Chapter 20.1

As quick as her weapon master let his mana burst, even quicker did he pounce forward. She heard the breaking of the door as much as she sensed it, his figure jumping into the hallway, then taking a left towards the central hall. At the same time, his senses flitted towards her, quickly confirming her well-being. For a single count they lingered on her neck, then flew off to hunt their enemies. 

Eirwen rose to her feet and looked for sturdier clothing. A knock rang from the door to the guards room, accompanied by the shout of a panicking Sir Caerbychan. "Your Grace?!" She could feel his agitation, desperate for her to clarify.

Support him.

She didn't yet trust her own voice, so a mental command it was. That was all the knight needed, rushing after the weapon master while calling for others to join him. They were already quite behind, she could tell that her beloved was already breaking through the central hall, launching himself from a pillar to take the corner and drop a single floor as quickly as he could.

The sudden explosion of power wasn't good for him. She could feel the disturbances in his mana flow as he tried to control what ambient mana he was absorbing. A fire takes time to grow, so a sudden bonfire was unstable. He would feel the impact in his pathways for days to come. But that was a small price to pay for ensuring not a single one of their enemies escaped.

Throughout the entire estate and even beyond, knights were jumping up as his brutal force tore them out of their sleep. Ambient mana was already beginning to storm into the estate, fuelling the flames of his rage. She wasn't sure if he could keep them under control in his current mental state. Watching her die, even if it was just fake, was sure to have driven him nearly mad.

Dressed sufficiently for the occasion, with light armour just in case, Eirwen opened her door and motioned for her guards to follow her. On her right, a massive enforced door laid against the wall, ripped off its hinges and broken into pieces. The wall would need repairing, while the door frame would have to be fully replaced. Up ahead, she felt her weapon master break through the doors securing the area where Baron Denmane was staying. That door too would be beyond hope of fixing.

She took note of her absentminded taking in details. Ah, she was already in shock then. The crash after the rush would be bad. A good thing she had brought Bethan with her to Iceheart territory, the healer would know how to help. She focused on observing the battle, knowing she already was too far gone so might as well see things through.

Twelve knights, four mages including the Baron, a few soldiers that were clearly in over their heads, nobody else. The soldiers had been posted in the hallway and had rushed in after, to stop the intruder. As for their opponent, Eirwen could tell that he had grown. Not as large as in their magical dream, but still nearly twice his normal size. He didn't use a weapon, purely his body and mana techniques. Already multiple knights were out of the fight, while blades futilely slashed out at him.

She could imagine what it was like for them. He was using his version of the Carraig technique, his skin likely burning red and hard as plate. None of them had maces on them, so with his size, there wasn't much they could do. Verglas knights would have stood a better chance, though even those would have had a hard time against the flames he was throwing around, forcing them all on the defensive. He was burning, close to a mana rampage, though she could tell he was slowly getting a hold on himself.

A patrol of Verglas knights arrived, swords on the ready, unsure who their opponent was. Sir Caerbychan shouted as he came close, ordering them to support the weapon master, and instantly the momentum of the fight fully went their way. On Eirwen's side, some of the delegations had knights carefully check what was going on, but at seeing her march with a protective detail, they bowed and stepped back.

The ambient mana settled down, even though he was still burning. She studied him, trying to understand how he could possibly manage. This time there was no ice slowing down the fire. As she observed in detail, while continuing to walk his way at a brisk pace, she caught onto the likely explanation. It appeared he was using his body as a buffer, storing the flames and then pulling on that reservoir. As a result, he wasn't using the ambient mana directly, so his flames didn't keep accelerating the ambient flow. Interesting.

As for how he was using it, she noticed his mana was invading the mages. She frowned as she looked closer. He was actually burning them on the inside, not literally but their mana, preventing them from gathering any. It looked incredibly complicated and dangerous, but neither would care if he slipped and killed one. Corrupted magic was a massive threat, its mana itself already dangerous to come in contact with. Burning it up was a trick she would have to learn from him, and ask how he got his hands on it.

She arrived at the quarters, noticing the remnants of the doors. Two knights had taken up position outside and nodded at her. Those inside knew better than to let her presence distract them. Even Sir Caerbychan kept his sword Verglassed and aimed at a captured knight as he greeted her. "Your Grace. Twenty captives, of which three in critical condition. Four mages, disabled for now. Your orders?"

