It didn’t take the Enforcers long to arrive. Just a minute after Barb had vanished, while he and Brayden were still getting their bearings again, a ripple of energy passed over the transport cannon. They both stiffened, but instead of Barb or another one of Wizen’s men, the one who stepped through was an old man in an Arbitage uniform.

He held a staff in one hand, his eyes scanning over the room before he’d even set foot in it. Behind him came Neir and another man that Noah recognized – Godrick, the head of the Advanced Track. Tim stepped out after them and walked back over to rejoin Noah and Brayden.

“You again,” Neir said, his eyes locking onto Noah as Tim passed him. “Why is it always you?”

“Professor Vermil,” Godrick said. “What in the Damned Plains happened here? Who is this?”

Noah let out a breath and let his hands lower, releasing his hold on his Runes. This wasn’t a threat that flinging magic around was going to solve. He forced himself to bite back a sarcastic laugh. It didn’t seem like Arbitage’s enforcers could ever show up on time.

They were late when he’d killed the Hellreaver, and now they were late to getting their artifact stolen out from right beneath their noses. Tim must have had some way to get their attention at the top of the transport cannon.

“Wizen attacked,” Noah said.

“One of his people, more accurately. A Rank 5 woman by the name of Barb,” Brayden corrected. “My name is Brayden.”

The old man didn’t bother exchanging any words. He made a beeline over to the melted glass, stepping over shattered pipes with a distasteful frown on his lips.

Neir massaged his temple with two fingers. “I’m familiar with both people present. They’re from the Linwick Family. Brayden is a Rank 4 space magic user. Vermil is a Rank 3… well, something. I don’t know what he does other than get his nose stuck into problems.”

“He’s not Rank 3,” the old man said from the far side of the room, turning to look over his shoulder at them. “He has a domain.”

Neir blinked. He did a double take, then squinted. “Wait. I thought that was Brayden’s. How are you Rank 4, Vermil? You were Rank 1 a few months ago.”

“A few months is an exaggeration. I’ve been working hard, and I’ve got connections.”

“His rank is irrelevant to the matter at hand,” Godrick said. His eyes swept over Tim, who had yet to speak, but didn’t stop moving. He drummed his fingers on his thighs, irritation evident on his features. “What did Wizen take? The expressions on your faces tell me we didn’t win this particular confrontation.”

“A key to the Damned Plains,” Brayden said. “Wizen’s operative was severely wounded, but she appears to have survived. We have no reason to assume otherwise.”

“A key to the Damned Plains?” Neir repeated. He sent Brayden a baffled look. “Who in their right mind would want that?”

“This may be news to you, but I don’t suspect Wizen is in his right mind,” Godrick grumbled. “How did you know he would be here, Vermil? And why did you not warn anyone else? If the advanced track had known, we could have–”

“I only stumbled into this on accident,” Noah said. He nodded over his shoulder at Tim. “I was looking for him and thought it strange that nobody was manning the transport cannon, so I went looking around. I showed up while Brayden was fighting Barb.”

“And why did you tell nobody? Or did you also stumble into this on accident?” Neir pressed Brayden.

Brayden shrugged. “I don’t work for Arbitage. I work with it. There’s a difference. Father told me he had some suspicions as to what Wizen’s goals were. Barb showed up shortly after I arrived to investigate.”

“There are traces of powerful spatial magic here,” the old man said, walking back over from the melted glass tube to rejoin them. He tapped his staff on the ground as he came to a halt. “Rank 6. Beyond anything these two could create.”

“Ridiculous. I can’t believe a lone Rank 6 manage to steal from us. It doesn’t matter how strong he is. This is unbelievable,” Godrick said.

“You think that’s bad?” Noah asked. “Wizen had an agent in the school.”

“Another clone?” Godrick’s eyes dropped to the burnt body on the ground behind Noah.

“No. As far as I could tell, this one was just a guy. Someone by the name of Richard. A healer. Brayden probably could have held Barb off if it hadn’t been for him.”

“What-ifs are irrelevant,” the old man said. His grip tightened on the staff and he knelt beside Richard’s body, studying its remains with a growing frown. “Were you able to determine anything about why they wanted the key?”

“No. Barb never mentioned it,” Brayden said. “It seems very likely that this key was their end goal, though. I believe all those clones Wizen was spreading across Arbitage were likely him digging for information by taking the bodies of people with access to hidden information. That’s why he was targeting a mixture of people with access to archives belonging to the Torrin Family and members of the Advanced Track.”

And it explains why he was after Moxie as well, not that I’ll be telling these jokers any of that. The less involved they are with me or anyone I care about, the better. In a way, I’m glad Wizen got the key. I don’t know what his goals are with it, but now he’s not going to be after Moxie anymore.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“A logical theory,” Godrick allowed. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and frowned. “We’ll have to run damage control. Again. We can’t have word getting out that Arbitage can be easily robbed.”

“Don’t you care about anything other than appearance?” Neir asked. “There’s a madman with a key to the Damned Plains strolling around who knows where. He’s got access to a Rank 6 Space Rune on top of things. Do you even realize how much of a threat that is? Do you know how many Space Runes are well made enough to make it to Rank 5, much less Rank 6?”

Now that he mentions it, I do recall Space Runes being really rare and difficult to rank up. Maybe I should pull Brayden aside at some point and help him with his combinations and advancement to Rank 5. He already knows about some of my secrets, and we’re pretty much in this together at this point.

“Appearance controls the public. It is a powerful weapon, even if you find it distasteful.” Godrick’s wide jaw clenched and he shook his head. “Am I remiss in assuming the transport cannon won’t function without that artifact? I gather the key was powering everything.”

