulating the basic elements such as water a lot easier than anything else. This is why it was such a powerful thing to have an infinite supply of water for the battle, and that is why he stood a chance with his freezing spell now that he could focus on the water instead of trying to freeze the soldiers themselves.
After Ahrden soaked them in water, he began the spell immediately. This would immobilize them long enough for him to conjure up something with legitimate destructive capabilities. The order to fire was given, but none of the arrows were let loose. They were too late. All the soldiers were doing now was trying to break free from the layer of ice that covered their entire bodies, freezing everything on them together into a rigid icy prison.
Once all the water froze solid, Ahrden reached downwards and called the nature below ground to obey his commands. The vegetation below was vivid and robust, what one would expect in the middle of the forest. Roots burst from the ground—far more than what Ahrden could control with accuracy—but his targets weren't moving, and precision was not what he was aiming for, so he could manage the quantity. Roots entangled the unmoving legs of the soldiers in the front section of the army and started tightening around them, squeezing them and twisting them.
The blood-chilling sound of the slowly breaking bones and the shrieks that followed ate into all the members of the Velintenal army, along with all the hidden soldiers of the Nethedral army who were taking up their positions in the forest. Ahrden didn't stop the spell, only strengthened it further, knowing that all who were trapped could do nothing and help wouldn't reach them in time.
The broken soldiers were slowly dragged underground, which prolonged the screams and shouts along with the horrid visuals that came with the gruesome scene. During the agonizing events, a shout was let loose and, as one, the entire army that remained intact charged at Ahrden.
The move was simple and the only one that made sense, yet Ahrden hoped he would have more time before the Velintenal leaders arrived at this conclusion. Soldiers ran among their half-sunken comrades, not giving them the slightest attention, focused only on the one person they needed to destroy.
Now that the soldiers neared him, it became easier to send water at them and freeze it onto them in a similar manner, but Ahrden felt that the ones further back would just push aside the immobile ones until they eventually ran him down. He couldn't pile the frozen bodies fast enough to make the charging stop, and what he absolutely couldn't afford was to leave his strategic position by the water source. The entire strategy hung on the presumption that he would force the army into the forest, and without question he was unable to do that without the water source.
Ahrden sent all the water he had in front of him forward and formed a wall out of it, which he then froze. He kept channelling the newly surfaced water into the wall, reinforcing it and spreading it wider in both directions. By the time the first soldier came crashing into it, the wall was strong enough to withstand the collision and wide enough to block the entire road. As more soldiers arrived and the pressure on the wall grew, all of Ahrden's attention was required to keep the wall intact, so he focused solely on that. This enabled soldiers on the sides to get around the wall and charge at him. Once these soldiers were hidden from the main army, which was on the other side of the wall, silent arrows ended their eager charge before any one of them could reach the mage.
Ahrden was glad for the help that came from the forest because he didn't know how he would have dealt with the soldiers otherwise. The pile around him grew larger, and he soon became confident enough about the wall's strength to focus on widening it. This brought a momentary pause in the flow of soldiers that had been coming around the edges so far.
The Velintenal soldiers quickly realized that since only the first row of the army could attack the wall, they wouldn't get through it, with the siege engines still further back. With a move of his wrist, Ahrden made the ice clear in a line before him and saw as a platoon of soldiers was commanded to go around the wall on each side. By then, the wall was wide enough to reach deep into the woods, and when the soldiers finally got to the edge of it, they were surrounded by the deadliest assassins of the Valley.
The question wasn't if they stood a chance or not, but rather if the remaining Velintenal army could notice what they had fallen victim to. Through the clear ice, Ahrden could see the confused commander, and the commander could also see Ahrden—and how no soldier came rushing at him. Ahrden had his gloved hands pointing at the wall, and he was feeding it with arcane and water. Alia's slightly-too-tight rogue gloves proved perfect for protecting his fingers from the unnatural cold he had created, preventing them from going numb and enabling them to move as freely as they did in the warm environment.
