Heirs of Hyarch

The plan was set, and all that was left was the waiting.

Hamond looked around again at the room he'd been given. It was a parlor, well furnished with several padded chairs situated around a small center table. A pair of hunting trophies hung on one wall, the skeletal heads of long-dead deer with antlers sticking out into the room. Hamond had been forced to duck around one of them when walking around earlier..

Even more paintings hung on the other walls. While a few were portraits, undoubtedly of people long dead, there were also several landscapes, forests and plains and rivers on display. Edeline and Myron's ancestors definitely had good artistic taste, that much was clear. If he'd the time, Hamond would have liked to inspect these more closely, possibly learning more about the artists.

But that's not why he was here. He and Edeline were waiting in different side rooms, while Nela was just down the hallway. Myron was there in the main hall, to try and lure whoever was showing up into lowering their guard long enough for the group to move out and stop them from leaving.

It had been difficult enough getting Edeline and Nela to agree to that much. If he'd had his way, Hamond would have tried to lure them out into the garden, make it easier to ensure no one could flee. But that would require Myron to get close to them to lead them there, and neither of them were about to allow that.

Suddenly, Hamond heard voices from the next room over. It was a little earlier than they had planned for, but this was the critical moment. Carefully moving up to the door, he listened in.

"Good to see you all. The project is going smoothly." Myron, speaking loudly so that they could hear him in the nearby rooms, was addressing whoever it was.

Someone else spoke, low and angry. It was not a voice Hamond recognized, although something told him he ought to. It was probably the Elefae they were after, who was someone he'd met in passing before.

"I didn't know," Myron replied, "I was taking care of the project."

The low voice again, even more familiar now. Yes, this was definitely someone Hamond knew he'd met. It was a shame he couldn't make out the words, as he could've placed the person more clearly if he could.

"I'd be honored to show you what-" Myron was cut off by the angry voice, louder now. While Hamond couldn't tell what had been said, he knew two things. First, Myron had been about to give them the signal before being interrupted. Second, Hamond knew, engraved into his mind years ago, the tone of someone speaking the words of a spell...which the other voice had done.

They had to strike now. Hamond flung open the door to see Myron standing among a group of four men. Three wore the uniforms of the Hallowscroft watch, and the fourth...no. Hamond felt his heart drop, lower than anything he'd felt in the past few days.

The fourth member of the group was Kalvarel.

The group turned, staring. It was little comfort, but it did look like Kalvarel was equally astonished to see him there. Hamond tried to figure out what to do, what to say. If he could convince Kalvarel to just surrender, possibly see reason, then maybe they could...

"Corpus volt!" Edeline charging from the door across the hall, blade extended, ended any hope of that.

As she struck one of the men standing there, Kalvarel broke for the front doors. "Get them!" he yelled as he pulled the door open.

"Ventus fugit!" Hamond said, too slow, too late. The burst of air erupted behind Kalvarel as he ran outside. An instant later, Nela's crossbow shot flew past and bounced off the door behind the fleeing Elefae, likely slowed by the gusts of Hamond's spell.

Waiting a brief moment for his spell to fade, Hamond sprinted for the entrance. Before he could get outside, a hand grabbed his shoulder. Spun around, Hamond found himself face to face with Myron. "I have to obey," he said.

"No, you don't," Hamond answered, reaching over with his free hand. "Katharsis logos."

The spell on Myron melted away, and he released his grip on Hamond. "What...no, not again. I'm sorry, I-"

"Look out!" Hamond shouted pulling Myron out of the way of a sword swing. One of the guards, an older man, advanced on the two of them. Apparently this man didn't care about trying to take the lord's son alive, Hamond observed.

The blade rose again for another strike, but a second sword knocked it aside. Edeline stepped between the man and her brother, glowing with the energy of her enchantment. "Get it together!" she called out, deflecting another blow.

Stepping around a still-reeling Myron, Hamond saw the man fall back, sword at the ready. Rather than advance, however, Edeline stayed in place, taking up a stance of her own. For a moment, the two stood there facing each other.

"Captain Ranulf," Edeline said, "Stand down." This was another of the watch captains, then. He wasn't the one they'd seen on their way to Morgivel's, but that hardly meant anything. What was slightly surprising was the man's age, but Hamond supposed he was in no position to judge.

"I have my orders," the captain said, shifting his stance slightly.

"Teleios horama." Hamond already knew what he would see, but this only confirmed it. Like Captain Linos, and like Myron, this man was also under the spell. And he'd been under it for some time.

"Under the enchantment?" Edeline asked, not taking her eyes off of Ranulf.

"Yes." Hamond barked out, thinking fast. He wasn't about to make the same mistake as the fight with Captain Linos. But at the same time, he couldn't use a spell that would damage the building they were inside.

Not giving Hamond the chance, Edeline moved forward, batting aside a quick swing from her opponent. Sliding inside his reach, she reached up her free hand and grabbed the captain's chin. "Katharsis logos." The enchantment flickered and faded away in Hamond's sight.

Edeline released her grip, appearing to relax...for only a moment, as the captain slashed again. She managed to dodge, scrambling to the captain's left. The captain turned to follow her, his back now to Hamond.

