Hastum

145. The corridor

I kept my eyes on the gathered people. I thought this body might have been a trap, but no sudden attack came. Everyone looked around, searching for the lost key, while others examined the dead man.

I warned Darius and William, and then joined the people near the dead cardinal. But my mind wasn’t on the body. It was on one question.

‘What now?’

I was torn. On the one hand, keeping the information secret and hoping the creature would relax and make a mistake was a good o...

144. Bad news

“And how exactly does someone lose a key to the ancient Vatican?”

“Well…” Zenon started. “As you know, there were unforeseen—”

“Okay.” I stopped him, practically seeing him look for another dismissive answer. “I’ll go back to my friends for now. Don’t worry—I won’t spread panic,” I quickly added, noticing one of the paladins opening his mouth. “And have a good talk about what happened and what you want to tell me. Then we’ll talk about solutions...

143. Missing

“Where are we exactly?” I asked with a frown, my eyes still on the runes decorating the gate.

“Not sure,” William replied. “The church just said it was somewhere safe.”

“Yeah, like the sabbath?” I chuckled, to which William just sighed.

I then got up and took a closer look at the gathered people. I recognised a few, but my eyes finally stopped at Astrid, who was here with the old Oracle. The woman was clearly tired, her eyes closed as she rested on Astrid’s...

142. Rude awakening

I didn’t see what was happening in the front, as moving my head would cause waves of nausea. I simply relaxed back and let the potion do its job—at least as much as it could with the state my body was in.

After a while, I heard clicking, then the deep groan of a massive mechanism in motion. I decided to risk opening my eyes and noticed that the gigantic golden gate was slowly but surely sliding to the side.

My senses were barely there, but I could feel a slight tension in my b...

141. And into the fire

Author's note!

Hello everyone. I'm back from holidays. I went over the chapters posted while I was on break and made slight adjustments, since they were edited in row, and I think I missed some things.

One, I'm not sure I got it through that the sabbath technically ended for Sam with the vote for the cats proposal. The rest would be boring legal proceedings that, if not for the attack, would be skipped to the final part.

And two, I went over the last chapter and removed the...

140. Out of the frying pan

What followed was a chaotic melee. I was aware of Ophelia being relatively close to me and of the growing red, poisonous cloud all around. The rest was a mystery I didn’t dwell on as I fired low-level spells to buy myself some breathing room.

My second tongue allowed me to get control of the mana from time to time, so I could cast using ambient magic, keeping up my reserves. But the strain was there, made worse by the battle the night before.

We were moving with the crowd. I los...

139. It's a miracle

Author's note

The organ music in the chapter sounds something like that if you're curious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhlZz7nEvDg

***

The break between sessions was coming to an end when it happened. We were all ready to take our seats—some still talking in the middle in smaller groups, others already in place using the sound-blocking enchantments to speak in private. The Pope and the ...

138. Along the shore the cloud waves break

We walked into the massive hall to take our places. This time around, it was our side that walked around with annoying smirks, and the nobles looked confused. Even those not in the know could see the change of atmosphere as we arrived—tired and still slightly beaten up, but happy nonetheless. From their perspective, I imagine everything was going well until they arrived just now and saw some sour expressions on people from their side.

As everyone sat down, the crosier hit the floor, a...

Interlude 10 - Decisions, decisions, decisions

Rey sat in his favorite chair, his unfocused gaze glued to the turned-off TV. Even though what was in front of his eyes was just a blank screen, inside his mind scenes as if from a supernatural drama were playing: the mutated teenager taking shots from his shotgun only to clad himself in lightning and rush at a man who could bend reality to his will. A strange man in a wheelchair, reading the past of a place as if from a book, by simply coming into contact with it.

The scenes played in ...

137. Deal you can't refuse

“Ah, Mr. Samuel,” Emmanuel greeted, a wide smile across his face. “Please join us.” He then pointed to an empty chair carried over by one of the servants in the room.

Q’Shar observed Sam, trying to read anything from his moves—any hint as to what had happened and whether they were in the clear or completely fucked. But Sam’s face was relaxed into the same cold, slightly arrogant expression he wore when not controlling his facial muscles.

Sam sat down beside him and r...

