Chapter: 593 Bonus - Nalac, Latna, James (Patreon)

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Nalac walked through the streets on his way to his first jobsite. He waved and nodded in response to the various greetings that were called his way. He’d finally been around for long enough that people were beginning to recognize him… at least along his usual routes.

One of the benefits of working in the city rather than on guard rotation, I guess.

He winced at that, wondering briefly if Illie would still be with him had they chosen to do that sort of work from the beginning.

Not that she’d have actually allowed that.

Regardless, his new master was connected with the various mundane trades throughout the city, and Nalac was able to provide real help to real people on a daily basis.

He knew that defending them was necessary, but when he’d been doing that, he’d often felt disconnected from the mundane citizens.

Now? Now, his every day was for their benefit.

He strolled into the construction yard that was his first destination, where an entire block was being torn down and rebuilt for different purposes. He chatted with any workers he saw as he poured power into constructs of various kinds, renewing their power reserves for the day and allowing their spellforms to endure until he returned.

His particular flavor of magic allowed the men to be more aggressive in the demolition work, both because their tools would now deliver more power with less effort, and because their safety suits and helmets would shrug off almost any shrapnel or blunt impact dangers.

It didn’t render them invincible or anything silly like that, but changing the impact of a falling beam into something that felt like a heavy thwack from a pillow? That was immensely helpful.

The person would still need to be rescued from under said beam much of the time, but the others would have a window of opportunity before the magics spent themselves in which to free their friend with minimum repercussions.

No one cared that they’d have to switch gear out after any major incident. That was better than death.

He’d been doing this particular job long enough that his master no longer came with him, and he felt some pride in that. It also meant that he didn’t have to split the meager pay with his master.

Through this and his other tasks, he was learning so much about the non-violent side of magic, and honestly, he felt that he might even pursue magic as his source of income after being fully certified, no matter what he’d thought he wanted or what he’d told his oldest sister.

The comradery with average folks helped with that, as well as with dulling the pain of loss. He still felt the gap in his life. His twin, who had been with him since literally before he was born, had been torn away in an act of self-sacrifice that saved him and so many others.

He was proud of her, and yet, he was so angry with her, too.

But he didn’t dwell on that.

He couldn’t.

It took him less than an hour to refill all the various inscribed gear, and he was exhausted by the time he left, swaying a bit on his feet as he moved toward his next stop.

Thankfully, the next jobsite was nearly a ten minute walk away, and he didn’t have to be there for an hour. He should be recovered well enough by then.

It also meant that he had time to divert and maybe catch a glimpse of her.

He felt foolish for doing it, but he took the alternate, longer route regardless.

In less than five minutes, he was passing by the little bakery, slowing to look in the window and catch a glimpse of…

Oh…

She wasn’t in there.

Dolci was a stunningly beautiful young woman. She was smart, kind, an excellent listener, a great cook, and basically everything he’d ever dreamed of. The only reason she remained single was because her father swore that she’d die single if she couldn’t find someone truly worthy of her, and she hadn’t found someone over whom she was willing to contest him.

In considering the situation, Nalac assumed those two things were connected, if not entirely interlinked.

Regardless, he’d found this little shop while wandering the city after Illie’s passing, and to his great shame, he’d ended up weeping on one of the tables outside. Dolci had come out, bringing him some baked goods and coffee before sitting and listening to him mentally unload.

The whole ramble, he couldn’t believe he was venting to a stranger, and he was apologizing the entire time, but she continued to wave away his concerns and ask further questions.

He’d been smitten ever since, but he’d only found the courage to hurry by and catch glances of her, or occasionally step in to buy a quick treat.

She’d always seemed happy to see him, but…

He sighed.

Nalac knew he was being a bit of a coward, but he was sure that he would be able to work up to doing more… eventually.

He shook his head, focusing on the little store. He wanted to at least see her before he went to his next job.

He’d been trying to be circumspect, but he’d definitely still had his full attention diverted to the side, trying to be sure to catch her glimpse as he passed. When he saw that she wasn’t behind the counter, he tried to look through the inner door into the back, or see if she was maybe off to one side, out of easy sight through the front window.