The commander was about to issue a new order when all the soldiers around him started dropping like flies. Arrows protruded from all the fallen bodies, which answered multiple questions that the commander had and sent all the soldiers around him into the forest on both sides. He did this knowing that the enemy army couldn't have assembled fast enough to meet them in the woods, so all they had to deal with was a smaller partisan group sent here to buy time for the main army. This alone was a big problem in itself, but one that could be solved if they dealt with it swiftly.
Ahrden smiled and watched as the long line of soldiers split in two and the road in front of him cleared out in a matter of seconds. He clenched his fist, shattering the long ice wall before him and sending its shards at the soldiers who still lingered on the road.
Reinforcements came, and they came fast. Ahrden dared not imagine how long this army must have stretched out on this narrow road, but he knew he only saw a speck of it. The small partisan group that they expected to find in the forest didn't die fast enough, so more soldiers were being sent in there to deal with the force they still expected to be insignificant. After the wall of ice was gone, Ahrden became reachable again and soldiers charged at him too. He was no longer the main focus of the forces, but rather the residual warriors were sent towards him. This was the mistake Ahrden was waiting for; with the army split into two, he felt more than capable of dealing with the ones that remained.
Putting the wall up was always an option, but he was here to demonstrate power, not to make a giant shield of ice. Ahrden was planning to keep Duskedge in its scabbard until he could not manage without it. Now he summoned multiple tentacles made of water and ice which stood tall beside him. This was a spell Ahrden had extensively practised but could never try beyond that. With all the water he needed at his disposal, this was the most fitting spell to use.
When the first warrior neared, Ahrden began commanding the tentacles of water and ice. At first, it was a rigid, fractured movement, but as he began to get the hang of it, the massacre became a fluent dance. The initial obligatory movements of the tentacles smoothed out; they no longer only listened to what the spells commanded of them, but to Ahrden too. From commanding them, Ahrden went to directing them, with more speed, ease and precision. More soldiers were charging at him with full speed than he could have handled with Duskedge, but with arcane alone, he was able to, and not a single soldier could get past him.
The success lay in the fact that water was one of the easiest materials to manipulate through arcane. On top of this, it didn't matter if the tentacles broke in half or if they were severed by a sword, because creating a new one or fixing the damaged ones remained equally easy thanks to the unending water source.
The archers would have posed a challenge, but they were scattered everywhere with no one to effectively command them, and the few loose arrows were easy to block. The charging warriors saw the bodies that surrounded Ahrden and witnessed the ease with which he crushed entire rows of fully armoured soldiers. Not at first, but slowly more and more warriors decided that they had better chances in the forbidden forest than to run into their inevitable deaths. As a result, after some time that Ahrden could not estimate, the entire road ahead of Ahrden cleared out, and what remained were two fully fledged battlefields on either side of it.
The general at the back, sitting on his expensive horse, realized too late that the forces they met in the forest weren't any small partisan group sent here to buy time, but rather the entire army of the Nethedral nation. They couldn't just deal with them and collapse on the mage from both sides, forcing him away from the magical fountain he had created. No. They met the entire Nethedral army in that forest, which was the one thing they needed not to do.
The Velintenal army still outnumbered the defenders, but there was a solid reason why they marched so fast and unannounced, trying to get past the forest and wage the battle within the capital. Surprising Merktin at their front gate wouldn't have only meant a certain victory, but one where the casualties of the attacking side would have been minimal. Now, what they had was a battle that could easily go either way.
After the Velintenal army retreated from their siege of Belentedor, news travelled fast, and rumours started spreading. No matter how unlikely it was, the Evil King couldn't allow the formation of an alliance between the remaining two nations, so he needed a way to prevent that. On top of that, Malitez needed to right his failure, which spread doubt about his nation's strength both within his ranks and outside of it. Running down the capital of the Nethedral nation and claiming everything that the nation had was going to achieve both of these things. Although the Nethedral army was a formidable one, they were known to be outstanding in stealth and in the forest; so, if the battle happened anywhere else, the victory would surely be guaranteed. What Malitez was doing was logical and smart; the only mistake he made was not making sure that his assassination of the one person that could render this plan useless was successful or not.
Ahrden looked within the forest to observe the raging battle, but his eyes weren't used to reading situations like this, no matter how much he had read about tactics. Since he didn't know what to look for, he didn't know where he could assist the defenders best. This left him with going where he wanted to, which was Alia. He focused on the spells he had put on her and quickly felt her in the midst of battle. She had not suffered any severe injury, but she was straining from the effort to keep the attackers at bay.
