Return of the Runebound Professor - Chapter 806

Far-sed watched the clouds. He kept his hands crossed behind his back, face unreadable and posture as stiff as a rod for long after no traces of the man remained upon the horizon. Far-sed may as well have been a statue.

He didn’t move, even as the woman joined him upon the battlements. She joined him in his silence. The two of them stood there, upon the wall, as the bodies of the Jagged Daggers were cleaned and pulled away from the gates below.

It was nearly five minutes before Far-sed spoke.

“You saw him?”

“Yes,” Seleth replied. Her voice held a tremor in it that spoke to inexperience.

“What do you feel?” Far-sed asked. “Are you scared? Are you excited? Anxious?”

“I am a stone,” Seleth replied. “And I will weather this as I do the years. We have seen worse. We will see worse.”

“We have not,” Far-sed replied quietly. “There is nothing worse than a Hand — nothing but those so powerful that they would never even look in the direction of those such as we. And that is not a Hand of the Coral Empire.”

“The Horde of Man?” Seleth asked, swallowing stiffly. “An invasion?”

“I don’t know,” Far-sed replied softly. He didn’t want to know. Knowledge was only power to those with the ability to wield it. That strength was not his. To him, knowledge was only death. “And I don’t want to.”

“What should we do?” Seleth asked. “You know the ordinance. This could be the start of an invasion. I cannot think of a better time to attempt to strike than now. The Coral Empire is focused on the tournament. Everyone is. If someone were trying to topple the Church of Repose—”

“Then it is not our concern,” Far-sed replied sharply. “Kill your loyalty, Seleth. Kill your visions of what the world may be and see it for what it is. The only thing that lies in servitude to the Prophet is death. And that holds true for every faction, for every empire. Survival is found only in yourself and your true allies.”

Seleth sent Far-sed an incredulous look. “You’re going to ignore it? There was a Hand. Here. We clothed him. Gave him food and a map and transportation. And we’re not going to report back to the Coral Empire? Do you know the punishment for that?”

“Do you know the punishment for drawing the ire of a Hand?” Far-sed asked, finally tearing his gaze from the sky to look over to the woman at his side. Pain and worry knotted his chest.

She was older than he remembered. The last time he’d taken a look at her, she’d been nothing but a child with eyes glistening like stars. But the one who stood beside his side now was a fully grown woman.

Her dark hair hung down below her shoulders and fell all the way to her waist. She had features chiseled like those of a statue, beautiful yet rugged. No traces of anything that could have once been called a child remained.

So fast. Was it not only yesterday that I held her in my arms? When did she grow so tall?

Daughters tended to do that.

“No,” Seleth said softly.

“I do,” Far-sed said quietly. He brushed a strand of long hair behind Seleth’s ear. “And it is death. That Hand was kinder than the last I had the misfortune of crossing paths with. But I have seen eyes like his before. That power cannot be contained, no matter how much he restricts his domain to take on the guise of a weaker man. Be thankful he has a task that we were able to aid him for. It seems he wishes to keep his presence silent.”

“And we will aid him? Someone who likely seeks the destruction of the Empire? If he isn’t from the Church, then he must—”

“Stop,” Far-sed said firmly. “Do not wonder. Not about things you are unprepared to discover. You are the pride of Shimmerstone, Seleth. My pride. You have potential that no mage from our lands has ever borne. Do not throw it away for the whims of the Empires.”

“What are we to do, then?” Seleth asked. “Nothing? What of when word spreads, father? What will we do then? It will be your head at the axe of the church. You know the punishment for disobedience. Even as close to the border as we are, you will not escape.”

Far-sed was silent for several long moments.

“I know the punishment.”

Seleth’s eyes went narrow. “No. You will not sacrifice yourself for nothing more than a fear. We have no way to know—”

“I have seen those who rule the Empires,” Far-sed snarled. “And they are monsters. They are devils, Seleth. This is no fear. It is reality.”

“I don’t care,” Seleth snapped. “Tell them — or I will. I will not allow word to reach them from another mouth. If it does, they will ensure you never draw another breath. It is my duty as your daughter to prohibit that.”

“I never said I would keep it secret forever,” Far-sed said.