"Contain the mages. Imprison the knights and soldiers on suspicion of conspiracy to assassination. Call for healers for the prisoners. Keep six knights here with me, and tell Bethan to come here but keep a safe distance. And someone go get Sir Wigbeorht and order him to bring the communication crystal and the court mages. I need to contact Duke Renold post-haste. Wake Pertrellan and have her escort Wigbeorht."

"Yes, your Grace!" He quickly chose people for the varied orders, while never taking his eyes off his quarry. Eirwen took note of their responses. Some prisoners seemed to be utterly overwhelmed, suggesting a lack of understanding. Others might have realised what their master had been up to. But given how they had pretended to serve different nobles to all enter the estate, all of them were proper suspects. Only the soldiers might end up not being convicted. 

As for the mages, they were groaning, unable to get up as their entire bodies were in pain. Given the way their pathways were burning, even a healer would likely not be able to prevent permanent damage. Not that any healer would touch a corrupted mage. The only thing that would be touching them was the sharp end of a large weapon. Caerbychan called for pole-axes, to better keep them at a safe distance, a move that Eirwen quietly approved of.

With the situation under control, Eirwen moved her attention to her weapon master. Standing twice her size, he was focusing entirely on keeping the four mages captive, causing the rest of his control to slip up. Flames occasionally leaked from his skin, while all around the quarters were various objects on fire, due to the flames he had thrown around earlier. The walls were scorched in various places, the carpets would need to be discarded, and several of his opponents had burn wounds. And this, she wryly noted, had been him holding back.

Bring it down, slowly.

He barely managed to mentally acknowledge her order, putting a small part of his focus on slowly releasing an incredibly complicated weave of various mana types. As he untied and loosened it, she could see his body slowly shrinking, his clothes no longer struggling to stay whole. The amount of tears in them showed that this size already had been far too much. Eirwen made a mental note to arrange loose clothing for him.

Meanwhile, she really wanted to study exactly what he'd done, but she kept her focus on the mages. If he were to slip, she would have to strike fast. Fortunately, he managed to keep them contained. By the time he had gone back to his original size, he had stabilised his mana and still burnt up the mages from the inside. It did cost him more effort to keep the influx of mana stable. Mayhaps his larger figure stored mana more easily, or in larger quantities. Another thing to study later.

In the distance, she could tell Pertrellan coming her way, escorting Sir Wigbeorht and his four court mages. There were enough knights present, all tactically positioned well, to take them down if they turned out to be part of the plot. Good.

As they arrived at the doorway, Eirwen half-turned towards them. She could tell Sir Wigbeorht's breath caught as he laid eyes on the white heart pendant on her chest. If he had any doubts of her feelings towards her former fiancé, the pendant should resolve those. He put that aside and addressed her. "Your Grace, may I ask what is going on?"

Keeping one eye on him and one on the Baron, Eirwen kept her voice flat. "These corrupted mages used the Final Mercy ritual in an assassination attempt against me." She could tell the Baron wanted to refute the claim. A flare of fire inside him cut him off, leaving him unable to do anything but groan in pain.

One of the court mages, who she recognised as Sir Parmenter, spoke up in awe. "Is he... Burning up their mana? Such exquisite control. Impressive." The man suddenly recalled their situation and coughed, then studied the mages seriously. "I can confirm the other three are corrupted. I permit their deaths." Before the Verglas knights could check for Eirwen's orders, the smell of burnt flesh grew stronger and all three mages fell to the ground, eyes rolled back and heartbeat gone. Her weapon master had just burnt their brains.

With wide eyes, Parmenter took a few counts to compose himself. "Ah. I can confirm the influence of corrupted magic on the Baron, but I cannot tell for sure if he is corrupted himself. What role did he play?"

He was hesitant, because condemning a noble to death was a risky thing to do. Eirwen kept her tone flat still. "He was the director of the dream. He made sure to taunt us and gloat at us." The court mages swallowed. That would require being a corrupted mage, yes. But it still felt out of their league. With three threats gone, Eirwen felt comfortable enough to fully turn to her visitors. "I will need the communication crystal at once, so I can contact his Duke and his father."

A quick nod and two of the mages ran off with an escort. They returned soon after with the crystal, which had yet to be fully bonded to the estate. No matter. Eirwen knew how to use it still.