PreCursive

  “Our preparations seem a little silly, at this point,” Sylvia said to me ter. After the reunion in front of her war wagon, Sylvia, Grey, Azarus and I had retreated to our personal se of the camp near Gren’s lead wagon. There, we pulled up a few chairs around our firepit and started a versation.

  I hadn’t failed to notice that a few people among those Sylvia had brought had followed us. Among them were the Gnoll, the possible Antium, and another human. For now, they were standing off to the side silently watg us.

  Sylvia had eschewed a chair and was sitting on the grass in front of Grey, leaning ba his wheelchair. Grey had his hands resting almost protectively on her shoulders. I didn’t think these two wao be separated again any time soon.

  I coughed, a little embarrassed. “Ah,” I started awkwardly. The st time Sylvia and I had seen each other, she’d told me that she was going to be bringing a force back to Addersfield. Ohere, they would do the hard work of freeing Grey and I, along with Azarus. The only problem was….

  Well.

  I’d reached a breaking point where I just couldn’t handle being in Addersfield for one moddamn day. So, we’d done everything ourselves.

  “Sorry?” I said insincerely. I wasn’t very sorry.

  Sylvia shook her head. “No, no, It’s fine.” She said, smiling at me. She still wasn’t wearing the mask I’d typically seen her wearing, during our lessons before she had left. “Everything seems to have worked out well.” She reached up to grasp one of Grey’s hands lying on her shoulder and squeezed it. Grey returhe squeeze, gazing down at his adopted daughter lovingly.

  “Yes,” Grey said, sounding more rexed than I had ever heard from him. “Now, we just roup and see what o be doo settle the u within the Kingdom.”

  One of the people that had followed stepped forward at that, causing everyone’s attention to shift to him. It was the human man. I didn’t fail to notice that this guy was the first real dark-skinned person I’d met so far on Vereden. Tall and lithe, he wasn’t kitted out as a warrior like the others. Rather, he was wearing a set of green and white robes, with a promi spiral stitched in gold on the front.

  “Blessing of the Gyre upon you, Headmaster,” The man said, making an odd, but familiar gesture. He held up his right hand, palm fag us with his fiightly held together. Then he id the index and pointer finger of his left hand across the bottom of his right palm. I furrowed my brow slightly, trying to remember where I had seen this before. After a moment, I remembered that Rachel had mentioned something before about a ‘Church of the Gyre’ and dohe same thing. I’d totally fotten about that, and had never remembered to follow up on whatever that was.

  The man tinued speaking, but what was odd was Grey’s rea. Ever sihe man had stepped frey’s eyes had so him with an almost hungry snt to his gaze. “But, I believe we have more immediate s? There is the obvious…,” He trailed off awkwardly, gesturing to Grey’s ent legs. “Which I assist with. However, there is still the matter of your bound Status. Young Miss Sylvia informed us that House Savoy succeeded in inflig you with a sve bond?”

  At those words, the Gnoll that was still standing off to the side let out an audible animalistic growl, while the possible Antium shifted slightly from his near statue-like pose. The near-perpetual smile that Sylvia had been sp since her reunion with Grey dimmed slightly.

  I think all of them were a little fused at the rea of Grey, Azarus and I. Grey merely smiled at the others, while Azarus and I exged a pair of smirks. “That will not be an issue, Preceptor Eduard,” Grey said, amused. “You see, my sve bond has already bee with.” He raised a hand, palm to the sky. From that palm arose a representation of the moon, eclipsed. It here of swirling dark energy, Mana to my senses, with a ring ht silver somehow surrounding the edges of it, no matter the angle you viewed it.

  The eyes of ‘Preceptor Eduard’ nearly bugged out of his head at the dispy of magic, but he didn’t get a ce to speak. The Gnoll instead lurched forward to stand in front of us with btant shock evident on their vulpiures. “H-how,” The Gnoll said in a surprisingly feminine voice. Oh, she was female. I tried not to let my surprise show on my face, but I didn't think she aying the slightest attention to me. “How is this possible? Did you devise a way to break the sve bond, even in your own bound state?” There was naked hope evident in the Gnoll’s voice.