“It was,” Tim said from behind Noah. “The cannon is a big tower without it. I suppose we could temporarily reactivate it with enough space magic, but the costs would be enormous. I don’t know where we’d find space magic users that powerful that would be willing to lend themselves to powering a tower for any amount of time.”

“There are some members in the advanced track that can help,” Godrick said. He turned his eyes toward Brayden. “And you – you’re a space mage, yes?”

“I take it this is for the upcoming exams?” Brayden guessed. “If so, I can help. You’re correct. If we have people start going into a panic now, Wizen will thrive off the chaos. We need to keep a united front.”

“Figure the logistics out later,” the old man said. He straightened back up and shook his head. “Vermil is correct. Richard was not a puppet. I also failed to sense any magic lingering on him beyond his own Runes. He was working on his own volition. Not mind controlled.”

“Meaning Wizen could have more people here working for him,” Neir finished. “Shit.”

“It only matters if he needs more from Arbitage, and I doubt that to be the case. We will be vigilant, but this may be someone else’s problem. Godrick is correct. Our first priority is making sure nobody loses doubt in the sanctity of Arbitage.”

Noah nearly bust out laughing. The old man had said his own thoughts almost exactly, but he hadn’t expected them from someone who was supposed to have a responsibility to protect the entire school. Maybe he had more in common with the Enforcers than he’d thought.

“That said,” the old man continued, his eyes narrowing. “We must retrieve the key. It is not a weapon, but it is an immense power source. It is too dangerous to be left in the hands of a monster.”

“We’ll have to find him first,” Neir said. “Unless you’re strong enough to rip that portal back open.”

“It would be possible, but it would also be an ill idea,” the old man said with a shake of his head. “Wizen is powerful enough to give me pause. I would not barge into his home ground like a fool. It would not end well for us.”

“Wizen won’t be able to use the key for whatever he’s planning anytime soon,” Godrick said. “It’ll take him time to figure out how to draw power from it. I have to assume it was a difficult artifact to operate considering how it was being used.”

The old man nodded. “Yes. The inscriptions on the glass were incredibly complex and took months to create. Brayden, Vermil – did Barb get a look at them? A long one?”

“No,” Brayden said. “She never had a chance. She might have gotten a glance during the fight, but not enough of one to memorize anything.”

“Good,” Neir said. “We’ve got time then. Two months, if we assume he’s faster than we were.”

“Likely,” Godrick said. He ran his hands through his hair and adjusted his uniform, letting out a huff. “I came here ready for a fight, not a political disaster. No matter. I will handle things with the rest of the Advanced Track. Vermil – I hope you’re ready to field questions. You already had interest on you. The other professors are going to be even more interested.”

“Are you going to mobilize them to find Wizen?” Neir asked. “We could use the help.”

“No. Their duty is to their students. Unlike the rest of Arbitage, we actually care about teaching our charges. There are more than enough Enforcers to handle searching for Wizen, and I’ll help you with any domestic issues, but finding the madman is your problem. He is not an immediate threat to anyone’s safety.”

Noah caught himself before he could nod in approval. Godrick actually seemed like he was genuinely interested in the wellbeing of his students. That was ironic as, according to Silvertide, he quite literally didn’t have a heart.

No need to support him too publicly in front of Neir. I’m surprised he’s not frothing at the mouth. I have to look ridiculously suspicious at this point. If Brayden wasn’t here, I’d be screwed.

“Figures,” Neir muttered. “I’ll need Silvertide. Possibly Vermil as well.”

“Their schedules are theirs, not mine.”

“Great. There was going to be a meeting with the Enforcers tonight, but it’ll have to be postponed to tomorrow morning so we can gather more information. Vermil, you can come report–”

“I’ve got something scheduled, I’m afraid,” Noah said.

Neir blinked. “What? What are you on about? We’ve got more important things to do than whatever it was that you were planning. You were a witness. I need to know everything that happened.”

“Brayden knows more than I do,” Noah said without a flicker of shame. “But we already told you almost everything. I’m more than willing to help figure this whole shitshow out and track Wizen down, but not at the cost of what I’m already doing. It’s like Godrick said. Wizen isn’t a threat to anyone’s safety right now. I have duties to the advanced track, my fellow professors, and my students.”

I have a date with Moxie. I’m not missing it for this shitshow. Wizen is Arbitage’s problem, not mine. I really don’t care if he decides to screw off to the Damned Plains.

Godrick gave Noah a small nod of respect and Neir let out a huff of annoyed breath.

“Figures. What about tomorrow night?”

“That’s the advanced track meeting,” Godrick said. “They’re every three days.”

Ah. I finally learn the schedule. Right on time, buddy.

“Day after tomorrow?” Neir tried.

“That will work.”

“Good,” Neir said. “Thank you. I suppose that works better regardless. Gives me time to gather more information – and to vet the Enforcers. We need to make sure Wizen doesn’t have any more spies in our midst, even if all his puppets are gone. Godrick, even if your group is busy, I hope you’ll make sure they aren’t working against us.”

“We already had a re-vetting process recently. Nobody in the advanced track is working with Wizen,” Godrick said. “There’s no reason to sit around here any longer. Julius, will you handle sealing the cannon down and come up with an explanation as to why it’s broken until I can get a replacement running?”

The old man nodded.

“Good,” Godrick said. He heaved a sigh, then shook his head. “More work. Let’s get to it then. With any luck, Wizen has what he wanted and will leave us alone from here on out. We’ve got exams to prepare for.”

Noah couldn’t agree more, but he got the feeling that he wasn’t quite done with Wizen quite yet.

I wonder if Lee could get any use out of that key he took. I don’t think she’s going to want to go back to the Damned Plains, but I should probably let her know what’s going on.