Melody of Mana 5 E-Book

Wandering Agent

• Herausgeber: Podium Publishing
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Serie: Melody of Mana
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 368

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

Political plots, kingly coups, and unexpected affairs keep bardic mage Alana on her toes in the fifth installment of this character-driven fantasy series.   Since waking up from a terrible accident on Earth to find herself in the Kingdom of Bergond almost twenty years ago, Alana has faced more than her fair share of challenges. Most recently, she's been commissioned by Emperor Durin to set up a magical portal that will connect the capital city of Ermath to the far northern reaches of his domain in Linden. Only, the journey to Linden is plagued from the outset. It seems someone knows about the mission and will do whatever it takes to prevent its completion.   As if that weren't enough, Alana's Earthly past seems determined to catch up with her—with potentially catastrophic consequences. Now, she'll have to untangle a tricky conundrum of time and space to get the gates operational, all the while contending with shadowy threats to her safety as well as dangerous rumors that could expose her otherworldly origins.   Filled with metaphysical puzzles, dangerous escapes, irresistible relationship drama, and fascinating courtly intrigue, Melody of Mana 5 is a page-turning conclusion to this tightly plotted isekai series.   The fifth volume of the hit progression-fantasy series—with almost four million views on Royal Road—now available on Audible and wherever ebooks are sold! 

Leseprobe

Melody

of

Mana

✦ BOOK 5 ✦

WANDERING AGENT

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without prior written permission from Podium Publishing.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living, dead, or undead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2024 by Michael Robert Taylor

Cover design by Yanhong Lu

ISBN: 978-1-0394-4390-7

Published in 2024 by Podium Publishing

www.podiumaudio.com

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 CATCHING UP

CHAPTER 2 BREAKFAST AT DAWN

CHAPTER 3 NEW MEETINGS AND OLD FRIENDS

CHAPTER 4 TOWARD CONVERGENCE

CHAPTER 5 THE GRID

CHAPTER 6 CULTURE SHOCK

CHAPTER 7 ON THE ROAD

CHAPTER 8 WESTWOOD’S SOLDIERY

CHAPTER 9 ROADS AND MISDIRECTIONS

CHAPTER 10 HISTORY LESSON

CHAPTER 11 LOSING A FRIEND

CHAPTER 12 ADMISSIONS AND ASSAULTS

CHAPTER 13 CAPTURED

CHAPTER 14 OUT OF THE CELL

CHAPTER 15 INTO THE TUNDRA

CHAPTER 16 UP THE MOUNTAINS

CHAPTER 17 OUT OF THE CAVE

CHAPTER 18 IT’S A …

CHAPTER 19 RACE TO THE MEET

CHAPTER 20 HOT SPRING BATTLE

CHAPTER 21 SAFE

CHAPTER 22 OPENING MOVES

CHAPTER 23 BATTLE OF ICE’S END

CHAPTER 24 FALLEN CITY

CHAPTER 25 GATES

CHAPTER 26 THE BROKEN CITY

CHAPTER 27 THE BROKEN GIRL

CHAPTER 28 TESTING SITE

CHAPTER 29 THE MANY WASTES OF SILVERSPRINGS

CHAPTER 30 POKING AROUND

CHAPTER 31 FLIRTING AND TESTING

CHAPTER 32 PREPARING FOR THE SHOW

CHAPTER 33 MISTAKES WERE MADE

CHAPTER 34 CONNECTION LOST

CHAPTER 35 AID

CHAPTER 36 SPACE-TIME MAINTENANCE

CHAPTER 37 SILVERSPRINGS MELEE

CHAPTER 38 NEAR MISS

CHAPTER 39 RETURN

CHAPTER 40 HOME

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

CHAPTER 1

✦

CATCHING UP

Mother wanted to spend an afternoon together before I got up to anything else. Even though there was work to be done back at the lab, I really had no reason to refuse her. We’d proven our concept, and the safety checks were ongoing. I got a brief note from Dras—who had stayed behind to finish his core improvement and keep training—informing me that we’d all be off for about a week.

In my previous world, we might have done a number of things. Sadly, many of those things were not really viable here. For instance, shopping wasn’t something that was viewed as a common activity for ladies to engage in for fun at our social level. Clothing was incredibly expensive, and even though my family was now quite well-off, my wardrobe could still easily be described as … anemic. That wasn’t odd, as most people only had a few outfits, and seldom bought more. As for more common goods, most of those were delivered to us by merchants now, so going to the market would be seen as unusual as well.