Ahrden cast the usual cloaking spells on himself, then used his own spell, which spread fast and covered him in a shroud of unknown. He drew Duskedge and channelled power into it. Even though it wasn't necessary to use it, where he was about to venture next, he was going to need it. He could have teleported, but instead, he chose to do some work on his way to Alia.
After Ahrden entered the forest, his eyes adjusted to the shadows. He travelled fast, acting almost instinctively; no soldier could come close to getting through his defences. After each fight, he knew more, experienced more and became more powerful. Unfortunately, he has had many occasions to become this formidable. As long as he could keep this focus, he was invincible. If history has proven anything, it was that this absolute dominance could not be maintained for too long, but now he walked as a demigod among the feeble mortals.
Ahrden zoned out, giving himself to the process. He progressed fast, leaving a swiftly thinning mist and a pile of dead bodies behind. It was the Nethedral general's voice that pushed Ahrden out of this flow. He turned his head, and with two teleportations he saw what made the general shout orders in such a desperate manner. The Velintenal soldiers must have recognized Werret and dedicated countless men just to take him down, understanding the importance of such an achievement. Werret was overwhelmed with enemy soldiers, and although his men were there to back him up, it wasn't going to be long before their group got completely surrounded. The general was the most formidable warrior among everyone around him, and all the enemy soldiers that came charging at him met their swift death by his blade. This, however, did not stop any from trying to be the one to slay him.
The fog that followed wherever Ahrden went reached the small bubble of defiance that stood against all odds and distracted one of the general's men long enough to not see an incoming sword. As this one piece fell in the already unstable defence, so did the ones that relied on it, and a chain reaction escalated swiftly. Soon the entire defence around the general was crumbling, and if not for Ahrden, they would have been dead in a minute.
By then, the fog had covered everything, and Ahrden was all-powerful within. He moved around the surrounded circle, cutting down every Velintenal soldier in the process. He barely moved with his legs as he fought, constantly teleporting from one location to the next. The general and his remaining men stopped fighting as their opponents fell by the hands of this mysterious force, and only when the entire area was cleared and Ahrden stopped to show himself could they fathom what—or rather who—had saved them.
'Noble, but foolish. Move back where the rest of the army is. I can't save you every time you overstep.'
Werret nodded knowingly and approvingly. Ahrden moved on, no longer cutting his way through the enemy but rather moving past them to reach Alia.
When Ahrden found himself in the thickest part of the battle, he knew he was not far from Alia. The area was so dense with enemy soldiers that he needed to teleport up to one of the lower hanging branches to observe the situation while he put his sword back into its sheath.
The first thing that Ahrden saw was Alia. She was part of a circle similar to the one around the general, but this one actually worked. She was way further in the enemy army than the general had been, yet they were able to manage it with seeming ease. She was with her close team, which meant the best rogues in the Valley. The harmony and precision with which the group moved through the enemy soldiers was breathtaking for Ahrden. Each rogue had two short and curved daggers in their hands; some held them so they pointed towards the enemy, others, like Alia, held them so they were facing away from them, making it even more difficult to see where the daggers actually moved. All the rogues moved in perfect union; they all knew where everyone else was, and they helped out where it was most needed. They communicated through single words, which could be heard despite the deafening noise of the battle, and they used their well-oiled system to advance into the enemy ranks like no other part of the frontline could.
The rogues were clad in light but durable leather armour, while their opponents were wearing metal plates from top to bottom with long broad swords to go with it. The two fighting styles were so immensely different that it was clear that whoever would force their own ways onto the other would come out triumphant. No soul questioned the rogues' continuous victory as they wreaked havoc on all who stood in front of them.
The forest being their own, knowing all the ins and outs of it, proved an invaluable advantage for them, purely because of how much they used it. They were jumping around using everything that the environment could offer, from the trees to fallen branches and giant rocks. They provided support for each other to further their movements while wounding multiple enemy warriors in the process and evading all the blows that came their way. They moved up so close to the enemy soldiers that their long swords could not follow their movements, while their small daggers could silently cut and slice as the wielder pleased. Once they were done, they jumped away from their foes and waited for the poisons to create the confusion they needed, then effortlessly went in again and finished what they had started.
