Chapter 26 – Family

“How are you, what are you, why are you here?” Cobal couldn’t even find the right question.
“I should ask you the same thing, why are you in a foreign country sneaking into a destroyed building.” Selvia gasped. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but it’s very dangerous here.”
“Is this someone you know?” Eliana asked. Her dagger was still only a step away from Selvia’s throat, ready to strike at a moment’s notice if things went wrong.
“Lower your weapon, she’s a friend.”
“Then what the hell is she doing here?”
“That’s what I would like to know too.” Cobal turned to Selvia, who looked a lot thinner and more tired than when he last saw her. He cursed. “We don’t have time for this, why are you here?”
“It’s a long story, what is going on? I was hired to create some very specific necklace for these people and after they approved of what I made, they wouldn’t let me leave until I made another, much more difficult project for them.”
“What did you make for them?” Mana asked, seemingly realizing something important in that moment that Cobal did not.
“I made them this very particular bracelet. It had all sorts of gemstones in it that had to be placed in specific places and directions. It was very complicated and it didn’t even look that good.”
“What about the band, was there anything carved into it?”
Cobal began to catch on to what she was saying.
“Yes, how did you know that?”
“Were they runes of sorts that you didn’t understand?”
Selvia nodded.
Cobal still wasn’t sure what link Mana had made, but he understood that the bracelet was probably magic. “Mana?” He asked.
She nodded. “I read about this in one of the books we found in Lysa’s chambers. A long lost way to create artifacts includes talented craftspeople imbuing the runes with power while they craft. Did someone keep a close eye on you at all times while you were working?”
Selvia nodded. “There was a woman watching over. Why are you asking all these questions? Who are these people Cobal and what are you doing here?”
“That is a long story as well. But there are some very bad people in this manor and we’re here to figure out how to deal with them.” While Cobal had been talking to Selvia, Eliana had already started moving on, acutely aware that they had limited time to continue.
Eliana turned around from the doorway. “Quickly, I hear movement downstairs.” She looked at Selvia. “You better say here and not get in our way or I will put you out of commission, is that clear?”
Selvia nodded, pure fear in her eyes. Cobal forgot how scary Eliana was the first time they met and for a moment he truly appreciated that they were on the same side.”
Cobal quickly faced Selvia. “How many people are in this manor?”
“I don’t know, maybe ten or twelve, possibly less.”
Cobal looked at Eliana. “No more than a handful left probably.” He looked back at Selvia. “Stay here, I’ll explain everything when I’m back.”

Before Selvia could argue, the trio made their way past her and through the door that led to the connecting hallway. The light of several chandeliers and wall sconces lit the place but it was still quite dim due to the sheer size of the interior. Eliana walked up front with Cobal and Mana close behind her. There was no one in this main hallway and ahead of them were the main stairs. As they quickly made their way over there, since Cobal assumed that any people here would likely be in the main hall, there was a loud crashing sound as one of the cultists came flying through the splintering door, his neck bent further than it should have. Cobal winced at the sight but he was happy to see that Grac was doing alright. They were still outnumbered if Selvia’s estimate was correct, but not by much. Still, a nervous feeling wouldn’t let Cobal’s stomach settle. Something was very wrong. He pushed the feeling back as they reached the bottom of the stairs, the main hall in sight and the doors leading to it slightly ajar. “Speed is now more of the essence than stealth, keep moving,” Eliana said. She kept charging forward and was several steps ahead of the other two when she stepped in through the door, ducking as she did in case someone was ready with a weapon on the other side. Cobal stepped in behind her and saw a large room where much of the furniture had been pushed aside. A desk was standing on a raised platform and two benches were still standing. Next to the desk was a trapdoor leading to a cellar. Some torches were lit, but the room was quite dark overall. There were two people in this room. A hooded figure was sitting on the bench facing away from the entrance. Standing behind the desk was an elven woman, a familiar face. This was the same woman they encountered in Milinia, who attacked during the harvest festival. At least Cobal thought she was, it was hard to see since her face was still partially concealed by the hood of her mantle. She looked up from the book she was thumbing through and smiled. “Welcome, honored guests, how good of you to make it here.”
Cobal froze. Something was wrong here. Eliana didn’t freeze. She took two more steps forward. “Well, well, well, nice little bandit camp you’ve got here.” She said.
The woman on the chair laughed, her face now more clearly lit than before. She revealed that her face was scarred by burn marks that weren’t there the last time they encountered her, but it was very clearly the same person.
Although Eliana had her back turned to Cobal and Mana, he could see that something in her demeanor had changed. With one smooth motion she pulled a second dagger from her belt and threw it at the woman. She narrowly managed to dodge it, the dagger clinking off the stone wall behind her. “Now, now, is that how you treat an old friend?”

