We rolled along the dirt road. Half the carriage was filled with supplies. The energy furnace, which weighed around 50lbs, was sitting off to the side. The shape transformation made the surfaces perfectly smooth, so it was best that it remained hidden while we traveled. Having soone drive the carriage while I relaxed on a pile of linens was certainly a superior ans of transport.
“What’re ya writing?” Anicia asked.
“I’m actually drawing the schematics for weapons, tools, and the like for you to use. I’m also thinking about adding lightning to your crossbow.”
She stared at in open-mouthed awe, then her face turned slightly grim. I guessed what she was currently feeling. “You’re having so hesitation with killing.”
“I’ve never done it before.”
“You will soon enough. The first kill is difficult; the second, not so much; it gets easier over ti.” I continued speaking as I drew. “The world is cruel and unfair, Anicia. A hard heart is needed. There are a few things I find more disgusting than pacifism.” Just to make sure she understood, I explained in detail. ”Don't delude yourself; there is no virtue in the unwillingness to harm; people who think like that are just prey to be used and killed by the first person who doesn't share your beliefs. Power has no aning without the willingness to use it.”
She chuckled without humor and said, “Maybe we’ll get lucky, and no one will bother us.”
“Three won traveling alone?” I gave her a wry smile. “I doubt that.”
“I still don't know if I can.” She said.
“You will be tested soon enough. It doesn't matter if you cry, soil yourself, or vomit up half the food in your stomach. So long as you can fire that crossbow when needed, that’s one man who won't be raping and killing you, , or your mother.”
“And if, at that mont, I can't.” She asked.
“Then you are useless to ,” I said, coldly. “Your mother’s been protecting you your entire life; it’s ti you stood on your own two feet and contributed.”
‘No need to go too far just yet. I plan on investing long-term with these two.’
“But if you fail once, I’ll give you another chance. And another. I’m not so demanding as to abandon you after a single failure.” She looked at , mildly hopeful. “You can only hope that a single mont of hesitation won't result in catastrophe for all of us.” Instantly, that hope deflated.
~
We rolled into a village the next day; I elected to remain inside the carriage as they shopped. The village seed reasonably stable; n and won walked about, and no one seed scared or downtrodden. The best sign that the village was safe was the fact that won could walk about unaccompanied.
While they shopped, I continued to work on the designs for their tools. Both won were confused by my over-precaution, since I hadn't really explained my situation. Anicia carried the coin purse with over 20 golden royals; if they wished, they could buy a horse and run off. That was enough for them to live well for the rest of their lives.
It was a risk, but one I was willing to take. I wanted to see how well I gauged their personalities. If I were correct, they wouldn't betray my trust. But people can be unpredictable. What I wanted them to do was talk amongst themselves and reach the conclusion of staying with . Or, better yet, that serving was the safest course of action.
Anicia
I walked through the town feeling like every eye was on , mostly because I carried a fortune in my bag. I didn't know if Myr was that confident that we won't run off with the coin, or that uncaring.
“She ain't what I expected,” Ma said, as we walked away from a rchant selling heavy cloaks.
I nodded. “Makes Hender and the rest look like children. Killed ‘em like a farr cuttin’ wheat. What do ya think she wants? She wants us to work for ‘er, but…”
Ma nodded solemnly. “I know. And I heard your talk with ‘er.”
“Think she’s right?”
“In a brutal way, yes. But that ain't what I wanted for you.”
There was a cold logic to her words that I couldn't deny.
"She's testin' us," Ma said. I nodded; her cold gaze seed to hold an unfathomable depth. It was like she was more present than most people. I've seen a noble before, and he didn't carry such a strong aura. The world stopped and listened when she spoke. But Myr was dangerous; she killed 19 people, three of whom were innocent, and didn't seem to be slightly affected by it.
“I feel like, if we betray her, she’ll kill us,” I said.
“We have no ho. No kin or friends to call on. That’s how we been livin’ for years. We could take the coin and run, find a place to live.”
As soon as she said it, Myr’s words entered my mind: “And what happens if we run into another Hender, or soone you can’t make a deal with stops us? Or worse, what if the law catches up with us?”