Most beauty treatments were done at home. It wasn’t the same social experience as on Earth, sadly. Since the wealthy had staff, beauty treatments were almost always done in private, and were quite time consuming. Public baths were starting to catch on in a few places and served as something of a full spa, but Mother had been raised in a small village and they made her uncomfortable.

There were a number of theaters and performances that we could go to. However, Mother and I disagreed on what we liked to watch, and it wasn’t really conducive to chatting as an activity. The most common shows were big circus-type exhibitions, stage plays, or concerts of various genres. I did have to admit that some of the plays were pretty good, even if a bit raunchy at times.

The most common social activity for women of every order was handcrafts. There was always more work that needed doing, or small things that could be repaired or improved with decoration. I hated handcrafts to a certain extent, but they weren’t without purpose, and if it made Mom happy I could grit my teeth for a while. I’d learned the most common ones, and even if I was below average, I could fake it well enough for most of them.

I did not expect my mother to have gotten into lace while I was away, but apparently she had. She’d taken to it like a fish to water and started decorating a large number of things around the house—something I’d missed the night before. Lacework was time consuming, painfully difficult, was only really suited to making things look fancy, and required extremely fine thread for her patterns.

That last part was where I came in. I had no intention of following her into this new hobby, but more than any other of her womanly arts, I’d kept up with spinning. Mainly because I could do it anywhere and the tools were easy to keep nearby, the hobby not requiring much space or setup. This world was still using drop spindles.

“So, tell me about this man you’ve met,” she began as soon as we’d gotten started.

“There’s not really much to tell, Mother,” I responded.

“Oh? How did you meet?”

“Our group hired him to join us in our work. A lot of people died and we needed help.” That stopped her in her tracks.

“I … didn’t hear about that.”

“Well, Mother, we lost about two-thirds of our people before we even got to the Elven lands,” I explained.

“Are you okay?” Her voice shook with concern.

“I’m fine. I can’t say I really knew them, and it wasn’t like we …” It was hard to explain, even if I kept to the current knowledge available to the public about what we were doing. “There was a monster, a big one.”

“Like the one your father fought?” she said, referring to the giant lizard from when I was a child. “I remember the injuries, and how you were after seeing those men.”

“It was a lot worse than that. We were prepared—at least we thought we were—but not for some of the things that live in the seas. Even once we made landfall, there were more of them, more beasts and creatures. The leader of our team died too. A big rock fell and crushed him like paste right in front of me.” I’d stopped spinning at some point. As I sat there looking at the work, I felt a pair of arms wrap around me.

“Are you okay?” she asked again, holding me gently.

My mother had almost always been harsh and demanding, and more than a little irritating at times, but still, she tried to do her best to help me. Sure, we disagreed on a lot of things—really, a lot of things—and lived very different lives, but she still taught me the things she really thought I needed, and got angry when I pushed back against what she viewed as important lessons.

“I’m fine. Even if I’d gotten hurt, I could have just healed myself,” I said, pouting.

“That’s not what I mean, and you know it. You’re strong, Alana, and you’ve seen and done things I know I never will, but you’re still only human.”

“I’m …” Was I fine, though? I could keep saying it, but was it true? “It seems like no matter where I go, there’s always something horrible there. People around me are always getting hurt or dying. Am I cursed or something?”

“You’re not cursed, Alana. No more than anyone else of this age. We’ve all lost people—a lot of them in the last few years—to the famine, the wars, and all of that. You do have the ability to find trouble though, and, despite how much I beg you not to, you always seem to run straight at it.”

I had to think on that for a bit. I could have stayed at the orphanage as a child. I could have not gone down into the Undercity with Dras and the others, or not taken combat magic even though people told me it would be a mess. I could have taken a nice, quiet job anywhere, and made lots of money with my magic. I could even have done as Mother seemed to want and settle down, having a few kids and a nice, quiet family life. I could have… but I also couldn’t.

“I don’t want trouble, Mother, I want to be out there. I want—need—to be somewhere, seeing the edges of the world and learning about the newest and greatest things. I need freedom too. Being tied down to one place just isn’t for me.”

“And this man, will he help you with that?” she asked.

