Paragon of Destruction

Back in his room, it took Arran some time to calm himself. Although he had spent the past several hours putting on a confident facade, the truth was that he had been absolutely terrified from the moment Lord Sevaril set foot inside the Golden Hall.

He did not fool himself into thinking that he deserved the credit for the unexpectedly good outcome. He understood well enough that he been on the edge of disaster, and that he avoided it owed more to luck than it did to his own quick thinking.

Only now that the immediate danger was gone did Arran have time to fully grasp just how close a miss it had been.

Had Lord Sevaril not decided to put his faith in an artifact rather than his own reasoning, Arran doubted things would have ended so well. And even so, he'd been fortunate that the man already knew of Chaos, or else he might have been more skeptical of Arran's story, truth-telling artifact or not.

Arran spent a good half hour thinking over the events of the day, reflecting on his mistakes and considering the many things that could still go wrong.

Yet there was only so much that brooding would accomplish, and before long, he decided to use his time more fruitfully.

He began by trying to study the seal on his forbidden Realm, but with his mind still preoccupied with what had happened earlier, he failed to make any progress. Soon, he gave up.

Instead, he shifted his attention to the Duskcloak. He already knew how to use it, but he was eager to study exactly how it caused its effects.

This proved more rewarding, and Arran quickly found himself engrossed in studying how the cloak weaved together the numerous strands of Shadow Essence to create what he thought was a Shadowcloak spell.

He understood well that he currently lacked the control needed to cast a spell that complex himself, and he marveled at how such a simple object could accomplish the feat. It almost made him feel like a commoner seeing a mage at work.

But he wasn't a commoner, he reminded himself. He was a mage, and one who had a Memory Amulet full of enchanting techniques sitting in one of his void bags.

The Memory Amulet was the first magical item he had owned, but for years, his Sense had been too weak to use it. And when he finally developed his Sense enough to study its contents, he'd been too focused on other things to pay it much attention.

But now, he decided he would start studying the enchanting techniques it contained in earnest. If enchanters could make objects perform magic, he wanted to know exactly how they did it.

Yet there was no time to delve into the matter any deeper just now, because at that moment, there was a knock on his door.

Arran opened the door cautiously, part of him still afraid that his ruse hadn't truly fooled Lord Sevaril. When he opened the door, however, he found one of the keep's stewards standing in front of him, carrying the void bag that had contained the food and wine.

"Young master," the man said with a bow. "My lord asked me to deliver this to you, and to express his hope that the contents are to your satisfaction." The steward handed the bag to Arran, and after another bow, he left.

Arran quickly bound the bag to himself and inspected its contents. When he did, he was surprised to find that it held close to three thousand high-quality Essence Crystals — far more than the eighteen hundred he had expected.

The joy he felt at this unexpected windfall lasted only moments, and worry quickly took its place.

That Lord Sevaril went this far in trying to appease Arran could only mean that the man was utterly terrified. And not just of some distant danger, but of something closer — something he had already encountered, and probably more than once.

With a start, Arran realized that if Lord Sevaril's fear was this urgent, it meant that the forces of Chaos must already have a strong foothold in the region — perhaps even in the city itself.

The latter thought, disconcerting though it was, would go a long way in explaining Lord Sevaril's actions.

Even if the man feared Arran's master, he should have little to fear from Arran himself. And besides, having Arran disappear in Goldhaven should still be a small matter for the city's ruler.

But if Lord Sevaril believed he was already being watched, things were different. Then, he had good reason to be overly cautious.

While this might have been what saved Arran, the thought of it brought him little comfort.

Panurge himself would likely laugh if he knew the situation, but Arran had no interest in finding out if the local servants of Chaos shared his sense of humor. And although his deception had worked on Lord Sevaril, he was under no illusion that it would fool the forces of Chaos.

Briefly, he considered leaving the city right then. Even if the region around the city was dangerous, it could scarcely be worse than the dangers in the city itself.

After a moment of thought, he rejected the idea.

Outside the city, Snowcloud's company would still keep him safer than he would be otherwise, and in the long term, only joining the Shadowflame Society could offer him the safety he needed.

Besides, he doubted Lord Sevaril would willingly discuss the matter with others. Not because the man had vowed to remain silent while holding the rod — Arran had little faith in either the man or the artifact — but because fear should keep him quiet, at least for a time.

For now, there was nothing Arran could do but wait. Snowcloud should be finished with the ingredients in the storage room within a few days, and after that, Arran knew she would want to depart as soon as possible.

Troubling though the situation was, Arran forced himself to set the matter aside. Worrying would do him little good, and with several more days of waiting ahead, his best option was to make good use of the time.

And with his newly acquired treasures, it was obvious what the best use of his time would be.

He took one of the Essence Crystals, then began to absorb the Purified Essence it contained. It took him a quarter hour to absorb most of it, but before he even finished, he grabbed another one.

He had enough Essence Crystals to advance his power to a new level. Now, all he needed was to absorb them, and he would waste no time in doing so.