Vainglory 3.18 - Pegasus

Lots of stage setting for this book. Hopefully the rising action we're moving toward will be worth it! Thanks for reading!

-Plum

18 – Pegasus

The next day, after Ward and Haley finished breakfast in the Assembly Hall’s dining room—basically a fancy cafeteria—an Assembly aide found them walking toward the main exit and handed Ward an envelope. Inside, he found a short note from Assemblyman Coral:

Mr. Dyer,

I understand an attempt was made on your life yesterday. Please stop by to discuss strategies going forward. You’ll find my offices on the seventh floor of the Scholar’s Tower.

-V. Coral

He showed the note to Haley, and after she read it, she asked, “Should we go now?”

Ward looked from the big doors leading out into the sunshine and then to the wide corridor leading to the lobby of the Scholar’s Tower and shrugged. “Might as well.” In truth, he was anxious to get away from all of the scheming politicians, but he knew he had to cultivate favor with his only apparent ally in the Assembly. Besides, if he were going to make good on his plan to develop his own personal power, he’d need access to the challenges, and he’d need Coral for that.

They walked through the wide, bright corridor to the lobby and the magically driven elevator. Inside, Ward commented, “This is kind of like the elevators you might find on my homeworld, though you’d have to be in a very elegant hotel or maybe a high-end government building to see one this nice.”

Haley touched the gilded marble wall beside her and nodded. “So much wealth to make this boxy fancy.”

Before Ward could agree with her, the elevator stopped on the seventh floor, and the gold-framed, stained glass doors swung open. Ward stepped out, watching as they swung closed. He wondered if there was any remote risk that the elevator could move while those doors were open. It would certainly be catastrophic for the elevator! With magic being involved, though, he figured they didn’t have to worry about computer or electrical glitches that might cause such a failure.

Haley examined a bronze directory mounted on the marble wall of the elevator lobby and, a moment later, started down the right-hand corridor. “This way.”

A few minutes later, they stood in the waiting area for Coral’s offices. A young man in an ill-fitting suit sat at a desk, and he looked up with a smile. “May I help you?”

“Assemblyman Coral summoned me—Ward Dyer.”

“Ah! Of course. Right this way.” The man stood and led them down a short corridor to a large door engraved with images of trees, flowers, vines, and little woodland animals. It was a true work of art, and Ward wondered if Coral had installed the door himself or if the Assembly provided such luxurious appointments to all its members. The young man knocked on the door and opened it without waiting for an answer. “Sir, the man you told me about, Mr. Dyer, is here.”

“Come!” a gruff voice commanded.

“Right this way, sir,” the young man said, holding the door wide open. Ward nodded, walked through with Haley, and took in the assemblyman’s office. It was an ample space with high ceilings and tall, floor-to-ceiling windows. Several furniture groupings were arranged on the plush, dark blue carpeting—couches and lounge chairs in one area, two smaller desks to the left, facing each other, and on the right a much larger desk and many bookshelves. Coral sat there, and standing beside him was Gwen, the sorceress.

“Ward, come in! I see you brought your young assistant. Haley, if I’m not mistaken.”

Ward smiled, shaking his head as he walked toward the man’s enormous wooden desk. “Haley is my partner.”

“My mistake. Well met, Haley.” He held up a finger and turned to Gwen. “If you would, please, Gwen.”

The woman sighed, narrowed her eyes briefly as she concentrated, and then spoke the words that Ward was now quite familiar with: “Trahl veskarun.”

Haley winced and reached toward her ears, but before she could cover them the spell was done, the hissing, slithering sounds having formed their web around the area near Coral’s desk. The older man grinned, shifting in his chair and looking far less awkward and stooped than when he was standing. He gestured to the plush leather chairs before him. “Sit down, please. We can speak freely now.”

Ward sat, shifting his scabbard and satchel to make himself a little more comfortable. Before he could say anything, Gwen surprised him by asking, “Did you gain much mana from the sorcerer you killed?”

The blunt question caught Ward a little off guard, but he shrugged and nodded. “Yeah, it had been a while since I…gathered any.”

Gwen’s eyes gleamed with the potent blue shine of her magic as she regarded him. Coral seemed content to let her speak, sitting back to watch the exchange. “It was fortunate that you won. That fellow, Thrund, gained much of his power through dueling. He was still lower-tier, but he was rising quickly. He had a trick or two for tripping up a sorcerer, did he not?”

