34 Aftermath

"Oh, I'm so sorry, here." Professor Kal said, feigning concern as he concealed his aura once more, releasing Reginald from his invisible prison.

Gasping for air like a drowning man finding purchase, he crumpled to the bloodstained floor. Professor Kal shook his head at the once proud mage that had been reduced to a sniveling mess. Mage Reginald dare not even look up at Professor Kal, afraid that one wrong move would spell his end.

"Now answer the question." Professor Kal said in a condescending tone, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

Shaking so hard that it could have been mistaken for a seizure, Mage Reginald opened his mouth only to find the words caught in his throat. What came out sounded much like a frog chirping to find a mate, only much deeper and much more annoying.

Chuckling to himself, Professor Kal nodded his head. "I'll take that as a no."

He turned on his heel, heading back to his home, much to the relief of Reginald. Just as his racing heart had begun to slow down, he heard Kal's voice once again.

"Tell that boy…. look at me when I'm speaking to you!"

Feeling like a child being scolded by their parent, Reginald slowly lifted his head and forced himself to look Professor Kal in his eyes.

"Much better, now, tell that boy playing king that I do not care what he does with his toys. They are his to do with as he pleases. All I ask is that he keeps his hands off mine; if he can manage that then I don't see why we can't all get along."

Without waiting for a reply, Professor Kal disappeared behind his front door; slamming it behind him, leaving Mage Reginald all alone with his thoughts surrounded by a scene only seen in the deepest reaches of the castle's dungeon.

Once inside, Professor Kal shed his outer human appearance. He felt so much better in his original form. Rolling his shoulders, he made his way to his favorite leather chair and sat down. He had to admit, that maybe, just maybe, he overreacted a bit. There was no need to resort to such violence over a small matter such as that, it was just that the mere thought of those dirty knights rummaging through his things made him sick to his shriveled stomach.

He couldn't even begin to imagine the amount of trouble that would come his way because of this. He wasn't worried about himself, he could always change his appearance, pack up and move on. But for some reason he was reluctant to do so. Maybe it was the connections he's made over the last few weeks? That shouldn't be it, he was an undead lich, human emotions had left him centuries ago.

This train of thought put him into a conundrum, was he changing? He didn't know. He had never finished studying the effects the foreign energy had on his body and phylactery. Perhaps it was a side effect? Then again, he felt absolutely nothing while killing those knights. It didn't make sense.

Deciding to add his own changes onto the list of things requiring his attention, he lit his pipe and inhaled. Standing up, he went into his lab to begin researching the samples he brought out of the dungeon. Whatever happened would happen, he'd deal with it when it did.

…..

Ryan dragged his feet as he walked into his room, he was dead tired. He didn't care about what was going on around him at the Academy, the only thing he wanted right now was to sleep. Classes had been canceled for the day due to the knights turning the city upside down, so he wouldn't miss the opportunity.

Ben was sitting at the open window, staring off into the distance when he heard the shuffling feet of someone approaching him. He turned his entire body to see Ryan's fatigue ridden figure moving ever closer to his bed.

"It's about time you came back! Did you get held up by whatever is going on… out…there?" Benjamin asked, trailing off as he saw just what kind of state Ryan was in.

Ryan was still in his robe that he had been wearing since yesterday, dried slime and blood covering almost every inch. Ben shot up, circling around Ryan like a vulture eyeing a piece of roadkill. He stopped behind him, eyes growing wide at the large gash in the fabric, obviously caused by a sword even to his untrained eyes.

Ryan's stomach dropped; he couldn't believe how stupid he was. He'd been walking around all day looking like this, how could he have NOT noticed? He was wondering why he had been getting strange looks on the way back to the Academy but failed to put two and two together. He could only blame his mental fatigue for his lapse of judgment. After several hours of walking and fighting, adding to it the fact he had exhausted his mana and had yet to recuperate from it, made it hard for him to focus and his mind foggy.

All these thoughts raced through his head; in the end he could only say one word. "Shit."

Ben hurriedly went to the door and closed it, but not before he looked down both ends of the hallway. With the knights searching for something or someone, then his friend coming back looking like that, he thought maybe they were connected and didn't want anyone else to see Ryan is that state. He then went back to begin interrogating his friend.

"I'm assuming you didn't go see your family, right?" Ben asked in a huff as he sat down in a wooden chair.

Ryan hung his head, feeling slightly forlorn about lying to his best friend. Letting out a tired sigh, he began to recount what he had really been doing, leaving out the more sensitive parts.

"So, Professor Kal has taken you in as a private student? And he took you down in a dungeon for training? And the wound on your back was from a goblin that snuck up on you?" Ben asked, still seeming a little skeptical.

"Yeah, like I said, he wouldn't let me fight them, but one still got to me. Luckily, he had a healing potion ready just in case." Ryan explained, feeling even more mentally fatigued than before.

"What about the snot, or whatever that stuff is on your robe?" Ben asked, lifting the hem of Ryan's robe, feeling the dried slime then recoiling away in disgust.

Deciding that he didn't need to keep Professor Kal's summoning a secret, he opted to tell Ben of the giant worm that had taken a liking to him. Of course, after hearing about the worm, Ben began to tease him about it. Saying things such as 'does it just like you? Or like you like you?' and 'did it at least buy you dinner first?'. After he had his fun at Ryan's expense, the topic veered off into a more serious direction.

