250 Questionable Plans

"War?" Arran stared at Brightblade in disbelief. "I represent war?"

What she said was plainly ridiculous. He was a mere initiate. Perhaps more powerful than most mages, but the Ninth Valley held people far more powerful than him — Grandmasters and Archmages, all with power far beyond anything he could wield.

He did have other powers — more than a few, in truth — but as far as he knew, only Brightblade and Snowcloud were aware of those.

To the rest of the Valley, he might seem exceptional, but certainly not so much as to cause the valley to go to war. The very idea was absurd.

Yet Brightblade merely looked at him with a calm expression. "No need to look so startled," she said. "It's hardly surprising that others might draw such a conclusion."

"But I'm just an initiate," Arran said. It wasn't much of an argument, but then, her claim was so outlandish he found it hard to think of a reply.