The pizza party eventually came to an end. No matter how much fun they were all having, there was still work and preparation that had to be done — and Alexandra would probably spontaneously combust if she didn’t get her daily practice time in.

With full bellies and satisfied smiles, everyone bid each other farewell. The students headed back to their dorms in a group. Noah and Moxie remained in the room beside Lee, who had draped herself over Noah’s right shoulder like a sack of potatoes and was fast asleep.

“That was a nice break,” Noah said. “Pizza parties really are magic. It’s good to take a moment to sit back and celebrate when we achieve something. Motivation is a powerful thing.”

“Trust me, I’m more than sold on their effectiveness,” Moxie said. “We should invite some more people next time. Brayden, if he’s got time. Tim too. Maybe Ulya or Jalen depending on how things go.”

“Jalen?” Noah’s eyebrows rose. “Something tells me he’s the kind of guy to show up to a party with a keg of alcohol or ten.”

“Sounds like a fun party,” Moxie said with a wry grin. “And if he’s going to hang around us like a vulture, we might as well get to know him better. Don’t get me wrong. I don’ t like him. But, if he’s going to be a constant presence in the near future, then I’d rather know him better.”

There was no arguing with that. It was a good point. Noah inclined his head in agreement, then slipped his hand into a pocket and pulled out the slip of paper that Brayden had given him. “I’ll let him know he’s invited to the next one. I’ve got a pretty good opportunity to do that now.”

“He’s around?”

“With Tim, apparently,” Noah said. He caught the baffled look on Moxie’s face and shook his head. “I don’t know either. Tim never told me he knew Jalen or vice versa, but all I can do is head over to find out. Using this will get Jalen to come grab me.”

“Where’d you get that? Brayden?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I suppose I can’t complain too much. At least Jalen gave you a way to contact him instead of showing up and kidnapping you.” Moxie’s tone sharpened and her eyes narrowed. It didn’t look like she’d completely forgiven Jalen for how their first meeting had gone, and Noah didn’t blame her.

“I suppose even withered dogs can learn new tricks,” Noah said. He put the paper back into a pocket and shifted his shoulder, carefully sliding Lee off and holding her up before him like an elongated cat. She let out a murmur and her fingers twitched, but her eyes didn’t open. “Could you take Lee? If I call Jalen, I get the feeling he’s just going to yank me and drop Lee on the floor.”

“Is she really still asleep?” Moxie asked, but she took Lee from Noah’s arms and draped her over her own shoulder.

“Probably not,” Noah replied. He poked Lee in the side and she squirmed, letting out a muted snicker before following it up with an exaggerated snore. The corner of his mouth quirked up. “But good luck convincing her of that.”

Lee let out another snore.

“You don’t snore when you sleep, you know,” Moxie pointed out with a defeated yet amused sigh. “You just kind of lie there.”

Lee abruptly stopped snoring. Moxie rolled her eyes and both she and Noah held back a laugh. Noah scooped the paper back out of his pocket and took a quick look around the room to make sure he wasn’t about to leave anything behind.

“I’ll try to be back by tonight. I don’t think this is going to take long,” Noah said. “Er… actually, is now a good time for me to go find them? This is important, but if there’s something else going on, I can delay.”

Moxie smiled and leaned in to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Your thought is appreciated, but now works. I can’t say I wouldn’t like it if you were able to get back before I went to bed, so I’ll stay up as long as I can, but don’t worry if you can’t. I’m more than aware of how Jalen is. Just let him know that I won’t be pleased if he holds you for too long.”

A Rank 3 threatening a Rank 6 should have been ludicrous. There really wasn’t anything that Moxie could have done to give Jalen any pause. But, for some reason, Noah felt like the old man would take her words seriously.

“I’ll pass that along. Thanks, Moxie. I’ll see you soon,” Noah said. He pulled the paper out of his pocket and unfolded it, letting a finger brush across the space rune imbued into it. He sent a shimmer of energy across the paper.

Tingles raced up his hand as the rune activated. Purple light ignited within the rune like a flashlight, with such intensity that Noah was forced to blink furiously and turn away from the paper. There was a loud crackle and a surge of power.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Noah caught a glimpse of an annoyed, slightly concerned expression on Moxie’s face an instant before he felt a hand wrap around his arm. Then it gave him a sharp yank and he flew through the portal, leaving the classroom behind him.

Noah’s foot landed on wooden floor. He stumbled and caught himself, turning just in time to see the portal snap shut behind him.

“Took you long enough,” Jalen said irritably. He stood across from Noah, his arms crossed. It wasn’t hard to tell who had pulled him through the portal. They were both in a small, quaint room.

There was a wooden table right behind Jalen with three chairs set up around it. A bookshelf sat in the corner of the room covered with a thin layer of dust and a door at the end of the room led into what looked to be a small kitchen.

