Chapter 30: Reaching a Settlement
The old mage didn't have to lift a finger if he didn't want to.
The moment the knight and apprentice pulled out their weapons, the younger mages who once guarded the door pulled out translucent magical shields of differing colors. One was red and one was a silver color.
"Typical knight aggression won't get you far in a place filled with magical weapons and mages," the old knight explained. "As you've already found out once."
He was so nonchalant, his arms were hidden behind his back and he looked at the two bearing swords in front of him sternly and smugly. He didn't believe they could hurt him.
"What is that relic?" Gunnar asked. "Something so horrible ought to be given to and wiped out by the church."
One of the younger mages scoffed and their shield got brighter.
"The sacred old language is not to be mocked!" the mage snapped.
"Stand down, Kerol," the old mage said. "However, he is correct. The echo stone captured the voices of ancient mages long since dead. Those spells recited are incredibly valuable to us today. Since followers of the Church are still insistent on wiping us out, we have to preserve what is ours."
Gunnar finally decided to sheath his sword even though the voices were still bothering him. They felt like intrusive thoughts even though he didn't understand a bit of them.
Since ruining the relationship between mages and knights wouldn't be beneficial to the order, he decided his defensiveness ought to be put aside. The mages hadn't attacked again. Rather, the first attack was as a precaution before they figured out why the two of them were there in the first place.
"Why does that priest think the stone is the Church's?" Gunnar asked. "That's clearly not a language I've ever heard while attending church."