I imagined if soone like Myr ran into Hender, all he would get was a face full of fla; she wouldn't even blink twice. No one could threaten Myr. The image of her burning Hender’s crew to death was sothing I would never forget. He was a kitten compared to her. I almost felt ashad that I was so scared of him.
“Myr’s bounty was massive, and they ain’t never caught ‘er,” I said.
Ma sighed, clearly conflicted, “Let’s just play it safe for now and head back to ‘er. Don’t give ‘er any cause.”
A group of large n eyed us for a few monts; my spine stiffened, but other than a glance, they didn't seem overly interested.
‘I bet Myr would never have looked away in fear. She has real power, and I'm just….’
Myr
It wasn't surprising that they returned. It was best not to ask them what they discussed; instead, I would keep filling their heads with the benefits of serving . They still had a good amount of fear, not surprising since I killed everyone but them with little hesitation.
Anicia was standing to the rear of the carriage while her mother handed her all the supplies they bought. The amount was underwhelming, as I expected. Fear was a useful tool, but too much can cause people to act with an overabundance of caution.
“No at?” I asked, already anticipating the answer.
“Well, at cost a lot 'a coin. And we’ll be on the road for weeks; it won’t keep.” Corina said.
“I’m a magus; don’t worry about it.” Looking around the carriage, I spotted a chest, which was rather large and filled with clothing.
“Buy enough at to fill that chest… pork, beef, chicken, or pheasant, it doesn’t matter. I want that chest full. If you can find another chest like that, buy it. We'll use it for herbs, spices, salt…a lot of salt. Buy fruit, vegetables, potatoes, cabbage, onions, and eggs. Once you start spending coin, they’ll throw their food at you. If you haven't spent at least a golden royal on food, I’ll be disappointed. If they don't want to sell, just double the coin until they do. I’ve been watching the villagers, and they seem like decent folk.”
They stared at , slightly dumbstruck.
~
The village turned into a bit of a frenzy after that. It took less than half an hour to fill the chest with at, as every villager was more than willing to sell their produce for silver.
I stayed in the carriage, allowing the two won to do all the work, hiding my features under a heavy cloak. With one chest filled with at and another with vegetables, spices, and whatever ager fruit the villagers sold, we rode out of town.
“Ain’t never seen soone spend coin like that,” Anicia said as I carved a heat absorption circle into the lid of the at box.
“Coin is just a useful tal to . And I certainly don't feel like eating thin soup and dried at for the next few weeks.”
“You eat fresh at every day?” Anicia asked.
“I eat fresh at for every al,” I said, expecting the disbelief in their eyes.
‘And now you will too. After a few weeks of eating like that, leaving would seem like an insane decision. The carrot was always better than the stick.’
~
We traveled with haste for the rest of the day and half the night, since we attracted considerable attention in the village. After I was sure that we weren't being followed, Corina steered us off the road into a small cluster of trees.
“Help unload the furnace, Anicia. Corina, gather so wood; no need to use our stores with trees nearby. Anicia, put out a pheasant to thaw and gather the salt and spices.” I commanded. I need them to get used to listening and obeying my commands.
“A-Alright, Myr,” Corina said.
Anicia nodded eagerly.
After unloading the furnace, I left them to their task and ignited it with the first of the wood gathered by Corina. After it roared to life, I started working. It would be my first proper al in two years and eight months. I wanted it to be special.
Using shape transformation, I created an eight-inch-tall, three-foot-wide cylinder with tubes in the bottom that would pull in air, turn it flammable, and ignite it, creating a constant stream of fla. With 15 three-inch flas spread evenly across the bottom of the cylinder and a grating on the top, I made the perfect tool to roast the pheasant.
‘By Anier, I love the improvent in my abilities. This would have taken days to make before.’
“I’ll never get tired of watching you make things,” Anicia said. “What is it?”
I took a mont and connected each tube in series, using a simple switch on the side, which was simply a copy of the switching circuit on the crossbow, and 15 blue flas roared to life.
“It’s a grill.” She mumbled.