136. To the minute

A small announcement. I won't be posting the chapter on 24-th since it's christmas eve. We'll get it back with bonus chapter after the holidays.

And thank you very much for reading!

***

We ran outside after dealing with three more guards, and what greeted us was a scene of absolute chaos. The golem stood in the middle of a group of fighting people. Bodies of the guards lay around in different states of dismemberment, poisoning, or other spell effects. A group of guards was s...

Art/Poll

Poll at the END!

Both artists came through on the orders, and I would like you to choose which you think is better to commission. One had a more classic drawing style, the other a more "artistic" painting-like style. Both received the same file containing the character description. The first artist had one more tier available with more detail, so it's not the "final form" possible, but the style is what you see.

Two things to note. In the description of the staff with an elk-like...

135. Plan B

I watched the golem walk out of the entrance, followed by a man with a scepter standing behind it, his aura radiating a second circle. Next, another man in full armor stepped out and stood beside the man with the scepter, clearly a bodyguard. So we had one more golem on the inside to deal with.

I caught Darius’s eyes and nodded at him. Plan B it was.

“Cover your eyes and ears,” I shouted into the earpiece and called upon the eldritch powers. All those with me braced for it. ...

134. The elves

Ophelia looked over the two men and the tiger in the car with her. She was part of the assault team with Myhur, Darius, and Bakari. They were half-panicked, watching a dark elf approach the mansion. The car was lightly hidden behind an illusion made by William, and they were supposed to attack once the alarm was raised, assuming there was one. But right now, they were watching a disaster slowly approach the front gate.

Thankfully, the guard hadn’t noticed the man yet, but that would s...

133. Underhanded tactics

We were sitting in a parked car relatively close to the mansion, but still a bit away. The building was old but clearly renovated. The property had high walls made of red brick and an entrance gate with a simple guard booth. Inside sat a guard in a blue uniform. He looked mundane at first glance, but after a few seconds of observation, I noticed a hidden dagger between the man’s shoulder blades.

“How’s the security on your end?” I spoke into the earpiece.

“Some cameras f...

132. Go time

The bonus chapter!

***

“Are you sure about this?”

“Yes—just as sure as the last three times you asked,” I answered.

“Are the spiders capable of recognising the Aquientie?”

“Q’Shar, we knew this was a gamble,” I said slowly to the anxious cat. “I’m not sure. Those weren’t specially prepared corpses, and I don’t carry spider souls around. If anyone from the Aquientie goes to the toilet before their bodies deteriorate, then we should be g...

131. The Saint

Author's note

The first commissioned art should arrive on Monday!

***

“First, we need confirmation,” Luna spoke.

William nodded. “Both elves and the Aquientie were moved off our floor. They’re with the Riswalts now—we can’t just barge in. I doubt they’ll risk open contact if Q’Shar’s guess is correct.”

Luna looked at him. “You think the saint is kept in this hotel?”

“No. Not a bad idea, actually, but transporting her here would be ...

130. Violence it is

Q’Shar looked at me like I’d lost my mind.

“Are you drunk?” he asked. “Your father worked—”

“My father didn’t need anyone’s help, not in the last years of his life. What was it your father did for him? Find some cases? Find basic information? He didn’t do anything that any other broker wouldn’t be able to do. There was no need for it.”

“How do you know that?”

“Just a guess. But my father’s machinations reached well beyond his death. It...

129. The vote

We arrived at the gathering early in the morning and took our seats. Apparently, according to the cat, the previous show of strength helped secure some of the more uncertain groups, and if nothing changed, we would win by seven points.

That wasn’t a landslide victory, but with 300 votes to be distributed among hundreds of groups, it was a relatively sure win, with five the maximum number of votes any one party could hold.

We went on to the gathering hall and all took our seats. ...

128. How do you like your chances?

Author's note

Commissioned the art for Sam. I commissioned two artists I liked, so once both deliver, I'll make a poll to decide which to use for the rest of the main characters.

***

Sam’s voice echoed through the hall as some of the people winced, getting pricked by the sharp sound produced by his second tongue. Once again there was a lull in conversation, but this time it was tense and uncomfortable. He let the atmosphere linger for just a split second before continuing....