  Grey shook his head. “A way to break the sve bond was created, yes. But not by me. Rather, it was the work of my nerehat saw us freed from bondage.” He said, gesturing to me. Four sets of eyes fell on me instantly, mostly filled with disbelief. I tried not to fidget uhe weight of their gaze. “Everyohis is Nathaniel Hart. I suspect he might bey Terminal Apprentice, so great is his potential.”

  “Uh, hi,” I said to them awkwardly. “Just call me Nathan.”

  The Gnoll took a stumbling step towards me. “…you do it again?” She asked me haltingly.

  “Yesss?” I said to her slowly. I wasn’t even lying. I may have given away the inal Bond Breaker to Bleddyn, but that hadn’t stopped me from making another in my free time. I was lucky that Azarus had grabbed the Entment bnks I hadn’t used yet when he was throwing together supplies from his house. You know, before he bur to the ground. I’d beey relieved when I found the bnks rummaging through a crate.

  You see, in my haste to let Bleddyn have the inal, I’d overlooked the fact that he hadn’t freed all of the sves before we left. There had still been a few stragglers that were bound and very upset by that fact. I’d been scrambling to put together another when I found the bnks. Once I had them back, I’d wasted no time in making two more Breakers to free who was left.

  They hadn’t been very upset after that.

  Actually, you know what. I had one on me.

  Rummaging around in the pouch that I ook off anymore at the small of my back, I withdrew Bond Breaker wo. I held it up to the Gnoll. “This is what does it. Break the skihe bond with one of these, press the activation rune, and bam! No more bond.”

  The Gnoll, whose name I still didn’t know furrowed her brow at the oversized fork in my palm. “That…looks familiar…”

  The Antium finally spoke up. “It is a Ward Breaker.” He said in a deep, rumbling voice. The Gnoll turo face him. He took a step forward, ying a cealed hand on the hilt of one of his swords. I te his surprisiion. “A on of terror.”

  When the Gnoll turo face me, it looked decidedly less friendly.

  Before anything else could be said, Grey spoke up. “It is not, in fact, a Ward Breaker,” He said calmly. The Antium turned his head slightly in Grey’s dire while the Gnoll turo face him pletely. “Peace, Illuvia. Peace, Venix. I am aware of the simirities, and it is because the design of Nathan’s ‘Bond Breaker’ is based on the design of a Ward Breaker. In a feat of iy, he turhe design of a on of terror,” He the Antium, apparently named ‘Venix’. “Into a on against it. I’ve examihe device closely, and feel quite foolish that I never saw the e between both applications. It is quite capable of pletely dissolving a Sve Bond, while being pletely incapable of destroying even the weakest of Ward Stones.”

  The Gnoll, ‘Illuvia’, rexed at Grey’s words and directed an almost hungry look at my Breaker. Venix spoke up again, however. “And where did the human learn to create a Ward Breaker, in order to alter it?” He said evenly.

  Grey somehow locked eyes with the Ant-man, even though his eyes were shrouded by his hat. “I taught him.” He said simply.

  Venix was silent for a moment. “As you say, Grey-sworn.” He said simply, before stepping back.

  roup desded into a tense silence for a moment. I decided to break it. “Uh,” I said, causing everyoo look at me. I was looking at Illuvia, though. “You have this one. You know, if you want.” I extehe Bond Breaker in my hand to her.

  Her mouth parted in surprise, revealing a mouth full of extremely sharp-looking fangs. “You’re just giving away a device that free sves?”

  Wouldn’t be the first time.

  I shrugged, though. “They’re not hard fo rme to make, and I have another. I’m…ly looking to keep how to make these a secret, you know? If I have my way, there’ll be thousands of them across the ti by year.”