“How … how did you take me through an entire conversation about feelings only to come right back around to the boy-talk?” I’d just run through about five emotions and back.

“It’s a skill you’ll learn when you have children.” She narrowed her eyes. “If you have children.” That was a low blow in her book. “You didn’t answer my question though. Will he?”

I had to think about that for a few minutes. “Don’t know. But I know he’ll keep me safe.”

“Good enough, I suppose. I don’t really need to know anything else then,” she said.

My head was still spinning from that roller coaster of a conversation, but I did feel better. We spent the rest of the day working on our chosen tasks. Mom asked about other things, how people were, and if they were doing well. Then she told me about some of the things going on back home while I’d been away.

One of our former maids, a nice girl named Suzanne, was slated to marry Charles, of all people. Mom was glad she’d found someone, as the girl had been a bit messed up. Apparently, she’d been a slave back before Ermath fell and had some very odd views of the world. Having a new husband meant that she’d no longer be working for us, but Mom was happy regardless. I was just happy Charles finally found someone, as he was an oddball too.

She also told me that my friend Pinea, the queen of all partiers, had recently been seen often in the presence of a man named Alowen. He was recently out of the military and had taken up a high position in the city’s guard. I’d have to ask Pinea about it sometime in the future.

We finished up late that afternoon when the things I’d ordered arrived. I had mice and tools to unpack and set up—something Mother was completely uninterested in aiding me with. She knew it was for my practice, but outright hated the sight of mice. They’d been carriers of disease and a blight upon food for most of her life, so keeping them around was quite against her nature. But I imagined she’d approve if she knew I planned to kill them later.

I also received a letter from Ulanion later in the day, asking to see me. I recognized the meeting place as one of the more pleasant eateries in the city, but the time …Why in the world would he possibly need to meet that early in the morning? I shrugged and replied with my confirmation, not thinking too much about it. Perhaps he had a weird schedule.

CHAPTER 2

✦

BREAKFAST AT DAWN

Days passed, and while I still had a few things to do, it felt like a vacation. I worked on my spells in the afternoon and spent time with my family whenever possible. I even managed to borrow a maid from my mother to help me get ready the morning of my meeting with Ulanion.

I rose slowly as the girl woke me. There were no alarm clocks here, but there were still plenty of ways to measure time, and there was always someone awake at the house. As I shuffled over to the small dresser, she spoke.

“Don’t worry, Miss Alana. I’ll have you right ready for your date.”

I was instantly awake. A date? No, no this was way too early. It was … breakfast time. I cursed internally, bemoaning how often I had neglected the common customs of this world. I’d been on practically zero actual dates over the years, and had totally forgotten. Here they liked to go on dates at the start of the day.

“I … thank you,” I attempted to say. It was too late. I couldn’t back out now without massive repercussions.

If only I’d thought this through. He wanted to go to one of the nicer restaurants in town and probably asked around for good places. Any other girl, any normal human girl in this country would have understood in a heartbeat, but no, I had to have a whole lifetime of non-matching social information buzzing around in my head.

The maid was happy, seemingly thinking that my mood—for I was in quite a mood—was just nerves. I also had to admit that she was very good at her job. I knew how to do my hair and makeup, and get dressed, but there was really no substitute for having professional help. By the time she finished, I looked excellent. I was glad choosing my clothes wasn’t an issue, as I had rather few, and even fewer that would be proper for this date.

“You look perfect; he’ll be thrilled,” she declared as I finally stood before the mirror in my room.

“Thank you, you’re really good at this,” I said. The girl smiled and winked before going to get the carriage.

The air around the restaurant was quiet and subdued. Magical, colored lights shone from behind hidden corners and curtains. The lighting was indirect, warming the room, but not bright enough to disturb any of the patrons. The tables were similarly arrayed with bright colors and fresh flowers, the whole place evoked the image of a fresh, spring day at dawn.

Ulanion was waiting for me near the entrance. He wore a lovely outfit in cool blues based on military garb. That was the standard dress, particularly since he was in some capacity working for the army. It looked magnificent on him.

He raised an eyebrow as I looked him over. “Something wrong?” he asked.

“Where in the world did you get those?” I responded, indicating his outfit.

“Ah, a particular tailor. Lovely man. I must admit that I’ve never before seen a bard who used magic to mold and create in that medium.” He offered his hand as the waiter approached to lead us to our table.

