Chapter 404

Nick probably should have been more cautious about following strange women into dark alleys. He was sure his mother wouldn’t have been happy with him if she knew he was doing exactly that, but to his credit, he’d actually met the witch before.Sure, back then, he’d dismissed her as just a shopkeeper, if a strange one, considering her choice of location and behavior, but it still counted. Technically.

The moment he stepped into the shop and the door shut behind him, he knew his initial assessment was flawed.

Being constantly around true powerhouses like Tholm and Xander had warped his sense of what regular mages could accomplish, so he didn’t feel too bad about it. However, if the subtle dampening of the ether he sensed was any clue, she was not an ordinary witch.

"Madame Valeriana," Nick said, recalling her name, keeping his back to the door and his shoulders relaxed. "I didn't realize you did street advertising.”

“Nothing so crude,” she replied, picking up a porcelain teapot and pouring two cups. “I merely saw an opportunity and took it.”

That she had prepared for this in advance only made him more wary and instantly discredited her words, but from the wry twist of her lips, she already knew that.

She slid a cup across the counter, “Drink, it’s a special brew imported from the east made to ease the burden of being too spiritually aware.”

Nick hesitated, but he couldn’t sense anything wrong with the tea besides its mildly calming effects, so he brought the cup to his lips and mimicked taking a sip.

“I can’t imagine this is all just to show me your latest inventory,” he said, setting the cup back down.

She didn’t even look at it, though he had the strange impression she knew he hadn’t actually drunk. “As I said, I saw an opportunity, and I took it. You’ve been observing the eddies of the ether, I know, so you must have noticed that things aren’t exactly as they seem.”

Nick barely managed to keep himself from stiffening. It was starting to become annoying how easily some people could tell he had spiritual abilities, but then again, he hadn’t exactly been hiding himself this time.

He briefly debated feigning ignorance, but decided it wasn’t worth the trouble. “I have. Something’s going on with the priests, though I have yet to find out what.”

"The Priests of Ulter are busy little ants,” she replied. “All the clergymen in the city are currently trying to leave a lasting impression on the moonlit side, so it’s not just them, but I can’t say it’s particularly pleasant.”

As far as Nick knew, was a very unique ability, allowing him to see things most mages only had a vague awareness of, but it seemed he wasn’t the only one with such insight. “It’s not,” he agreed. “Their divination spells specifically are not at all subtle.”

A long silence fell as the two looked at each other, trying to gauge exactly how much the other knew, until finally the witch gave a small nod. “They have been given a casus belli with the attacks on the temples, and they aren’t going to rest until either their revenge is complete or they have fully tainted the ether.”

That was Nick’s own assessment. “I don’t believe they are being actively malicious, but…”

“Yes, there probably isn’t some terrible plot. Their leaders, at the very least, should have learned from the tragedy of Ismal.” She waved a hand, and the smoke from her tea swirled, forming a map of a city with golden spires.

"The Temple of the Sun didn't ban magic overnight, even back then. They started just like this, cleaning the streets and healing the sick, and when they filled the air with the golden light of their god, the ether began to change. At first, it was so subtle, but as their power grew, arcane magic started to fade.”

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The smoke-city began glowing so brightly that details were hard to make out. "Mages found that their spells cost significantly more to cast. Enchantments and wards that had worked for centuries suddenly started failing because the ambient mana refused to cooperate with arcane logic. By the time the Temple officially outlawed wizardry, the mages were too weak to fight back, having been suffocated within their Tower.”

Nick felt a cold knot form in his stomach. More than any direct attack, this was the real threat.

Alluria was in a state of flux, having already experienced significant changes more than once in recent months, and he had seen firsthand how easily those emotions could give rise to or strengthen a spiritual entity.

What the priests were doing might help disperse clusters of negativity, but could also taint the ether with their specific worldview.

“You believe they are intentionally making the city hostile to arcane magic,” he said. He hadn’t sensed maliciousness in the priests working on the docks, but it was entirely possible they didn’t know what they were doing.

"Precisely," Valeriana said, pleased. "And they are doing it for a specific reason.”

“The traitor," Nick guessed. “I’ve heard that they're looking for collaborators who helped the Circle attack.”

“They’ve already gathered all the low-hanging fruit,” Valeriana nodded. “The only enemy left is the one hiding inside the Tower, and they won’t stop until he’s handed over.”