Ward leaned back in his chair, trying to appear unbothered by the scrutiny. She wanted to know about Thrund’s spells, but he wasn’t going to spill so easily. “He did. I’d say my bloodline saved me more than my skill with a sword or magic.”

“As I knew it would!” Coral said, slapping his hand on his desk. “Do you still doubt me, Gwen?”

She ignored the question. “And his grimoire?”

“Hmm?” Ward didn’t trust his words as he played dumb.

“Did you recover it?” she pressed.

Ward frowned, wishing he’d thought about this. How did he want to respond? He had the grimoire but had no clue how to open it without destroying the spells. Should he just be honest? Did he trust this woman? She’d given him the “Web of Obscurity” spell, hadn’t she? He would have to ask someone for help if he wanted to get into that spellbook; would it be better to trust a stranger at a random magic shop? He decided to feel her out. “I have it.”

Gwen’s eyes shifted to his satchel, and he was sure he saw a hint of hunger in her gleaming eyes before she blinked it away. “And you’ve dealt with the protective glyphs?”

Ward looked at Coral, wondering if the older man was feeling impatient by Gwen’s coopting of his meeting, but the older man was smiling, comfortable in his chair, seemingly unbothered. Ward wished his lycan senses could detect duplicity as easily as he could sniff out fear. When he inhaled slowly and deeply, though, all he caught were the familiar odors of the three people sitting near him, along with the lingering scents of Haley’s breakfast sausages and something like pear or apple from Gwen.

“You’re wondering if you should trust me?” Gwen asked, interrupting his exploration of the room's odors.

Ward smiled, attempting a sheepish look as he replied, “I’m just new here. I don’t know who to trust. Since I arrived in this city, I’ve already been put on trial, been informed of potential government corruption, and had an attempt on my life. So, no, to answer your question, I don’t know who to trust.”

“Smart man,” Coral said, thumping his gnarled old fist on the desk. “Gwen, speak plainly.”

“Very well. Of course, I’m always interested in acquiring new spells. If you’d like some assistance with that grimoire, I can help you, provided you let me take my pick of the spells.”

Ward snorted, shaking his head. “Take your pick? What if you pick all of them?”

“Excellent! Now you’re bargaining!” Coral crowed.

Gwen glared at him briefly, then turned to Ward. “I’ll choose as many as half the spells, but there’s a good chance I won’t want any of them. How’s that?”

“And if there’s only one spell?”

“Then, if I think it would benefit me, we’ll both copy it.”

Haley, silent all this time, finally spoke up. “Why don’t you both just copy them all?”

Ward knew what Gwen would say, but he wanted to hear the justification in her own words, so he stayed quiet as the sorceress looked at Haley and clicked her tongue. “Sorcery is a jealous art, young fighter. Knowledge is power, and the more people who share that knowledge, the more it is diluted. Besides, I could ask you something similar: why does your master not have a thousand students?”

“My master…” Haley trailed off, probably wondering what Ward was: did Gwen know about Master Rose or was she speaking in generalities?

Gwen pursed her lips, taking a small step closer to the desk. Ward knew she couldn’t move much without breaking her spell. “It’s a similar concept, that’s all I’m saying. A Gopah master wouldn’t want her knowledge to fall into the hands of a rival sect, would she?”

“I’ve never—”

“Oh, of course. You’re from a small town on Cinder.” Gwen waved a hand. “I’m sorry, but it seems my analogy has fallen flat. The point I’m making is that my advantage over other sorcerers like Ward, here, relies on two factors: my raw power and my knowledge of the words that use it. If we all know all the words and their myriad combinations, then that advantage goes away.”

“So you think that, if Ward has some good spells in that book he took from the other sorcerer, you should try to get them out of his hands?”

Gwen sighed and shrugged. “I’m proposing a solution to his problem and admitting the benefit to myself. I have a better chance of breaching that grimoire than Ward. With my help, he might walk away with something rather than nothing. Moreover, I’m protecting myself by not allowing extra copies of dangerous spells into the wild. If Ward should die or sell the spells, they might be used against me some day.”

Apparently, Coral had enough of the side discussion, and he slapped his palm on the desk. “Well! What do you say, Ward? Want to leave that book with Gwen and see if she can get anything out of it for the two of you?”

Ward reached into his satchel and pulled out Thrund’s thin grimoire. He placed it on the desk, but didn’t lift his hand away. “On two conditions.”

“I’m listening,” Gwen said. She didn’t reach for the book and it occurred to Ward that she couldn’t—not until she was done with her spell.

