Timedial clicked, at twice its usual power. The aggravating Clone that drew the truth out disappeared. Time slowed to a crawl. The real me, floating at the ceiling, gently placed my hidden spies, Anjali and Dawn, at the top of a bookshelf. We weren’t in contact, so they were also affected by Timedial’s slowing effects. Web of God connected the corrupted councilmen together for Arc Lightning to stun them in place. An Earth Wall was placed very close to the corrupted mages, causing wide-area spells to backfire on them. The defending councilmen finally began reacting, and at that point, I thought it was going way too slow so I cancelled Timedial.

A couple explosions rang off. Aldis and the Garrans stopped whatever they were going to cast and Dawn encased Elder and his lackeys in the densest Water Prison she ever made, eventually summoning her Leviathan so it could cast an even stronger one on them, one they couldn’t hope to ever get out of. Her rage was so built up that she watched on as they suffocated in the sphere of water, all slowly dying except the ringleader. She took that anger out on him after his body grew weak from a lack of oxygen and pummelled his face with punches, for an unbearably long time. With each smack you could hear the impact even more pronounced because of the blood.

Donna looked on through my eyes, in a dilemma. She wasn’t sure if she should be angered by this revelation or not; as was I at times, but in the end, we weren’t really regretful of her death. At least we have a lead on your death now, I glanced at Dawn’s copy of Elder’s journal.

Anjali’s face was less than pleased, she was downright distressed, yet she could only watch on in silence. Dawn stood up when the man went unconscious, her fists soaked in blood and her breath heavy. Her Leviathan disappeared when she turned her back on the beaten man. It shifted to its black and white orca form and healed the men I once thought had drown but their lives floated in and out of a faux-death state.

“Shit, Eric! Shit!” Aldis finally let his thoughts out, a trampling elephant in the room. “You just had to catch him, didn’t you?” he sighed heavily. “As much as I’m on your side, the Order is now without a leader.” It looked like his mind was already crashing on thoughts of the establishment’s future. “So, what happens now?”

“They will be tried,” Anjali answered, trying her best not to look at her father, “they will be executed.”

You could call me the lowest of the low; someone who would bring someone just to see the beginning of her father’s fall – his condemnation. But, I couldn’t risk Dawn getting caught for her assassinations. She was a murderer – albeit not as seasoned as the corrupted mages before us – and Anjali had no reason to exempt her from charges suitable for her actions. It was entirely justifiable that Anjali would want to give her the worst possible sentence, but she chose to overlook those actions because of the situation surrounding them. I was so happy.

“Aldis,” I called to him, “the Order of Mages is now without a leader, as you’ve mentioned. You’re the most experienced member of the entire Or–”

“No. Whatever you’re going to say, no. I’m too old. Retirement is end of year. It’s between you, Meagan, and Keagan.”

Fuck, it can’t be any of us. I need them. Shit, I need as much help as I could get for Liana. Only got a few days remaining to get people together.

“As much as I appreciate your words Aldis, I’m much too hot-headed for a position like that. Meagan should do it.”

“Wha – no way!” Meagan refused without batting an eye, “I don’t have a particular reason, but it’s not hard to tell I’m not leadership material. I’ve seen you take down Ashfur and put down the strongest mages of the Order. You do it.”

What a drag. I can’t jus– actually… “Alright, I’ll become the acting head until we find a more suitable leader. For now, let’s get these guys to Endathal for trial. I’ll make a public statement later today. Also, I’m pulling back our men sent to gather intel and our attacking forces,” the more I spoke, the more the things that needed to be done came to mind.

By late afternoon, the Order of Mages had been made aware of the situation and our corrupted leadership were on their way to Endathal with the Garrans and Anjali, along with the incriminating journal. The next morning, the public of Aquan knew and letters were sent out to every stakeholder of the Order denoting a change of leadership.

The Ashfur party was gathered again when the Garrans returned a couple days later. The idea of taking down Liana was pitched to them and several other rank fours of the Order. I didn’t have the time to put up appearances and go into debating mode, so the message was clear and to-the-point.

Including the Ashfur party, there would be two dozen mages going. I filed as much paperwork as I possibly could before departure, but I had to change the rendezvous point with Moken before embarking. A party this size would be too large to head into the mountains. Hell, a party this size would take more than just a week to reach the Withering Forest.