“You,” Eliana said through clenched teeth, as she took another two steps forward. Suddenly her arms and legs gave out and she fell to the floor. None of them had seen the magic circle on the ground before it was too late. As Eliana lay there, unmoving, the woman took her dagger and threw it back at Eliana. With one smooth motion, Mana stepped forward past Cobal and from the page of the book she was holding appeared a gust of wind, blowing the dagger back before it could reach Eliana.
The woman smiled. “I figured it was only fair to throw it back at her, it was hers to begin with.”
“You know each other?” Mana asked.
The woman nodded. “We met once before, on an expedition to Rafah. Your friend here was incredibly helpful in our research of our master’s location.”
“So it’s true then,” Cobal said, “You’re with the Jasmine order?”
She smiled. “You’ve done your research. Yes, I am. My name is Ada and I am one of the high priests of Shifeth. Is that a problem?”
Mana shook her head. “It’s not a problem in and of itself, but the way your little cult has treated us and our friends is unacceptable.”
“I see that you didn’t appreciate our previous meetings as much as I did. That’s a shame, I feel like we could really get along if we tried.”
“Then why did you attack Milinia, kidnap our friend’s wife and not to mention kidnap the crown prince of Blueyerd?”
The hooded figure sitting on the bench stirred and a chill ran down Cobal’s spine.
Ada laughed. “Kidnap the crown prince? Why would we do such a preposterous thing?”
Cobal’s eyes were fixed on the hooded person.
Ada continued. “I might have gotten a little bit excited the last time we met and wanted to test your capabilities, you can hardly get mad about that.
“You’re dodging the question. Why did you kidnap my brother, and where is he?”
The hooded figure finally stood up and walked to where Ada was, slowly removing his hood. “Why don’t you ask him yourself?”
Cobal’s heart sank. “Brother?”

“Hello Cobal,” his brother’s familiar voice said, “it’s been a little while since we last spoke.” He turned his attention to Mana. “Breaker of balance, we finally meet.”
“What are you talking about brother, why are you here?”
There was a sorrowful look on his brother’s face as he turned his attention back from Mana to Cobal. “We were warned, Cobal. Our family summoned a hero and almost destroyed the balance of the world. Luckily our ancestor managed to right his wrong by dealing with the threat. Then father went ahead and repeated the exact same mistake. The balance of the world is at stake, you understand that right?”
“Father thinks that the Rilodar kingdom kidnapped you, we’re on the verge of war.” Cobal continued, not making sense of what his brother was saying.
“That is only a small price to pay. These otherworlders,” he glanced at Mana, “are an incredible danger to our world. They wield powers that we could never begin to match and if they’re left to their own devices they could get powerful enough to rival the gods. Their knowledge could spell disaster.”
Cobal didn’t disagree with what his brother was saying, but the shock of seeing him here like this was stronger than his logical reasoning right now. “Why didn’t you convince father to abandon this plan?”
He laughed. “You know father. He would never listen to us.”
Cobal knew his brother was right.
“No, things had to happen this way, it was the only way.”
“Then what about Selvia, why did you have to involve her in your schemes?” he asked, anger welling up in Cobal’s voice.
Sapher’s smile vanished as he searched for the right words. “For involving your friend, I am sorry. Her talent falling into our lap was an unexpected boon, and we couldn’t let it slip away again. I promise we meant her no harm and were planning to let her go as soon as our business here finished.”
Mana stepped in, her hand still on Cobal’s shoulder. “And what exactly are you doing here?”
“We’re bringing back our master,” Ada said with a smile. “And with his might, we will deal with you and the other problem children that have infected our precious world.”
Eliana stirred, seemingly slowly getting back control over her body. Ada seemed to listen for something and then smiled. “I believe that is our cue to get out of here.” She looked at Sapher. “Anything you have to say to your brother before we leave?”
Sapher looked pained but shook his head. “No.”
Cobal drew his sword and was ready to step forward, but Mana held him back. He looked at her questioning, but she didn’t say anything.
From the trapdoor appeared two people carrying a large chest, roughly the size of Cobal’s chest. Ada reached beneath her robes and Mana’s hand vanished from Cobal’s shoulder as it rapidly moved along the page, throwing up a wall of wind between them and the cultists.
Ada looked up and smiled, revealing an intricately carved bracelet. “Don’t worry, we have no plans of dealing with you quite yet. Call it a gift from your brother.” She put the bracelet on and runes started appearing on the floor below her, slowly forming a circle.
“They’re getting away,” Cobal said to Mana, who put her hand back on his shoulder and shook her head. “We have to let them leave.”
“Sapher, stop this nonsense,” Cobal said as his brother stepped towards the other three, onto the magic circle. There was a hint of sadness on his face quickly followed by resolve. “Goodbye brother.” A flash of metal shot through the air and a dagger embedded itself in Sapher’s thigh. The surprised prince looked at Eliana who grinned. “It’s only fair to give you a present as well.” And with a flash the four people, carrying the chest, vanished. 

A little note here for those who have been paying close attention. When I first wrote the “witch” that attacked Cobal and Mana in volume 1 I didn’t have as solid an idea of where the story was heading as I do now. For this reason I added her flashback with Eliana in volume 3 to make her more of an interesting character. That means that the character who introduces herself as Ada has changed a fair bit from what we encountered in volume 1. As I’m currently in the process of writing the final version of volume 1, I will be making sure to align these parts of the story more closely. For now, please understand that there might be some inaccuracies throughout. Thanks for reading!