Chapter 104
Ellen felt like she was trying to navigate an ever-shifting and increasingly complex maze. Whether the others felt it or not, tensions were already high before this latest complication. Dungeon Ellen didn’t smell right, but already had hints of smelling like another Ellen… and Ellen’s nose wasn’t nearly as adept at reading the non-human manifestation’s intentions and emotions as it was with humans. Dungeon Ellen was murky and confusing… and Ellen’s more bestial side was nervous, something she had to keep suppressing.
Her attention was on her uncle and the local mage though. She recognized Anroll’s stance… ready for a fight, tensed to rush forward, but held back for now. As sudden and violent as his movement had been, he wasn’t trying to start a fight in here. His attitude wasn’t helping matters though. Having a weapon out in the tavern wasn’t going to calm anyone down.
Theodore was even more tense. She could feel the anger and aggression coming from the mage… very unlike his normal detached manner. Mana gathered near him in such quantities that even her mundane senses could feel the pressure, and his crouch couldn’t be comfortable for the older man. Whatever grief he had with her uncle, it was pretty extreme.
She had to do something.
“You both realize that you are still in my Sanctuary,” Ellen said aloud, her voice rising. “Would you like me to flag you as hostile? Starting a fight in my home is not something I’d suggest. I may not be fully healed, but I will throw you both out if you start a fight here.”
As if both had just been reminded that they were in a room with others, Theo and Anroll looked at Ellen, then back at one another. Anroll didn’t lower his spear, but he subtly eased his stance… Ellen was no longer a fighter, but she remembered training with her uncle enough to know he wasn’t going to pounce. That was something.
For a moment, it looked like Theodore might take advantage of that and attack anyway. He grit his teeth, lifted his hands, and she could hear the whispered words of what she assumed were some spell lynchpins. Maybe he wasn’t going to attack, but he was up to something and she wasn’t sure she could stop him.
In that very moment, the mana gathering around him broke down and vanished. A faint ripple in the air showed it spiraling away from the mage and into Dungeon’s outstretched hand, vanishing into her body with a quiet sigh from the entity that looked like another Ellen. Ellen could swear she saw a faint shiver when it happened.
“What…?” Theodore blurted out. His earlier aggression vanished into confusion, leaving him open for an attack that Anroll mercifully didn’t take. Maybe the spell had been dangerous, but for all his vaunted power, Theo wasn’t really an experienced fighter. The unexpected like this threw him off much more than it would a battle mage.
Dungeon Ellen let out a little hiccup. “Umn! Please don’t fight here. They’ve been very nice to me and I do not want to upset the Ellens. I think they might be my friends? This is what friends are, right?”
Before Theodore could really process that, Whisper had stepped in front of Dungeon. Stage quickly took the hint and grinned, then hurriedly blurted out, “She’s a new one! You know how weird us Ellens are. Or um… probably. I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Stage Ellen!”
Fortunately—or unfortunately—Theo was much more preoccupied with Anroll being there. He turned away from Dungeon and glared at Ellen instead. That only lasted a moment before he jerked his head back to Anroll with a grimace of hate.
“What are you doing here? Come to ruin a few more lives?”
By this point Anroll had lowered his spear and calmed down somewhat… though he winced at Theo’s jab. “I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on with… with Ellen here. I was here back when there were only a handful of them, and I’ve been looking into what might have caused them to multiply.”
“And I’m sure having girls to spare when you send them to their deaths is just a bonus,” Theo spat back immediately. This was getting out of hand.
“Theodore… Grand Mage Braxton,” Ellen said loudly to get his attention. She hadn’t known his proper last name until this moment. “Anroll is a guest at our home, and I won’t allow that sort of behavior. If you have a grievance with him, you can explain it to me calmly and without insults.”
Turning to face her, the Grand Mage opened his mouth, shut it, then took several deep breaths to calm himself. For someone who had up until this point been so distant, the display of emotions on his face and in his scent was a startling change to Ellen. She quietly thanked the fact that he apparently lacked any skill in recognizing faces, or he’d have noticed the family resemblance already.
“I apologize for making a disturbance,” he said with some strain in his voice. Theodore maintained his composure—barely—and took a deep breath. “Anroll and I have known one another for a long while. I knew his father, Gabriel. He sent off his sister and mother to die, and it never so much as slowed him down.”
Ellen blinked. Sister? Did this mean she had an aunt she hadn’t known? She searched her memory for any mention of such a woman, but came up blank. Even if she’d died well before she could remember, wouldn’t her father have mentioned a sister once or twice?
She looked over toward Anroll, who was scowling heavily at the accusations. He shook his head, “I never sent them off to die, but… he isn’t wrong that it happened. This is why y—why my brother doesn’t much like me. Well, that and… a few other reasons.”
