He wasn’t entirely sure that he wanted to blame Xavier for any of this, but he also couldn’t help but feel as if Xavier had to know more than what he was letting on.
He reversed the key, and the stone once again expanded and was marked by the original glyphs. At least he could do that much. It made him feel as if he had a measure of control that could be useful, to a certain extent. He didn’t know what else he might be able to do, but that much felt beneficial.
He straightened. The sun was starting to set, which meant that it wouldn’t be long before it would get cooler. He probably should get back.
Sashaak remained distant, and though Laric attempted to reach the dragon through their connection, he could not. He strained, wishing there would be some way to link himself to Sashaak more forcefully, but it was almost as if Sashaak had shielded himself from Laric. And maybe he had. There was no reason for them to be constantly connected, was there?
There were certainly times when Laric wished he could shield himself from Sashaak, especially so that he didn’t have to catch those dizzying, almost nauseating glimpses of movement from him, but he wasn’t sure how to do it. He didn’t know if there was an amount of control that he was missing, or if there was simply a technique that he didn’t know. None of it really made that much sense to him. Truth be told, he didn’t know whether it even mattered.
Sashaak did, though.
Laric made his way back toward the town. As he neared his grandmother’s shed, he slowed, tempted to go back down and explore, but he decided that was not necessary now. Instead, he passed the shed and then the quarry, which again drew his attention briefly before he started to approach the town.
As he did, he noticed that something wasn’t quite right. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he felt it deep inside of himself.
For the most part, that strange sensation seemed to be coming from a source that Laric could not quite identify. He moved carefully and began to work through several of his spellcraft forms. Thankfully, working with Talia had revealed a few different functional forms, even if he still suspected that she had been holding back. As he worked through them, he recognized a slight undercurrent of energy that seemed to sizzle in the air, but it seemed muted in a way that he would not have expected.
What was it? And why did one element of it feel familiar, like something he had felt before?
He stayed low and decided to use one of his prank spellcraft forms to put cloud cover over himself. It was still a little early to shroud himself in shadows, but better that than the alternative of getting caught as he picked his way toward the town. Laric was not sure there was anything dangerous around because he didn’t feel it in any obvious way, but he thought maybe there was something he had overlooked.
Could somebody have come while he was gone?
Of course they could have. He had felt it before. He had seen it before. And as he thought about it, he started to question if perhaps he had made a mistake in taking too long.
The last thing he had done before coming out here had involved three mages. And if others pursued them…
Dizarn had known something. Had he been chasing away the mages?
No. That didn’t seem to be the case. Laric didn’t know what it was, so he kept creeping forward.
He reached some of the debris that surrounded the city, broken rubble that had been part of the destruction that had come from the previous attack, where there had been some attempt to rebuild but not fully. As he lingered there for a moment, he probed with one of his detection spellcraft forms.
He felt a strange undercurrent. Laric wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but he felt it, nonetheless.
Maybe this was just from the fact that he’d been gone. And if that were the case, then it would make sense why he would feel something unusual, and perhaps it was little more than him that was the issue, not anything else.
But he didn’t think so.
Laric moved carefully. As he did, he felt that energy changing.
He paused at another section of broken debris and used another detection spellcraft form. This one felt more potent than it had before, and it took him a moment to realize why that was—it was tied to the glyphs. He was certain about that. He had felt these glyphs before, and had felt that effect, even if he did not know what it was. As he moved farther into the city, he followed the strange rippling of energy. That was what it had to be, wasn’t it? It came from around him, and it began to bubble.
He walked forward and then saw an older building that was a little run-down but still intact. This one had moss growing along the walls and had not been destroyed or damaged during the Korthal invasion.
As he neared, he probed at the glyphs, until he heard a voice whispering near him.
“Laric,” someone said.
He froze, and his insides went cold. If somebody knew him, he didn’t think he was in any danger, but the fact that he felt like this did leave him a little alarmed and on edge.
“Over here,” the voice said.
Laric crawled forward, already bracing for the possibility of an attack, wishing that he had more of his potential—and, honestly, more of Sashaak’s potential—for him to draw upon. If he could, then there might be a way for him to counter whatever might happen.
Laric inched around until he reached the door, and then saw Xavier crouched down, looking as if he had mostly recovered from his injuries. He was alone—and using a spellcraft form. It was a curious form, one of earth that Laric had never seen before.
“What is this?” Laric asked.
“Did you feel it?”
“I knew that something was off as I came toward the town, but I thought maybe there were mages here.”
“There are,” Xavier whispered. “They arrived earlier today. They came, settled in at the school, and have been sending envoys sweeping out into town. I believe they have your friends, though I don’t know if Rowan is there.”
“Where is she, then?”
“As I said,” he said through gritted teeth, “I do not know.”
“Then what are you doing out here?” Laric asked.
And what sort of spellcraft form was Xavier using?
“There is a series of glyphs around the city,” Xavier said. “If there was one thing that your grandmother warned me about, it was that there might come a time when protections need to be placed. She said I could activate them, link them. I never really understood it, but there was a hope that I might be able to track earth through them, and…” He shrugged. “Honestly, I never really understood what it was that she wanted me to do, but she had told me that I could serve my townsfolk.” Xavier shook his head. “Your grandmother was always odd, so I didn’t know what to make of it.”
“So you’re just doing it now, because she said to,” Laric said.
“No,” Xavier snapped. “I’m not so foolish as that. I tested it out years ago.”
