066 - The Party's Over

[JasonPaul]

"Well, that was disappointing," Anwyn said, partly to himself, although just loud enough for others to hear him.

"What are you talking about?" Andrew asked. "For all intents and purposes Tyne's out of the picture, isn't he?"

"Yes he is," Anwyn replied. "But it all ended so quickly. I wanted to truly test my own power against him. It's been so long since I've fought a truly good mage that I'm bored out of my mind."

Andrew only shook his head. In his younger days Anwyn was a short fuse and an even looser cannon who wasn't shy about using magic that was more powerful than what was necessary to do the job. It was not uncommon for Anwyn to throw Almagus spells (more commonly called "Ultima", and not to be confused with Almaghest, which he did know but rarely used) as if they were bullets from a handgun. These days Anwyn wasn't quite as reckless, although he wouldn't deny that he enjoyed a good magic fight.

Just then the group heard the sound of a cellphone ringing. Blue picked up her phone and looked at the caller ID, which read only "Big Daddy". "Hmmm...guess who," she said as she answered her phone. "Blue here."

"Something's come up," Michael Wight said from the other end. "I need you two here immediately."

"That can be arranged," Blue said. "Where's 'here'?"

"Columbus," Wight replied. "It might be a challenge getting here with all the fighting going on, but I'm sure you can handle it."

"Roger," Blue said hanging up the phone. With that, she turned to the rest of the group and spoke. "We'll have to part ways here."

"Oh really, Bluzie?" Red asked. "Where are we going?" But Blue only shushed her.

"Thank you for your help," Krivin said, nodding. Red waved goodbye to everyone as Blue smiled a bit at Krivin. With that, the two disappeared into the woods, heading east.

With the twins gone, Anwyn decided to report. He pulled a bright blue crystal out of his pocket and muttered a communications spell to the empress herself and reported everything that went on in Tyne's madhouse.

"A spell of astral binding?" Silf asked. "That's disturbing. Did you confirm whether Tyne was a mystic or not?"

Anwyn looked at Lionel for a bit then spoke again. "According to our new friend, that's a negative. Either way he turned out to be a dangerous mage. He's been dealt with, but reportedly he's just one of many."

Anwyn could feel the empress' worry through the crystal. "Do you think these mages would pose a significant threat?"

"I think he was a renegade, but I can tell you he gave me a lot more trouble than I'd expected. All ten of the Stosstrupen I'd brought with me are dead."

"Oh dear..."

"And that's just one mage. He had a few friends, but they were just disciples or acolytes or something. Moreover I think he was working with grimoires."

"Are you serious?" Silf asked, clearly shocked at the thought.

"Well, most of the magic he used when I saw him, as well as the Astral Binding spell, were all Mystic in nature, but right when we fought him face to face he threw a curveball at us. Some kind of holding spell, although I've never seen anything like it myself."

"I see," Silf said, thinking about the situation. "Did you learn anything about One Nation?"

"I learned that Croft invaded Ohio while our back was turned, but you've probably already figured that out."

"Indeed. And what are their plans with us?"

"He didn't say," Anwyn said, "although I will tell you that I don't trust him."

"Then all we can do is wait and see, I guess." Silf didn't want that, although there was really no other option. She was worried about the people in Ohio and Anwyn could tell, but getting directly involved would throw New Belexes into a war that the mystics didn't want, and was therefore not an option. "Can you come back to New Belexes?"

"As soon as I get more information about that cult," Anwyn said. "We've got someone here who might be able to tell us more."

"Good. Come back whenever you're ready."

"See you," Anwyn said as the crystal's glow faded. He put the item back in his pocket, and then turned to Serj Malkane, the wild card, who seemed to be the only one who knew of Tyne's cult.

"You're going to tell me everything you know about this order of dark mages."