The rest of the survivors confirmed Alden and Neld’s story, much to the concern of everyone involved.

  Knowing that the Cyth were pushing on at speed, they had no time at all to waste, so rations were passed over to the survivors and they were told to head south.

  “Do you think they know about us, or that they’re simply hurrying?” Verdan asked Silver as they returned to the caravan.

  “A week ago, I’d have said that if they knew we were here, they’d turn and attack us,” Silver said after a moment of thought.

  “And now?”

  “Now, I don’t know.” Silver shook his head with a grimace. “If it truly is the same creature you fought all that time ago, then we know it doesn’t act normally.”

  “What do you mean?” Verdan asked, his brow furrowing a little.

  “I can’t envision the first Host we fought being able to create a corrupt stronghold so close to Hobson’s Point without raiding the nearby villages.”

  Verdan’s frown deepened as he recalled what Silver was saying. The Cyth had made an outpost at the edge of the forest, and they’d raided several merchant caravans, but not much more than that.

  They’d been focused on the forest to an extent that went beyond normal Cyth behaviour. Now, seeing that the Cyth had let people escape rather than risk slowing down the Host, he wondered if they were seeing that all again.

  “Regardless, our duty is the same,” Silver said as they caught up to Verdan’s wagon. “We will chase the Host down and bring it to action. I have faith in our ability to win such a battle, even if it isn’t weighted in our favour.”

  Verdan nodded grimly, he knew all too well what such a battle would entail. He also knew what the Cyth would do to Hobson’s Point given the chance.

  The thought of seeing the city in ruins after they’d spilled so much blood protecting it left a sick feeling in Verdan’s gut.

  Meeting Silver’s gaze, Verdan nodded again, making sure that the Commander knew that he had Verdan’s full support.

  -**-

  Thankfully, they encountered no more signs of destruction by the time they stopped for the night. Most of the mercantile traffic went north to south, rather than east to west, so this road was a little-used one.

  Such a small thing, but it would save the lives of any merchants in the area, unless they were truly unlucky.

  Magnus and Dirk arrived not long after they stopped, and Verdan waved them over to get started on the construct before heading off to find Nikau.

  The Captain of his guard was arranging for the setup of their camp and for a proper introduction of their two newest companions when Verdan arrived.

  “Take over, Sergeant,” Nikau said to Ruan when he saw Verdan. Lifting a hand to catch the Wizard’s attention he crossed over to meet him. “Verdan, do you have a moment?”

  “I was on my way to see you actually,” Verdan said, coming to a stop as he realised that Nikau wanted some privacy. “Is anything wrong?”

  “Not as such, but I wanted to talk about your two new recruits,” Nikau said, pitching his voice low enough to keep his words between the two of them. “I’ve worked with a lot of people, and I’ve spent enough time around Sorcerers to recognise people trained as retainers.”

  “Retainers…” Verdan frowned, remembering the mismatched clothing the brothers had been wearing. “Do you think they’re spies for a Sect?”

  “I’m not sure what to think right now,” Nikau said, running a hand through his greying hair and sighing. “They seem dedicated and are eager to prove themselves, but this isn’t exactly the right situation to get to know people.”

  “I see,” Verdan said, looking up at the darkening sky and mulling over the problem for a few moments. “Very well, work with them as best you can for now. Keep an eye on things, though, and tell me if they make any strange moves.”

  The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  “Understood,” Nikau said with a nod. “What was it you were coming to ask me about?”

  “Actually, I was coming to see if you’d learnt anything from our new arrivals,” Verdan said with a slight shrug. “With that out of the way, though, is there anything you need from me?”

  Nikau considered the question for a few moments before shaking his head. “We have everything we need. More equipment being enchanted would be good, but I understand that the process draws on your personal strength.”

  “It does, but if we have the opportunity and I have the capacity, I will do what I can.”

  “My thanks,” Nikau said, glancing back to where Ruan was organising the camp. “If there’s nothing else?”

  “No, that was all,” Verdan said, turning back to head for where his apprentices were hard at work. He’d thought there was something off about the two newcomers, but he hadn’t expected them to be Sect retainers.

  The comment one of them had made about owing everyone seemed even more out of place now, and Verdan wondered just what had happened to lead them to that inn.