“Oi,” Jalen said, stepping in front of Noah. “Are you ignoring me? That’s a bit cold. I just teleported you for free. That normally costs a lot of money.”

“I’ll have you know I was having a very good time before I used that paper,” Noah said, matching Jalen’s tone and meeting his eyes. “We’d just had a big party to celebrate how far my students had come, and I was spending some quality time with Moxie. This better be important.”

“Ah. Now I see. The only thing that can capture a man’s heart more than the plea of his brother.” Jalen let out a snort. “A pretty woman.”

“If you consider handing me a slip of paper through my literal brother and then telling me to come pay you a house visit at another one of my friends’ houses, I am not going to assume that is a plea. A plea means you’re in danger — and let’s be real. There isn’t anything in Arbitage that could ever put you in real danger.”

A smirk played across Jalen’s lips and he clapped Noah on the shoulder before guiding him over to one of the chairs. “Snarky little shit. I suppose I can’t complain too much. You aren’t wrong.”

Noah sat down and Jalen took the chair across from him. The head of the Linwick family then yawned and picked up an empty teacup, examining it with a critical eye. Noah waited for a second, then glanced around expectantly.

“So… is there a reason you called me here? And where’s Tim? He’s not in trouble, is he?”

“Tim? Oh, no. He’s fine,” Jalen said with a dismissive wave of his hand. He leaned back to peer into the kitchen, then nodded to it. “Ah. There he comes now.”

Tim stepped out from the kitchen bearing a plate with three cups and a teapot on it. He walked over to the table and set it down, giving Noah a smile as he took a chair for himself and set about pouring cups of tea for all of them.

“It’s nice to see you again, Vermil,” Tim said. He slid a cup over to Noah and then handed Jalen another one.

“Much appreciated, Tim,” Jalen said as he took the cup and sipped from it, letting out a satisfied sigh. “That hits the spot. You’ve always been damn good at this.”

Noah stared at them in disbelief. He tried to muster words but found that none were immediately coming to mind. Tim and Jalen definitely knew each other, and it seemed like they’d known each other for some time.

Tim took his own cup and tasted it, then nodded to himself. “The brew went well today. Good leaves. Thank you for delivering them.”

“It wasn’t too hard. I just nicked ‘em from a tea shop when they weren’t looking,” Jalen said with a dismissive wave.

Noah opened his mouth, then glanced down at the tea. He raised the cup to his lips and took a sip. A familiar pleasant sensation greeted his tongue and he almost burst into laughter. There was no doubt about it. This was the tea from the store that Silvertide had been at.

“So,” Noah said as he lowered his cup and set it on the table. “Does someone care to inform me what in the world is going on? You two know each other?”

“For around forty years now, I’d say,” Tim said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Jalen came by to use the Transport Cannon some time ago and we got into an interesting conversation.”

“Interesting conversation, he says.” Jalen let out a snort and shook his head. “I tried to fiddle around with the cannon and figure out if I could take it apart and he got mad at me. I’ve never been yelled at by an old man with the power of an ant before.”

Do you literally make all your friends by getting people pissed at you and seeing how they react? Bold. Maybe bordering on a fetish, but I won’t judge. It’s hard to imagine Tim getting pissed about anything, but if he was going to get mad, the transport cannon definitely would have been the reason why.

“Yelled is a strong word. I just gave you a small scolding. The cannon is very fragile. The magic is not to be tampered with.” Tim took a sip of his tea, then let out a sigh and shook his head. “Or at least, it shouldn’t have been. It’s back up and running, but only because people are manually running it.”

“We’ll get the key back soon enough,” Noah promised. “Don’t worry. We’ll get the transport cannon to its former state as soon as we can.”

Tim smiled and took another drink of his tea, then gestured for Noah to do the same. He did. It was good tea, after all. There was no reason to waste it.

“I suppose we should cut to the chase,” Jalen said. His voice was more serious than normal. “As amusing as you are, I didn’t call you here for no reason, Vermil.”

Noah set his cup back down on the table. “I figured as much. What is it, then? Something tells me it isn’t for a game of darts.”

“Maybe after,” Jalen said, a flicker of amusement passing through his eyes before his features grew focused again. He nodded to Tim. “As I said, I’ve known Tim for some time. I won’t lie and claim to be the greatest ally one can have. I’m a rather distracted man. Things don’t tend to keep my attention for long, but when they do, I pay close attention to them.”

“And?”

Jalen leaned forward and braced his arms against the table. “Tim hasn’t gotten stronger in years, Vermil. He’s been stuck in place, unable to advance since the day I knew him. And yet, when I found that he was caught up in a fight with Wizen and came to check on him, do you know what I found? Strength, Vermil. Not much, mind you. Tim’s strength has always been his mind, not his runes, but the pressure coming from him increased by a very, very slight margin. For a man that hasn’t changed in all the years I knew him, that’s quite the change indeed — and I think you’re responsible for it.”