We engaged in a bit of small talk, catching up for a bit until our food arrived. Orders hadn’t been taken, but rather the dishes were based on what ingredients were freshest. It was a nice meal consisting of fresh fruit and things like porridge.

“I wasn’t sure you would come,” he finally said. “I’m not quite familiar with how humans do things, so I was a bit worried that I might have made some faux pas.”

“Why would you think you’d messed things up?”

“Well, it had been some time since we last spoke, when I told you …” he started, “and I know you do things … quite differently.”

“To be honest, I didn’t realize until this morning that you were asking me out,” I admitted.

“Really?” He looked outright floored by that. “But … isn’t this standard practice for humans?”

“It is. Thing is, I haven’t been on all that many dates, particularly not ones so formal.” He still looked stunned. “So, this isn’t how things are done in Atali? How do your people date or court or whatever?”

“Well, it depends. Typically, you ask someone if they’d like to join you at a festival. There’s music and dancing, games and things like that. They come often enough, and if you both have fun, well, you go again. That continues until the couple decides to make things permanent.” He sighed. “It’s not so formal, and not so … well, early.”

I nodded. “Honestly, the early morning thing has always thrown me too. I get why, but it’s just a lot right after waking up. I have to admit, going to a festival does sound more fun.”

“I haven’t heard of any upcoming, but if you’d like to?” He tilted his head. “Sadly, they’re very rare. The normal time for gatherings and celebrations is winter, when nobody has anything to do. There are some in summer, but spring is busy for most people. Between making sure the fields are right and all the work around that, and the administration of it all, everyone is just busy.” His face fell, seemingly in understanding. “But if you find something you think looks fun …” At that he perked right back up.

“I’ll be sure to invite you,” he declared.

“Please do.” I still wasn’t completely sure if this would go anywhere, but he was nice, and I did like him.

A small bell rang lightly, drawing everyone’s attention to a small man who stood to the side. “Esteemed guests, the sun will be rising shortly. For those who wish to watch the spectacle, we have a viewing platform just upstairs.”

We looked at each other and shrugged, then went to see what all the hype was about. The platform was much the same as the eatery below, but lacking seats. There was plenty of room for everyone who wanted to stand near their partner and look at the brightening east.

I hadn’t watched too many sunrises before. I really preferred the stars in the night sky. Though, as the first rays pierced the horizon, I understood. The morning sky was so bright and clear in this world, so unmarred by pollution or cityscapes that it was something I could watch again and again.

Pink and gold exploded outward as the sun crested, bright light flowing onto the world. Buildings that had looked drab from the street now shone brightly. The fields and farms around lit up green as the wave of light crept across. Something about the crisp air made it all seem far brighter and more vibrant.

“How beautiful,” I said idly.

“Indeed,” Ulanion agreed. But out of the corner of my eye, I noticed he wasn’t looking at the dawn.

CHAPTER 3

✦

NEW MEETINGS AND OLD FRIENDS

I sat at a small table in my room, looking at the poor, dead mouse. It had worked, sort of. I had managed to kill it with a spell. Sadly, it had not been an easy death on the poor little creature, which had struggled and fought until its body gave out.

It wasn’t the first; there were a few now. My idea to make a spell that replicated the feeling of drowning was functional. It was also horrid to watch.

The worst part was that in this particular case I’d been trying to make my magic work without singing, or what I felt was a clear performance—no dancing or the like. I’d tried a few things with varying results. Poetry was hit-and-miss. My working theory was that it had to be performed, and just reading it wasn’t enough. Perhaps if I made it up as I went. Acting was also hit-or-miss and was what I’d used in this case. The trick there was that it had to be clearly acting, not something that might be mistaken for reality.

I had literally killed this poor creature with my bad acting. There were so many jokes there, but I couldn’t bear getting into them. They rang a bit sour, as I didn’t much like the idea of torturing small animals, only using them as a necessity.

I’d had about a week of working from home, but tomorrow I’d have to go back to the lab and start again with whatever we were doing. I wasn’t sure how that would go, being that my ostensible manager was now dead, and his replacement, if there was one, hadn’t yet been introduced to us. Though if anyone tried to give me that job, I might just quit.

There were a number of letters from Ulanion on my desk beside the paperwork. We wrote just about every day since our breakfast, an alternative to phone conversations. He was too busy for any real dates at the moment—and I would soon be busy too—but this was not bad. It was … calmer, and less stressful than I’d been expecting.

