40 Fire

"You've finally done it. This seems worse than the ruins of that gang's headquarters." Chen remarked, a mug of ale in one hand and the magnificent 'nameless skewers' in the other. Sitting on a rock in the courtyard he observed the ashen mess of the kitchen with a satisfied expression.

"It's not that bad." With a flick of his wrist, Nikolai cut the spell collecting the fire and let the flames peter out.

"Then why use magic?"

"As a precaution." Nikolai declared self-righteously, glad that he'd come so early today and no one else was around to witness the debacle. Casting another spell to summon water in the shape of a dragon he manoeuvred it across the charred surfaces to pick up soot and ash.

"If Levan the Water-Prince saw what you're doing with his aqua form spell, he'd roll over in his tomb. It's positively inflammatory." Chen chuckled, tossing an empty skewer into the spell.

"Don't add to the mess! I hate it when you talk about magic."

"Don't be so cold. You're the one responsible for building the Thunder Lancers, so you can't complain."

"Ugh… don't remind me, teaching you barbarians history was a pointless endeavour. Levan was burnt to ash in a spell duel by the way. He has no tomb." Building on the research of Mages attached to the Ministry of War, Nikolai managed to consolidate their ideas and create the Thunder Lancers. Most people believed them to be trained for combat with great monsters but in truth they were Mage killers. Warriors bestowed with an understanding of the esoteric arts of magic and powerful magical equipment, capable of analysing the weaknesses in a Mages spells and striking like thunder to destroy them.

"Proof of your flaming incompetence then." Chen hopped from his perch, being careful to stop the ale from spilling.

"The fact you can't remember is somehow my fault?" Grunting with effort, he swept the dragon across the damaged countertops. Maintaining a spell was far more difficult than creating one. It was the reason most War Magic relied on constructing arrays to create sustained effects.

"I had a burning desire to learn. You were the wet blanket." Chen rasped, taking a swig from his mug.

Grumbling at his friends antics and disastrous wordplay, Nikolai pulled a stream of dirty water from the dragon and flung it towards him. With both hands occupied Chen couldn't react in time and his head was drenched. Sputtering he glared at Nikolai, cursing in his soft voice.

"Stop playing around and sit quietly." Nikolai ordered, trying to fix the mess of a kitchen. Whatever marks remained would need a good scrubbing with lye which he'd leave to the maids. Even if he tried to hide his mistake by scrubbing, he didn't know where the lye was stored and if he went around trying to find out, things would escalate.

"You were the one who asked me to come." Chen rasped, awkwardly trying to dry his face with a sleeve. Not willing to put his food aside.

"No. I asked you to meet me in the tower after breakfast. You're the one who snuck up on me and caused this mess."

"Nikolai… I was coming back from the plaza when I saw the smoke and fire. Which by the way was insane. How could you get stone to burn so easily?"

Coughing in embarrassment, Nikolai dismissed the question with a wave. "Not important."

"What were you even trying to do?"

"Trying to make Shashlichya for lunch."

"The grilled meat stick thing Suri made for us outside Sieradz?" Chen licked his lips at the memory, thoughts of the succulent, tender marinated meat did that to a person. Especially when it came from Suri's hand. "What did you do with the swords?"

Nikolai blushed and pointed to a misshapen lump lying in the corner.

"You melted steel? What in the Fates name were you doing?"

"I was in a rush. Wanted to get everything up an running for a test so I used some magical fire to speed up the process." He tried to defend his actions. Although not much chance existed. After all who would be foolish enough to conjure magically fuelled flames in a kitchen? Nikolai blushed even harder, recalling the surges of fire turning his carefully prepared food into ash.

"The only magical flames you know…" Chen gaped at him, eyes wide in shock. "Did you actually use White Thunder Fire to cook?"

"Only a little, and that's a stupid name." He'd just used a few licks of it. Unfortunately something in the food created a strange mana vortex which acted like a lens, intensifying the flames. Not that it would help him in explaining things to the Head Maid when she found out. Still it was an avenue to explore if he could isolate what had happened.

Quietly.

In his laboratory.

Once he successfully avoided the Head Maid for a few days.

"I've got to hand it to you Nikolai." Chen leaned back against his rock. "Your incompetence is reaching even greater heights."

Drained from dealing with the fallout of his cooking, Nikolai pushed his friend aside and joined him on the rock, snatching one of the skewers from his hand despite Chen's complaints.

"I'm only taking one. Don't make such a fuss." Chomping down, he waved at the town. "Since you're here, let's talk."

Chen took a small sip, collecting his thoughts. "The town's on the mend. Most of the damage was confined to the area around the Silver Serpents territory although when I say damage I mean absolute destruction. The death toll is still being updated as rescue efforts continue but luckily much of the population in the area had already been evacuating before anything too dangerous cropped up."

"Black clouds would terrify anyone."