All Ahrden could compare this orchestrated bloodshed to was a performance where the rogues were in the lead. It was a blood-soaked dance with a certain beauty to it.
For someone who was not used to depending solely on the weapon and the skills to use it, everything looked so terrifying for Ahrden, knowing that one wrong move would be enough for any of the warriors to exploit their superior strength and crush any of the rogues' skulls, yet none who fought there seemed to be worried about such a thing. As Ahrden sat there, the rogues had moved so much into the enemy lines that he had to teleport to another branch to keep up with them.
When he materialized on the next branch, it was almost directly above Alia, who must have heard the creaking of the branch above her because she looked up directly at him. Ahrden couldn't see it in her eyes that she had spotted him through his fading but still present cloaking spells. Still, he was sure that if she didn't have to immediately sidestep a blow from a warrior, which was only possible due to the distraction he had created, she would have spotted and recognized him.
Ahrden wasn't sure how both Werret and Alia could make the same mistake—to separate from their own army and freely move into the enemy lines. It might have been overconfidence, it might have been bloodlust, or even the simple desire to save their nation. It might have been the combination of these things, but either way, this could only end in the same way that the other independent circle had.
Sure enough, all it took was one careless misstep, and a rogue lost his footing. He died before Ahrden could even notice the mistake, which led to the swift death of another who was right beside him. Two missing pieces were more than the small machine could handle, and it showed immediately.
The Velintenal soldier capitalized on the opportunity fast and moved into the gap that was created. This information was conveyed immediately, and Alia started looking back at the events, trying to assess the situation.
Ahrden had never truly seen her fight in such settings before, but what he witnessed now was something that might have been a first time even for her. Alia went from an already deadly force to the ultimate rogue with the enhancements that he had given to her. She was unstoppable, outdoing her peers by a substantial margin while helping them wherever she could. Now she was doing everything she could to fix the mistake she made by letting them be in this position.
'Cover!' she shouted.
Ahrden saw they wouldn't be able to keep this up much longer, and help wasn't coming from the front line. The circle could not shrink fast enough to compensate for the lost members, and now the warriors were hammering at them from within too. That was when Ahrden intervened.
He teleported precisely above the middle of the broken circle of rogues. He gathered arcane energies as he fell, and when he landed, he sent them out in all directions. The shockwave rippled through everyone, knocking them backwards, but not enough to make them lose their footing. The bloodshed halted for a heartbeat, which was enough for Ahrden to cast an arcane dome around the group. He was still down on one knee when the Velintenal soldiers trapped inside rushed at him, forgetting the rogues they had been fighting. Needless to say, none reached Ahrden alive.
When Ahrden stood to his full height, he looked around. He saw all the rogues looking at him; having heard the stories about his shield, they all trusted it. Some had seen him before, others hadn't, but all knew who he was.
The situation he had created was very delicate, which prevented him from actively aiding the rogues against their enemies. The warriors were all around them, and Ahrden could not face them all the way he had with the much smaller group, especially since they were so deep in the enemy lines that there was an unending replacement of foes. By arriving, he had stopped the flow of the well-oiled machine, and resuming the battle might cause them to lose the edge they had had so far. He could not help the rogues the way they helped each other, nor could he fight a portion of the warriors without being in the way of the others. Ahrden was so deeply saturated with arcane power that he believed himself able to save them all, not just Alia, but he could only do that if he got them out of there.
The warriors outside were amazed at first, but quickly caught up with what was happening and started hammering at the shield with all they had. Ahrden concentrated, channelling as much power into the shield as he could until he felt it could remain intact without his support for a good few seconds. So far, none had dared to talk to him, not even Alia, but now they no longer had the chance to; Ahrden teleported between two rogues, grabbed them by the arms and teleported to the road. He was well aware they didn't wish to be out of the battle altogether, but he didn't want to risk jumping into their own army multiple times in haste while carrying two rogues without proper preparations. Ahrden was back in the next instant and took another two out. Each time he returned, the sound of his shield's painful cracking grew louder, but he trusted his own estimation, and by that, it needed to hold a little longer. He repeated the process a few more times until, when he jumped back, only Alia and the two rogues—Lehgin and Mudron, who had been by her when she called him—remained.