"Does your father know that Professor Kal took you into a dungeon?"

"Of course not!" Ryan said, his eyes wide.

"He doesn't need to either; he would never let me if he did!"

Ben shrugged, not wanting to tell his friend how to live his life. "Just promise me you'll be careful, ok?"

"Of course, I promise."

…..

After gathering his thoughts for several long minutes, Reginald slowly rose to his feet. His white robe stuck to his sweat drenched body; his muscles were sore from the strain of simply standing. He took a careful step forward, minding not to slip on the bloody tiled floor. His goal now was to return to the King and warn him, warn him not to overstep his bounds. It was up to him to listen, but if he didn't, the consequences would be dire.

After only a few steps Mage Reginald could hear the marching steps of armored feet. Reinforcement knights were hurrying towards his position. The knight captain slowed to a stop, giving Reginald a military salute.

Luckily, Mage Reginald had steadied his emotions before the knights had come. They didn't catch him sobbing like a heartbroken maiden while on the ground. He was still able to uphold a somewhat dignified appearance.

"Sir…. what happened here?" He asked, surveying the carnage spread around the hall.

With a dead serious expression, Mage Reginald spoke. "Clean up the area, don't let anyone enter before you do. Whatever you do, do not make too much noise. I need to go speak with the King immediately."

Walking a few steps, he paused. "One more thing, you saw nothing and heard nothing, got it?"

With those words, he left the very confused Knight captain standing in the long hallway, staring at his receding figure. Over his long career in the knight corps, he's learned when to not ask questions, and this was one of those times. He let out a sigh, turning to look at what used to be fellow knights. After giving a prayer, he began to hand out orders to his men.

Once alone, Mage Reginald opened a Warp Gate, leading directly to his room inside the Royal Palace. Professor Kalcifer wasn't the only one that could cast such a spell, but Reginald took much more effort in doing so. He would quickly change, then rush over to speak with King Alexander. He still hadn't worked out what he would say, but he would implore on giving Mage Kalcifer a very wide berth.

After searching for several minutes, Mage Reginald finally found King Alexander out in the royal gardens. He was walking with a cane, stopping every so often to appreciate the flowers. A few maids were following him should he need anything. Although it had only been a little more than a day since he awoke, he had already recovered substantially. The best potions in the kingdom could work miracles.

Somehow looking both relaxed and stressed simultaneously, King Alexander spoke. "Mage Reginald, do you bring me good news? Have the knights found who had killed Lord Arckroft and his family?"

Letting out a mental sigh, Reginald clenched his fist and readied himself as he spoke. "Unfortunately, as of yet, the killer remains at large. I come to speak of another matter entirely."

Nodding his head, the King encouraged him to continue.

"Several knights have been…. killed your Highness." Reginald said, lowering his head.

His eyes narrowing, King Alexander ordered the maids and gardeners around them to leave. After they had all gone, he looked to Reginald. "Tell me everything."

Mage Reginald then went on to explain what had transpired earlier in the day. He left nothing out, every detail was recounted by him to the best of his ability. He then spoke of what Mage Kalcifer had told him before disappearing into his room. Once he finished, he watched King Alexander's face, looking for any hints on what he was thinking. He had to give it to the young King, his poker face was impeccable.

Shaking his head, King Alexander lowered himself onto the soft well-cut grass. He fell onto his back a stared up at the clear blue sky. Mage Reginald was feeling very awkward as the silence continued. Still looking up at the sky, King Alexander finally spoke.

"What should I do Reginald? Mother has been a recluse since father died. My sisters won't even look at me anymore, I think they blame me for father's death. Really, I blame myself as well. Lord Arckroft's murderer is still out there, planning something in the shadows. The nobles all want answers that I can't give them. Now the mage that saved my life has killed over a dozen of my knights and you say he is so powerful that we should just look the other way."

Reginald was at a loss. He had no good advice to give him. If he were in his position, he would probably end up having an aneurism from the stress. He had to say something though, he was the Court Mage and one of the highest-ranking advisers on the Royal Court.

"Your Highness, I may have an idea, but you may not like it." Reginald said quietly.

Picking his head up, King Alexander looked at him. "Please, go on."

"Well, Your Highness, only me and you know that Mage Kalcifer has killed those knights. As I said, he is much too powerful to be taken into custody without suffering many losses. So, I propose that we use him." Mage Reginald's face scrunched up, almost as if his own idea turned his stomach sour.

King Alexander let his head fall back down into the grass. "Use a man that has committed heinous crimes against the Crown, pretend like it didn't even happen and even pay him to work for us? That's your idea?"

"I know Your Highness, but it is what I believe would be for the best. Mage Kalcifer is able to use magic in such a way that I would have thought impossible. I believe that he alone could decimate an entire corps of knights by himself. I would much rather have a madman such as that on my side than be against him." Reginald explained in a pained voice.

Sitting back up, King Alexander spoke. "You're truly afraid of that man, aren't you?"

Mage Reginald looked back at the King, in a shaking voice barely louder than a whisper, he replied. "I'm terrified."