I put him out of my mind and went to bed. There would be much to do, a lot of which couldn’t be handled via anything but conversation in person.

I rose with the sun the next morning and got my stuff together. Since my work was top secret and was absolutely never allowed to be taken home, my things mostly consisted of personal effects. It was interesting how Durin’s people ran things. It was all controlled, much more like how a modern military might run than I’d expected. I knew that he’d read some of Ristolian’s works, but I had to wonder if those covered information control and its importance in war and governance, or if that was common before and I’d just never seen it.

The office was the same as it had always been—armed guards, lots of searches and scans on your way in, essentially the works. After my time away it seemed very personal, but none of the procedures had changed much. Shortly enough, I was through and down to the lower levels where the real work happened.

When I got to the team workshop, I found Dras and Selene already there, looking tired as the examined the place.

“Anything new?” I asked.

“Yeah, look at our supplies,” Selene responded.

It was impressive. There were stacks of raw materials, metals marked with their alloy description, mana-conductive wood, magical creature body parts, and even a small box of gems. The last were only useful in a few specialty magic tools, but those could cost a fortune to make.

“Someone’s got a new project for us. Lots of gates based on that pile,” I commented.

“Well, you’ll be finding out soon enough, I believe,” a voice interrupted.

I turned to see a prim-looking young man with spectacles. I’d seen him a few times here and there but couldn’t quite place him. He certainly had authorization to be here, based on the fact that the guards in the hall hadn’t taken him apart, but I didn’t know him personally.

“Excuse me, but I don’t believe we’ve met,” Selene observed.

“Ah, forgive me. I’m one of the archmage’s apprentices. My name is Jason.” He made a little bow. “It’s a shame that I’ve not had the chance to meet with one of my seniors as well.” He nodded to me.

Archmage wasn’t an official moniker, but rather a broad descriptor. It wasn’t an “If you do x and then y, then you become an archmage” situation. Rather, it was just a word used for incredibly powerful spellcasters. Most would certainly have managed to get their core to its third and final stage, sure, and most could take on dozens of lesser casters, but there wasn’t a hard-and-fast rule. There was, however, only one person here who could take that title.

“A pleasure to meet you, Jason, but I haven’t been trained by Mystien in many years,” I said, nodding back.

“Perhaps, but I can tell by the way he pays attention to your work that he still values you. At any rate, I’m not here for a purely social call, rather to inform you that our collective boss would like a word, and a meeting with all of you.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Dras. I specialize primarily in fire magic,” Dras interrupted, taking the initiative.

“Selene. My focus is a bit more broad, but if anything, I’m here because I excel in magical items,” Selene said and waved with a small smile.

“And I’m Alana, support magic and item specialist. I’m not quite as good at making new things as Selene here, but I do better at finding issues and fixing them.”

“Well met, everyone, shall we?” He motioned to the hall.

As we headed up, we chatted lightly. Jason had been recruited by Mystien during the war, and had served with him throughout. He was a wizard, and his specialty was of course water. I knew that my old teacher had a number of students that he’d taken in, but we’d drifted apart, at least to an extent.

“Come in,” the old man called at our knock.

Mystien’s office was a Spartan affair. There were shelves packed with books, a desk piled high with research notes and paperwork, and a very comfortable-looking chair for the man himself, but not much else. It almost reminded me of his house back in the village—nice, but more plain than most rich folk’s residences.

As for the man himself, it struck me hard how much he’d aged. Sure, he’d been old when I met him, but seeing him in this place really made me think about how many years had gone by. He was looking more like the wizened old mage you’d see on the cover of a fantasy book back on Earth and less like the spry, hard-worn elder I’d known in my childhood.

“Something wrong?” he asked upon seeing my face.

“Sorry, just been thinking a lot today. I realized how much you’ve changed since we first met.”

My remark got a scoff from the old wizard. “You’re one to talk. Ah, but let’s reminisce another time—we’ve business to discuss.” He cleared his throat and looked us over. “I’m glad you’ve all met Jason, and I do hope you’ll get along. He’ll be joining you for some much-needed support. With the loss of your previous leader, and the outright destruction of the majority of the portal creation teams, we need badly to get to rebuilding.”

“So … is Jason our new supervisor?” Selene asked.

