Ends of Magic

By focusing on the individual components of the message, Nathan could see more details on the terms for the upcoming war. If he focused on the section describing the area as a wilderness combat zone, a map of the continent of Ostren appeared, highlighting a region that could be zoomed in on to reveal a sinuous valley. That map had starting locations marked for the Ashen Accord and the Aleph Grid. It was also annotated with a helpful note that any attempt to access any region of the zone before the war would be punished by disqualification and the undoing of any actions taken.

Similar detail was available for every other part of the terms. It carefully defined what it meant by a doomsday artifact, as well as mind magic, in clear and concise terms that didn’t have any loopholes that Nathan could see. The whole thing appeared very well put together, as if a team of lawyers had worked for years to craft something that was not only bulletproof but also clear and concise.

The Heirs had moved to the side of the courtyard during Kaelis's speech, and Nathan rejoined them. “This is a new angle of Davrar, much more helpful.”

“We’re seeing it as the Questors do,” Aarl responded, studying the information that was presumably hanging in front of him. He glanced at Nathan. “This will disable your second class.”

Nathan shrugged one shoulder. “Not as much as they think it will. Only a few of those class skills are stealth, and even the ones that are stealth-focused are multifunctional.”

I wonder if the antimemetic skill makes it harder to plan around me.

Sarya interrupted their conversation, gesturing for them to follow her. “It is time to plan our battle.”

“Not yet,” Sarah said, eyes flicking over the empty air. Her expression was concerned. “You can teleport, but Nathan can’t. Can we reach the battlefield by tomorrow? It’s not close.”

Sarya blinked, then swore. “Dragonfire. Is it possible? It would be better for you to leave now than to miss it. We can’t reschedule.”

“I don’t know the scale of the map,” Sarah answered. “How far is it? In relation to our journey to the blight.”

“About a quarter of the distance,” Sarya said.

Sarah relaxed. “Then we can make it. We’ll need to depart early tomorrow to be sure.”

“Not so early,” Stella answered. She’d pulled up her own map and was doing math to compare the distance. “Not with my wind spell.”

“I'm glad to hear it,” Sarya said in relief. "It would have been an unforced error for you to miss the battle. Come, we need to make our plans quickly. You are the key pieces to this war. First, accept the invitations.” She gave them all an expectant look.

Nathan pulled up the box again, hesitating on the line that said he wouldn’t be able to teach his antimagic. He had a moment of worry that the ban would be extended somehow, that he’d be chained by that restriction forever. He didn’t have any immediate plans to spread his antimagic Insights more than he already had, but it was a backup plan if he couldn’t get what he needed from the Questors.

But Davrar supplied him with information to soothe his worries. There was no possible way for the ban to last longer than the duration of the war, and there was no loophole for that to drag out indefinitely. It would end automatically as soon as every participant left the area, surrendered, or was killed. The chances that he was still restricted this time was very low, and two days hence the chance was effectively nil.

Their route to real change lay in fighting this battle and winning it, so he accepted the invitation.