Chapter 50 – The visit of the Dark Mage

While Alex and his guests were having dinner in his Castle, in the meeting room of Baron Rowan Harvey, he was seated at his long table looking at a map of his lands and his neighbours.

He looked up and faced Commander Sebastian Cox, who was seated in front of him, with fifteen of his men standing behind him in absolute silence. “You are telling me that not even you failed at killing Earl Alex before he went to the Chamber of Lords, but you were able to make him suspect of you, and now none of you can get near his lands or Earl Kayden’s? And why did you speak so much about my plan to create more Security Forces? He used that to turn the tables in his favour in the Chamber!”

“Sir, I… I was surprised because he and the group that was with him fought Monsters that came from two Magical Voids, and they looked like they were taking a walk; none of them was hurt or tired! He… has a way with words that made me talk too much! He got into my head and the next thing I noticed, I was telling him everything about the Security Forces! I don’t know what Spell he used, but it could only be a Spell. There is no way that I would willingly betray your trust!”

The Baron looked at his map again and pointed to a particular spot near the frontier of Alex’s lands. “Are you certain that it was here that you saw that female knight armed with lightning bolts?”

The Commander nodded, and the Baron grunted, “That means Commander Shinatobe is back as well. Darn, that ruins everything! I thought she left with Yahei because she had not been seen for several years! There is no way we can approach that annoying brat with her around! I need to think of something, but what?”

Commander Sebastian Cox faced the Baron and said, “Perhaps we can make a trap to catch her off guard, and then she won’t be able to…”

The Baron punched the table, making the Commander flinch. “Are you nuts? A trap to get rid of the best fighter and most powerful Mage in this World? Someone that is suspected of being a powerful Wind Spirit? Please tell me your plan. Tell me how you are going to get rid of her when not even the entire army of ‘The Galtian Khaganat’ could, during the war!”

The Commander gulped and tried to explain. “Perhaps a poisoned arrow... or making her horse fall into a deep hole with spears at the bottom..."

“You sure are dumb, Commander Cox! During the war, a platoon of the strongest Mages of the ‘Khaganat’ went against her, and she defeated them all with a flick of her hand! A direct confrontation or an attack from afar will not work; she will detect anyone approaching at an arrow’s reach! No, we must get Earl Alex when she is not near. My spies told me that very soon he will return with Princess Ebell to the ‘Kingdom of Bouria’. We only need to get him before he reaches the border. If we fail, there is another group waiting for him as soon as he enters Bouria, and he won’t have a chance against them. Or I could tell them to give you a hand before Earl Alex crossed the border.”

Commander Sebastian Cox frowned. “That won’t be needed, Sir. We will get the job done, so there is no need to call anyone else. Your prize for the Earl’s head is only for him? What about the ones with him?”

“Perhaps I could pay one-third of the amount for each head. That will be twenty gold coins for Earl Alex and five gold coins for any other head. You said they were seven, so that will grant you a lot of gold if you kill them all and bring me their heads as proof.”

The Commander made a big smile, and he looked back at his men, who were also grinning. When he looked at the Baron again, a small dark dot appeared on the Baron’s left side, which quickly grew and turned into a completely dark Magical Void.

When the Commander jumped back and went for his sword on his waist and his men also pulled out their swords, the Baron raised his right hand and shouted in a trembling voice, “N-no, stand down… everything is fine…”

From the dark Void came a man dressed in dark clothes with a hood covering half his face, followed by five others dressed in the same way who stood behind the trembling Baron.

The first Dark Mage faced the Baron and spoke in a harsh voice, “What do you have to report, Baron? Is the target dead? His lands are in your friend’s hands?”

“No… he… still lives. The group that was travelling with him defeated the Monsters that came from the Magical Voids, and the Commander over there was unable to finish the job. There is also the matter of Commander Shinatobe’s return... And the meeting in the Chamber of Lords didn’t go well either. Earl Alex fooled my plan, and he even suggested that the new Security Forces would be under the strict supervision of the Chamber. He has a majority of supporters in the Chamber…”

The Dark Mage did his best not to shout, but the tone in his voice made the Baron flinch. “What do you mean? Has Commander Shinatobe returned? How is that possible? You said that she vanished along with the former Hero and that she was most likely dead by now! You told me you could get rid of a mere boy! What about the Magical Orbs those Security Forces will get from the Monsters? Don’t tell me they will deliver the Orbs to the Chamber instead of you!”