“Aye.”
After preparing the vegetables and potatoes, I got to work, cooking.
~
The sll of at roasting over an open fire was intoxicating. I butchered the pheasant into quarters and roasted vegetables and potatoes in a pot with more butter and salt than necessary. Anicia stared at the roasting at like a woman possessed.
“Hungry?” I asked. She nodded, not taking her eye off the at. Even Corina, who was busy chopping wood into chunks that would fit in the furnace, was eyeing the al.
I loaded a tal platter with at, buttery potatoes, vegetables, so bread, and cheese and handed it to Anicia.
There was very little conversation to be had. While it wasn't the best food I'd ever made, compared to what these won usually ate, buttery potatoes, vegetables, and roasted pheasant seasoned with salt and whatever ager spices the village had on hand were likely a delicacy.
And by the sounds they were making, my patrons were enjoying the al.
“Thank you, Myr,” Anicia said, her mouth half-full. She was mopping the juices and fat from the pheasant and potatoes with the bread.
“This is the best al I’ve ever had,” Corina said; even the mature woman couldn’t hold back her enjoynt.
I shrugged and nodded as if this al was nothing. In reality, very few people beyond the wealthy could afford to eat like this. “You should taste my…” I was going to say father, but there was no reason to lie about my identity anymore. “I used to work as a maidservant in an eatery; the owner had skills that could rival any noble chef. If you think that was good, one taste of his duck might cause you to faint.”
“Right, you was a Maidservant in Redstone. Heard that tale, too.” Corina said.
As much as I wanted to ask around the village about what my story was, caution was paramount, at least until I reached the southern baronies.
“Would ya tell us?” Anicia asked.
“Tell you what?”
“Yer real story.”
‘I suppose I should, but not yet, not until we reach the tar flats.’
“Soon enough. It’s a long tale, and we have a lot of miles to cross.” I said after a few monts.
Anicia nodded disappointedly. After letting my food settle and ignoring the odd rumbling in my stomach, I bedded down for the night, my mind drifting back to Darion and Beth.
‘I wonder what happened to them. I wouldn't put it past the baron to simply execute them. And what about Morah and the Andregi? Were they killed as well? I suppose it would be prudent to avoid a different tale spreading about the dragon and the empress. Then again, it’s not like a career criminal and a group of Northern savages could change people’s minds.’
One way or another, I would learn of their fates. As my mind drifted off, I hoped that they didn't suffer for my actions. Except for Morah, I couldn't care less about him. But even if they did all die, I would have to accept it. I would never regret my path.
One week later
I was half paranoid that our excursions in that village would invite people to rob us. But not everyone in the empire would jump at a chance to rob soone with coin. I decided not to push my luck and avoided any other villages. With the food supplies from before, chests of at, produce, and ample supplies of clean water, travel was actually pleasant.
I sat in the grass, listening to the constant crack of the crossbow; each bolt drew a significant amount of energy from my amulet, but it was quickly filled by the burning furnace. Anicia was practicing; by my guess, she could fire a bolt every two seconds.
Over ti, the fear they held for decreased, since they realized that so long as they followed my orders, which weren't difficult, they had nothing to fear from .
I was mostly sure that it was the food and the relative safety in my company that really sold them on the idea of continuing to serve . They weren't quite where I wanted them, but they went about their task of setting up camp every night without complaint. I, as the glorious leader, spent the ti working on the magical tools and relaxing.
I had to develop a system that could activate and deactivate magic and account for things like accidental activations, which ant designing chanical switches to work with arcane circuits.
After a week of trial and error, I reached a place where I believed it was easy enough to understand and use while avoiding accidents.
The design was rather simple: a bracer that wrapped around the forearm. On one side of the brace was a slightly bulging section with five switches. They used the sa latching chanism as an earring, just two pieces of tal that were close together; the switch would squeeze between them, holding the piece of tal inside an arcane switch. This was connected to four circuits.
The first was Dragon's Breath inscribed into a tal plate, which was secured in the palm of their gloves. The next was a protection circuit only large enough to encompass their head and chest. This was on a dallion. The third was a gravity-manipulating circuit, which was regulated to max out the reduction at 50% on the back of the protection circuit.
