Chapter 6: The Strongest Mage

The halls of the keep were quiet, as they often had been lately wiith the end of the hostilities. The strategic location lost its usefulness and the garrison departed, leaving the city to fend for itself.

Aexia walked the empty halls all the way to the staircase, her office being atop the stairs. Atop her desk, a magnificent piece made from black ebony, a tower of paper stood tall. Managing everything was such a burden but it came with the job, being Kaden's Exalted.

Taking one from the top and sitting down in her cozy bear hide armchair, she preferred this one to the formal throne-like high chair, she scanned the document quickly stopping only on a few key phrases "fifth report of a mage disappearance ...", "...man found dead in the sewers, cause of death unknown .." and finally "Only one survivor...bouts of paranoia...sent to Cragraven's Asylum".

Crumbling the report in her hands and throwing it across the room, Aexia stood up swiftly, pacing the room back and forth.

"Arghh, someone's systematically killing off mages left and right. I've got one clue, and it's a shell of a man too traumatized by what happend to him to be of any use. Tskk."

She rubbed her eyes with the palm of her hands to try and focus on the task at hand.

As the exalted, she oversaw most of the city's defenses and administrative work. Commercial interests were within the council of merchants prerogative.

As far as laws went, it was technically within her discretion but she would lose a lot of support from the various factions if she pushed for something they did not approve.

It was a precarious balance of power in the city state but it was what worked best. One side having too much of the power would likely bring the whole thing crumbling down.

Kaden is not a large country, counting only the capital city and a few outlaying farms and villages but they are home to nearly 90,000 habitants and only second to the empire for mages.

With its lax laws and no forced conscription, Kaden was an ideal haven for mages. Many could dedicate themselves to their research without interference and have access to one of the best markets for everything imaginable.

The central location of Kaden on the continent was largely to thank for that. The war with the Faclar Theocracy had soured things but with the Vasch empire's support and their own superior mage troops, they had managed to keep the large armies of the theocracy at bay.

Sworn enemies of magic, the Faclar theocracy often had skirmishes and wars with the neighboring "heathens".

As the Exalted, Aexia had also taken to the field during the war. Not only was she the commander of the armies but she was also the strongest mage in the city.

It started a long time ago, her great grandfather, a mage, had married the city ruler's daughter and then their son married another mage. The tradition has kept going on, due partly to the ability of a strong mage to keep the peace.

Putting her mind to the task at hand, Aexia got up and quickly finished glancing at the mountain of reports on her desk. The most important report being interviewing the mage about the incident. If worse came to, she'd have to try and get someone specialized in spiritualism to see what they could pry from his mind.

Heading back downstairs, Aexia stopped at her secretary's office, a small storeroom that had been retrofitted to serve as an office.

"Do me a favor Lucy, I need you to send word to Cragraven that I'll be on my way immediately. "

"No problem Exalted. "

Using a first rank spell of Spiritualism, Clairvoyance, Lucy connected with a mage on guard at Cragraven and telepathically conveyed Aexia's intentions of visiting.

"They're ready for you at any moment Exalted"

 "Thanks Lucy, I'll see you again tomorrow. "

Aexia hated to admit it but she relied on Lucy a lot. Her secretary was a mage, which was very rare for those of power who would take such a lowly position.

Lucy was a very weak mage though, which meant she had only one branch of magic she specialized in, which was Spiritualism.

In Aexia's case, she specialized in all branches...except Spiritualism. It was the one field she was inept in.

Someone like Lucy would never see the frontlines in a war as a mage, but still, her talents were useful. Using Clairvoyance, a rank 1 Spiritualism spell, she could contact someone far away that she had spoken to before.

Aexia found it mildly inconvenient that she could not use those spells and hence had sought out someone like Lucy.

Exiting the fortress, Aexia cast Fly, a rank 3 elemental air spell that enabled her to fly, which greatly reduced the amount of time it took to reach Cragraven, a prison situated on the south side of the city.

Getting there by foot would have taken near an hour if only because of the way the city's streets were laid out but by flying, she'd be there within 15 and they were already expecting her.

Flying over the city she couldn't help but stop and gaze at the beautiful architecture.

The favored construction material was marble and rocks, giving the city a bright feel when the sun reflected directly upon the buildings. With space being limited, the tendency was to build upwards and as such there were a few levels to the city.

Originally it hadn't been so but the mages and their magic had made it possible.

The city had been settled over 200 years ago by mages seeking refuge from the empire. The empire had been at war with the theocracy and had forcibly conscripted all mages for the war effort. Many protested and had fled north intending to settle into nearby kingdoms.

The empire though, had warned that it would declare war on those harboring the renegades and as such, the mages set their sight unto the free city of Kaden. Back then, it was a small farming community, independent from the other major powers.

It hadn't been conquered by the other countries due to its small size and difficult to navigate terrain. The city was built atop a cliff, a path leading down a few hundred feet where open terrain was used for farming. There was only one way to reach the city and no more than 5 men abreast would fit along the narrow path.

All the while men would march, they were vulnerable to archers in towers and stop the walls. Siege equipment couldn't be used effectively with the terrain in mind as well as the elevation involved.

On the other side of the city, on the edge of the cliff, a wooden elevator using pulleys would bring materials up or down from boats that would be in the lake at the bottom. The lake served as the primary water source for the city and where the bulk of trade happend.

The boats on the lake all belonged to the city and merely served as transport. Horse drawn wagons would still sometimes make it up the path but many would break or tire themselves out before reaching the city.

Thus, a small port was built on the lake at the bottom of the cliff. Merchants would bring their wares to the port, pay a small fee and workers would load the goods into the boats who would go to the elevators to unload.

It was one of the greatest feats of engineering ever done and gave much pride to the citizens of the city. When the mages joined the free city in a mass exodus, there was not much the empire could do.

Over the years, relations eased and the two countries became allies in the face of the Theocracy's threat.

Breathing in the view, Aexia moved toward her destination with added haste to make up for the delay.