Ahrden walked up to Alia and placed both hands on her shoulders. Those shoulders were impossibly tense, and she even jumped a little despite clearly expecting the touch. She looked embarrassed, and Ahrden knew she would never forgive herself for leading her team here. Meanwhile, the shield was moments away from shattering, which was obvious from the sound it gave and the many cracks that ran along its entire surface.
'Fellows, care to join?' Ahrden asked, an eyebrow raised, keeping his eyes on Alia.
Two hands grabbed his shoulders in the next instant just as the arcane dome shattered and warriors came pouring in.
When Ahrden arrived with Alia, Lehgin and Mudron, everyone was waiting for them on the empty road, which was littered with bodies. Some were still recovering from the unpleasant experience of their first teleportation, but being the trained rogues they were, and with adrenaline surging through their veins, they were ready to take orders the moment Alia arrived.
'I'll go talk to their general. You all listen to your commander,' Ahrden said, gesturing towards Alia, and he teleported out of their sight.
Ahrden had mixed emotions about the conversation he was going to have with the general. He knew it would be a challenging discussion, but he feared it might be the most difficult he had ever had.
Travelling down the empty road by teleporting as far as he could see, Ahrden was shocked to witness how far he had to go before meeting the general and his people, who must have remained where the end of the army was while the forces were still on the road. Numerous eager scouts rushed to the sizeable group or away from them and into the forest, carrying the latest orders or the latest status of the battle.
Ahrden teleported to a nearby tree with an excellent vantage point to observe the events. The inner group that governed the battle was surrounded by several layers of soldiers. It appeared they did everything they could to protect their general after how his predecessor had been killed during the battle at Belentedor, but it was all wasted because no amount of steel could withstand arcane.
After teleporting high up, Ahrden got a better glimpse of the general, and with two more quick jumps, he took the general to where his house used to stand.
It was peaceful up there. No sign of battle. No sign of death. Only the Velintenal general and the nationless mage.
Ahrden stood at the edge of the cliff, looking out into the Valley, while the general was some distance behind him. The general knew that killing the mage would mean everything, but he also knew that he couldn't.
'This is where I lived until your king sent twelve assassins after me and destroyed my home along with them.'
'It's about time you came. I thought you would never plead for a deal,' the general replied, disregarding what Ahrden had said.
Ahrden was not sure what kind of bravery or foolishness it took to march into battle as general while he was on the opposing side. The fact that he would show was not obvious by any account, but it seemed the general still expected him to. He also anticipated that Ahrden would not try to kill him and would instead opt to reason with him. Ahrden suspected Malitez to be the engine behind this train of thought, but it helped little against the fact that he acted as others expected him to.
The general knew Ahrden's weakness. Malitez had educated him well on the flaws of their biggest threat. The general knew that despite the powers Ahrden wielded, he was soft, weak—only a boy who did everything he could to prevent death and who eagerly tried to find a solution instead. The general knew what Ahrden wanted, and this gave him power over him despite what the mage thought.
Ahrden turned around to see the expression on the general's face as he responded:
'I don't want you to call off the attack.'
The general's mouth opened; he audibly gasped and couldn't react to what he had just heard. Ahrden was satisfied. He continued.
'The problem is your army. It has always been. I can deal with your king alone, but not with your army, and by now you all must have been told this. The Velintenal nation is the biggest in the Valley, with the biggest army to match it. It was reduced when you came to my nation, but your dominance remained unquestionable. It would take a miracle to defeat the army you have now with the opposition that remains in the Valley. Without any alliances, it would take at least the entire Nethedral army—if they could fight in their own element while your army was forced to fight in theirs. In any other scenario, you would win.'
The general looked at Ahrden. He looked defeated. The boy had played him—and his king.
'Since that is happening right as we speak, I have no desire to put an end to it. You are the one who needs the deal, not me. I admit, the price is high, but I can't get rid of your army in any other way. By the end of this day, the Velintenal nation will remain the largest in the Valley, with the smallest army. Then all I'll have to do is defeat Malitez, and it will be over.'