“Not in the same way. Jason is skilled at administrative work and war magic, and will be aiding you with that, but you four will all be reporting directly to me for the time being. We’ve got a number of things that need doing now, particularly since we’ve proven the concept of portals as viable.”

Papers were passed out, outlining a few short-term goals. We needed to get enough support staff who could get portals up and running, as well as standardize portal control and build layouts. The emperor also wanted to get our first working pair out as soon as possible. There was a note that he’d already concluded plans for installing the first pair.

“We’ve got our first order in already?” I asked. That was fast by any metric.

“Yes, Emperor Durin is quite eager to get some out into the world,” Jason answered.

“Indeed,” Mystien agreed. “Dras here will go back to the improvement of his core. The stone used for such has been released to us, and is in a secure place. I’ll be taking you there after this meeting. As for you two.” He looked at Selene and myself. “I’d like you to see if you can come up with a way to transport a portal, assembled or not, through another. If it isn’t possible, that’s fine, but our hope is that it will be, as that will simplify things greatly. Once you’ve done that, we’ll need one to test, and then ship out. You two will be on that project for the time being.”

We split to go about our assigned tasks. Discussion of important projects wasn’t allowed outside of rooms, so I had time to think. I realized that while I’d been told we had a place, we hadn’t been told where. A quick scan of the papers revealed that it wasn’t written there either. That was no mistake—we wouldn’t be told until we needed to be.

CHAPTER 4

✦

TOWARD CONVERGENCE

Making a gate that could be taken through another was a challenge, but not an insurmountable one. There needed to be a way to keep the item as one, while still being able to take it apart or down. We spent several days bouncing ideas back and forth to little effect.

The issue was that magical items really, really did not like being added to or broken down after they were made. In many cases it was known that would destroy the item completely. Even things like the city wards, were done in a simplistic method. A power output and on/off control was put somewhere, and then the energy was moved over in an on/off manner. That was it. I’d never personally gotten a close look at the city wards, as they were need-to-know, but I’d wager they were a disaster of overlapping and aggregated items.

We could have possibly scaled them down significantly, but Jason didn’t like that—the point was for them to be large. A letter from Mystien himself said that we could if no other method would work, but we were to investigate all other avenues first.

“None of these are working,” I groaned.

“Hmm, what if we connected all the pieces through that thing you used, the—” Jason hesitated. Up until recently, the communications had been absolutely top secret, but after a moment he remembered. “Right, right, the communications things. Can we use those? Maybe add them so that the parts are all connected?”

I had to take a moment to think about that one. “Hmm, I don’t think that would work. If they’re not all together at some point, then we might have some real issues if the portal tries to activate. It’s just not gonna be clean.”

We played with the idea of having the portal appear in the air, and even ran a trial. The result was a disastrous failure. Without being able to connect to a frame, the portal began distorting space around it in dangerous ways, much like my first couple of attempts with a spell version, though this faded quicker. It made the team step back very carefully and put that idea down, and also led to some changes in protocol.

“How do you think that mage, Ristolian, did it?” Jason asked.

It wasn’t the first time I’d considered that question.

“I think he knew how to teleport. Or maybe he just flew them into place. Records on that guy are scarce, but he was a known powerhouse when he was active. There are still accounts of some of his exploits in the magical schools. Our first dean even knew of him, though not about this.” I thought for a moment. “Well, if he did know about teleportation, he kept it hidden—but he’d have been able to act against the emperor if he did.”

Selene sighed and reached for a little paper fan. The room wasn’t hot or anything, but she’d taken to playing with it to help her think—much to our irritation. She snapped the thing open again with a crack and froze.

“Got something?” I asked.

“Yeah. Maybe I do.”

The next week was spent designing and then making a frankly ugly construction of folding metal. Joints had to be constructed with care, so they would bend but not break. It wasn’t our loveliest work, and certainly still in the prototype stage without any real spells in it, but we could use test runes to check if it all connected. The first few had been tiny models that shifted this way and that before finally locking into a circular formation. Once opened, they needed new pieces to keep them in shape for activation, but that was only a minor setback.

With magic, we could design, then create, a trial version within hours. The wizards in our group were particularly skilled at molding the pieces with little more than a blueprint and their minds. I could use an array of magically powered tools to achieve a similar result, but they were much better at this than me.

