Fomentation

In a valley midway between Capricorn and Goya was a group of Archmage Gunparch's men moving in two files. Sir Liam led the group of about twenty novices and fledglings through the harsh mountainous terrain.

"We should pitch our tents here," he shouted and the whole group collapsed to the ground, glad that the knight had allowed them to rest for the day.

Most of the students had joined after failing to join Capricorn, but as Gunparch's methods were not precisely easy to follow, a majority of them had fled, giving up all hopes of becoming mages. The few who remained had only survived with their dogged zeal, and would have left otherwise.

They settled for a quick dinner, and then after an hour, each one went to sleep under the tents. Two of them however stood sentry with Sir Liam, even though a bandit attack on Gunparch's men was not expected.

The peace of the night was maintained until a spark was ignited from a distance around the valley, and like a bolt from the blue, —or the black in this case—a firecannon shot towards the group.

Acute as must have been his shock, Sir Liam was quick to block the attack, saving the lives of many fledglings in the process. He looked towards the direction the strike had come, and his distress doubled over as he saw a group of about a dozen mages charging at them insanely.

"Do you know whose men you are attacking?" he yelled as the men came closer enough.

"We know exactly who your Lord is, and it is for such reason we attack you," said the leader of the men.

"Rogers?" said Sir Liam as he recognized the man. "Have you lost your brain?"

Sir Rogers ignored the question, and then casted a scornful look at the novices in the tent. Some of them had stepped out after the report, and sensing trouble, a few of them had brought out their weapons.

"Shall we get to business, Rogers?" a woman from among Roger's party asked him.

"Is that you, Bagi?" Sir Liam asked the woman, and she replied with a saturnine smirk.

"Yes," answered Rogers. "You can get to business."

With the word given, Rogers's men surrounded Liam's own, and without further ado, ran down on them like a herd of bulls.

In a split second, the two sentries were cut down by invisible forces, and many more were dead before Sir Liam could even raise his sword. An unprovoked yet perplexing attack was the last thing the knight had expected. He was not a weakling however, as he quickly charged at the men in fury, injuring a couple of them in a single strike. Yet try as he might, he could not save the students placed in his care.

Rogers was a knight himself, and had brought with him four other knights and half a dozen novices. The uproar roused some of the other students from their sleep, and they rushed out of their tents on impulse, only to be struck down by a bombardment of spells. The ones that were still in the tents met their makers in their sleep, and the few who had attempted a gritty fight were wasted without a wait.

The struggle ended in a few minutes, if the cruel butchering of a helpless group of fledglings and young novices could be called a struggle. Sir Liam was unhurt, and while he had struck back Rogers's men, the brutes had taken care not to harm him, as if they wanted him alive.

The assailants retreated after decimating the group, leaving only Sir Liam, along with three other novices and a lucky fledgling.

Rogers walked up to Liam with his sword dripping with fresh blood. "Listen carefully," he began in a loud voice, "this is a message from Capricorn Prime to Archmage Gunparch. If your Lord thinks he can get passage in Capricorn without showing due respect to the Lord Commander, then he should expect more of these."

"Have you no dignity?" asked Liam. "Is this the thing Capricorn reduces you to?"

"Be glad we decide to let you live," said Bagi, and Rogers went on with his declaration.

"This is a message from Lord Commander Trost to your Lord; it is time for a change. If you have any sense Liam, you should come back to Capricorn."

With that, and one last scornful look, Rogers turned away from the blood field, and away he went with his men.

Sir Liam collapsed to the ground in despair. The whole episode was like a dream to him. Only half an hour ago, he had been the guard and guide of his Lords students.

"This can't be happening," he shouted as his eyes grew wet. His best students were among those the Capricorn men had killed, and he was not sure if Archmage Gunparch would listen to any explanation.

He thought hard, and decided to flee from the archmage and the society altogether. There was no telling that Gunparch would not kill him out of fury, and he was not ready to accept such fate.

He looked at the valley, filled with dead men and women, covered in blood and ashes. His gaze landed on the four survivors, and on second thought, he decided not to run away.

He was appointed as a guard, and he would die before running away from his obligation. Rather than proceed to Noya, he decided to return to Archmage Gunparch, and see whatever happens afterwards.

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The rescue party arrived successfully, and Master Wayne came out to welcome them. He held Elena in a warm embrace, and the woman broke into tears again as she saw him. Hik was ordered to help her inside, and she arrived after an hour in a far better state. She joined them at the table, where the master had prepared an elaborate meal for the group.

They began a long discussion about the times they had spent together, and Ashviel had the chance to learn a lot from the discussion. Apparently, Capricorn Prime was a great deal more complex than he had thought.

At first, when Master Vauxall mentioned the society, he had thought it was no more than a village. Later, he saw Capricorn Prime as a town, and as he lived with Kael and Kyra, the society began to appear as a large city. From the conversation at Master Wayne's table, he was able to deduce that Capricorn was a large and mighty nation. South Capricorn alone was a few hundred of thousands square kilometers wide, and there was of course the dome, the heart of South Capricorn, where the Lord Commander and other panjandrums reside.

He wondered if he would ever get the chance to get to the dome, or even get a view of his mortal enemy, Trost. Ten years was a long time to wait, he thought. If only he knew he would not have to wait for that long, then his dark smile might have crossed his lips.