Ends of Magic

“By the steel of Deiman, I swear I’ll slay her next I see her. May my magic fade if it should be otherwise.” Kia made the oath quietly, but her eyes flared with divine fire as she spoke.

Nathan had no doubts that the woman would attempt to fulfill that oath at her next opportunity, and he wasn't going to argue. Faline had been operating in Giantsrest for a while, and given what he’d seen of her methods it was likely she’d done a few things that went beyond the pale. But it likewise wasn’t his place to be a judge of either of them.

If I know Faline, she's not going to show herself before Kia. She’ll know I’d tell the story, especially after our last meeting, and I think she'll know how Kia will react. With her skills she could just vanish into any city, or board a ship with nobody the wiser. She doesn’t even need to recruit for the Assassins of Gemore anymore. I wouldn't be surprised if she just vanishes after this. I hope she can find a new mission in life. But she fought long enough for her cause that I don't know if she can let it go. Maybe she'll introduce herself to Myrla.

Nobody had any commentary on Kia’s oath, so Nathan continued telling his story. Stanel thought that Nathan disguising himself as a student in the Academy was hilarious, and Kullal asked for more details on the magical classes because she was thinking of teaching magic to younger Adventurers. He shared his low opinion of the Academy's teaching techniques, though he conceded it let the mages level without requiring them to fight.

The thing everybody wanted to hear was Nathan’s detailed description of his fight against Badud. He had some difficulty describing the Questor’s spells without slipping into scientific terminology that was unfamiliar to the Guardians.

That bothered Dalo. “Unless this light blinds me, it seems that you share many Insights with Badud.” His look towards Nathan wasn’t quite accusing, but it certainly demanded an explanation.

Nathan gave a heavy sigh and looked around at his teammates. He’d meant to discuss his suspicions about the Questors but had never found the right time for the weight of the topic.

This probably isn’t a good time either. None of them really have the context to understand what I mean in describing Davrar as a game. Sarah already got most of the way there when she called all of this entertainment for them.

“I think they have a lot of scientific Insights, and some of Badud’s most powerful spells were based on them. That’s probably part of why the Questors are so strong.” Nathan agreed. “But Badud didn’t share those with Giantsrest. Maybe he didn’t want them to get too powerful, or maybe he couldn’t for some reason.”