Seleth blinked. “What? But I thought—”

“Your father is not that desperate for death,” Far-sed said with a wry smile. “I may not be the most powerful mage, Seleth, but I have lived a long time. And I have lived long enough to know that the most powerful weapon is not knowledge. It is time. We will report to the Coral Empire, just as we are expected to. But we will do it tomorrow.”

“Why tomorrow?”

“Because that will be just long enough to ensure the Hand is nowhere nearby,” Far-sed replied with a quiet sigh. “And it will ensure that the fight does not reach us. But… just in case it does, I want you gone. By tonight.”

Seleth’s eyes widened. “What? But—”

“There is no more preparation that you can do.” Far-sed set his hand on Seleth’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Not here. You have your future ahead of you. It waits in Aqua Terra.”

And if things go poorly with that Hand… I cannot allow her to remain at Shimmerstone. She will not die with us.

“I thought you were scared of the Hand,” Seleth protested. “He’s also going to Aqua Terra.”

“And he did not see you. I made certain of that. He saw nobody but me,” Far-sed said. Far-sed looked to the distant horizon. “I would order you to stay away from him, but it matters not. Hand or not… he will never make it to Aqua Terra.”

 ***

Vivian was doing everything in her power to keep herself seated properly in her throne. That was already a difficult enough task on a normal day. The Church of Repose taught patience, but that had never been one of Vivian’s strong suits.

Sitting around and listening to endless insufferable complaints from all the shuffling idiots vying for her attention was about as fun as shoving rusty nails through her eyes. Every single one of the idiots thought they were some brilliant political mastermind with strings attached to their fingers and a glint hidden behind their oh-so-clever eyes.

In truth, the lot of fools had tangled all their threads with each other and had about as much control as a child riding a toy horse pulled by sibling.

Not one of them had the slightest idea about what was happening. But, even if they had, she doubted they would have cared. Men and women like these… the only thing they could see was the present.

Not one of them had the intelligence to look more than a day into the future. To see what was coming for them all.

Vivian would have pinched the bridge of her nose and slumped down in her throne if there hadn’t been a dozen Cardinals all watching her like enraptured hawks.

They had no idea how bad things were. No idea as to the scale of the veritable apocalypse bearing down on Vivian’s shoulders. It made her heart burn and organs twist like writhing eels. There was less than a month left.

A month before the Tournament of Heaven’s Path begun.

A month before she was about to lose a whole bunch of money.

Vivian groaned internally.

The slightly drunken bet she’d placed with the other faction leaders while they’d been out on a retreat was finally coming back to bite her in the ass.

I have confidence that the Coral Empire has enough strong contenders to at least give me a chance for the Top Rank Bracket. We have some strong contenders for the Mid-Rank bracket as well… but I’m completely screwed on the Low-Rank bracket. It’s a complete shitshow.

 Anyone could end up winning that. It’s a complete toss-up. There’s no way to predict or train a winner… but I have to find time to locate a Rank 4 that will be the strongest contender out of every single mage in the tournament.

Where in the world am I supposed to find someone like that? Do I just grab a random talented Rank 4 and pump them full of everything I can before the tournament? But if I do that and they lose… ugh. Humiliation.

But if I can’t find someone to support, then I lose the bet by default. What do I do? I don’t want to be out so many crystals. Why did I make that stupid bet? What a complete and utter waste of—

“Prophet?”

Vivian’s eyes snapped up, refocusing. A young man had entered the room. His face was pale with fear and awe, and he trembled so hard that it seemed likely his legs would give out at any moment.

The Cardinals had all stopped trying to get her attention, which meant the boy probably had something important to say.

“I was in… deep contemplation. Upon Renewal’s teachings,” Vivian said. “What do you seek, child?”

“I bear a message for you, Great Prophet,” the boy said. He swallowed. “It arrived at Aqua Terra a few hours ago, and I ran here as quickly as I could.”

“Oh?” Vivian tilted her head to the side. “Speak, and speak knowing that no messenger is ever in any danger from my presence. You will not be harmed for whatever you say.”

“Thank you, Great Prophet,” the boy said. He swallowed again. “There has been a report of a Hand at the edges of the Empire. A foreign one.”

Vivian blinked.

Someone dares break the treaty?

Then her eyes went narrow. These were the other factions, after all.

I should have known. We can’t have that. Not when I have much more important tasks at hand.

“Send for the Executioner,” Vivian said. “Have him deal with it. Immediately.”