The fourth was empty at the mont, since I didn't want to overwhelm them with too much magic. It would go to either their weapons or whatever else I co up with. The fifth was tricky to figure out, but it was essentially a control switch that would deactivate every arcane circuit. It was to reduce accidental activations.
Wrapping the bracer around my wrist, I stood and flipped the control switch and the reverse gravity switch. After creating a dual binding, I pushed the circuit to my limit and leapt.
I couldn't stop a smile from coming across my face, since for a few seconds I felt like I was flying. After reaching 20 feet in the air, I slowly fell back down to the ground.
“What in all the hells was that?” Anicia shouted. I smirked. “Magic, my dear. Real magic.”
‘And there it is, the expression I expected. She wanted that power. Now the next step is to direct her desires. I cannot have her thinking I should teach her magic. Instead, I’ll direct her differently; I’ll make her desire magical tools, then firmly, unequivocally state that I would never teach anyone magic. In the end, I want minions, not competitors. Then there is a final hurdle. Unveiling myself and revealing the monster behind the hero.'
I sighed and pretended as if the bracer wasn't functioning correctly and said, “Still needs so work.”
Anicia looked disappointed. “So you sayin you're gonna make that for us.”
I nodded. “Though you won’t be able to jump that high, you’ll see when I’m finished.”
She bit her lip in anticipation but, surprisingly, didn't ask any more questions.
“What’s for supper?” I asked.
“Got a large rack of beef ribs.” She said.
I nodded. I preferred pork ribs, but it would do; I just had to slow-cook them.
‘I’ll give it a few more weeks and let the anticipation build.’
Two weeks later
Sohow, beyond all expectations, we encounter zero problems when heading to the dragon parts.
“We’ll have to walk the rest of the way,” I announced as we entered the span of trees.
“Strange that it's almost three years since I’ve buried these parts here,” I muttered to myself.
“Why is that strange?” Corina asked.
“The magisterium, as soon as the quest was over, tried to assassinate . Ca pretty close, actually; I was gut-shot with a crossbow bolt. I was unconscious for two and a half years as I recovered.”
Corina blinked several tis, surprised I gave her a straight answer. Anicia looked at , disbelieving. No one survives a gut-shot; it was common knowledge.
“Ya don’t have a scar or nothin,” Corina said, clearly not believing .
“The dryad of the Dalianar forest healed . Her healing was rather thorough; a lot of my bumps and scrapes over the years are gone, too.”
“I know you can co up with a better lie than that, so it’s gotta be true,” Anicia said. I could tell she had many more questions.
“You're finally willing to tell us about yourself?” Corina asked.
“Aye, I’ve given you plenty of opportunities to run off, without my interference, yet you have taken none. Why, and be honest.”
“We ain't got anything else, Myr. What do we do? Run to a city? Live peacefully, until so bastard takes away the peace. You and I know there ain't much out there for a lone mother and ‘er child. And I’ll be eaten by maggots before I force Anicia into a marriage.”
‘Exactly the answer I expected.’
“I’m a murderer, thief, liar, and completely self-serving. Most of the stories of my heroics are either fictions of my creation or done for selfish reasons. I’m not a perfect monster, but in the end, asure all my deeds, and Anier would sentence to the Stygian Abyss without hesitation.”
I paused, letting my words sink in. “I’ve lied to everyone I’ve ever known. But I do want your loyalty and dedication, so I’ll offer you two the one thing I’ve never given anyone.”
I stopped walking, staring up at a large rock, and then I oriented east. “Truth, you will be the first people in the entire world to know my true story from the source. You will hear every cri, every moral failing. And as you listen to my story, I want you to know one thing.”
I turned to the two won; two pairs of green eyes locked onto , enraptured by my words, “I’ve never regretted a single one of my actions.”
I pointed at the ground in front of a large, half-fallen oak. “Dig here,” I said.
I stood off to the side watching them work and started speaking, “I was born in a village called Farway, and my birth na is Edith…”
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