“I want you to promise not to examine the spells until we look at them together.”

“Agreed. And the other?”

Ward released the book and reached into his satchel again, lifting out the little crystal with the golden base. As he set it on the desk, tiny flickering red and yellow lights appeared in its depths. “I want you to tell me what this is.”

“Agreed,” Gwen said with a cheshire smile. “That’s a focus crystal. It can be mounted on an implement like a wand or staff to enhance the effectiveness of spells. It can be left like that, though, and used for spells that affect an area. If I had cast my Web of Obscurity through it, for instance, it probably would have made a larger area safe from observation.”

“Is it valuable?”

Gwen nodded. “A few thousand glories will buy you something similar in the city. I have a number of them. The only drawback is that each spell you put through that crystal will weaken it. Eventually it will shatter.”

Ward collected the crystal and put it back in his satchel. “Thank you.”

“Well!” Coral said, sliding Thrund’s spellbook across his desk toward Gwenn. “I’m glad that’s settled. So, Ward, do you think Veylan was behind the challenge you received, or do you think the fellow was just a sorcerer hungry for conquest?”

Ward wasn’t ready to trust Coral completely, so he’d decided to keep his knowledge of Reembak’s involvement to himself. Still, he wanted to do some fishing without tipping his hand. “I wish I knew. Are you sure Veylan’s bad? Is there anyone else who might want me dead?”

“I told you what I can of my suspicions. I will say that Veylan’s niece being involved in the cult in Westview was just the latest nail in a well-constructed scaffold. He’s a man with many questionable motivations.”

“Does—” Haley cleared her throat. “Excuse me. Does he have allies on the Assembly?”

“Oh, many! Unfortunately, that’s the nature of our political existence. We all must work with each other on this or that project, so it's difficult to discern legitimate partnership from evil cult attendance.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “I might have an angle for you to pursue soon, however. Do you recall me saying that the Circle of Thorns—the group you faced on Cinder—was just one subsection of an overarching conspiracy?”

Ward nodded. “Yes, of course.”

“Well, there are several such subcults here on Primus. It was an investigation into one of them that led me to my exploration of the corruption that seems to be spreading through the system. An agent of mine is following a lead that might lead him to the meeting of one of those subcults, and if so, I intend for him to mark the leader so that we might do some investigating. I hope to have some information for you in the next week or two. In the meantime, Ward, I meant what I said about cultivating your strength. Slaying sorcerers who wish to duel you is certainly one way to go about it, but there are others…”

As the older man paused, perhaps gathering his thoughts, Haley blurted, “Can you help us get into the Garden Gates?”

“Ah! Did Ward mention my willingness to do so? I think that’s the best route forward. Ward, didn’t you mention an agent?”

Again, Haley spoke, “His name is Lexington Fitzwallace.”

“Fitzwallace, you say?” Coral glanced at Gwen and she nodded. “If he’s a member of the same family, he has a relative on the Assembly. If so—”

“I believe that would be him.” Haley smiled and shrugged when Ward looked at her with an arched eyebrow. “He doesn’t like to talk about his family connections.”

“Well, I will reach out to him. If we combine our influence, I don’t see why you won’t be entering the Garden Gates as soon as tomorrow.” He looked at Gwen again. “Will you remind me to have Thomas run over there when we’re done here?”

She made a long-suffering expression, like a teenager tired of helping their parent figure things out on their smartphone. The look made Ward wonder if there was more to their relationship than employer and employee. Was Gwen a family member? Despite the look, she said, “I will.”

“Good. Now, Ward, I don’t think I need to caution you about the dangers of walking about the city. You’ve beaten one challenger, but if he was put up to it by Veylan, then you can imagine the next one will be better equipped to deal with your particular set of skills. If you’d like to avoid such encounters, I have something that might help you.”

“Oh?” Ward leaned forward, signaling his interest.

“Yes. There is a stairwell in this tower near the elevator with steps leading down to an underground passage. If you're careful not to be observed, you can use that passage to leave unseen. You see it passes under nearby buildings, and the exit point is an Assembly annex building in the Sunrise Market nearby.”

“It’s not guarded?” Haley asked.

“Oh of course, it is. However, I’ve spent the last few years recruiting the men and women assigned to that post to my cause. Show them this, and they’ll let you through without reporting your passage.” He handed a small piece of cardstock to Ward, impressed with some sort of seal over flakes of silver that glinted in the sunlight streaming through the window. “That’s my official seal and the guards will recognize its authenticity.”