It all seemed to go by so fast. There were death threats by other people Elder was involved with. There were meetings with stakeholders threatening to pull their support, some of which went through with the threat. And of course, there was discord amongst the Order itself, but nothing worse than what I anticipated. The support and resources we still had was more than enough for us to function properly.

We got Aldis to watch over the Order for us, somehow. I can just focus on this druid party now. Food, transport, clothing, I recounted some things in my mind, trying to finalise everything before we embarked on our journey to Grove of the Ancient. Damn, I haven’t even gotten time to talk with my friends and family, I thought.

“At least go home and talk to Mary tonight. Don’t sleep at the Order again!” Donna scolded, and I had to oblige, so later that night, I went home for the first time in a long time.

“Hey,” I took off the cowl of the Order’s silver robe, “been a while, mom.”

Wordless, she dropped what she was doing and hugged me, “You idiot, of all the things you do…” she sighed.

“Yeah, I really messed up this time. Sorry. Did you cook dinner? Something smells good.”

~

The sun peeped over the horizon while we gathered in the fields outside Aquan. Of course, Pyro was the last to get there, and Keagan gave him an earful for it. Before the week was up, I formed temporary contracts with the great birds of Gale’s faction and summoned one to carry each pair of mages. Gale carried Dawn, Pyro, and Volt whilst Phoenix carried the Garrans and Kira. Donna stayed inside me and I simply flew with Avatar of Wind to lead the party. She maintained a rather quiet profile after we confronted Elder. With all the assassination business, I guess she needed time to gather her thoughts.

We picked up Moken on the way and flew onwards to the Withering Forest. During the journey, I finally got time to talk with Volt and Pyro again. They were becoming rather good friends with the Garrans. Kira was still her usual calm and silent self but would still get a little red in the cheeks if we teased her about Volt.

On our last stop before we met with Aerellis, I posed a question to Donna.

“You really like comparing yourself, huh?”

Yes, and so do you, so shut up and tell me how strong you think I am.

“I can’t do both, jackass.”

You know what I mean.

“Ugh. I’m not sure how to measure your spells after Emily did that thing to your mana. But assuming all spells get twice as strong in some way, then I’d say you’re stronger than Apostle-level now.”

A smile began brewing on my face and she stopped me. “Don’t let it get to your head. You’re barely stronger even with that power-up. An experienced Apostle will wreck you if you aren’t careful.”

Alright, alright, I’m always careful. But, when are you going to get some fresh air?

She shook her head, “It’s comfy in here. And, Eric…”

Hmm? I yawned, my eyes closing down.

“I don’t sense any ill will from Aerellis, but be wary of her.”

Will do. We went to sleep and if Dawn was here, that meant we had an early rising.

A hot breakfast and couple hours of flying later, we approached the same place Moken and I left Aerellis at. We made camp again and settled down. Initially, I thought of meeting with the dryad by myself, or at least with the Ashfur party just in case she tried something. But having closer proximity to them meant getting to them easier. If Liana and Aerellis could manipulate the entire forest like that, I would say hiding the officers too far from the Ashfur party wasn’t the best idea.

I approached the designated tree, ran my mana through it like the naked dryad instructed and waited patiently. A minute or so after, I heard the skipping of hooves. The leaf-haired dryad walked when she reached close and bowed her head a little, “Salutations, young one,” she greeted, her eyes shifting to the group of mages behind me every so often.

“Wassup? Um, fighting her undergro–” she reached for my hand, stopping my train of thought completely, then placed it on her chest.

The hell… I could feel the true presence of death behind me, but I’m sure when I looked around Dawn would have nothing but a pleasant smile on her face just like Mary.

“Okay so, what’re you doin’?” I asked. She held onto my wrist whilst my palm rested on her.

“I have but three seeds of the guardian,” she squeezed a little, then I felt a pinch of pain travel through my arm and up to my head, suddenly fading, “this will make you much more receptive of nature’s intentions. Where is the sleepy one?”

Sleepy one?

“Moken.” Donna pointed out.

Oh. “Moken?” I looked around, but he wasn’t even there. What the hell?

“I’m here,” his voice boomed, and he suddenly appeared.

