The runner returned a minute later with orders to bring Verdan and Kai through to Silver directly.

“Wizard Blacke, Disciple Kai, it is good to see you both,” Lieutenant Silver said, rising to his feet as the two of them entered the room. “Thank you, Stephenson.”

“Sir,” the runner nodded respectfully and shut the door behind him as he left.

The room they were in looked to be a small meeting room of sorts, with a circular table and a handful of chairs. A teapot and a selection of mugs sat in the centre of the table, and both Silver and Sergeant Falk had one already.

“Lieutenant, Sergeant,” Verdan acknowledged them both as he took a seat, Kai moving to one side to lean against the wall and watch.

“I’d like to apologise for your treatment last night, as well as for whatever oversight ended with the enemy having possession of our uniforms,” Silver said, meeting Verdan’s gaze before bowing apologetically.

“It wasn’t your doing, and I don’t blame you or any of the other city guards,” Verdan said heavily, not able to bring himself to blame Silver for what had occurred. “I will have my vengeance on those that did this, though.”

“And we shall do all we can to assist you,” Silver said, taking a seat and nodding to Sergeant Falk. “Sergeant, if you would.”

“Of course,” Falk said, clearing his throat and seemingly organising his thoughts. “Commander Griffon has tasked me with this investigation, and so far, the evidence is taking us in two opposite directions. The first is to look into the current owner of the buildings that the Sorcerers were housed in, especially as it seems to have been used in this capacity for some time.”

“Do you know how long?” Kai asked as the Sergeant paused to take a breath.

“Not in any specifics, but my people have found some evidence that the Sorcerers are just the last in a line of people to use the building. I’m beginning to believe that we’re looking at a long-term safe house for the Weeping Death.”

“Good, I doubt they expected us to find that,” Verdan said, a slight sense of satisfaction running through him at inconveniencing the Weeping Death.

“Exactly, which makes me hopeful for the potential information we can discover,” Falk said with a nod. “As to the second lead, that would be the uniforms they stole. I have people investigating the provider as we speak. If they’ve been compromised, we may need to take action. If not, then we know that the uniforms were leaked from within, which poses some uncomfortable questions.”

“I see,” Verdan said, his thoughts turning to the person he considered the most likely to betray them.

“If you find anything that would assist with my investigation, please reach out,” Falk said, finishing his tea and getting to his feet. “Rest assured. We’ll find whoever was behind this.”

Verdan nodded slightly, not entirely convinced that the guard would be able to resolve the issue. Verdan simply didn’t have the time to do it all himself, though, so as much as he wanted to take a personal hand in the investigation, he’d leave it in Falk’s hands.

“So, what can I do for you?” Silver asked once Falk had left the room.

“Well, I’ve created an item that could potentially change things for us. I’ll explain the details if you are willing to be sworn to silence for the time being. The Commander should likely be part of the conversation, though.”

“I see,” Silver said, looking between the two of them with growing concern. “The Commander was awake most of the night; I think he’s catching some sleep in his office at the moment. Let us move to one of the secure rooms, and I’ll send someone to wake him.”

“I think that would be best,” Verdan said, getting to his feet and following Silver out of the room.

They followed Silver through the busy building to a larger and more comfortable meeting room. A nearby guard was sent to wake the Commander and order them some coffee, a move that Verdan wholeheartedly agreed with.

“We don’t have the largest stock of coffee, especially not recently, but I think the Commander won’t object to having a pot in these circumstances,” Silver said, a rare smile touching his face as he waved for them to take a seat.

Thankfully, they didn’t have to wait long before a tired-looking Commander Griffon joined them, followed shortly by a delivery of coffee.

Griffon took a chair as he poured himself some coffee, the Lieutenant taking the chance to update him on the situation as he did.

“So,” Griffon said between sips of coffee. “What have you created? Is it something to help with the Weeping Death?”

“Actually, yes, it is,” Verdan said, pulling the testing device out and laying it on the table. “But it’s also much more than that.”

Verdan explained the general principle of what he’d made and watched with satisfaction as both Silver and Commander Griffon stared at him with wide-eyed shock.

“This will change everything,” Griffon murmured, shaking his head in disbelief. “Have you tested it?”