'You would sacrifice an entire army, just so…'
'I'm not sacrificing anything. If not for me, the entire Merktin would be overrun by now. We are at war. There is a battle being fought down there, which I helped put on the terms of the Nethedral nation. I'm not sacrificing anyone; I'm letting the events play out after creating the environment where the desired outcome has the highest chance of occurring. If we made a deal now, you would just come back with new recruits and attack again.'
The general had no cards. He knew the mage was right, and he knew he could not convince him otherwise. As for his weakness, Ahrden seemed to have gotten over it. The general had only one thing left.
'You will never be able to beat King Kartesta Malitez.'
'You know nothing about arcane.'
'It's not about arcane; it's about people—and that I know. If we fight, it is my steel against your arcane, but if you fight my king, it is people against people. And there, you cannot beat him. You are just a boy. How could you even dream of such a thing?'
'Too bad you won't be there to see how wrong you are.'
'Don't worry,' laughed the general. 'You can tell me about it in the Afterlife.'
The chilling laugh of the general echoed in Ahrden's mind as he threw him off the cliff. He kept laughing as he fell: no fear, no worry, only confidence in his king—despite how Malitez had failed multiple times now.
This was a lot to think about. But Ahrden still had people to help. He could not win the battle for the Nethedral army, but he could fight alongside them.
He teleported to where he had dropped the rogues off and focused. He could feel Alia not far from there. Ahrden drew Duskedge and fed power into it. He teleported.
Alia and her rogues were fighting at the front line, not overstepping it a single time. Ahrden could also see Werret and his men keeping the Velintenal soldiers at bay not far from them. Ahrden took a position between them and soon lost himself in the battle.
--
Ahrden was lightheaded from all the blood he had lost, and he was close to collapsing from exhaustion. He had lost all of his strength to focus; he became clumsy and careless, yet he kept on fighting until a deep cut scraped his forearm bone. The blossoming pain snapped him out of this trance and let him know that it was time to go.
Alia was still fighting beside him, and so was the general. Looking ahead, he could see the end of the Velintenal army, and looking back, he could see the end of the Nethedral army too. The battle was about to come to an end, and no matter who was going to come out victorious, the difference between them wasn't going to be much.
Ahrden could not stay conscious for long anymore, but he still had things to do. He moved closer to Alia.
"Alia, we have to go; we need to talk to your president."
"I'm not leaving."
Ahrden was far from having enough energy to debate her. He calculated her movements, then moved in without getting in the way and touched her arm. They materialized in their City Hall. Alia almost cut down two elder members of the council who were where her enemy had been.
"Durim, you have more bodies than you dare to admit. Now, do you find the time to be right?"
The room was almost full, and it was louder in there than at the market in the morning. Their arrival went mostly undetected, but when Ahrden started speaking, everyone moved out of their way, and silence fell on the room. Anyone who mattered in Nethedral was here, yet no one dared to oppose him.
Ahrden started moving toward the round map table in the middle of the room, where the most essential members stood along with President Durim. Alia followed him, seeing that this indeed might have been more important, but she didn't understand why this couldn't have waited till they actually won the battle, which still could have gone either way. Ahrden continued talking as they walked.
"Both of us know President Kirthen. If it were up to him, he would march on your unprotected capital and finish what the Velintenal nation had started. But he is not going to do that. After I'm done here, I'll go to the leaders of the Polenteus nation and convince them to send aid to you—all that they can spare. They will help you when you are the weakest as a token of good faith. I'll convince them to form an alliance with you because we need to march on Basterran before Malitez can rebuild his army from the nations he has conquered. We need to end his reign now, because he has never been this exposed before, and I doubt that he ever will be again. My question to you, President Durim: do you have enough bodies now to form an alliance and march on the enemy?"
By then, they had reached the table, and the leaders made room for them to join there. A map of the forest around the capital was spread out, and small painted wooden figures represented the current state of the battle. With scouts constantly running back and forth, Ahrden was not surprised how close the state of the actual fight was to the one presented on the map.
