“The biggest difference between Mages and other magic-using classes is the lack of a need to rely on magical words, physical focuses, gestures, or spell components. All they need is a thought…” –Eric, Kathelon Royal Court Wizard & Researcher

  Moving down the mountain quickly, we made it in time to see the sunset. Captain Rebecca had sent a scout to determine the type of reception we were going to get when we arrived. Based on their report, they were expecting us, with over fifty soldiers and four high-level magic users. Looked like a couple of Wizards, and two others I didn’t know.

  They were taking me seriously, and not in the good way. Our group was enveloped before we entered the camp, with each of the magic users watching me closely from different points. I wondered if I could take them, if it came to that, and was unsure. With them spread out, I could not target them all at once, nor even avoid their attacks. Vessa crouched low in front of me, not even daring to move. She was afraid and admitted as much.

  I frowned at the amount of attention we were getting from off-duty soldiers and civilians. Maybe the extra soldiers weren’t there just to contain me — but to keep back anyone who would approach, no matter their intentions. The angry and fearful looks were enough to let me know what those intentions would be if I wasn’t surrounded with steel and iron.

  And if the 303rd hadn’t created a buffer between myself and our escort, I didn’t doubt that I would be bruised and battered by the time I reached the council. This was already going badly. The mob’s muttering rose in volume the closer we got to the Council’s area, and I seriously wondered if they were going to start throwing things. Or attack the outer circle of soldiers.

  The sight of the building and the massive, connected tent was almost a relief, and I was glad I had made a plan with Harper and Captain Rebecca for extraction if things didn’t go well. What had seemed like the worst-case scenario was now a disturbing reality, one I didn’t like much.

  The tent flap was open for the time being, and I could see the members of the council, both Earthborn and representatives of the various kingdoms, milling about and talking. There was a shimmer at the entrance, the same barrier I’d seen before that kept out sound. It made me wonder if it was a common spell.

  My attention was drawn to the argument between Captain Rebecca and the captain of the Allied Army detachment.

  “There isn’t any reason for you or your Chinchillas to go in there! We will escort the Mage in and guard him. He’s no longer your charge,” the man was saying.

  “No longer my charge? My orders were from General Venegas himself! Whose orders are you toting?”

  “General Venegas is dead, and his orders aren’t binding!”

  Captain Rebecca and the rest of the 303rd went still at the declaration, and so did many of the other troops that surrounded us. The captain of the special forces unit placed her hand upon her sword slowly; an almost electric feeling grew around her. “Careful, Josin. Unless you want to duel me here and now.”

  The other captain, realizing his mistake, put his hands in front of him in a placating gesture. “Look, if it makes you happy, Rebecca, you and two of your unit can escort him and the scout lieutenant in. You can deal with the fallout.”

  “Thank you,” Captain Rebecca said coldly before barking out an order: “Remember, Han shot first!”

  There were grunts of acknowledgement and some laughter. She pointed at two of her sergeants, and they dismounted. I followed suit, with Vessa jumping onto my shoulders. She had been very adamant about not letting me go in there without her.

  “Finn, wait,” Arilyn said, getting off her horse and snaking her arms around me. “Be careful in there.” She squeezed me tight, and I hugged her back.

  “I’m hoping this will go better than last time. Then again, just about anything would have been better than last time…” I muttered before letting go of her. I felt bolstered by Arilyn’s concern, and would do almost anything to get back to her.

  I followed Captain Rebecca and Harper into the building, with Sergeants Twinkle Toes and Jeb walking behind me. The massive Druid growled at Captain Josin when he glanced back at us. The man’s face paled, and he walked faster. We were led down the silent hall to the meeting tent and waited while Captain Josin informed the Council of our presence.

  Passing through the barrier, I saw the silvery cage waiting yet again, and wondered if they had moved it since the last time I was here.

  “There is no way I am setting foot in that cage again,” I said. “And they can piss up a rope if they think otherwise.”

  “I agree,” Harper said over her shoulder.

  Captain Josin brought us to the area between the cage and a table with some chairs before going to stand next to the wall of the tent. He had a worried look on his face. I looked back, noticing several guards entering the space and taking up positions beside both exits. Things were already going downhill.

  The banging of a gavel brought my attention back to the dais.

  “Let’s bring this meeting to order,” the chairman announced. “In the matter of the death of General Venegas, there are several questions that need answers. The questions of how he died, whether or not we should attempt to recover the body, and what to do with those involved. Especially the Mage before us. Speaking of which, would the Mage step into the cage?”

