Chapter 124

The next two hours of Nym’s life were extremely stressful. Archmage Veran did laps around the forest, sometimes detonating spells so close that it threatened to unravel the planar lock spell Nym was holding onto for him. Other times he’d travel far enough away from the center that his attacks were nothing more than flashes of light and rolling booms that sent flocks of traumatized birds up into the air.

The strain of holding the spell wasn’t too bad at first. By the time the half hour mark set in, his eyeballs felt like they were going to pop out of his head. An hour after that, he was barely cognizant of the world around him and was weighing the risks of finding a place to stand so he could cancel his flight spell. He knew that was a terrible idea for a lot of reasons, but if he didn’t let something go soon, he was going to lose everything.

Nym drifted in and out from there on. There was nothing left but the magic and holding onto it. It wore down on him, slow and steady, every minute just a little bit harder to keep going. And then the pressure was gone, just like that. Archmage Veran sat in the air in front of him, holding the planar lock spell and supporting Nym’s weight on an air cushion.

“You did good,” the archmage said. “But it’s time to rest now.”

“Did you get everything done you needed to?” Nym slurred as he wobbled in place. Holding his own body upright was a struggle now.

“I suppose it will have to be enough. The army will have to move quickly to reclaim this area, and it will be that much more difficult to hold onto it, but they’ll have a fighting chance.”

“You won’t help them?” Nym asked.

“I help them every single day, but even I can’t close this tear in the Veil, not with the reaper on the other side. Its very presence holds it open. With the loss of so many third circle mages, it will be much harder for the army to keep it under control. I suspect we will see a marked increase in frost wraiths, probably too many for me to contain on my own. Those are more dangerous to the average soldier than anything else.”

“I had wondered where those all went.”

“Yes, dealing with them has been the primary focus of the army’s mage division. They kept frost wraiths completely contained to the center of the forest and dealt with the worst of the wights. A lot of those mages were killed though, and Jaspar’s pet project is still months away from delivering new third circle mages, if it ever does.”

Archmage Veran sighed and shook his head. “It’s quite the conundrum for us lowly humans. We can’t kill the reaper, and we can’t repair the Veil as long as it’s still alive. Well, ‘alive’ might not be the right word for anything that exists on the other side of the veil, but you know what I mean. Regardless, I’ll just hold onto this planar lock until the army gets everything set up, and then we can go.”

It took Nym a moment to parse through all the words. Most of it was just noise washing over him as it got harder and harder to follow the conversation. It was becoming a struggle just to keep his eyes open now that he’d been relieved of the burden of holding the planar lock. A vague thought popped into his head. He wondered how Archmage Veran was still going when Nym knew for a fact that his own soul well was roughly four times the size of a human’s at the archmage level.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“My private sanctum. I have an obligation to you and I can’t let it be said that I do not meet my obligations. In fact, I might send you there now so you can rest while I finish up here.”

“What about my deal with Feldstal?” Nym said.

“Hah, you’re as greedy as I remember. I’ll personally take care of that geas later on tonight, and I’ll make sure he lets his daughter go free. He’s done enough damage to her already with his misguided attempts at creating an ascendant.”

“That’s… that’s good,” Nym said after thinking it over. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, my one-time master. Rest now. I’ll see you soon.”

Nym found himself sitting on the floor of a wash room. There was a tub of steaming water in front of him, a not-so-subtle hint that he would probably offend the nose less after a bath. Nym stripped down and climbed into the tub, then groaned when the heat hit him.

By the time Nym was ready to get out an hour later, he was feeling much better. A quick application of a few second circle cleaning spells restored his clothes to a semi-presentable state, albeit one with quite a few stains. He was sure Archmage Veran wouldn’t mind. Now he just had to wait for the old man to show up so they could get started.

* * *

Jaspar had never been so scared of a perceived threat in his life. Every time another report about that damn kid came in, it felt like a hand was reaching into his chest and squeezing his heart. Every way they knew to measure a mage, Nym was at least twice as strong as he should be. In some ways, it was upwards of five times as strong. And his growth was incredible.

In short, he was everything Jaspar had hoped to imbue his own progeny with, with none of the familial loyalty he also wanted to see. Nym had been easy to read, and initially seemed like a gold mine. The technique he’d seemingly discovered by accident could very well turn out to be the key the Collective had been looking for since his father’s time.

And then he’d realized the truth. He wasn’t in control. That naïve boy who was so easy to maneuver was a walking calamity. Jaspar had grabbed onto a bolt of lightning with both hands and tied himself down to make sure he didn’t fall off. He’d laughed to himself about that geas he’d signed for Nym’s sake and absolved himself of it as soon as the boy had left his office. Nym was probably laughing twice as hard at Jaspar’s foolishness.

He'd made sure to never be at the facility when Nym was there after the first day. He had no idea what kind of game that kid was playing, if he even really was a kid, and he had no desire to get caught in the aftermath. There was opportunity there, yes, but oh so much risk. At any moment, the bomb could go off and burn his whole world down in ascendant-backed alchemist’s fire.

