Chapter 10

Whistles of investigating city guardsmen rang down the street behind us as Petra pulled me into an alley to catch our breath. Once our heart rate had slowed down, I looked at Petra and asked, “What happened to that mage? All I did was break his wrist. I didn’t do anything to electrocute him.”

My confusion must have shown on my face when Petra turned to answer my question. She reached up and cupped my cheek before responding, “That was mana burn. I forgot you didn’t grow up around magic or have any real training. When casting a spell, a mage should circulate mana through their body while gathering the mana required for the spell. If you are not doing this and the spell your casting gets interrupted, or you lose control of it, the mana will shoot through your body like lightning.” She stopped and looked back down the street before continuing, “I’ll explain more once we are safe back at the Manor. Follow me, and I’ll keep us in alleys and backstreets to avoid any searchers.”

I wrapped the petite woman in my arms before she could turn away, “I’ll follow your lead. You know the city better than I do. Don’t think I forgot what you said back there either, mate.” I kissed the top of her head as she froze in my arms. “Now lead on. We need to get back and let the others know what happened,” I said, shifting gears. After a quick kiss, I followed her further down the alley.

After almost an hour and surprisingly, only one encounter with muggers, we arrived back at the Manor. We agreed that the others needed to know about our meeting with the church. But, after the Baron had left. We then headed to our rooms to clean-up and change. Unfortunately, my guard armor had yet to arrive. However, my clothes and other goods from Greta’s store were sitting on my bed. After another quick wipe down, I dressed in a black shirt and leather pants. I cleared and locked up the MP5 while also emptying the plate carrier. I figured my sidearm and new kukris would be sufficient for the evening.

I opened my door to a surprised Petra, who had just raised her hand to knock. We laughed as we headed down the stairs to the main level. I followed her down the hall past several doors before stopping at the most ornate door I had seen in the mansion so far. We stepped inside just as the fourth bell rang through the city.

Shalyndria was seated behind a large desk that dominated one side of the room. Behind it and on the opposite wall were large shelves full of books. The wall opposite the door was covered in windows letting the late afternoon sun fill the room, with two couches and a table placed in front of them. A table surrounded by six chairs filled the rest of the room.

Shalyndria smiled as she looked up from the papers in front of her and saw us approach her desk. Once we were seated before the desk, her words broke the comfortable silence, “Good afternoon, you two, how did the shopping and testing go?” She leaned forward, resting her chin in her hands after asking.

I looked to Petra before starting, “The shopping went well, although, as you can see, my armor has yet to arrive.” I pulled the kukris from their sheathes and placed them on the desk, “Thank you for the gift, Princess. These are the weapons I picked up.” Shalyndria picked one up and started examining it.

As she did that, Petra continued, “As for his magic testing, we had a problem that kept us from completing it. There is something we need to discuss with you and Terrance after the Baron has left.” Shalyndria had frozen while Petra was talking, staring at one of the blades.

“Where did you get these,” Shalyndria asked, interrupting Petra. I looked at Petra, her puzzlement, a mirror for my own.

Petra was the first to reply, “We bought them from Evan Zweihander’s shop. He said his father forged them just before he died. I wondered why they were 250 gold. Do you know something, Shalyndria?”

After taking a deep breath, the Princess continued, “These are made from cicerium. It’s also known as Mage Steel. The blade will change as you push mana through it.” She pushed her mana into the kukri she was holding, and it became a blade of pure fire. It changed to ice than stone when Shalyndria changed her mana. I was speechless. I had thought the almost black metal was just very dark steel.

Petra broke her astonishment first and commented, “I thought mage steel was almost impossible to get, so only the church had it?” I picked up the other sword as she talked. When I tried to push mana into it, I met with resistance. I remembered how it felt when I burned the bodies and used that feeling. The blade changed into the same blue flame.

Shalyndria and Petra backed away from the heat of my blade. The Princess admonished me, “Please don’t burn my manor down!” She handed me the other half after I returned my sword to metal. There was a knock just as I was putting them away.

Milla entered the study and announced, “the Baron’s carriage has just arrived. Winston will lead him here in a moment.” She turned and left as Petra and I stood, taking our places behind the Princess.

After a few minutes, Winston entered and announced, “Baron Eldritch Lichvus, Lord of Verilant City, your highness.” He stepped aside, allowing a large man wearing jet-black full plate armor with a seven-foot-long claymore across his back to enter. He was followed by the roundest, greasiest meatball of a man I had ever seen.