“And the Tower can’t do that,” Nick murmured. As much as he wanted to topple Hone like that, he understood why giving up an Archmage without solid proof was out of the question. Not to mention the damage Hone could cause if he truly believed he was about to be betrayed.

“Yes, so you see how the current board is set. Every faction is stuck in place, waiting for the other to make their move, but unfortunately, things can’t be allowed to continue as they are, or the consequences will be even worse,” she agreed.

Nick nodded along before catching himself. Nothing Valeriana had said was untrue so far, but she hadn’t explained why she’d sought him out specifically, or what she wanted him to do about it. “You… Who are you working with? I do not believe for a moment this is merely a humble shopkeeper’s worries.”

In the back of his mind, an answer was forming, especially given the recent events at the Tower, but it still seemed like a stretch.

“I am a humble shopkeeper,” she denied, but the twist to her lips made that very hard to believe. “But if you truly don’t believe that, just know that I am someone whose interest is maintaining a peaceful balance, and it is clear that none of the major players have any intention of acting to protect it.”

Since he’d been rescued at the very last moment during the Trial, Nick had wondered when the other shoe would drop. Tholm had warned him that the Shadows never did anything out of the goodness of their hearts, and it seemed that the time to pay his debt had come.

"So you want me to stop it," he concluded. He could see why he had been chosen, as he stood at the crossroads between many of the factions.

He was a noble and a rising figure, thanks to his father’s efforts in the north. He was a Tower mage, Tholm’s apprentice at that. He had a strong connection with the Grandmaster and had already proven himself to the Duke. And finally, she had just admitted she was aware of his spiritual abilities, and if she was actually working on behalf of the Shadows, it would finally explain how she’d come to know that.

"I want you to be aware of your position on the board," she corrected. "You are running around trying to play soldier for your father in the North, trying to play politics with House Boer, and trying to play hero for your little runaway in the manor.”

Nick flinched internally but kept his face expressionless. She knew about Sonya.

"You can’t fight a war on three fronts if the ground you're standing on is crumbling," Valeriana warned. “The festival is crucial because it’s when their influence over the ether will be fully established, greatly boosting their abilities. Once that is dealt with, things will be much easier.”

Nick gripped the edge of the counter. The warning was crystal clear. “How much can I really do? I’m certain the Duke could interfere much more easily if he wanted to, whereas I am limited by both power and influence.”

He hadn’t personally met the Tidemaster, but he doubted anyone that high up the hierarchy of a major religion would be a pushover.

“The Duke is like a lion waiting for the prey to be brought before him, so confident in his personal strength that he doesn’t even notice the hyenas gathering,” she dismissed. That an agent of the crown was speaking so harshly about the duke just showed how truly dangerous the situation was.

“You, on the other hand, have proven to be the perfect agent of chaos, more than capable of taking matters into your own hands when necessary, and possessing unique abilities that will make this operation much smoother.”

There wasn’t much Nick could say after that. The Shadows knew he was the one who ended the Greater Ritual in the dungeon, and even though he hadn’t gone into all the details, it was clearly within the same realm. He couldn’t act like he didn’t know.

Reaching below the counter, she pulled out a small, wrapped package. “Of course, that doesn’t mean you’ll be on your own. This should help you on your quest.”

Nick hesitated, but he had already gone too deep to turn back now, especially since she was so certain that no one else would intervene. He accepted it, feeling its weight in his hand, both physical and emotional.

Valeriana smiled, revealing her pearly white teeth. “Good choice. You’ll see, despite the dangers, working for the betterment of the country comes with its rewards.”

Nick gave her a slow nod and tucked the package into his ring, walking out of the shop with full awareness that this would not be the last time he saw the red witch.

The moment he returned to the street, the city noise washed over him, but it felt different now.

This close to the Tower, there were few priests, but the fact that any were present at all, especially when just days ago there hadn’t been any, told him that things were accelerating.

He thought of his father, fighting a war sabotaged by his own generals, of Devon and Sonya, hiding in a manor that was slowly being surrounded, of Tholm, playing a silent game of chess against a traitor inside his own walls, and of the Duke, silently watching as the nobles struggled to escape his grasp.

Ultimately, he had no real choice, but it comforted him to know he was doing the right thing for the right reasons.

With that new resolve, he walked back to the Tower, fully set to finish his preparations.