  “The Mage will not step into the cage,” I said, raising my voice. “And for the record, my name is Finn.” Vessa sat up tall on my shoulder and flared her wings out behind her.

  The chairman blinked in surprise. “Very well, then. Let the record show that Finn the Mage refuses to enter the cage, which would have been a show of consideration for this august body. One that would have been proof of his goodwill.”

  The man still had it in for me, and I just needed to stay calm. My jaw tightened, despite my attempt to calm myself. He was likely just waiting for a reason to lock me up. Yet there was no outcry from the rest of the council about me refusing to enter the cage. Which made me wonder what I was missing.

  Rebecca, Harper, and I had discussed how things would go on our way down the mountain. I had hoped that we would get a chance to talk with certain Earthborn members of the Council prior to meeting with the full quorum, and maybe avoid dealing with the pretentious asshats like the chairman. But there hadn’t been a chance for such a meeting. Not with the immediate and aggressive response of the Allied Army when we arrived.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  “Scout Lieutenant Harper, we sent you to find and bring General Venegas here for the war effort. You did this impeccably, I would note, but now the Hero of the Dew-kissed Rose is dead. How?”

  Harper took a deep breath and began her report to the council.

  “…Juan held off the Steel Falcon Company the best he could at Ankana’Zuul, just so we could get Finn away from them,” Harper stated coldly. She had been reporting what had happened to Juan and, despite the constant interruptions, had been able to get to this point in just under two hours.

  “And who was this other member of your group, Gerald or something? Where did he come from?” asked the representative of Keir’Nas.

  Harper’s demeanor shifted slightly at the question. “Jerseil claimed to be a staff sergeant in Supply and Support, even had the uniform for it. However, he turned out to be a Demon in disguise.”

  The council members broke into gasps, questions, and recriminations. The chairman, Stin of the Principality of Noom, banged his gavel. He was almost screaming as he tried to bring order to the representatives. “I will have order in this chamber!” he cried.

  As the representatives quieted, the chairman looked at Harper. “Please continue, Scout Lieutenant.”

  “Jerseil was the same demon that had been corrupting Mages with his power for several centuries. Finn rejected his deal, protecting the baby dragon you see on his shoulder, and we fought the demon. The demon fled, and we gathered ourselves to come here to get assistance in recovering Juan’s body from the chasm in which it now rests.”

  Harper’s choice to leave out the relationship she and Jerseil had had wasn’t a big surprise, but it made sense. We needed to get through this and go get Juan’s body ASAP, with military assistance. Anything that pulled attention from that had to be avoided.

  “How do we know this Mage isn’t, as you say, corrupted?” asked a representative I didn’t recognize. “From all accounts, Mages just go mad and do terrible things?”

  “Chairman, if I may answer to save some time?” Councilwoman Meghan interjected.

  The chairman nodded. “The Chair recognizes the councilwoman.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Chairman,” she replied. “Oleph, if you had been here for the last meeting we had with these folks, or read the meeting notes, you would know the report from the Kathelon Royal Wizard, Eric, explaining the connection between the turning of the Mages and the demonic influence. Your suspicions are unwarranted.”

  Chairman Stin snorted. “Meghan, your predilection for your own people is admirable. However, as this is a Mage, we cannot just accept that he is not dangerous. As such, we need to debate this and ask the right questions.”

  “Point of order,” Alexi exclaimed. He was another Earthborn, one who had become a gnome. “Point of order!”

  “The Chair recognizes Councilman Alexi,” the chairman said.

  “Thank you, Chairman Stin. As this council accepted into the record the written testimony and report of Wizard Eric with no objections as fact, and no proper question was raised, we cannot properly debate it after the fact,” Alexi stated.

  The gnome looked a little strained, likely from having to defend me yet again. I didn’t know what had happened that made him dislike Mages, but I got the feeling that he would do the right thing, no matter how much it pained him. The chairman’s face flushed with anger before he smoothed it out. He did not like that I was being treated as well as I was, and wanted me in the cage. Probably wanted Vessa caged, too.

  “I don’t like this, Finn! These people are not very friendly toward you and me. Can we go soon? Please?” Vessa asked. She had been putting up a strong front, but I could feel it wearing on her.

  I patted Vessa’s tense form on my shoulder. “Just a little longer. We need to know whether they’ll help us,” I whispered. She relaxed a little, but only so much.

  Like me, Vessa was feeling the brunt of centuries of stories and songs painting her kind as dangerous and evil. Along with the constant questions about parts of Harper’s report, there had been comments about how dangerous dragons were and what should be done about my ward. And it scared her. I really wish we could have hedged the truth about her, but if we lied to the council, it might land us in even more trouble later.

