Chapter 29 – The way forward

Mana and Eliana were seated at the bar, talking with Clara about something that Cobal wasn’t paying any attention to right now. His attention was instead solely focused on his friend sitting across from him in the Phantom Homestead. There were no other customers but even with the privacy they had, Cobal struggled to start up the conversation. He had a hundred questions on his mind but he had no idea where to start or what to say.
“I’m sorry for what happened to your brother,” Selvia said.
Cobal looked up at her. “Mana told you?”
She nodded. “I had no idea he was with those people, he never showed his face to me.”
“I see.”
A long pause filled the space, the silence amplified by the fact that the conversation at the bar seemed to have died down as well. Eventually Cobal spoke up. “Start at the beginning, how did you get caught up in all of this?”
“Well, it’s not that long or interesting of a story. At least not for most of it. I was doing some business in Jasodar when I met a woman who told me there was a very talented jeweler living in Marsolin that she would recommend. She then also told me she herself lived in Marsolin and would love for me to come to her home to look at her collection. After finishing business in Jasodar I ended up traveling to the east until I arrived here. After three days of being in town, I suddenly came across this woman again, who was doing her shopping. She then invited me to her manor and once I got there told me to start working on this project that she had in mind.”
Cobal thought for a while about what she said. It did sound like it was just a pure coincidence that she got involved in all of this. Perhaps his brother had no hand in it after all. He resolved to believe this.
“So, what did you end up making for them?” Mana asked. Cobal didn’t realize she’d come walking up to them and she now went to sit down next to Cobal.
“I’m not sure what it was supposed to do, but they had me make a bracelet with specific runes carved into it as well as gemstones laid into it in a very precise pattern. If I’m honest with you, none of it meant anything to me, but it was clear that there was a method to it that they understood.”
“How much of what you made could you draw or describe to us if I gave you time and some paper?”
Selvia thought about this for a moment. “I’m not sure. I could probably give a decent general overview, but the specifics will likely escape me. I didn’t think I’d need to be able to reproduce this after all and I had a lot on my mind while I was there.” Cobal could see that she was still slightly shaking. “Well, think on it a little bit, we can go by Lysa’s office later today and see what we can get on paper. She’s an expert so she might be better at asking the right questions as well?” He looked at Mana who nodded in agreement. Looking back to Selvia he continued. “You should get some rest, the rooms are still available for a while after all.”
“I think I’d like to take a walk for some fresh air.”
Cobal nodded. “Very well, that’s up to you.”
When Selvia left the inn he looked over at Eliana. “Can you keep an eye on her?”
Eliana nodded. “Just for today, I’m not a babysitter.”
“Thanks captain.”

The reason Cobal didn’t accompany Selvia was because he had something else he wanted to do. After downing a drink he made his way to the slums. Once he went inside, it didn’t take him long to find Salandra, who was up on the first floor doing some reading. She looked up and smiled brightly when she saw him approach. “Good to see you again, how did the business you had to take care of go?”
Cobal smiled, albeit forcefully. “It went. Things never go as well as you would like and there were some hiccups. But Grac and his wife should be en route to Tas’Irkan right now. He mentioned he’d come back to visit at some point to see if you were still interested in coming with him to their town, but first he needed to rest up.”
Although he could see a hint of disappointment in her eyes, she nodded. “Good to hear that things have gone relatively well then. If you want to talk about any of it you know where to find me, but I won’t pry where it’s not wanted.”
“I appreciate it.” He looked at the book she was reading. “What are you studying?”
“Oh this?” She turned the book towards him. There was a drawing of a strange toad with weird openings in its back. “It’s a book about creatures that are said to live deeper towards the center of the continent, but have no solid proof backing up their existence. Some of the creatures living in the wildlands have provable existences, since people have brought them back or have brought back dead animals. Some have only been mentioned in the adventure journals of travelers so they are probably real, but there’s no definitive proof which makes it hard to really discuss them. This book talks about many of these creatures and compiles them into one comprehensive tome. It’s quite interesting and I was wondering if Grac could confirm or deny the existence of some of them, but I guess that will have to wait.”
Cobal looked at the page she was showing him. The fumetoad. This creature creates magical pollen in a special gland on its back and releases these pollen in fumes from the little holes covering its back. These fumes can do all sorts of crazy things and many adventurers have fallen prey to a sudden cloud of magic that turned into an exploding fireball or a frozen cloud.
“Sounds like a dangerous creature.”
Salandra chuckled. “Don’t they look sort of cute though.”
Cobal couldn’t help but smile at the way she marveled at these creatures. Although Mana had spent the last few days teasing him about how Salandra was around him, he was quickly starting to feel a similar way. Even after she learned that he was a prince, it didn’t seem like she was treating him any differently and that made him feel at ease. “What?” she asked.
He’d been caught staring. “Nothing, just taking in the view.”
She blushed. “I bet you’ve wooed many a nobleman’s daughter with those sly remarks.”
Cobal chuckled. “You should have seen my brother Nazuren. Rumors say that he has at least three children with different women that he’s trying to hide and between just you and me, I know that one of them is real. I’m not anything like him, I don’t have his charm.”
“You’re charming in your own way. How is he taking care of his children then?”
“Poorly, if I’m being totally honest with you. I know he’s making sure the mother is getting enough money to live a comfortable life, but that’s hardly good parenting.”
Salandra looked him in the eyes. “What would you do in his shoes?”
Cobal shrugged. “I honestly don’t know, I think I’d have to live through it to be able to tell you. But I’d like to think I’d take care of my children. Mana’s influence has turned me a bit soft.”
“She seems like a very smart and kind person.”
Cobal nodded. “She’s like the kind big sister I never had.”
“More like family than anything else then?” Salandra asked.
“Definitely.” After meeting his brother in such a painful fashion yesterday this comment made him feel a little bit more at ease. He still had family at home and Mana was here. It’s strange how much of a bond the two of them had gotten considering how fragile their relationship was when they’d first met. Luckily they’d long gotten over any of those hiccups.
Salandra closed the book. “I have some work to do today, so I hope you’ll excuse me.” They’d been talking for a little while already and Cobal had to go back to the inn as well to see if Selvia would accompany him to Lysa’s office.
“Good luck with your work.”
She smiled and walked away, turning around after a few steps. “Do you have any plans for dinner yet?” She asked.
Cobal shook his head.
“I know a great place nearby, see you in front of the library when the evening clock goes off?”
Cobal thought for a moment and nodded. “Sure.”
She smiled. “See you then.”