"We will form an alliance with the Polenteus nation."
After Durim spoke, gasps spread around the room, but before any could form into words a scout ran in with much haste and disregarded the lead scout who awaited the report. Instead, the short female scout just shouted the message into the open:
"It is over; we won!"
Cheers, cries, and claps erupted all around the room. It was deafening. Ahrden leaned close to Alia.
"Would you like to stay here or go back to the battlefield?"
"Ahrden, you are bleeding everywhere… You need immediate help. How are you even standing?"
It was true that blood was constantly dripping from multiple wounds; all of his clothes were soaked in his own blood. Even most of his smaller cuts required immediate attention. Visually, Ahrden looked as if he had more wounds than anyone could have while remaining standing, and the reality was not far from that.
"I'll chat with Kirthen. Let's meet at home afterwards."
"Are you sure you can handle that?"
"Don't worry. Do you know someone who could patch me up when I get there?"
"I wouldn't let anyone else do it but me."
Both of them smiled, and Ahrden teleported out of there. When he materialized in the Map Room of Belentedor's City Hall, he found it equally crowded and busy.
"It is over; Nethedral won."
The air froze; everyone turned towards him. The setting was similar, with everyone important being present, and they too gave him their undivided attention.
"The Nethedral nation is in terrible shape; they just lost just shy of their entire army, and they need your help to recover. You will send aid to them immediately, and your leaders will go there as well. You will form an alliance to work together until you defeat the Velintenal nation, which is currently the weakest it has ever been in a very long time—but not for long. The Nethedral nation has the best siege engines in the Valley, and you have the numbers. Will you do these things?"
"We will, Ahrden. I give you my word."
That was Ferdan, the general, speaking.
"You are in no position to—"
Ahrden cast a spell, and Kirthen could no longer make a sound through his mouth.
"Thank you, General Ferdan; you are shaping the future of many generations to come. Please act promptly, as this is a very sensitive time. As for him, his voice will come back, but I trust you that it will not sway you from doing what is right."
"It will not, I assure you, and I'll start assembling the aid right away."
The general nodded and turned towards his people to give orders to them. Everyone in the room accepted the general's words as if they were coming from the president. Ahrden could see reassuring expressions and nods, with more and more people openly supporting the turn of events. Ahrden was impressed. Genuinely impressed. He teleported to Felinda's shop.
When he arrived, he lost his balance for a moment but was able to regain it. His vision was blurring, and he was about to collapse. Ahrden went down on one knee, and he couldn't keep his eyes open. His blood was dripping everywhere, his mouth was dry, and he was impossibly thirsty. He was about to fall on the ground when he smelled something that felt like a giant kick in the face, and he shot his head up immediately.
When he got up, he was stunned to see the workshop crowded, with the line continuing even on the street. Ahrden caught a glimpse of Felinda disappearing into the depths of her shop, but he didn't have the strength to call after her. Whatever she made him smell gave him a giant boost, but it was fleeing faster than his blood.
When she emerged into Ahrden's view again, she was holding a flask in her hand.
"Drink this and come with me to the back. I'll patch you up. We are closed, people. Come back tomorrow!"
"No, I'm leaving."
"No, you are not. You are in no shape."
"Please. Another flask, not so strong, for a rogue—she too was wounded, but not this much."
Felinda looked at Ahrden, almost angrily, then hurried away again. She came back a lot faster than before with another flask in her other hand, but this one was smaller than the one she first brought out.
"The smaller is for Alia. Larger is for you. Ahrden… Do you understand?"
"Yes…" said Ahrden, but it didn't convince Felinda.
She opened the larger one and poured it into his mouth. Ahrden drank it all with pleasure, not minding its metallic taste at all.
"Hold this. This one is for Alia. Tell her it is a shinesten potion. Now hurry if you want to go, because you'll be asleep soon."
Ahrden curled his fingers around what felt like a glass tube and teleported. When he arrived, his vision couldn't focus enough to make the place out. He lifted his hand as much as he could.
"This one… Alia. Hurry… if you want to go, shine upon… drink…"
Ahrden felt a hand on his waist and the tube being taken from him.
Next, he buckled under his own weight and lost consciousness.