Death's End

Chapter 37 - Infestation

Do not trust Holz. That statement from Master Arish echoed in Mirayoung's head, reverberating with the loudness of a heavy swaying pendulum. Her eyes fixed on Holz as Mirayoung took a few subtle steps backward to keep a distance from Holz.

Everything about him dripped with suspicion. Was he with Aderis, and if so, why? Did he deliberately come only after the wrath was overcome? Why did he use the Mirrors of Grimsan, which she remembered from her personal reading that they were not used for sealing but for housing of spirits that had previously left their spirit marks within?

The fact he did not bother to hide the use of the Mirrors of Grimsan, knowing the enormous knowledge that Mirayoung held, did not bode well. A cold dread ran down her spine as she felt fear that eluded her even during the fight with the Mind Wraith. Her instinct screamed for her to find an escape route. She was in no position to fight him if Arish's words rang true.

Her arcane reserve had dwindled significantly, with heavy shadows clouding her mind as one of the consequences. This impeded her thinking, and for the first in a long time, Mirayoung did not know what to do except to step away from the lightly dressed archmagus with heraldry sigils tattooed on his body.

She was ready to speak with a concocted narrative in her head, hoping that would let her and Jerius slip out of Holz's discerning eyes, but a thought struck her mind. It was common knowledge that the Mirrors of Grimsan were an artifact housed in the Cabal Hall, and Holz said it was loaned to him by them.

Does that mean the Cabal was involved? Were they the masterminds? Was that why Arish came to her? He was an individual in the hive-mind of five archmagi who dissented to the plan. Perhaps more truths were hidden in the Helixseal, which she could only, with some luck and a lot of hard work, divulge after a journey to Arish's old home in the Strange Village.

Then she gasped like her throat was choking on something. She felt thick, stifling chains around her mind, locking away her ability to convey a word or a series of words that would associate the Cabal with the malicious plot of the Ritual of Keys, to anyone. It was the Thrall Arish spoke about, the ancient-contract spell that bound her because she had rightly deduced the truth. She resisted it with every fibre of her being, but the contract simply bound tighter, denying her till she surrendered.

As the herculean struggle raged in her head, confounded by her realisation, Mirayoung's and Holz's gazes met.

"You found out," Holz said, observing her facial expression and discerning the nuances that crossed over it in the last few moments. "You're too clever, Mirayoung."

There were traces of admiration intermixed with...perhaps, sadness in his voice. Mirayoung could not fully tell. From the corner of her eyes, Jerius began to shift a little, his wariness peaking at the peculiarity of the situation.

"...has calculated everything very finely, haven't they?" Mirayoung said. "In their eyes, the Guild was never in danger from the wraiths. It was a controlled release to feed and hunt. When the time is right, you will swoon in with the Mirrors of Grimsan to recapture them back to where they are first housed and cultivated. Then you will kill me?"

Jerius lightly gasped but had no apparent show of fear. Mirayoung recognised his mind was assembling the puzzles, drawing conclusions in the right direction. He might not correctly identify the roots of the infestation deep down to the core of the Guild but enough to align with her on an escape plan.

She intentionally left Jerius out of her conversations with Holz to diminish his presence, hoping it could facilitate an exit for Lyvia's disciple. She could keep the Master of War's attention on her so long as she did not reveal any weakness or how tremendously weak she was now after the battle with the Mind Wraith, and the Void. But she knew deep down in her heart how much she could hide from Holz's war-honed senses and keen intuition.