127. Opening

Everyone’s eyes turned to the speaker. He was an older African man dressed in a mix of modern, elegant, and traditional clothing tailored specifically for him. He stood straight, looking at the Pope, who once again was next to his speaking podium. The Pope swept his gaze over the gathered people and, when no one else stood, struck his crosier on the floor.

“I give the voice to Dakarai of the Vodún.”

The moment the bell rang, Dakarai approached the speaking podium in the mid...

126. We need a new plan

Emmanuel Riswalt walked through the hotel hall, the cold clacking sound of his shoes against the stone floor echoing through the empty corridor. He was late. Everyone was already in the conference room, but that didn’t matter—they would wait whether they liked it or not.

His mouth stretched into a thin smile. Now that he thought about it, maybe he should have waited longer. They could use some disrespect after the last showing.

After briefly considering turning around and gett...

125. Show of mercy

At first, Ophelia looked on with fear when she saw the mages prepare the barrage. She saw the dome spell break almost immediately under the rain of magic. She knew Sam was strong—he had always seemed like a strange, unbeatable existence. But she was no longer a child looking up to a parent. The fact that power could be overcome with numbers was well known to her.

Feeling Q’Shar’s paw on her hand, she looked down, only to notice she was squeezing the rapier’s handle so hard her k...

124. Death duel

I could see this wasn’t the outcome they were expecting, at least judging by the wide eyes of the Winser family head. The other man seemed to be either less surprised or better at hiding it, as the two men conversed using a similar noise-cancelling enchantment to Q’Shar and me.

More interesting, though, were the reactions of others—especially a few of the people in the noble faction seated near the Riswalt family. They looked anxious. I was by no means good at reading emotions, no...

123. The justice

Once the jester finished speaking, Ophelia joined the applause. To her surprise, despite the number of people gathered, it was relatively sparse. She looked around and saw many different reactions. Sam and the rest of the Third Chamber seemed amused by the whole spectacle, with the most significant portion of the applause coming from them. The middle section also clapped, although there were a few groups who simply sat through it. The least amused section seemed to be the nobles, with the maj...

122. Jester's advice

Author's note

I think I found an artist I like, so there should be some character art coming!

***

Ophelia felt like she was on a school trip all over again, and this time, she got to sit with the cool kids, as the back of the bus was taken up by Sam, the cat, and their friends, with some… interesting people around. She was pretty sure that the two women sitting on the second-to-last seat were mermaids, judging by the melodic voices that seemed to lull her into a trance. Th...

Interlude 9 - Rey

Rey sat there, looking ahead with an unfocused gaze. The ticking of the old clock lulled him into a trance-like state, letting his thoughts flow freely. And they flowed to the same place they had been going for the past month: magic. It was real. He had seen it in action. He’d seen a man hurl fire and death like in the movies he’d watched growing up, and the world changed for him, became a place he couldn’t make sense of.

“Honey?” A voice came from the background, distant and ...

121. Arrival

“Sam, I swear to God, if we fall from the sky because you cast some bullshit inside the plane, I will kill you,” grumbled Q’Shar, looking in my direction.

I shrugged. “How else would I check whether Blink preserves a target’s acceleration?”

“Anywhere other than on a fucking private jet, you moron.”

“Darius said he would catch me. And I knew it was between 80% and 100% preserved, so no worries.”

The cat kept his hateful gaze fixed on...

120. Plans and schemes

“Hello?” Astrid shouted toward the darkness. But no response came. She could barely see around her, as the rest of the forest was covered in dense fog, only lit up by the moon high in the sky, somehow shining through the milky white mist.

The woods around her creaked and moved lightly as if in a breeze, but the air was stale and unmoving. She walked on the damp green moss until she could hear something: the roar of fire.

She was aware this was a dream gifted to her as a form o...

119. To the Vatican

After the explanation of what we were standing on, the cat decided to get to the gist of it.

“The most important thing will be how we lift the ban on magic, how we present ourselves to the mortal world. As kings? Villains? Saviors? What do we want to be to the average man? And this is where we come in,” said the cat as he produced a small package.

We all looked curiously at what was now lying on the table. To my surprise, it was a bullet.

I frowned and looked closer.