Only when that failed did he pull his focus back and realize that he’d almost walked straight into one of the tables that were sitting outside the establishment.

His eyes widened as he saw that Dolci herself was sitting at a different outside table, smiling up at him. “Looking for something?”

Her voice was lovely, soft and sweet. Nalac nodded mutely in response, cheeks burning.

“Find what you’re looking for?” She had a clear glint in her eyes and the side of her full lips were twitching upward just slightly.

He swallowed and nodded again.

After a moment, she laughed lightly and smiled in truth, sliding one of the two plates that she had before her to rest in front of the other seat at her table. “Pastry for your thoughts?”

Nalac felt a smile growing across his lips, his back straightening as he nodded again. He cleared his throat, managing to get out, “Yes. I think…” He swallowed again. “I’d like that.”

He took a purposeful step forward and sat down in the offered seat. “Thank you, this is my favorite type.”

“I remember.” Her smile was softer now, causing his own to grow wide.

It was shaping up to be a very, very good day.

*

Latna meticulously did not rub at her eyes, beneath her protective eyewear.

The powder before her wasn’t exactly dangerous, not with a Healer close at hand, but it was good to have solid habits nevertheless.

Around her, all sorts of magically powered contraptions were distilling, drying, and even emulsifying various concoctions as she worked to keep the alchemist shop stocked.

Business was good, and the clinic saw a steady stream of people from nearby neighborhoods and districts.

They’d expanded and actually hired a full-time, mundane healer as well as assistants for him. He in turn pulled from the alchemist wares and called in Mistress Anna whenever something was beyond him.

Mistress Anna, for her part, acted much as one of his assistants most of the time. In her words, ‘I can always learn more, and it's a good experience, healing others the natural way.’

At times, Latna wished that it didn’t use up inscription metal to heal with magic, then they could do it for free. Unfortunately, as it wasn’t without cost, they couldn’t give it without cost.

Still, Latna was gaining a growing respect for mundane healers. They worked magic without any, and it was wondrous to behold.

Her master wanted her to take more shifts in the clinic, but Latna was always so busy, keeping their tinctures, ointments, salves, and drafts stocked, that she rarely had time for her magical studies, let alone her more mundane ones.

Caln was generally a large help as well, with Verla filling in where she could around working with the children, and wisely staying away from the alchemy lab when pregnant or with nursing babes. Honestly, without those two, they’d have drowned in their own success ages ago, but Illie’s death had affected them at least as much as it had her.

Tears fogged up the inside of her safety glasses as she pointedly did not think about the other reason why productivity was down.

The family were all dealing with their grief in different ways, and all much better than might otherwise have been the case, since Tala had been able to bring them all together for the ceremony and wake.

Even so, there was an Illie shaped hole in Latna’s heart, and that wasn’t going to be filled any time soon.

Leighis helped as a willing ear, listening when she wasn’t working, because she definitely did not let her grief distract her while making sensitive curatives.

She wished he was around more, but she understood the reasoning behind the enforced, temporary distance between them. For his part, he was enjoying being back with the City Guard, and they were moving closer to… something.

She didn’t want to assume, but she did want to spend more time with him, a lot more, and on an ongoing basis.

Her father and mother were… they were heartbroken about Illie of course, but they also seemed to see her passing as a flag raised to their family’s good fortune. It sounded macabre, but when Latna considered it, she had to admit that they had a point.

Most families that she knew of had lost more than four people by the time the children were as old as Tala and Latna, herself, were.

They were lucky, even if Illie’s death was still a tragedy.

Tala had apparently overcome her difficulties with conception, and she and Rane were having a daughter.

Latna hadn’t really understood why Tala was so odd in her conveyance of the good news, but apparently, ‘all will be revealed’ at the next family gathering.

Tala, you are a bit of a tease at times…

Latna expected twins—maybe quadruplets?—or some other crazy unveiling, but only time would tell.

Finally, the powder under her ministrations shifted in color, changing from a sunflower yellow all the way to ruby red in a flick of alchemical reaction.

Latna leaned back with a sigh, sliding the lid in place to let it rest before being divided and distributed into various forms as needed.

She smiled. Overall, despite the losses, life was looking up.

