Assassin's Chronicle

"Entos! How did you make this?" Anfey asked, shocked by the power of the magic arrow in his hand. He was still only a beginner, but even he could feel the elemental surges from the arrow. He knew that this arrow must be very powerful. It must have been Entos’s creation. He was the only one among them that could make something like this.

Entos grinned but did not say anything.

Anfey lifted a brow and turned to Alice, who dismissed all the dwarves. She waited until the dwarves were out of earshot and rejoined the two.

Before Anfey could make a decision about whether or not he should ask Alice to leave as well, Entos sighed. "Jacob came to find me last night," he said.

Next to him, Alice frowned at the implications. Anfey leaned closer, intrigued by Jacob’s visit to Entos.

"Why? How did he get past the dwarves?" Anfey asked, suddenly concerned. If Jacob could get past the dwarves guarding the underground tunnels, so could others. He must update the entire security system to prevent security breaches.

"No," Entos said, shaking his head. "Don’t worry about that. I took him down there."

Anfey nodded, relieved. "Why does he want to go to the tunnels?"

"He saw those soldiers carrying magic arrows and thought Hagan was here," Entos said. "He wanted to check on Hagan. I told him that the arrows are made by the dwarves. He wanted to see it for himself." Entos paused as if waiting for Anfey and Alice to take in what he was saying. "Dwarves were the original alchemists. Unfortunately, their knowledge is mostly lost. What they have right now is a meager portion of what we have, and what we have is still a small portion what they had."

"Did he give any tips to the dwarves?"

"No," Entos said with a laugh. "He’s too busy for that. Hagan would have given them plenty of advice, though. He only made this arrow because he was bored."

"Is he going again tonight?"

"You really think he would work for you for free?" Entos asked with a grin. "Maybe, who knows? I asked for a favor last night. He agreed."

"What’s the favor?"

"Secret," Entos said, smirking.

Anfey sighed and shook his head. "Of course," he said.

"I have some other business to attend to," Entos said, standing up. "See you later." He waved and disappeared.

Anfey sighed again. "He won’t even walk anymore," he said jokingly. He knew that this was because Entos had incorporated magic into his daily routine. There were many senior magisters, but very few could achieve what Entos achieved. Even an archmage like Saul could not use the same spell twice in a short period of time.

"Anfey," Alice suddenly said, "can you tell me how you know Jacob?"

Anfey shrugged. "He was a friend of my teacher’s."

"This is important," Alice said gravely.

"My teacher has his own circle of associates," Anfey said. "Politicians aside, he has other friends as well. Like Baery, Miorich, Steger, Bruzuryano. Jacob is one of them."

"Is that why you told us he wouldn’t hurt us?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Why didn’t you tell us, then?" Alice demanded. "You had us all worry for no reason. Let me guess: Blavi knows, doesn’t he?"

"The fewer people who know, the better," Anfey said with a shrug.

"Secrets, I see," Alice said, shaking her head. "So much for trusting us."

"There are things I must keep to myself," Anfey said. "Maybe one day you will learn them."

Alice pursed her lips and did not say anything.

"Let’s go check on the men," Anfey said. "I know we warned them yesterday, but who knows what they will do when left unattended." Alice nodded and trailed after him.

As they rounded the corner, Anfey saw a group of dwarves in front of a house. The house was filled with people, and he could hear them reciting something.

"What are they doing?" Anfey asked, curious.

Alice frowned and clapped. Two dwarves heard her and turned. "What is it, my lady?" one of the dwarves asked quietly, not wanting to disrupt the reciting.

"What are they doing in there?"

"Oh," the dwarf said, glancing at the house. "It’s Lord Warner, my lady. He is preaching."

"Warner?" Anfey asked, surprised. "Interesting. I want to talk to him."

The dwarf glanced at Alice, who nodded, and turned and ran into the house. After a few moments, the reciting stopped and Warner appeared. He walked confidently, as if the terrified man in the cage was a different man. "My lord," Warner said, nodding. "My lady."

"You’re dedicated," Anfey said.

"I have nothing better to do, my lord."

"How are you liking the town?"

Warner glanced around and shrugged. "There is plenty of light, but for some reason, it is always cold." Warner shuddered and shook his head.

"Wait for a bit longer," Anfey said.

"When can I leave this place, my lord? Boredom is driving me mad."

"I would let you out but there are a lot of priests and Knights of Light here. I don’t want to risk anything. Of course, if you insist, I’m sure I could accommodate you."

"Who’s here?" Warner asked nervously.

"Those knights are mostly under command of Fernando," Anfey said. "Do you know him?"

Warner gasped. "Sweet god," he said.

"What is it?"

"Do I know Fernando!" Warner said mockingly, shaking his head. "Do I know him! He sides with Salmado. If he sees me, I’m as good as dead."

"So you’re saying Fernando is on Salmado’s side?" Anfey asked. Warner nodded. "When you were attacked, how did Bergkamp die?" Anfey asked. "Did they want to kill him or capture him?"

"They wanted to capture Lord Bergkamp, but they made a mistake," Warner said with a sigh. "They forgot that he could still use forbidden spells. Lord Bergkamp sacrificed himself so we could have a chance."

"That means they don’t know how to activate the Book of Life," Anfey said. "Right? That’s why they had to capture him."

Warner nodded. "We were attacked near the transportation portal. Thankfully they didn’t bribe the guards, or else I wouldn’t be standing here right now."

"Does Fernando know you?"

"I’m not sure," Warner said. "But I’d rather be safe than sorry. I can’t let Salmado get away with his deceit."

"Why didn’t Bergkamp tell you more, then?" Alice asked.

"He was going to, once we reached our destination," Warner said. "But we never did."

"Now is not the time, but in a few days I need you to appear before Fernando," Anfey said. "I want to see his reaction. In the meantime you should study the Book of Life more. Spend more time learning about the book instead of preaching, understand?" Anfey asked, glancing at the house full of dwarves.

Warner nodded, then walked back into the room to dismiss the dwarves.