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"Good, so listen to this and then you can determine if it's one or the other."
I took a moment to gather my thoughts, switched to mental communication and then told her everything from the start, adding mind-images to show her exactly what I was talking about. I started with the investigation of the pirates in Alashiya, the discovery of the Pulchers holdings in the human world, the half-Baylon mage in Alashiya and the discovery Varro and I made in Wilusa with the cursed swords, that had led to the raid on the Pulchers castles.
"< That's flaming crazy. Everybody have heard about the raid and the arrest of the Pulcher family, but I didn't know that you were involved >" remarked Tia, slightly wide-eyed with surprise.
"< It gets worse >" I sent grimly and continued my tale with the start of the Disease and the conclusions I had reached at that time, where the Pulcher plot only made sense, if Baylon wasn't in the world to oppose the Pulchers planned empire, and that they were the ones that had fabricated the Disease. Then I moved on to the interrogation of Chuzara in the prison in Drusus and the mind-images I had gotten there.
"< Wow, wow >" Sent Tia as soon as I showed the mind-images to her. "< He looks like the teacher in Dimensional Magic in Grove ... Angus Nigrus Cor! >"
"< Yes, I know that now, but I didn't know back then. Actually, I only discovered that today when I got out of the hospital >"
"< Hospital?! >"
"< Yes. The hospital >" I explained about my arrest and release, the raid on the prison, the disappearance of Chuzara and my tracking of them, that ended when I got my throat cut.
"< Wait a minute. 'A job in the north'? Do you think they were responsible for the assassination attempt on the High King? >"
"< Yes, but to be honest, that doesn't really matter right now >"
Tia looked at me in disbelief, as I recounted my talk with Pandora and Atia, as well as our recalculations of the shield strength, showing that the shields on Baylon would fail, if the third anchor weren't taken down. I finished the story by showing her the combat on the small plaza in front of the gate in Grove, and how Angus Nigrus Cor had tried to kill me, before I took him down.
There was silence in the room when I was finished, but after a little while, Tia said. "< Shit, that story is something else and no, you're not paranoid >" She thought for a moment. "< We need to stop this, but there's a something I can't figure out: What is the connection between the Pulchers and the Cor? >"
"< Well, the Pulchers clearly needed Baylon to be gone and the Cor is in a perfect position and mindset to pull that off, which the Pulchers simply didn't have the magi for. The Cor family wanted Baylon to return to its own dimension, and while I don't know for sure, I think that the Pulchers used their forbidden magic to breed a group of half-bloods, that were not only undetectable by powers, but also immune to the Disease. That way they could get into the quarantined cities and steal the magical items they needed, and that was exactly what the Cor family needed for their plot. Basically, these plans started out as two different plots, that just happened to benefit from, and feed off each other >"
Tia nodded and sighed. "< Unfortunately, that makes sense. The ring you saw on Angus Nigrus Cor is extremely rare and one of these rings disappeared from the Ordo Ars Magica quarter in Gesso during the disease. Using a healing Ars Mentalis was either extremely lucky or a stroke of genius, as that is the only type of Ars Mentalis the ring won't stop >" She drank some more cider, while she thought. "< What can I do to help? >"
"< Gate me to Lescare. I need the equipment there to take away the third anchor and I need it as soon as possible. If Dominus Grande Cor of the Ordo Presidium is in on this, he can declare me an enemy of Baylon and try to have the Securitas Interna arrest me. However, until he knows that Angus Cor have been placed under arrest, he doesn't have a reason to do so, which buy us some time >" I smiled a little. "< That they have blocked powered communication in and out of Grove works against them right now, but that will not continue >"
Tia nodded and stood. "< Let's go >" She smiled wryly. "< I might not be a combat mage, but at least I can transport you around, so we have a chance to stop this >"
"< Thank you >" I said and stood as well.
The dream blurred, flickered, and disappeared as the darkness came back
- COMMENTS
Anonymousabout 1 year agoAmazing! I just found this story and binged it. So good! So glad I found it! Can’t wait for the next chapters. I’m all about the story, so I’d be fine with less sex in favor of more story (though you do a phenomenal job with those scenes as well), and it’s fairly easy for me to ignore minor spelling and grammatical errors. Your writing is excellent and engrosssing. Just fantastic! Thanks for your writing! 👏
Anonymousabout 1 year agoUsing Word as an editor is insufficient. It corrects spelling, but not proper usage.
I suggest that one of the AI based grammar checkers may be helpful.
Grammerly and Quillbot are two examples, but there are now many. None are perfect; personal checking is needed to approach that.
Your most common misusage is swapping grammatical number, mostly with auxiliary verbs such as "has" & "have" and "was" & "were" (and vis-versa. However other verbs, and often nouns, are seen switched.
As for spelling: frequent terminal "p" used instead of "b" (and v.v.). "Rip" rather than "rib" and "thump" than "thumb", etc.
I could tell in a few chapters of my binge read that English is not your native language. Thus deciphering was an added treat to my read.
Anonymousabout 1 year agoI love your story. Both storylines are very interesting in their own ways. I slightly prefer the story set in the present time, so your current way of posting 2-3 present chapters for each one set in the past is perfect for me. Thanks for sharing your work.