"Yes, that's part of it. But Nikolai, many of the citizens we've rounded up claim they'd already approached the guard with rumours of Dark Magic. I've followed a few trails, found some reports that were submitted, a few officers who claim to have intimated their superiors and so on. Somehow the information's been suppressed before reaching the highest levels. Petrov's furious and he's hunting for traitors, uprooting every single guard post to find out what's going on."

"If there's anyone, he'd be the one to find them."

"True. Until his investigations are complete, there's little we can do in that regard. The gangs are crippled, even the surviving groups are unwilling to antagonise us."

"Then we should apply more pressure, make sure they feel threatened."

"Petrov's five steps ahead of you, there have been a few high profile arrests including a merchant from a tiny branch family of the Demidov's. The woman's already demanding her release, making enough noise that you'd think she was the Houses heir-apparent."

"Typical attitude for the Great Houses." Nikolai grinned. Even Elya had an inborn arrogance in her bearing although in her case it was tempered by her military training. He'd never tell her though.

"Yes, your cute wife isn't so bad for one of them. Don't look so surprised, the ridiculous expression gives you away."

Nikolai felt at his face, not finding anything to corroborate Chen's claims. Shrugging at his friend, Nikolai commented. "At least we've gutted most of the crime in the town."

"Most, but not all. It was difficult to tell but the Black Hand has been active. So far nothing threatening but the rumours we're hearing seem to indicate they're making a power play. Consolidating their hold on the remnants of the gangs."

"That's dangerous. Incompetent thugs are one thing, but highly trained agents have to be carefully controlled. I'll talk to some of my contacts in the Ministry of the Interior and see if we can't get aid from a few of their specialists."

"Probably our best chance. I wouldn't pit even a dozen of the guard against a single bouncer at the Rose Building, let alone whatever forces they've secreted within." Draining the mug, he placed it to the side and wiped the froth moustache on his upper lip. "In a matter that could be related, there's been an increase the flow of stardust. At least three caches have been seized on their way into the town."

Stardust was the common name for a mildly addictive narcotic made from some herbs grown in the far south. Unlike most narcotics, stardust was capable of increasing a persons sensitivity to auras and mana, making it a viable shortcut for training. Unfortunately, prolonged use caused damage to the body, breaking down the organs and making a person prone to all sorts of illness. The worse thing was how few symptoms showed in an addict until the later stages of use where a victim was too far gone for most treatments. Most of the visible systems could be explained away easily, like bags under the eyes or fatigue.

"I'll talk to Elya and see if we can't get some of her Knights to track down the suppliers. With all the threats Konstanz has faced over the last few years, I fear many will look for easy options."

"You don't trust the guard?"

Nikolai shook his head. "I trust Petrov, the man can work wonders. When it comes to his subordinates… not so much. Who truly knows the heart of a person, it takes only a single guard tempted by money, threatened, or simply inclined to crime and the damage could be immense."

"The same would apply to the Knights." Chen pointed out.

"True, but most of them have homes far away from here. There's little to corrupt them."

"The lesser of two evils." Chen whispered.

"That you remember!" Exasperated, Nikolai tossed his empty skewer at Chen, snorting when he dodged.

"Philosophy's more interesting than all that magical history anyway."

"You're a student of philosophy Captain Andreivich?" Elya's melodious voice echoed throughout the courtyard and Nikolai turned, smiling at his fiancée striding towards them, dressed in a comfortable tunic and pants with a sword on her hip.

"A dabbler only Milady." Chen bowed, hand across chest in the archaic Imperial style.

"No need to bow Captain, I'm just taking a walk."

Nikolai hurried to her side, forcing her to take a seat.

"It's fine to move around Elya but don't overdo it." He chided her recklessness. Beads of sweat still formed on her forehead, breath coming in shallow gasps.

"I don't like being cooped up in a room." She countered but heaved a sigh as she sat down. "I saw you two, thick as thieves and became curious since no one else is around."

Chen chuckled at the view she must have seen, two adults shoving each other on a rock so early in the day. "Just discussing the town Milady."

"Things are well?" she asked, turning her head up towards Nikolai.

A breeze rippled across her hair, making it glitter in the morning sun and Nikolai smiled, stroking her cheek in assurance. "More or less. When Petrov finishes his investigations, we'll have to plan our next moves."

"That's good." She breathed, her eyes closing in contentment and leaning into his hand. Chen coughed, turning his head aside in embarrassment at their blatant flirting but Elya hadn't heard and Nikolai just stuck out his tongue.

Another gust of wind crossed the courtyard and Nikolai glanced at the sky. It looked like it would rain today.

"Do I smell smoke?" With a frown, Elya studied her surroundings but blinked in surprise when Chen burst out in his familiar rasping laughter. "What happened?"

"Niki was trying to cook."

"Don't tell her!"

"Hush Nikolai. Let him speak."

Nikolai buried his head in his hands as Chen launched into an exaggerated recounting of his mornings failure. Her giggles and sympathetic looks only adding to his misery.