Well, guess Invisibility is not mage-exclusive.

She did the same to him, his hand covering most of her chest. Damn, orcs are huge.

“Who else is best fitted to wield the seed?” she asked.

“What’s it do, anyway?” Dawn asked, out of nowhere. Maybe she thought Aerellis was a bit too close.

The well-endowed dryad gave Dawn a little smirk, “Fret not; the young one and I cannot mate.”

Nail on the head.

“The seed makes one senses acute to the flow and intentions of nature. You will better predict where attacks might come from and how dangerous they might be,” she explained.

“Give it to her then,” I suggested. After everyone’s roles were assigned, I couldn’t help but notice how heavy of a burden Dawn would carry. I could only hope her mana would see her through the encounter.

Dawn placed her hand on Aerellis’ chest and received the same buff as Moken and I. It did exactly as the dryad implied; made us more perceptive of our surroundings. We continued our journey into the Withering Forest and stood afoot of the Grove of the Ancient’s entrance.

Just as Aerellis had said, Liana would be slumbering by the time we got there. The silvery stag laid in an encirclement of leaves; quite a comfy bed to not detect an intrusion of this size. It looked so peaceful, sleeping like that.

Quietly, we took positions and Donna eventually joined us. It was kind of a shame, I thought. Arctic Rage would be the best thing to use if it were just me. But oh well…

With us all gathered and ready, the mage users who specialised in capture and subduction worked their spells in tandem, ineffectively waking the ancient guardian of nature, druid Liana, up to a state of bondage and disorientation. Aerellis also turned the druid’s vines against her.

Everyone got split into teams, but some would have to juggle the responsibility of more than one team. Dawn’s Leviathan, Hydra, and Meagan would be the buffers and healers of our group. A ten percent boost to physical and magical traits for every single person was an indispensable thing, but their healing was the real star.

Our defenders, those who would thwart an attack or pull an ally away from an incoming spell were spread evenly throughout the grove. That would be Donna, Dawn, and Keagan. Meagan would also be on defence despite being a healer. Being a defender meant she’d have to move around, but her healing could also prolong the consequence of fatal injuries long enough to get the injured to the true healers. Kor’zha and Kira both knew how to manoeuvre within the earth, so their high mobility meant many surprise attacks to distract the enemy from targeting us.

For the firepower of the team, we had Volt and his Ray, then Pyro and his Devil. Of course, if Volt was to use his lightning form to move, then he’d literally be the fastest person on our team, not including Tarit. So, both he and Tarit would share the responsibilities of attack and defence. Phoenix would also work closely with Pyro and his Devil to concentrate their fire abilities. The wind users would augment this fire with an appropriate gust, following Gale’s footsteps.

As for me, I thought I’d keep it really simple. I had just one thing to do – Frost Trap. That spell was especially detrimental against an opponent like Liana. The last time I used it, it froze over the entire Grove of the Ancient and Withering Forest above, even freezing parts of the very air. It became a ridiculously strong spell to match what it deemed to be the enemy’s most useful mode of movement. In fact, it was too strong. I knew I couldn’t just hope the spell would be weaker when I cast it, so I had to settle for a double effort – one to cast Frost Trap and one to weaken just a little so that the air would be easy for us to breathe.

The minute the subdue team placed their bonds and awoke the druid, I cast my Frost Trap, eating away a chunk of my mana in the process, then began rescinding the spell. The sudden appearance of ice was the exact signal that the attacking team was waiting for. Gale and other wind users opened with a cone of winds whilst the fiery ones lit the place up in a flurry of powerful flaming spells. Explosions rang out, muffling the bellowing yelp of the druid. The silent crackles of lightning bombarded our enemy who couldn’t even stand anymore.

When the smoke cleared, I walked over to the attack area. Guts were splattered everywhere, its charred corpse hardly even connected. Liana’s head wasn’t even recognisable after that assault.

We, we won… I looked down at the unidentifiable mess and inspected it. Not even a breath. In triumph, I turned around with a huge smile, then suddenly saw Moken speeding towards me. Hardly able to react, he managed to zoom past me and employ a cleaving strike, cutting the pike of an antler that was headed right for my back.

“Do not rest!” Aerellis shouted out from where the healers were, “Mother is still alive!”