*

James sprinted toward the edge of Marliweather’s defenses with the rest of his squad.

They were one of ten full squads that had been rushed to this edge, along with Mage Protectors and even a Defender. Though, James’ understanding of the difference between those two was a bit vague. He did know that the Defender was stronger, and they were only called in for bigger issues.

Well… there had been some sort of event in Arconaven, and because of that, the Defenders were more active all through the cities. He’d heard something about some apparent tampering with the local Magical Beasts, but all of that was above his paygrade.

No, this was just a caravan in distress.

He’d read the report as he geared up, and while the specifics weren’t usual, the general situation was.

They were apparently being harried by some sort of pitch-black humanoid with purple eyes.

The Mage Protectors with the caravan hadn’t been able to see if it was scaled, hairy, or just had midnight skin with the quick peeks they’d been able to take.

It had apparently been toying with the caravan for days, taking passengers or guards when no one was looking, and they’d only caught a glimpse early that morning, prompting a veritable sprint for the safety of the city.

James and his squad arrived as the last wagon crossed the city’s magical defensive line, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

They’d been concerned that the wagons would be delayed and that they’d have to sally forth to free them from whatever was attacking them and holding them back.

Mark, the leader of James’ squad, suddenly stiffened.

Long years had taught James that meant trouble, and he spun, scanning the surrounding wilds in the direction that Mark was looking.

There, striding toward them was an armored man… but not a man.

He didn’t move quite right.

Both the armor and his apparent skin were as black as pitch, and his eyes were glowing with an unnatural purple light, which also seemed to be radiating out of the back of his head.

His hands were empty, but they also seemed wet.

Is that blood? If it was, that was… it was almost laughably theatric. The caravan hadn’t reported losing anyone for the last hours, and any blood from the last victim would have been dry by this point.

Did it kill a random animal just to create the effect?

Regardless, the ‘how’ was hardly important.

James did a proper assessment, as he should have already.

He seemed unarmed, and the armor was light and sparse, clearly that of someone who wanted to keep their mobility.

Makes sense for someone harassing a caravan.

The guards on the caravan clearly saw the man as well, because one called out, and the oxen were prodded into greater speed, despite the seeming safety of the defenses. The caravan clearly wanted to get behind the walls as soon as possible.

The dark creature didn’t say anything as it approached, and the guardsmen with James set up a defensive line some dozen yards behind the city’s outermost defenses.

Mages filed in behind them, ready to counter anything if it came to that.

The humanoid strode forward with seeming purpose, only to stop two steps past the outer reach of the defensive towers.

Whatever the figure was, the leaders seemingly knew he was a threat, because a blast of lightning immediately struck for him from the closest tower.

The purple light around him flared, radiating from the joints in his armor as well as his eyes and the back of his head.

Under that harsh, purple light, the lightning didn’t slam into its target. Instead, it grounded itself some four feet from him, sending up a spray of dirt and stones that plinked harmlessly off his armor.

More attacks came from the towers on either side, but the creature ignored them as he gazed at the guards, Protectors, and Defenders arrayed before him.

He seemed to be looking for something, but when he couldn’t find it, he shook his head and turned to leave.

That wasn’t acceptable to the Defender among them, and a blade of ice appeared, already tearing through the air toward the now retreating figure.

With a great crash, and the sound of shattering ice, the ground and foliage behind the figure in two great, overlapping cones, was torn apart. Only he was unaffected, standing with a sword raised in one hand.

Where did that come from?

James hadn’t seen him draw the black blade, nor even where it had been drawn from.

As the creature stepped back their way, clearly a bit irate at the attack, James felt a wave of fear, but when the armored form hesitated, cocking his head as if listening to something, James had a moment of hope.

Then, the sword vanished, the thing shook his head, disgust evident across his features.

Then, he was gone, and the gathered humans were alone, left wondering what, exactly, they’d just encountered.

James thanked the stars they hadn’t had to fight it.

In all his years of facing men and beasts, nothing had struck him as quite so dangerous as that thing had been.

At least there was only one. He nodded to himself as the Mages began working to sweep the surroundings and ensure it was gone. Imagine if there’d been a squad? Or… He shuddered. What if there were a legion…

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