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“Not under these new laws,” Roderick said. “They’ll have a hell of a time passing them but they wouldn’t have brought up the threat if they didn’t think they could make it happen. Tread carefully from here out. There was a desperation that clung to them and desperate men take desperate measures. As it stands, they are monitoring portal traffic for ‘unnecessary travel’ that violates the Council orders. That is borderline outside their authority.”
Claire’s eyebrows shot up and she saw Desmond’s do the same. That was way outside the Council’s authority. What would make the Council so desperate? What did they know that Claire didn’t? As far as everyone else knew, the Elves and Fae were still deep in their own territories. Why was the Council stirring all of this up now?
Roderick left the office and Desmond went to read the note again. “Wait,” Claire said, a thought striking her. “The Council met here, right?” She pushed down the bonds, “What if they left a little something extra behind, something to listen with?”
Desmond’s eyes widened briefly before he responded. “Good catch, little love. I’ll check it out.”
Desmond waved his hand around in a circle and pushed his magic out. It danced across Claire’s skin as it rushed over the office, looking for any traces of unfamiliar magic. It returned to Desmond who shook his head. “Nothing,” he confirmed out loud.
Claire sagged backward into Malcolm frowning. “It was a good idea, little treasure,” Malcolm said from behind her, his arm coming across her stomach in a comforting weight.
“It was,” Desmond nodded, confirming Malcolm’s words. “Now let’s see what Arran has uncovered.”
He picked up the note from his lap and spread the crinkled paper out on his leg.
“Council stockpiling ingredients for an ultimate weapon that could nullify all magic. Think the key is in the Fae or Elven territories.”
The room was silent for a few seconds before Everett broke it with a very smooth, “Well, fuck.”
Claire felt like echoing it but her thoughts just swirled around. A weapon that could nullify one’s magic? Was that even possible?
“Eloquently put,” Desmond smirked at him. “But the sentiment is shared.”
“Is it possible for you to speak like a normal person,” Everett snarked at Desmond.
“You know my default when faced with potentially Realm-ending news is to remind everyone of my superior vocabulary,” Desmond shot back.
“Enough,” Malcolm growled. “Read it again.”
Desmond read the note aloud again and unfortunately Claire wasn’t dreaming. The Council really had figured out or were figuring out a way to nullify one’s magic. What did that mean? Could someone live without their magic? Or was the Council plotting mass murder? Was it even the whole Council? She couldn’t see Desmond’s dad or Arran being involved but that didn’t mean the rest of them weren’t.
Stockpiling ingredients for an ultimate weapon that could nullify all magic.What ingredients? Where would one even find those ingredients?
“Is a weapon like that even possible?” Everett said what they were all thinking.
“It must be,” Desmond said grimly. “As unbelievable as it sounds. Otherwise why would Arran give your father the note?”
“Maybe he misheard or misunderstood?” Everett suggested. “There’s almost nothing to go on in that.”
Malcolm agreed. “No mention of any specific ingredients or where they are getting them from.”
Malcolm and Everett made excellent points. They had almost nothing to go off of and the idea of a single weapon that could nullify anyone’s magic seemed far-fetched. But Desmond also had an excellent point. This had to be real, as horrifying as the possibility sounded.
“Let’s say we believe the note is real. The Council thinks the key is in the Fae or Elven territories. That would explain why they watched the borders so closely after the Great War.” Everett pointed out.
“But what if it has nothing to do with the Fae or Elves?” Desmond asked. “We are talking about a weapon that shouldn’t be able to exist. What in the Fae or Elven territories could possibly be the key to a mythical weapon?”
“We should focus on the ingredients,” Everett said. “If we can figure out what ingredients would even make this a possibility, we can figure out if this note is legit or not.” He looked at Desmond.
“Why are you looking at me?”
“Aren’t you the fancy wizard? Don’t you have any ideas from that messy workshop of yours?”
“Do I really have to carry the weight of the group when it comes to alchemy? I know you passed your classes with flying colors.”
Malcolm broke up Desmond and Everett’s banter before it escalated further. “Focus,” he growled.”
“Fortis should be on the list,” Claire said quietly. “That would make the most sense especially with the disturbances of the patches in the Forest and that fake Elf we encountered.”