“Come on in,” Lysa’s voice sounded from her office. Cobal had brought both Selvia and Mana along to visit the librarian. She was sitting behind her desk talking with another scribe. “Jonas, if you’ll excuse me for a bit, this takes priority.”
“Very well, I’ll return later.” After the man named Jonas left the office, Lysa looked up. “It seems you were somewhat successful in your efforts then? Who have you brought with you?”
“This is Selvia, she’s a friend from back in Saphestan and has somehow been caught up in all of this. We found her in Solin Manor, working for the cultists that had taken the place for themselves.”
“I see, and you’ve brought her here for a reason I presume?”
“We’re hoping to figure out what it was that they were making her create.”
Cobal sat down. “Let me start at the beginning. When we got to Solin Manor we rather quickly managed to save our friend’s wife from the shed on the premises. We then snuck into the manor where we found Selvia. From there we went into the main hall and confronted the cultists that were there. Unfortunately we were one step behind them at every moment and it seems like they completed whatever their goal was, before leaving. But not before Eliana threw a dagger at my brother, who was never truly kidnapped but instead joined forces with these cultists. The ringleader of these cultists seems to be a woman by the name of Petriya Solin, a surviving member of their family.”
Lysa took in all the information. “That is a lot. Did you find out what their aim was in Solin Manor?”
Cobal shook his head. “Not quite.” He looked at Mana who said.
“Although we haven’t figured out exactly why they were there, the prince did mention something interesting. He said that my being here in this world is going to upset the balance in some way. Their order has an end goal of dealing with me and other people who come from outside of this realm. It’s an idea I could sympathize with if I wasn’t caught up right in the middle of it all. I presume that whatever they had Selvia make was required to unlock something in the manor. When they departed they were carrying a strange object with them after all.”
Lysa nodded. “And what exactly did they have you make?” She turned her attention to Selvia.
“I had to make an intricate bracelet with gemstones and runic symbols. Although there wasn’t an understandable pattern or logic to it, the person guiding me through the process knew exactly what had to go where. I think at one occasion I saw her thumbing through a book to figure something out, perhaps that book explained to her what she had to make. I just followed her directions and after a rather long and arduous process managed to make something satisfactory.”
“And after that, they just took whatever they came for and left?” Lysa asked.
“That seems to be the case,” Cobal replied.
“This is all very worrying. Of course small cults spring up all the time and they’re probably just one of many weird groups, but Shifeth is a known entity and seeing as how he’s been brought back once, their beliefs aren’t as unfounded as those of most. What I don’t fully understand is the connection between reviving an old mage and getting rid of outsiders.”
“Could it be a promise that this Petriya used to lure my brother into her plot?”
“That’s definitely possible, although it would just be an assumption based on hope. If I were you – and I hope you understand that I don’t want to be mean – I would make peace with the idea that your brother is opposed to your family’s actions and to Mana’s existence in our world. If you don’t convince yourself of that, how will you be able to act if your paths cross again.”
Cobal sank down into his chair. He still didn’t want to believe it, but he wasn’t one to reject reality either. “I have a lot to think about.” He felt Mana’s hand on his shoulder and smiled.
Lysa returned her attention back to Selvia. “Could I borrow you for an afternoon? I’d love to know as much as possible about what they had you make.”
Selvia looked at Cobal who nodded. “You can trust Lysa, but make sure a scribe accompanies you back to the inn, just to be safe. I doubt it’s necessary, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.”
“That can definitely be arranged.”
Cobal and Mana left Selvia with Lysa and each went about their day. Mana had more studying she wanted to do and Cobal wanted to take a nice long walk through Marsolin. He had a ton to think about and finally more time to waste now that all the chaos and stress of the past few days was slowly fading for more dread he desperately needed to clear his head.