  Cheers, Bleddyn.

  The Gnoll rocked ba surprise at my words, before extending a gaued hand to take the Breaker from me. She just gazed down at the bident for a moment before looking up at me. “Thank you.” She eventually whispered.

  Before another awkward silence could desd on us, ‘Preceptor Eduard’ spoke up again. “Praise be to the Gyre for this miracle.” He said fervently, making the symbol with his hands gain. “If you are no longer afflicted with such evil, then I easily provide for you the reason Miss Sylvia requested my services. A full regeion of your missing limbs. I made sure t the necessary reagents.”

  His words brought an air of ued anticipation to the group. Looking around, I found that the new arrivals, including Sylvia, looked tense. But in a good way, as if they could barely restrain their enthusiasm for something. I looked around in fusion, but the Gnoll of roup provided the answer.

  Illuvia looked up from the Bond Breaker I’d given her. “And then the Grand Marshal put ao this damn war ond for all.” She nearly hissed in anticipation.

  Grey held up a hand, however. “There is, however, a problem. The Bond that I was afflicted with was s, and I possessed it for long enough, that my Status has yet to fully return to me. I am fine,” He said, raising his voice to cut off any queries. “As I am now, though, I fear I’m not much strohan my dear Sylvia is. However, I’m fident that my strength will fully return to me in time. I feel a little more of it, every day.”

  That defted the mood among the apparent rebels.

  “Hmm,” Venix hummed enigmatically.

  “I-I see,” Eduard said stumblingly. “Be that as it may, we still perform the regeion for you. We… begin the procedure at any point.”

  Grey patted Sylvia on the shoulder, causio wordlessly stand up from her seating position. He wheeled away from her over to the Preceptor. “Now, if you please.”

  Somehow, I got the impression that wasn’t a request.

  Preceptor Eduard didn’t seem to mind, though. “If you’ll follow me,” He murmured to Grey. “I have a statio up in our Ironcd, Headmaster.” I heard Eduard say, as the two of them walked and rolled away.

  You know, I was always surprised at how easy it was frey to roll around h terrain like this. Especially in his bare-bones wooden wheelchair.

  Guess I won’t be seeing that anymood for you, Grey.

  With Grey and Eduard gohat just left Azarus and I with Sylvia, Venix, and Illuvia.

  Sylvia spoke first. “I believe I’ll go and support father,” She told us. “He’s more than strong enough for it, but I’ve heard the procedure trow limbs for yanics be quite painful.” She paused for a moment, before turning and addressihank you again, Nathan. I’ll never fet what you’ve done for my family.” At that, she turned around and walked away, quickly catg up with Grey and Eduard. I was able to see the moment that she linked hands with Grey, uned with the stares from the rest of the camp.

  “Yeah,” I breathed. “No problem.” I shook my head slightly, before looking over at Illuvia and Venix. “So…I never got introduced to you guys.”

  Illuvia had fallen to iing the Bond Breaker again, but my words knocked her out of it. “Ah, my apologies,” She said, bowing slightly. Wheraightened up, I noticed that the Breaker had disappeared somewhere on her person. “I’m Vanguard Illuvia, of the Order of the Eclipsed Dawn. And that’s…” She trailed off, turning around to find that Venix was already walking away. “That’s Venix.” She finished, slightly exasperated.

  “o meet you,” I said, amused. “What’s his deal, anyway?”

  “Oh, he’s sworn to the Grand Marshal in some way,” Illuvia replied, waving a hand seriously. “her of them will talk about how, but the going thought is that the Grand Marshall saved his life somehow.”

  I nodded, before pausing. “Grand Marshall? What’s that about?”

  Illuvia looked at me strangely, but answered anyway. “You…don’t know? Grey of Hollow Hill isn’t only the Headmaster of the Academy of Mystic Arts.”

  “He’s also the Grand Marshal of the Order of the Eclipsed Dawn.”