Ward turned the card left and right, watching the light play with the precious metal firmly pressed into the fibers of the paper. “Pretty.”

“Yes, well, keep it out of sight unless you need it, please.”

“You should prepare for the Garden Gates,” Gwen interjected. “You’ll want antidotes for poison, hatchets, and rations. I once spent nearly a month within.”

“You’ve been inside?” Ward asked.

“Naturally. It’s a good challenge with excellent odds for treasure of one sort or another. You’re a little under-tiered for it, but I think you’ll do all right thanks to your bloodline and your partner; if Master Rose thinks she’s a worthy—”

“Hey!” Haley interjected. “How do you know about—”

“Ignore Gwen’s loose tongue! I have many contacts in the city,” Coral said, waving a hand. “I’ve simply put word out in my network that I’d like to keep an eye on you both; not because I don’t trust you but because I want to do what I can to aid you if there’s trouble.”

Ward shook his head. “I don’t like people keeping tabs on me.”

“Nor do I!” Haley said firmly, her dark brows narrowing dangerously over her unnaturally pale eyes.

“My apologies,” Gwen said, but the look in her eyes said she’d overshared on purpose. She was standing to the side of the older man, and he couldn’t see her face. Was she tipping Coral’s hand? Was she trying to help Ward out with a little extra information? He supposed it was valuable to know Coral was watching them, but it didn’t do Ward any favors when it came to his trust for the man.

“Anything else we should know?” Ward asked, locking eyes with the sorceress.

“It’s a dangerous place—don’t let the pretty name fool you. Beasts and monsters abound. Oh! If you find fountains, drink at your own risk; some will aid you and others harm you. A hundred theories as to which ones are safe and how you might determine it will only leave you further confused. If you have some method for uncovering secrets—” One of her eyes narrowed as she said that, and Ward suddenly felt very exposed. “—that would be the time to use it.” Was she giving him another tip-off?

“Well,” Coral said, again slapping his hand on the desk, “I’m afraid I’m out of time, Ward and Haley. I appreciate you coming to see me, but I must attend another committee meeting this morning.”

Ward stood and so did Haley, but she cleared her throat, not quite ready to leave. “Will you let us know about the challenge? Do you really think we’ll gain entry tomorrow?”

“I’m certain of it. After my meeting, I’ll do what I must to get young Mr. Fitzwallace over here and we’ll make it happen.”

“Great.” Ward smiled and waved, then ushered Haley out. His ears popped as he left Gwen’s spell bubble, but he didn’t speak until they were out of the office and waiting for the elevator. “Gwen was trying to tell me something.”

Haley nodded. “I’d say it’s pretty clear.”

“You think?”

“Yeah. She’s watching us, but she’s doing it for Coral. I don’t think she’s telling him everything she sees.”

“Goddammit,” Ward growled.

“What?” Haley looked up at him.

“If she knows about my, um, knack for finding secrets, what else did she see?” He mouthed the word “Grace.” And Haley’s eyes widened.

“Maybe, but however she sees things, isn’t all that clear. Maybe she’s only hearing or glimpsing snatches of—”

“We’re just speculating. We just need to assume that she can see and hear anything we do. Obviously, she can’t be doing it all the time—it must be a spell she casts. Hopefully she’s really on our side.” They stepped into the elevator, and he added, “Not sure what to think of the fact that she’s kind of undermining Coral for us, though.”

“I know what to think,” Haley said with a heavy sigh. “It means we can’t trust anyone.”

“Well, I trust you, kid.”

Haley smiled and nudged him. “That goes without saying, but, Ward, we’re like horses playing in a grassy meadow while wyverns and terror hawks fly overhead.”

“Terror hawks?” Ward shook his head. “Sounds bad. Yeah, you’re not wrong.” The elevator opened and they stepped out. “Well, tell me, what can a horse do against a wyvern or a terror hawk?”

“Hmm.” Haley looked at him, and something sparkled in her eyes as she smiled. “If I were a horse in that sort of situation, I’d have to become a pegasus. I’d grow wings and learn to channel lightning through my hooves!”

Ward held his hand out, like he wanted her to give him five, but she grabbed it, smiling as she squeezed. He didn’t mind. “Alright, sure. Let’s do that, then.” As her hot fingers dug into his palm, he grinned and added, “Well, maybe it’ll be fire in your case.”