Instead, I added a few extra safety measures. If the portal couldn’t achieve the right shape, or if any part of the circuit broke, the whole thing would shut off. It was a small addition, but I wanted to be sure that if something did break, it wouldn’t happen in a way that killed anyone. I also made sure to check on that little spatial distortion we’d made. Luckily, it had dispersed, leaving no traces. But I still checked daily.

“So this is it?” Mystien asked when he came to see our prototype.

“Yeah. It’s not pretty, but it should work,” Jason answered.

“It may just be the ugliest item I’ve ever seen.” The old man gave it a critical eye. “But does it work?”

“We’ll be ready to test it tomorrow. We were thinking that we’d take it through a gate somewhere. Of course we need permission for that,” I said, leaning over.

“You’ll have it. Don’t need any accidents.” Mystien was nothing if not pragmatic. “If it works as desired, we’ll need a pair, preferably nicer ones, as soon as possible.”

“What’s the rush?” Dras asked.

“We’ve gotten approval and you’ll be off to install it as soon as possible. The emperor wants to start the expansion process right away. Ah, but the new hub will be in the capital, not here or in the fortress,” he answered.

That was exciting. I’d never been there, and would probably have to go at some point, if only for the installation.

Somewhere else, a large caravan was trudging along. The merchants that accompanied them had fish, dried and salted. They moved these first, trading them for oil and dried fruit. At one point they picked up a load of fine cloth, only for it to be transferred a few cities further upon their way.

They weren’t out to make money. Several of the people here were, of course, but that wasn’t the main goal. In a number of their trades, they actually took losses. This was unfortunate, but as long as they were trading, it was fine.

There weren’t many magic users on board, at least to untrained eyes. A handful of auras were tightly suppressed, mostly from physical types. Similarly, those who looked closely would realize that most of these men, even the ones without any magic at all, were in better shape than your standard caravan trader, loaded with lean muscle.

Though nobody would think that about the driver of the third cart. He was an older man with wrinkles formed around his long face, slitted eyes, and a look that filled others with mistrust and fear. He had the look of a viper on the hunt. One not to be denied.

It would be quite the trip, and the man looked most displeased to make it. After all, the city of Linden was far from the frozen north. What was one to do when their prince needed results though, other than go himself?

CHAPTER 5

✦

THE GRID

The trip to the capital was short. I still thought of my own home city of Lithere as the capital in a lot of regards, but within the Empire of Shadows, that simply wasn’t the case. Instead, it was the old Ermathi capital in the city of Ermath—wholly unimaginative, but things were like that sometimes.

The portal connection made what would have been a weeks-long trip into a short afternoon jaunt, but still we ended up outside the city proper. Sad to say, the capital did not live up to my expectations. It was ugly. There were clear signs of renovation, but the primary architecture of the city was brutalist and plain. Any decorations were all new additions and hadn’t yet spread to every corner.

Lithere, on the other hand, was a city of layers. There were towers, homes, and businesses, all in various shapes and colors. Ermath was a city that looked like it had been built by a military hand. The buildings were boxy and uniform. There was no art, no variety in materials, no color on the buildings.

“I hate it,” I said as we approached.

“It really isn’t much to look at, is it?” Dras asked.

“Dras, it’s in a grid pattern. You can see the lines. I bet they even leveled the land before they built here. Aside from the newer stuff, it’s just ghastly.”

“The Ermathi were always under a military dictatorship, but I never imagined it was this bad,” Selene added.

As I looked on, I began to notice that all the surrounding fields and lands were almost the same, laid out in perfectly regular plots, all with the same basic structures. It was like the medieval version of a suburban hellscape—if it had been run by the most boring bureaucrats to ever live.

We made it through the gate with ease, as we were all clearly there on official government business, and things brightened somewhat. A few buildings did have murals on them, decorated signs hung here and there, and were clearly newer in construction. It was still brutal, but you could see some signs of hope in the citizens.

We slowly made our way to a building that was clearly new and appeared to be purposefully built just for this project. With magic, construction could go fast, but this was burning along at an insane pace. The building itself was clearly militarized, but also strangely welcoming. Around all the security structures, there were clear places for people. Benches stood outside, and if I wasn’t mistaken, a few buildings were being renovated into something like a tavern.

We were dropped off at the main entrance and greeted by a man in a decorated black tunic. That was standard for government workers on the job—not an official uniform, but trying to fit with the country’s whole aesthetic of evil overlord.