He’d been so busy worrying about the snake he’d invited into his den that he’d been completely blindsided by the problem that actually blew up first. The Collective itself hadn’t been too badly damaged as very few of their members were actually third circle, but Jaspar Feldstal was still the Mage-Commander of the army, and losing so many combat-capable third circle mages in one blow would have been devastating enough.

Having them rise back up as wights to fight for the enemy really sealed the deal for them. He’d been left with only one choice: beg the hidden demi-god walking among them for help. Nym, of course, wasn’t willing to work for free, but what he’d asked for made no sense. Nothing about him made sense.

Thankfully, the archmage took over that negotiation. Jaspar had rallied his remaining troops after Veran and Nym had done whatever it was they’d done. Jaspar had seen the aftermath and was glad he was nowhere near it while it was happening. Regardless, the military had regained tentative control of the region, and that was what was important for the moment.

Unfortunately, he was being held to his end of the bargain. Nym wanted Analia released and returned to him, and Jaspar didn’t dare disobey. So he found himself walking down the hallway of one of his many countryside manors to where his daughter was being kept safe. He hadn’t talked to her since he’d left months ago to oversee the army’s mage division, and he’d been content to leave her alone until she was ready to approach him once Bardin had reported the discovery of his lab to him.

Events had dictated otherwise, as they so often did. But Jaspar had people to do things for him, so he still hadn’t actually seen his daughter face to face. That would change now though, and he found himself somewhat dreading the upcoming conversation. She was no doubt still angry with him, and trying to rationally explain to a pre-teen girl that what he’d done was for her own good wasn’t likely to go over well.

He knocked on the door and waited for a reply. There wasn’t one, which didn’t much surprise him. She no doubt knew who was there already with her little magical spies. He was proud of her for that one, the air golem. Sure, she’d gotten the initial spell construct from an ascendent, but Jaspar’s spies told him that she’d modified it to use air instead of earth all on her own.

He pushed open the door and found her sitting on her bed, arms crossed and a ferocious scowl on her face. He smiled slightly at that scowl; it reminded him so much of her mother. What a woman she’d been. She wouldn’t have approved of the experiments if she’d known, but she hadn’t been a mage and didn’t understand the hurdles her children would face.

“Hello, my dear,” Jaspar said.

“Father.”

“Is this a bad time?”

“Would it matter if it was?” she snapped. “Since when do you care about me at all?”

“I have always cared about you. I wanted what was best for you. Someday you’ll understand the why behind it all. When that day comes, don’t think that it’s too late to mend our relationship. I will still be your father.”

“How very convenient for you.”

“I suspect you’ll find out sooner rather than later,” he said. “Your little boyfriend has negotiated to allow you your freedom to continue roaming the world at his side, doing as you please. He’ll also be released from his geas, if he hasn’t been already, and I imagine once he fills you in, you’ll understand everything.”

“You could just tell me yourself. I might like it better to hear it from you.”

“Ah, if I could,” Jaspar lamented. “But not all geases are created equal, and this one even I can’t break. Believe me, I’ve tried. All this secrecy, my father’s paranoia, it’s understandable, but it’s also a hindrance to the work I do.”

“So it’s to be more excuses and lies then, Father?” That imperious tilt of her chin reminded Jaspar again of her mother. How Analia had managed to pick up so many mannerisms from a woman who’d died before Analia was old enough to remember her was a mystery to him.

“I don’t see the point in lying now. There’s nothing to be gained from it. Speaking of truths to be told, has your boyfriend told you what he is?”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Analia said. “And what are you going on about now?”

“Not for lack of trying on your part, as I understand it. I would advise you to put a little more distance there and harden your heart against him. The boy is no boy. He’s an ascendant, and I have no idea what he’s doing here.”

“We thought he might be.”

Jaspar was momentarily flabbergasted. She knew, and stated it so casually. Worse, there were implications to that statement. They thought he might be an ascendant? They didn’t know? Only an immense amount of training and practice kept his expression smooth as he thought back over his own interactions with Nym again. He’d go over things in greater detail when time allowed, but he was beginning to think he’d been hoodwinked.

“Regardless, whatever romantic intentions you have, you would be better served by giving them up. The boy is the spawn of God, graced with his benevolence and granted magic beyond any mere mortal. He is not of this world, and whatever his machinations, no mortal who gets swept up in them will come out ahead.”

Analia just stared at him, unimpressed, just like her mother used to when he went on long diatribes about the latest political maneuverings among the nobility. Jaspar sighed and said, “I see. If your mind is made up then, so be it. You may stay here as long as you’d like, and I will personally teleport you wherever you’d like to go when you leave. We’re still working on figuring out where Nym himself has gone, but we probably won’t know for sure until he finishes his business with Archmage Veran.”

“I’ll make my own travel arrangements, thank you.”

“If that so suits you. Please remember my advice. You might learn great things from him, but in the end, he will leave this whole world behind. His kind aren’t meant for us, nor we for them.”