  A suspicious person would link their lucky survival, apparent Sect affiliation and the Brotherhood being active nearby, but Verdan felt like that was too much of a stretch.

  Besides, the Darjee and the Gormagyr were evil creatures like the Cyth, but they weren’t ruled by their instincts to the same degree.

  The idea of someone being able to directly control the Cyth to somehow slip spies into the alliance was laughable.

  Unless all of the survivors had been planted there to corroborate that story, of course. That was a step too far, though, even for rampant suspicion. Verdan had seen the lingering fear in their eyes.

  Whatever else might have happened, the story about their lucky escape was real.

  Shaking off his suspicions, Verdan went to see how much Magnus had improved on his Sigil work. If they could get it all done this evening, he could finish the day by recasting the animation spell on it.

  “I don’t understand how you can remember the shape so clearly,” Dirk was saying as Verdan rejoined them.

  “I don’t know, I used to do a lot of wood carving though,” Magnus said absently, hos focus on the tool in his hand as he slowly carved another Sigil into their creation.

  “Let this be a good learning moment for you, Dirk,” Verdan said, waiting until Magnus had finished the Sigil before speaking.

  Both of the Kranjir started in surprise before exchanging embarrassed glances. They’d been too caught up in what they were doing to hear him at all.

  “What do you mean, Master?” Dirk asked, taking a step back as Magnus got back to work.

  “Being a Wizard takes stubborn determination and the will to push beyond your limits,” Verdan said, a slightly crooked smile touching his lips for a moment. “That isn’t always to our benefit, but if you want to become a powerful Wizard, it’s a requirement. Magnus struggles with many of the things you can do naturally, but he pushes on with grit and determination.”

  “And now there’s something he’s better at,” Dirk said, a stubborn look entering his eyes as he nodded. “You’re right, Master. This is an opportunity for me to improve. If I can master this, I can master anything.”

  It wasn’t quite the message Verdan had wanted to convey, but it was close enough. Dirk would find his own way, though, one way or another.

  Every Wizard eventually found a Word or a concept that they didn’t mesh well with. Verdan lacked the raw battle spells that many of his brethren could wield, spells that could wither enemies in the blink of an eye or slaughter entire regiments.

  Instead, he focused on controlling the battlefield and using a few key elemental spells like his fireball. It wasn’t as impressive, but his way was to support his allies rather than do it all himself.

  Right now, Dirk was trying to be everything, but once he found his speciality, he’d focus down. A wry smile graced Verdan’s face as he remembered his own excitement at realising the depth of possibilities with constructs.

  Hopefully, Dirk would find his way more quickly than Verdan had.

  Magnus straightened and stretched, rubbing the back of his neck before moving on to the next part of the construct. With that spot free, Verdan stepped in to examine the Sigils and ensure that it was all correct.

  Bit by bit, they worked their way through the Sigils, until, finally, it was done.

  “Magnificent,” Magnus said, his eyes bright with pride as he looked over the construct. Every inch of it featured Sigils, a process that had taken hours of work from all three of them.

  Now, though, Verdan could feel his connection to the construct and the minute amount of Aether it drew on. With better materials, it would have no Aether drain at all when at rest.

  Combat would be different, but that was to be expected.

  “Will you recreate it now, Master?” Dirk asked, gesturing to the construct. “Redo the spell I mean, you mentioned creating it with a more powerful one.”

  “No, not yet,” Verdan said, falling silent for a few moments before nodding firmly. “I don’t have the visualisation ready. We’ll work on the armour over the next few nights and then see.”

  From the reports of their scouts and the survivors, they were almost two full days behind the Cyth, but it would take them a week and a bit to cross all the way back to Hobson’s Point.

  They’d be almost retracing their steps from this point. The original gathering of the alliance had been to the north of where they currently were.

  They were moving much more quickly now than they had been on the way to the gathering, so Verdan estimated it would be nine days.

  Even with the relentless drain of their march, that gave him time to finish his visualisation. He didn’t want this new construct to just be a better version of the old one, he wanted it to be something new, something more.

  Sending the two young Kranjir off to rest, Verdan did his best to follow his own advice. The looming battle weighed heavily on his mind, though, and what sleep he managed was shallow at best.