“The Chamber of Lords will use the Orbs for the benefit of the country… and… I don’t know how it’s possible, but Commander Shinatobe returned…”

The Dark Mage looked at Commander Sebastian Cox and his men, who still had their swords in their hands and were looking at him, ready for anything, and he asked, “What is your next plan, Baron? Will these men be able to prevent that boy from escaping again?”

“Yes… Yes, they will! If they fail, there is that group you have after the border!”

The Dark Mage faced the Baron and disguisedly nodded to one of the Dark Mages behind him. “I can’t risk another failure caused by your incompetence, you fool! I went to enormous lengths to make this flawless plan, and you ruined everything with your stupidity!”

One Dark Mages came from behind the Baron and slit his throat. As the Baron was dying over the table and covering the map with blood, the Dark Mage looked at the surprised mercenaries in front of him and asked, “And now, do you all want to die, or do you wish to join the ranks of the Consortium? Because I have a new plan to get rid of that young Earl, and if you are successful, it will mean five times the amount this fool was going to pay for that Earl’s head.”

Commander Sebastian Cox glanced at his men who had pure terror on their faces, and he slowly put his sword in the sheath at his waist while answering, “The Consortium is just a myth… they disappeared almost three hundred years ago. Who are you?”

The Dark Mage grinned and spoke in a gentle tone while sitting on a chair at the table, away from the pool of blood from the Baron. “I represent the Consortium. We didn’t disappear; we were only in hiding and gathering resources and supporters, getting ready to continue our work that began three hundred years ago. This time, we will leave nothing to chance. We will move in the shadows until the entire World is under our grasp. We won’t make a move in the light even when the World is under our control, and we will use puppet governments to do our bidding and fight groups like yours to do the bloody work. You will either accept my kind offer and be filthy rich, or none of you will leave this room alive. We can’t leave witnesses behind, as you will surely understand. So, are you with us, or against us?”

The Commander sat on a chair in front of the mysterious Mage and said, “We work for coins. As long as we get paid, it doesn’t matter who our employer is. I told the Baron that we could kill Earl Alex before he reached the border, but if that Commander Shinatobe is as powerful as the Baron said, perhaps we could use some help.”

“I think the same. I will contact our agents that are waiting after the border, and they will meet you at one day ride before the border. There is a big prairie there, perfect for a fight. We will also be there, together with some scary reinforcements, which will be our first wave of attack. I underestimated that young Earl last time, with only those two Magical Voids to stop him. It would have been better to use five Magical Voids, but the cost was more than I was willing to pay. I thought the Earl or his companions would die or get injured, making your group able to get rid of them with no difficulty. Now, I don’t have a choice. I have to use my meagre reserves to get rid of him because if that Princess arrives at Bouria, the alliance will get stronger. We had a lot of work until now to weaken the treaties of the countries that belong to the alliance. I can’t risk having all that work fall to the ground just because I was careful.”

When the Dark Mage got up and opened another Magical Void with a mumbled Spell, the Commander asked, “Wait, when will we meet? And how did you do that? No one knows how to open Magical Voids, so what’s that dark circle?”

“We will meet tomorrow. That means you must leave as soon as we disappear. The Consortium knows a lot about the Voids and why they appear, but you are not allowed to know that much. Do as I say, and you will be extremely rich. Fail me, and your blood will join that fool over the table.”

The Mage entered the Magical Void, followed by the other five Mages. The Commander faced his men and pointed at the dead Baron. “No one can find him or know what happened here. Let’s search this manor for all the Magical Orbs and coins we can carry, and kill everyone. Then we will set fire to this manor and travel to the border to wait for the Earl.”

His men followed him, and one of them asked before opening the door that led to the main corridor, “Commander, all of them? Even the young servants and maids?”

“No one can be left behind. You heard him. There can’t be any witnesses. If a servant or a maid says to anyone that we were with the Baron and he is now dead, we will have the entire country after us. Swallow the last bit of soul you may still have because we don’t have time for regrets.”

The man made a weird smile while squeezing the hilt of his sword. “I was just making sure, Commander. No way I would stand in front of our upcoming wealth!”