It was an opening Hamond was not about to miss. "Lithoistos," he spoke as he raised his hand. A cloud of dust materialized, rapidly collapsing until it took the form of a thin stone spike. It then shot forward, right into the back of Captain Ranulf. He stumbled a step forward, than fell to the floor.

Edeline sighed and lowered her sword. "That could have gone better."

"Sorry," Myron repeated, rubbing his face as he walked over. "I guess that Elefae caught on that I was faking."

"Yes...unfortunately, I recognized him." While physically unharmed, Hamond still hurt inside. He didn't want to think it, but all signs right now pointed to Kalvarel as the culprit, the one behind everything.

"So did I," Edeline said, "That was the Elefae at the Ascension ritual, the one who noticed me. I take it you know of him?"

"Hold on," Myron interrupted, "Where's Nela?"

Hamond blinked, realizing that she wasn't present. Not only that, they only had the bodies of the captain and one of the watchmen there. The other one was missing.

"Nela!" Myron yelled out, worried.

"What?" her voice called back. A moment later, Nela came around the corner of the hall, looking no worse for wear. "Someone had to deal with that other one." She peeked around them, seeing the other bodies. "Well, glad I did what I did then."

"What did you do?" Hamond asked.

"Lured him into one of those side bedrooms, then caught him with a sleep spell." Nela grinned. "The way I see it, they're not to blame for any of this shit. We needed to question someone too, especially after someone let that elf get away."

Hamond knew that was entirely on him. "I apologize. I was surprised, as that Elefae is someone I know."

"That makes two of us," Nela stated, "And I'll give you that. I wasn't expecting to see him here either."

"You've met Kalvarel?" Hamond blurted out.

"Kalvarel?" It was apparently Edeline's turn to be stunned, "Isn't that the name...that person the man we ran into in the street was asking you about? Bradan?"

"Yes," Hamond said, putting the pieces together. Kalvarel had been out of touch with Bradan because he had been busy managing Myron's exploration of the tunnel and the search for Edeline. It all made terrible, perfect sense.

"So he's involved with all this then," Nela frowned. "Can't say I'm completely surprised. Don't know much about him, not after he showed up here in Hallowscroft about four years ago."

Hamond's mouth dropped open. "Wait. He told me he'd lived here his whole life."

"He lied then," Nela answered, "He said he'd come here from Kelshir, but I'm not sure we can believe that either. Anyway, he kept coming around, like he was trying to impress my grandfather. The old man liked him, I guess, but...just came off as shifty, I guess."

"Shifty is quite the understatement," Edeline said, "He did issue orders to the men there. If he is not the one who applied the spell, then he is working directly with whoever did."

Hamond suppressed a surge of emotions, guilt and anger and pain, that were trying to eat through him. They had to focus on their immediate concerns. Questions of how long Kalvarel been playing these games, manipulating people to get whatever he wanted, were impossible to answer right now. There was no telling how he'd fallen into the service of the Spellking, or why.

"We'll need to warn Morgivel." The old healer's trust in Kalvarel had been completely misplaced. So had his, but Hamond was trying his best not to dwell on it.

"It would be better if we had something more specific to warn him of," Edeline said, "Right now, we are still missing some critical pieces of their overall plan."

"And that's why I've got that man asleep in the other room," Nela said, "We should see what he knows."

It probably wouldn't be much, but it was better than nothing. And perhaps, with luck, they held the card they needed. "It's worth trying. But first, just to be safe, there's one thing we'll need." Hamond turned to Myron. "I know you were looking for rope before, so did you find any?"

"I couldn't. Why do you need it?"

"We're going to tie him up." Hamond disliked having to resort to this, but hopefully it wouldn't be needed for long. "If he's also under that enchantment, I don't think I can remove it without also removing Nela's sleep spell."

"Oh, right," Myron said.

"Could always find some old clothes, tear strips off of them and use those," Nela suggested.

"Whatever you choose, you need to work quickly." Edeline said, glancing out the still-open front doors. "Sun is setting." Indeed, the light shining in through the entrance and taking on an orange shade.

Myron and Nela immediately turned and headed off without a word. Sighing, Hamond walked over to close the doors. Kalvarel...it was a stinging betrayal. And worse, it meant that Kalvarel had to have used Alexios, discarded him just to gain an edge

Shutting the entrance, he turned to see Edeline there, looking at him. "Yes?" he asked.

"I was just wondering...did Kalvarel know about...well, you?"

Hamond knew what she meant. "No," he said, "He did know I was from western Hyarch, but the rest..." He trailed off, realizing how strange this seemed. He only had known her a hexday, her brother and Nela even less, and yet...somehow, he trusted them more then the other men he'd known for months. Men he called...he had called friends.

Well, that was over now. Alexios was dead and Kalvarel stood revealed as a vile schemer. As for Bradan...how much did Bradan even know? Part of him wanted to warn him, part of him worried Bradan was also involved, and trying to find him would be walking into a trap of some sort.

"I see," Edeline finally said, looking him straight in the eye. "Thank you."

"Uh, no problem," Hamond said, a little unsure how to respond to that.

For a moment, she studied him, a small smile on her face. Then she suddenly whirled around. "Let's go see about our captive, why don't we?"