The Runic Alchemist

"..Over ten thousand Dawnstar people are either missing or dead.." Grace continued describing the accounts of the surviving lords and soldiers, but by then, Damian had already tuned her out.

He set down his leather work apron on one of the outer benches and walked away without a word. Evrin and the others just watched as he kept walking, heading across the campus until he reached the far side.

The others didn't know where he was going, but Damian wasn't wandering aimlessly in the night. Lucian was there—at the far end of the garden where he had once built the benches. The view of the ocean was stunning from this secluded spot.

She sat alone on a bench, her face a mask of frustration and carefully hidden sorrow. Damian joined her in silence. She didn't look at him, nor did she attempt to conceal her emotions. Together, they stared at the dark, seemingly endless water.

After a moment, Lucian spoke.

"I told him to take me with him. If only I'd been there…" she whispered, her voice trembling. "Everything I do feels like a waste of time. I want to be stronger—I need to be stronger! But everything I do to achieve that strength costs people their lives. The very people I want to protect sacrifice themselves to… to…" Her voice broke as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Damian placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Even if you became the strongest person in the world, it wouldn't stop those who care about you from sacrificing themselves," he said gently. "Your father knew what he was doing. It was his duty. Besides, no one really knows what happened. He'll survive—he must."

She wiped her tears and straightened, nodding slightly.

"The border is lost, though," she said quietly. "By now, the empire must have taken all the nearby towns. Lord Ashborne won't last long with such a hastily prepared force. Unless Lady Vidalia lets the king go right away, there'll be no stopping the empire in Dawnstar. Even if the Highswords decide to intervene, it'll be too late. The empire covets people above all else—forcing even women and children to work like slaves, building weapons for their war machine. The people of Dawnstar don't deserve this…"

"I know," Damian said simply.

"I'm going back tomorrow. Can you…" She hesitated, glancing at him uncertainly.

"Just ask Lucian," he said, locking eyes with her.

"Can you arrange a meeting with the Highswords? I want to make one final desperate effort to bring at least one or two of them on board—our last chance to negotiate before it's too late."

Damian sighed.

"What?" Lucian asked, frowning.

"There was another reason I wanted to go as deep as I could into the Highsword dungeon," Damian said. He explained everything happening within the Highsword organization and added that he hoped to find the Land Breaker there, if possible.

She grew increasingly dejected as she listened, disheartened to hear that the fabled heroes of legend were behaving like squabbling children. No faction was willing to send their people to fight or mediate, and within the organization, there was no consensus on how to deal with the Empire or the other kingdoms.

"They won't help…" Lucian whispered, her last hope slipping away. Then, looking at Damian, she asked, "How were you going to find Land Breaker?"

"That's the thing," Damian said. "I have a spell. It can open a wormhole to someone if the spellcaster has a deep connection to that person."

Lucian's eyes widened. Her lips quivered as she struggled to find words, but Damian spoke again before she could.

"Yes, we can do that for your father too. But before we proceed, you need to hear this—it's my only condition for helping you. I don't care about your wars, and I have no intention of fighting the Empire. Our mission will be simple: retrieve your father and jump back through the wormhole. We might help those nearby, but beyond that—"

Damian's words were cut off as Lucian threw herself into his arms, hugging him tightly.

"It's you… It's always you, dammit…" she murmured, so softly he wasn't sure she meant for him to hear.

Her reaction took him by surprise. Cold and aloof Lucian, so overcome with emotion? Then again, if someone had offered to save Sister Hadley for him, he'd probably have reacted the same way—even after all these years.

****

Late that night, in the High Noble community room...

After he and Lucian returned, Damian called on Sam, Maelor, Einar, and a few others. With Adrian, Fiona, and Maelor's two companions already present, the room was otherwise empty. Damian hadn't even summoned his assistants—he wanted to keep the group as small as possible for this. Read new chapters at empire

Still, he had shared everything with Reize before coming. She wanted to join, but Damian had asked her to stay behind.

"Come on, then. You said you wanted to talk about something," Maelor began once everyone was seated.

"Maximus and I are going to Dawnstar tonight," Lucian said, her expression blank. "It's a quick rescue mission for my father and anyone else we can find nearby."

The room fell deathly quiet. Reize gripped Damian's hand tightly as everyone stared at him and Lucian in stunned silence before erupting into a cacophony of protests.

"What do you mean, you're going?" Sam demanded, standing abruptly.

"How? Dawnstar is two weeks away, even with the fastest ship!" Adrian exclaimed.

"I'm coming, too. My brother was supposed to be with him," Fiona said, determination etched on her face.

"You're leaving the academy?" Evrin asked, baffled.

"What about our mission? Did you forget that?" Einar interjected angrily, pointing at Evrin for emphasis.

Raising his hands, Damian calmed the group. Once the chaos settled, he explained. "I have a way to get there and back in a single night. We won't be gone long."

He turned to Einar. "You can stay here with her. I'm not asking you—or anyone else—to come. But I won't stop you if you decide to join us."