“Greetings, greetings welcome. Ah, Jason, is that you?” the man said, his arms wide.

“Hey there, Ron. Been a while, hasn’t it?” Our newest member embraced the man warmly. “Ah, let me introduce my team. This is Selene, Dras, and Alana. Everyone, this is Ron, former military and the soon-to-be overseer of this new hub.”

“How public is this going to be?” I asked after we made it through the first few sets of warded doors.

“The building giving you ideas, huh? For the near future, not at all. It will be a military installation, though we are trying to make it nice. If things proceed well and we can establish it, in the next decade or two your work will be made public, and it will be open to a limited extent.” Ron didn’t elaborate on what we were doing—none of us did—but that declaration got more than one pair of raised eyebrows.

“Sincerely?” Dras voiced.

“For the moment, this project is needed to secure and grow the empire, but surely you can see the benefit for civilians as well?” We followed him along a path.

“I think it’s a wonderful idea, but it will change a lot of things,” I pointed out.

We were finally led to the innermost room. The doors were massive, and nobody could miss the magic around the whole place. They could talk all they wanted about this building being for the people one day, but for now, this place was military, and a massive liability if things went wrong.

But as we entered, I could see the potential. The walls were blank, but the whole structure reminded me of something like a subway station. There was a central area, ostensibly for control around a concourse for people to go to portals not yet installed.

It would take a day to install the first gate. Most of that time would be spent dealing with the mess of importing and setting up the wards. Putting the gate in place was a rather simple action by comparison, but there was so much that had to be done around it that it was going to be a chore.

After an hour or two of discussion on what we’d need for the next day and when we’d start, we were taken to a nearby barracks. It was hard to tell one building here from another, but there were numbers, and the streets were laid out in a grid that followed a simple system.

Selene would be spending the night in the room beside mine. Dras was down the hall.

“All right,” I declared after seeing that the small case I’d brought was in place. “I’m going out.”

“Out where?” Selene asked, poking her head out of her own room.

“To a tavern. We’re in a city, and cities have taverns. I want to see more of this place, because it’s been pretty droll so far.”

She nodded along. “Not what we’re really here for, but okay. Want company?”

“Certainly. Let’s see what we can find.”

Dras stayed behind. Mostly because we didn’t invite him. We were both full casters, and more than dangerous enough to take on almost anyone who would cause trouble for us. I also liked to think I had a pretty good handle on how to deal with city life after spending several years working in a tavern, but there were some issues.

“Okay,” I groaned after a solid ten minutes of looking and still finding no signs of use. “How is this place even organized?”

“Maybe ask someone?” Selene shrugged. It wasn’t her worst idea ever.

There were a few locals out on the street, even as the daylight began to dim.

“Excuse me, sir,” I said, stopping a man who looked like he knew his way around. “I don’t suppose you could recommend a tavern around here?”

“Um … one of the old drinking halls? Or one of the newer places?” he asked with a slight accent.

“Let’s go with a newer one,” I said, getting a nod from my companion.

“Most of those are over near the barracks. Abe’s is pretty good.” He gave us a weird address, something like +E-15.

We located a map and discovered the city was essentially a giant grid with the palace sitting in the dead center labeled A0. From there, letters indicated longitude labeled with a + symbol for east and a - for west. And numbers indicated latitude with negatives for north and positives for south. Therefore, the bar was slightly north and quite west of the palace. Incidentally, the new hub was at +G-18, not far from our destination. I’d been told that things could get a bit wonky with some of the new buildings but this was fortunately an easy place to find.

Selene was content to let me lead. Most of the buildings were quiet, but as we drew near our destination, I finally began to see signs of a nightlife. Here and there, obvious changes had been made to buildings; walls opened, and more decorations were visible on the formerly droll structures.

Abe’s had a big sign out front and warm lights along the side. Though there was no loud ruckus, I could hear a slight strumming coming from within. Not one to be thrown by whatever weirdness was going on, I made my way to the door.

CHAPTER 6

✦

CULTURE SHOCK

The tavern was strikingly quiet. There were a few conversations going on, and someone played music in the background, but it was not the kind of wild taverns I was used to. The noise level reminded me of a high-end sort of place, but the decor and clients didn’t match that either. Everyone was just … quiet.