Parthava cities part 5

Rufus had been the entire night alone, thinking of what to do. Later in the night, Rufus woke up and saw a mist around his chamber. 

"So you also will tell of your opinion..." Rufus said. 

"I thought you should be remembered what truly mattered," the old man of the mountain, leader of the Odam Haji said. 

He had teleported into the city along with a handful of his assassins. He was smiling, while Rufus was not.

"You do not seem pleased to see me?" he said. 

"So far I have felt like a bargaining chip on a poker game, played by kings, gods, and sorcerers, all of whom hate each other," Rufus said. 

"A game?!" the old man of the mountain said," This is no game. Thousands, even millions will die. Already cities of the Palast have been sacked with Baalos halfing its population in less than a week. And we, the Parsana, will be caught in the middle, with our culture being evaporated, along with the rest. The winner of the war, either Arslan or Xerxes, will make sure that all except his people shall perish."

"I am not here to save any world. I am not here to save any people. I am here to save Haley," Rufus yelled. 

"NO YOU ARE NOT! I AM HERE TO SAVE THE PEOPLE!" the old man of the mountain yelled.

The old man took a breather and calmed down.

"Do not think you can deceive me. You are no cold-hearted tyrant who would be ready to abandon millions of lives," the old man said, "I know you. All about you. Rufus, the pushover. You are as much kind as you are powerful, and if I have to exploit it for this heaven, I will."

Rufus knew he was right. Even now, the thought of using the people of Erebar for his own gain turned his stomach.

"I have no certainty the records you hold have the answers. And to gain it, I and all of us have to take on this suicidal mission," Rufus said. 

"I know, but you are not alone. I have mounted all of my allies, my resources, everything I can muster for this. We have no choice but to succeed, and bring back the true ruler of the Sassans," the old man said. 

While all this was going on, the servant of Margus was listening, hiding from sight.

~~

The next day Rufus refused to yet give an awnser to Margu. The sorcerer felt restless. To him, it was clear, that Rufus would not aid him. 

Margu came to the study, where Suomi was practicing sorcery, learning different ways to control the divine winds with immense speed. As she saw Margu walking past she rushed out, with a scroll in hand. 

"Margu!" she yelled, "I have a question. This here, is all about controlling gravity."

"I have pressing matters to think about," Margu said, not interested. 

Suomi seemed displeased and sullen with such an abrupt answer. Margu saw this and decided to take a look. 

"What is it that has piqued your interest," Margu asked. 

"This here, How to control gravity," Suomi showed. 

"Ah yes, A very complicated way to create things to become heavy, through the force of gravity," Margu said.

"Well I understand that," Suomi said, surprising Margu how fast Suomi was absorbing knowledge and understanding of sorcery, and she continued," But here it tells of a limit on it."

"Ah, a hard question indeed. There is no actual way to make something that way, as controlling gravity only reaches so far," Margu explained, "It doesn't matter how much one learns to understand gravity and how the divine winds can alter it. This is the limits of it."

"Limits? What do you mean by limits? The divine winds are able to control everything by the laws of it," Suomi asked, still confused. 

"Yes, but we have limits. We have no idea how some things work, such as space, dimensions, and most conveniently time. No sorcerer has yet to understand time, and by that to control it. Even here as gravity magic gets you so far, to reach the results you are looking for, would need the understanding of time and how to manifest the divine winds to control it," Margu sighed. 

"Could the downstairs tunnels have some answers?" Suomi asked. 

"Might be....but as Rufus himself knows, they are guarded by guardians and closed off by the council. All that knowledge that could be studied, and then documented is closed off," Margu said, feeling a bit irritated as he had to once more explain the whole situation. 

"But who cares if they are being guarded? I am sure no one will notice if we would sneak in and take a look," Suomi tried to persuade Margu. 

He just smiled, "Oh child, how you amuse me. I would have done that loooooong ago, but I, and now we, would be caught immediately. We would need someone to incapacitate out the guards," Margu said. 

Suomi thought for a moment and knew Rufus would not be willing to do something so stupid, but then she thought of someone who might be of assistance. 

I know someone who could help."