“Yes, on existing Sorcerers,” Verdan said, passing the device to Kai, who demonstrated how it worked. “What I’d like to do is test your most trusted guards, see if any of them have a latent capability. That would serve as a final test and would also give us the start of what we need to win this thing. We have just under two weeks if they stick to their timeline, which they likely won’t. We’re running out of time, and this is our best option to make the most of what we have left.”

“I absolutely agree,” Griffon said as he took a deep breath and seemed to steady himself. “Lieutenant, I want you to pick a handful of your best people and get them here as soon as possible. Let’s get started.”

“Aye, aye, Sir,” Silver said, straightening to attention and starting to head out.

“Before you do that,” Verdan said quickly, holding up a hand to get Silver’s attention. “Let’s test the two of you.”

Verdan remembered that Silver had shown some aptitude towards Aether, so he wasn’t that surprised when the Lieutenant was unable to make the device react. Verdan had a working theory that the two types of magic were incompatible, which would only make sense given that they used the same energy.

Verdan had designed his tester to only use aspected Aether, so in theory, it would only discover Sorcerers. Perhaps a future model could have a specific test included that would flag any Aether users that interacted with it.

Verdan grimaced and cast aside the idea. He might have come to terms with some of this, but actively seeking out new Wizards was a step too far.

“Damn, I suppose that would have been too much to ask,” Griffon said with a sad smile as he passed the testing device back to Kai. “Go ahead and get some people, Lieutenant, but let’s keep the numbers low for now.”

They all took their seats once more as Silver left to gather the first group of guards to be tested, and the Commander took the opportunity to apologise again for the reception of the night before.

“It’s not your fault. I discussed this with Sergeant Falk and the Lieutenant earlier, and I understand the problems you’re facing and what is being done to resolve matters.”

“Good, good, the Sergeant is good at what he does. He’ll get to the bottom of things,” Griffon said confidently.

“I hope so. I want to deal with whoever was behind that first of all,” Verdan said, trying and failing to keep the anger out of his voice.

“You’ll get your vengeance,” Griffon said, his brows drawing together into a heavy frown. “I’ll be damned before I let anyone get away with giving our uniforms to assassins.”

They lapsed into silence for a time as they waited for Silver to return, each lost in their own thoughts.

Silver returned with a handful of guards a short time later, stating that he’d sent messages for several others who were assigned elsewhere to make their way back to them.

Verdan eyed the five in front of them as Kai took the testing device to the first of the group. Kai was well-respected by the guards, and Verdan could see that they were attentive to his words, but that wasn’t why Kai was handling this.

Verdan might have designed the test, but Kai knew more about being a Sorcerer and how it all worked. Hopefully, Kai’s knowledge with the insights from the test would be enough to turn at least one of these five into a Sorcerer.

“Place your hands here and attempt to push without moving your hands. Pull from deep within you to push what you can,” Kai instructed, passing the device to the first guard.

The guard did as instructed, frowning as they tried to do as Kai asked, but ultimately giving up and passing it back to Kai with an apology.

“Do not apologise,” Kai said before hesitating and glancing back to Verdan. “Bol was able to pass your sensitivity test. Will that make a difference?”

Verdan hid a smile as the guard perked up when Kai showed that he knew their name. “Yes, I think it will be either one or the other.”

Bol slumped a little but quickly straightened as Silver turned his gaze onto him. “Guardsman Bol, you’re dismissed. Keep any information about this meeting to yourself. Speak about it only to those in this room, understood?”

“Yes, Sir!” Bol braced to attention before hurrying out of the room.

Kai moved on to the next guard, but the result was the same, and Silver dismissed them with orders to keep quiet about anything they’d seen.

The third guard, however, was a little different. When Kai told them to push, there was a slight delay before the light ignited briefly, making the guard jerk backwards in surprise and drop the tester.

Kai snagged the falling device immediately and gave the guard a reproachful look before turning to Verdan. “Only the one activated. Do we do it again?”

“No, carry on with the others; then we’ll narrow it down,” Verdan said, trying to fight down the grin that was threatening to spread across his face. For all that had happened, he couldn’t help but be excited that his design was working.