“Like what?” Dungeon asked obliviously. Whisper and Stage quickly grabbed her arms and started dragging her to the back door, presumably to guide her off to Onroc. Theo started to look her way, but Ellen cleared her throat to draw his attention back. It wouldn’t last long, but it’d be much better to let the other Ellens come up with a cover story before the mage could interrogate the girl over whatever strange power she’d just used.
Ellen wanted to know about it as well, but she had other things to worry about.
“We’ll talk later,” she growled to Anroll. “Or you can explain to the others and they’ll make sure I hear. This sounds like something we should know, but I can’t deal with it right now.”
To her surprise, Anroll paled, then nodded to her. “Yes, miss. I’ll go back up with the others. I want to see the progress on the village anyway, and maybe check on the progress of the dungeon.”
She shook her head, “The dungeon is closed right now, but it should open up soon. Keep yourself under good behavior, and catch up with the girls soon. Theodore here isn’t the only mage from the Academy that’s here, and I think Leona is still up on the mountain.” Ellen pointed at the door. “And see if our newest knows a way to fix the problem she mentioned with the mana plume. She seems to know a lot about that.”
Anroll gave a quick wave that vaguely resembled assent, then wisely backed out the front door, closing it again behind him. The other direction would have taken him past Theodore, who was still glaring at him. At least he hadn’t made another move to use magic. With Dungeon and her strange ability gone, Ellen didn’t relish getting into another fight to stop him.
As soon as Anroll was gone, Theo turned to her… and dropped into a chair. His shoulders slumped, and he heaved a deep, tired sigh. He didn’t look at Ellen, instead running his hand through his hair and leaving his forehead in his palm, his eyes either closed or staring at the floor. He suddenly looked very tired… every bit his age. For a mage, he was very fit, but Ellen had already smelled out that he was in his sixties… even if he looked younger.
The man had likely known her grandfather… and Anroll was considerably younger than him. Yet he’d acted as brashly as any new adventurer with a grudge. That detail hadn’t escaped Ellen’s notice either.
While he sat there, Ellen stepped behind the bar and poured him a drink. She’d pay Tobias back later… the adventurers had become very good tippers ever since the incident. They’d be shuffling in soon, too… so she needed him relaxed before then.
“Thanks,” Theo muttered quietly, accepting the drink with a quick gulp. He made a face—the local alcohol could burn if someone wasn’t ready for it—then let out another sigh. This one had a lot less of a groan in it, to Ellen’s relief. It was more a sigh of resignation and fatigue.
Ellen felt more like an innkeeper and bartender than ever before as she settled down. “Want to talk about it?” she asked.
Theo took another swallow of his ale and looked up at her, then chuckled. “That a trick you all learn? Barmaids I mean? Never mind, bad joke.” For a moment, he appeared less a great mage and more like a tired old man. Then the mask returned.
“It’s not a story I get to tell often,” he admitted. “The Greylans are heroes… even I have to give the old man that. People don’t know how they got that way, that’s all. They’d drag others who weren’t ready along with them, and then return alone. Gabriel and Anroll both.”
Slowly, Ellen leaned forward on the table, blinking. “I’d always heard they were solo adventurers. That’s… kind of what gr—Gabriel Greylan was famous for, wasn’t it? Why would they bring anyone with them?”
Theo waved a hand at the air. “Oh, eventually. Then one time he brought his wife and daughter along with him. I was there, and I saw Anroll encourage them. He knew they weren’t ready for the kinds of things Gabriel would do. That’s why they didn’t return. He sent them to their deaths because…”
The old man stopped himself, then took a deep breath. “I shouldn’t throw accusations around. Just trust me that they weren’t… aren’t everything they seem. The Greylans have the name of heroes, but there’s blood in that family line. Who knows how many have died because of them that history just covers up? It’s—”
Once again Theodore cut himself off. This was clearly a rant he’d performed many times, and it was doubtful anyone had listened to him. Ellen could see why… it was starting to sound a little unhinged. She stood up to fetch him another drink… half a mug wouldn’t be enough for this.
She’d have to get Anroll’s side of the story later, either from him or one of the other Ellens. Something about this didn’t sound right to her. Yet Theo, while he was a pretty arrogant and unpleasant person sometimes, had always been forthright with them and had no reason to make anything up about this. Even Anroll hadn’t denied the idea of an aunt she’d never known.
This was beyond her. She was just a village girl who sometimes grew fur.
Ellen slid over a full mug this time, and let out a deep sigh of her own. A lot of sighing tonight. She sat down again as Theo took a drink.
“What else could go wrong?” she muttered.