Chapter 57 – Behind the Doors

As Mirian and Jei approached the plaza, a delegation of arcanists just outside Torrian Tower approached them. There were five of them, each wearing their formal Academy coats. Mirian recognized Professor Torres standing in the back, with High Wizard Ferrandus leading them. Mirian had seen Ferrandus quite a bit. He was always by Archmage Luspire’s side during official ceremonies. He often stopped by to observe lectures as part of his duties. He kept his gray beard braided, four silver beads on each side, and wore the traditional pointy hat of his office. That made him easy to recognize in a crowd. She wasn’t sure why she had expected the lead researcher on whatever was down there to be some mysterious figure, rather than the head wizard of the Academy. In retrospect, it made a lot of sense.

“Mirian Castrella,” Ferrandus said, peering over his spectacles. “You’ve caused quite a stir in Torrviol.”

“Honored Ferrandus,” Mirian said, tilting her head in acknowledgment.

“My colleagues have been… persistent.” He glanced toward Torres, who was stone-faced as always. “Let us talk as we walk.” Mirian walked beside him as they headed towards Bainrose Castle, and his colleagues fell in behind him. They were all older men, except for Jei and Torres. “As you are aware, it was Arcane Praetorian Adria who was in charge of project security. It seems we were played for fools. Whatever illusion magic the impostor used, our routine detection spells didn’t catch it. They also must have known Adria well, for they played her part flawlessly.”

“You knew there was a hostile force in Torrviol. Dozens of break-ins, over months. Dead maintenance staff—well, hmm, maybe not in this timeline. Either way, though. How were they able to evade the Academy’s wards?”

Ferrandus cleared his throat, and Mirian could see a slight tension in his jaw. He did not like being spoken to like that. Still, he humored her question. “An embarrassing confluence of events, I’m afraid. Archmage Luspire was working closely with Captain Mandez to apprehend the suspects. You see the problem, of course.”

“Of course,” Mirian echoed. It wasn’t a very satisfying answer. Surely Luspire would have realized he was being played for a fool when the break-ins continued, week after week. She didn’t want to press Ferrandus too hard. If he became too offended by her insubordinate attitude and stopped giving her information, that would make it that much harder in the next cycle. She had to be patient. “Respected Jei—sorry, Professor Jei—said she decoded the spy’s scroll.”

“Yes, quite an interesting mathematical formula being used in the cipher. She can show you how it works later. I don’t know how relevant it is anymore. It was directions for how to sabotage the alchemical recipe being used in some of our spell engines. That man you pulled off the roof seems to have had his eyes on Sefora Seneca’s office. Of course, since he never got there, the scroll ended up being useless. I’m shedding no tears for that criminal, though. If more of his ilk met his fate, the world would be a better place.”

Mirian nodded. Ferrandus clearly didn’t believe in the loop like Jei did. If he did, he would realize breaking the cipher was critical not for just understanding the first document, but any other documents the spies had encrypted. The fire in their headquarters had probably burned all the documents, but either he didn’t believe Mirian could go back to when they weren’t piles of soot, or he didn’t realize that the attack would kill him soon. What was he after, then? What benefit did he hope to gain from her? Something—she was sure of that.

They made their way to the third floor again, growing silent as they passed students. The project was still secret, after all. Another indication Ferrandus believed in a future. Once they were through the door, they began winding their way down the long thin staircase Mirian had followed Jei down. “There is some debate among my colleagues. Song seems to think your knowledge originates from the tinkering we’ve been doing with the device. You are familiar with the work of the Elder Gods?”

“You mean the stuff they built before they ascended? Like the Labyrinth?”

“The Labyrinth, of course, but I mean some of the other things they left behind. Strange constructions, scattered here and there. Many in places that are quite difficult to study. So the discovery of one, right here where the Academy is, was quite a boon.”

Mirian furrowed her brow. “But if they’re all over the place… surely Akana Praediar has their own to study. Why would they go to war over this… thing? What does it do?”

Ferrandus let out a hearty guffaw. “If we had any idea what it did, this project would be a lot easier. Perhaps they think it’s some sort of weapon. Or perhaps it is precisely because they studied a relic of their own that they think they know how it works. We have research-sharing agreements with several of the arcane universities in Akana Praediar, though, and they’ve mentioned nothing of the sort. I know whatever you told the mayor has turned him into a believer, but I still hardly think our close ally would escalate things to war so quickly.”

Mirian opened up her satchel and dug out another copy of the battleplan. Wordlessly, she handed it to Ferrandus who paused on the stairs to open it. Annoyance passed over his face, and he handed it back to Torres.

As they resumed moving, Torres said, “The map was obviously made by an amateur, but this looks like standard Akanan assault doctrine. It approximates the usual army composition. Airships excepted, of course. That one is harder to believe, especially the size of them.”

They made it to that same basement that Mirian had saved Jei in. Dried blood still caked some of the stones. That’s fine, I hadn’t been using it anyways, Mirian thought. The torn rug Jei had used to bandage her was also still lying on the ground. Some of the boxes had shifted around, and obviously, the spy’s corpse was gone now, though there was a smear of dark soot on the floor where he had landed. Burnt flesh, streaked across the stone like a charcoal mark.

She shivered as they passed by.

The tunnels beyond seemed to link with the catacombs, but a large wooden barricade had been erected to block that passage up, complete with lines of faintly glowing glyphs that indicated active wards. The other direction led down a sloped tunnel. The dark stone was clearly ancient, while the wooden staircase leading down it was new construction. They found themselves passing by another set of tunnels, these far more cramped. A person might crawl through them, but never hope to stand. A thin trickle of water dripped out of one, while a little spell engine worked to pump it away.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

At last, the ramp bottomed out and they came to a spiral staircase. This time, Mirian could see all the construction was new. Drilling spells had sliced a smooth column of stone, and then they’d gone and drawn stone from the surrounding rock to make a staircase.

When they got to the bottom, some of the older wizards were breathing hard. It was a lot of stairs. They faced a door, again, made recently. It was about seven feet tall, and made of steel and oak, glyphs scribed into every plank and bar. It had four keyholes and no handle. This was not the giant stone doors she had expected. Does the Academy team even know about that passage in Bainrose?