“What kind of deal?” asked Ayden, channeling Blue and scanning the area for any danger. He didn’t spot anything, however, as his gaze traced the woman before him, he noted a peculiar difference in her essence. If he scanned another person, it’d feel like a person. She felt… floaty. Wispy. Not truly there, but real nonetheless. “What are you?”

  She ignored the second question. “The deal is to grant you power,” she said. “All you must do is venture to this location.” She handed him a note with an address on it pointing to a place in the city.

  He scanned it before touching it. “This is some strange trap,” scoffed Ayden.

  “Yet you will go,” she said with a smirk.

  Ayden crumpled the paper and tossed it. “Sorry, lady, but this won’t work.”

  “It will,” she said. “Because I know your name is Ayden and I know you trained under Xavos.”

  Ayden’s eyes narrowed. Very few people actually knew Xavos. Even Tarmon didn’t know much about him save for the fact that he trained Ayden for a year. “What are you?” asked Ayden again.

  “Someone that understands human nature,” said the woman.

  “You’re not human?” asked Ayden.

  “No,”

  “So what are you, then?”

  “Someone who is excited to see what happens next,” she said, shrugging and packing her belongings.

  “What will I find there?” asked Ayden, but she already started walking away. “What’s your name?” Ayden called after. He strode forward to catch her wrist, but as she turned the corner, she vanished. Blue flooded his eyes and ears, but here was no sign of her presence. “Damn it!” He turned to see the crumpled piece of paper.

  When he unfolded it, there was another elegantly written text at the bottom he hadn’t seen before.

  Nothing is written, but you are who you are…

  Bumps formed around Ayden as he read those words. He placed the paper in his coat and shoved his hands in his pockets. Ayden strolled away, hating that he wanted to see that location now.

  ***

  Ayden sat perched on the rooftops, looking at the place the rogue mages had attacked almost a year ago. A ripple of excitement and fear flitted up and down his spine. That strange flute player knew something more about the attack. Since the battle here, Cara Silverstone hadn’t given much information to Ayden about her business. She claimed the Silterran Mage Blades were handling it.

  Now Ayden felt he stood on the verge of yet another crossroads. Just as he had with Xavos. He noticed movement, and lowered himself to remain hidden. A hooded woman along with a host of cowled men marched toward the building under construction.

  Ayden channeled Blue to both enhance his hearing, but also mask the fact that he was casting in the first place in case those were the rogue mages.

  A man’s voice spoke. “Lady, the entrance is below. They said they’re still renovating the sewage. It should be easy to find.”

  The lady spoke next. “Good. Two of you stay here and ensure no one follows. The rest with me.”

  The soldiers bowed and obeyed.

  Ayden’s heart skipped a beat. That was Cara Silverstone’s voice! Those were soldiers. So something tipped her off to this place as well. Or someone. He gulped and prepared to sneak inside.

  ***

  The sewer entrance was easy to find, but immediately she noted something was wrong about the place. They stood under the building where scaffolding had been placed to support the construction underneath.

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “The builders are woefully behind,” said Cara.

  “It’s like they haven’t even started,” said Hal, one of the captains that was with her. A veteran and capable leader. A reliable soldier, the kind she needed down here.

  Though she never would admit it, being down here terrified her. She wanted to be wrong about the Dire Mages, but seeing the unstarted construction proved that someone had been lying for months now. No spillage or drainage damaged the basement here.

  “They carved a hole here for a reason,” said Cara. “We need to find out why.”

  She didn’t feel the spell since it must have been masked with Blue. She felt the scorching heat, however. Her party dove to avoid the blast. Wood burned bright, but later extinguished of flames. Green enchantments embedded the structures here.

  Hal ordered the men to form a defensive circle around Cara. Barriers shot up and Cara added to the combined strength with a dome of her creation, molding in with her party’s. Blasts boomed from all around them as the rogue mages around them fired off Red. Cracks started to form due to the persistence and strength.

  Cara knew they were on a count down. “On my mark, you all fire back and I hold my Barrier up.”

  Hal wanted to argue, but obeyed the orders. That was another reason she chose him to side with her tonight. Compliance.

  On her count she relayed using Blue Magic, telepathically communicating with them lest the rogue mages hear, the Mage Blades fired their own Red back at the rogue mages. Three rogue mages were too slow. The lightning bolts struck their chests and sent them flying back. Cara strained under the Red Magic blasts as she now was the only one protecting them while the Mage Blades turned to charge the remaining rogue mages.

  Cara felt the pressure off of her lighten as the rogue mages now focused on staying alive against a host of Mage Blades. She joined the fray by spotting a group of rogue mages and driving forth a wave of silver flames toward them. Her eyes blazed and her Red Magic seared through the Barriers. Those that survived, shouted forth an order to call for aid.

  Behind Cara, three Mage Blades had fallen in the fighting. Only one of those three still lived. Hal bellowed his warcries as he continued to cleave through his foes. If more rogue mages joined the fight they wouldn’t survive.

  “Retreat!” cried Cara. They knew what this place was. They could bring more reinforcements next time.

  The rogue mages figured this too. Cara felt the ground rumble. The scaffolding suddenly creaked and groaned and she realized they’d sapped away the enchantments they’d placed. This whole place was coming down. The rogue mages would die as well.

  Only Dire Mages would sacrifice themselves so willingly. This isn’t a rogue cabal of mages. This is The Great Cult.

  “Hal, the place is coming down soon!” cried Cara. Rubble started to rain on them. She gave a Barrier to those of her soldiers they could and searched for a way out. With Blue she noticed a gap and dashed toward it with her soldiers in tow. It was only at the last moment she realized she headed deeper into the entrance to the sewer, not the exit. Behind her, she sensed movement and blasted of Red behind her.

  She and her soldiers dove just before the falling building collapsed behind them. Smoke and dust billowed out into the sewer entrance, suffocating them. Everyone started coughing, but Cara heard clambering coming from the sewers. More rogue mages and they’d brought armored footmen this time..

  A man in a dark coat and disheveled appeared from behind them. Dust clung to his body, but he pushed through the smog and started to channel Red. She knew this man. The man who was here before fighting the rogue mages.

  He screamed as he threw torrent of flames down the sewer. The air heated up and Cara felt her skin start to singe. She cast a Barrier for her and her men and watched in awe as this student scorched through dozens upon dozens of rogue mages and armored soldiers.

  They died screaming if they didn’t die instantly. Their bodies flailed until the fire turned them to charred smudges on the ground. However, the pressure from the heat and the stone that enveloped them built up too much.

  Cara formed a Barrier before Ayden and shouted for everyone to get down. The ground burst up like the surface of the sea when a whale tears through for air. It sent all of them skidding backward and shattered Cara’s Barrier. The Green protected them from the blast, but when she blinked through tears of pain, they all lay trapped underneath rock and rubble.

  She couldn’t breathe.

  Underneath, the ground started to crack. Her fingers touched the surface and she realized they were still in the sewer. Except when she channeled Blue, she sensed hollowness underneath.

  “This goes deeper,” she croaked as the air slowly vanished.

  Hal tried to speak, but his voice came out muffled. Ayden roared as he tried to lift the stone off of him. She had half a mind to lecture him about such a silly move, but she also knew her men were not ready for that many at once, cornered as they were.

  “Get ready,” she croaked again as she heard the fragile support underneath them start to crumble further under the weight of not just a fallen building, but the surrounding street. She hoped no one had died up there. Guilt started to gnaw at her just as the weight gnawed away underneath and she realized they’d all fall with the rubble too.

  “We’re going to fall,” she said, using up the last of her air. They were about to get a lot more of it.