  Councilman Alexi’s point of order caused a stir among the Kingdom representatives and Earth-born council members alike. Muttering and side conversations turned into arguments and loud suggestions of what should be done with me, the ‘monster’ on my shoulder, and the ‘traitor’ Harper.

  The chairman banged his gavel hard. “Order! We will have order in here!” he screamed, continuing to bang the gavel until the Kingdom Reps and the Earthborn Council members quit their bickering. I was again reminded of the videos of contentious congressional committee meetings from the two-party years I had to watch for class back on Earth. It was eerie how well they mirrored each other.

  “We have some problems here, my fellow distinguished council members, that need to be recognized and dealt with,” Chairman Stin stated, now that he had regained control of the Council and himself. “The death of General Venegas. The status of this… Mage. And what we are to do with the dragon spawn? As well as what we are to do with Lieutenant Harper. You all know how I feel about Mages, and many of you agree with me about the proper way to deal with them. And yes, we bowed to the experience and service of General Venegas prior, but he is lost to us now. The late general has left us this mess, so we are the ones who must decide the best direction in which to go. I move that we take the Mage and the dragon spawn into protective custody for observation. I also move that we take Lieutenant Harper into custody temporarily, to ascertain whether she is compromised at this time.”

  Harper stiffened beside me, looking at the faces of the individuals who held our fate in their hands. Many of them were hate-filled and angry. I immediately wished that I could see behind me. I felt Vessa shift a bit on my shoulder.

  Twenty more guards just entered the chamber. I’m scared, Finn. I don’t want to be caged! She thought frantically. Vessa clutched my shoulder painfully as a soft whine escaped her.

  “I second the first motion!” cried another representative, whom I didn’t recognize. Yet another representative seconded the motion to take Harper into custody.

  “Finn,” Harper said quietly out of the side of her mouth. “Get ready to move.”

  My mind raced as I went over my spells. The offensive spells in my arsenal would not help the situation; Firebolt, Ice Shard, Chain Lightning, and Poisonous Shot would confirm my villainy in their minds. The only defensive spell I had, Phantom Wing, would be helpful in avoiding getting hurt. And in the grab bag spell category, I had Walk In Shadows, Enchant Light, Mind Read, and Mage Hand.

  Mage Hand was hard to categorize. I had used it offensively against the gnolls, and it had been very effective. The guilt over killing all those gnoll men threatened to swallow me whole, but I pushed it down for later. Subsequently, I could possibly use it more defensively, to move or block objects or even people.

  And maybe I could use it as a floating platform. The last I was unsure about, yet for some reason I thought it was a definite possibility.

  I had to be careful about what I picked. A quick glance at the guards and the council showed me that most were higher level than me, including two of the representatives. I couldn’t just go shadow walking my happy ass out of there. Nor would that help Vessa. Harper was another matter, as she had her Rogue Infiltrator skill set. But it really came down to handling multiple people at once to make a path. Or should I say crowd control?

  It was going to have to be the offensive retreat and extraction option Captain Rebecca suggested as the last resort. The shit-hit-the-fan option. I didn’t know what she could do, but the two sergeants were tough and the Druid could definitely use his skills to create walls or shields of roots. I had to be careful not to hurt anyone too badly.

  “… All those in favor of detaining the Mage and the dragon spawn?”

  Wait, what? I thought as I quickly went over the previous moments in my head. There had been no debate. “Point of order!” I yelled. “Point of order! Mr. Chairman, there has been no debate on this motion, nor was it waived. Before a motion can be voted on, the floor must be opened up for discussion.”

  The chairman looked at me in genuine surprise. “What makes you think it’s proper for one such as yourself to question me on order? You are not a member of this august body and don’t have the procedural rights.”

  He was right about that. I didn’t have the proper standing. But I needed to stop the vote, if only for a moment. Maybe this would cause them to question whether this was the best thing, and we could walk out of there. But that hope, though a reasonable one, was quickly shattered.

  “Guards, detain them until we have been able to vote. I cannot suffer any more disrespectful interruptions of these proceedings!” Chairman Stin ordered with a bang of his gavel.

  The guards came for us immediately, converging on us at a run, with no warning or pretense. Everything was happening so fast, and it made me realize something. They fucking planned this. The thought infuriated me. Everything that followed was on them.

  “Now!” cried Harper.

  Glorious power filled me as I surge-cast Mage Hand.