[IRP] Secrets of the Empire

[Swift_Assassin]

Lycia. The land of the the Great Hero Roland. Lycia had long upheld the status quo of Elibe. If not for the Lycian League, what would the continent look like? A century ago, Roy of Pharae, son of Marquess Eliwood of Pharae, lead an army to save Elibe from the machinations of King Zephiel of Bern. Decades earlier, Eliwood himself embarked on a journey to find his father which lead to him, Hector of Ostia, and Lyndis of Caelin saving Elibe from the wrath of Nergal.

What happened to Lycia? It has become the evil it usually fights against. And to make things worse, no one knows who's in charge. At least, the common people don't. He has just been a faceless figure known as 'The Emperor'. Perhaps the clues to that lies in Pharae. And the clues to many other things.

Wolfram was traveling by his own personal carriage, filled to the brim with his research and accumulated tomes, on his way to Pharae. He had several reasons to be there, and one above all hastened his journey. Wolfram intercepted a carrier pigeon used by his lord that was heading towards his former safehouse. Inside was a request for immediate aid.

Using a contact of his, a bishop loyal to the Church of St. Elimine, he, and his cart, was warped a great distance to hurry his journey along. He made his way into the castle town of Pharae, where he came across a familiar man. Clad in a long black cloak, with hood down, was a fellow servant of his lord, Marcus Carvax. "Marcus!" He called out, "What's the problem?"

"Wolfram?!" Marcus replied. The man was shocked. That message went out only a few days ago and he was here. He ran up behind the carriage and climbed in. At this, Wolfram reigned the horses in and stepped back into his carriage. He covered the entrance with a thick blanket to muffle the noises, and Wolfram did the same with the exit. "Shad's not well."

"I figured that. Is he conscious? Did you find out what happened?" Wolfram replied, concerned for his nephew's health.

"He awoke later that day, but he lacks the strength to pull himself out of bed..."Marcus started. He went on to explain the story as Shad told it to him. "So, you see..."

"Magic exhaustion. That reckless pup...at least he was fortunate that he was in Pharae," Wolfram replied. He was surprised with the recklessness that his student exhibited. He was more surprised that he encountered a couple of mages, one with a Meteor spell at that. "I swear, if I didn't know that he was his father's son, I'd swear Maddox was his father."

"If that was the case, Shad would have tried to bat the rock away with his sword rather than with magic. The pup takes after his father," Marcus replied. "So...what do you need to do?"

"Just give him some of my magic. He should have recovered already, but since magic is a foreign concept to three hundred years of Hyperions, it probably took a toll on him. Just bring me to his room and we can get this over with." Wolfram answered. They both climbed out of the carriage and secured it so no one can take it. They began walking to the nearby inn...

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"That...was...a...terrible idea."

Shad was stuck in bed. His body felt fine. Nothing ached. To be fair, he didn't even fight anyone outside of that one guy. Even that was just a quick take down. All of this was because they had to be fighting an ignorant ignoramus who had the ability to rain flaming boulders on people. Shad doesn't even remember boulder landing. He only found out when he awoke the next day what happened. What he wasn't happy with was his 'prize' from the whole affair.

He turned his head at the 'journal' on the desk. To the common eye, it was just a blank book with a black cover. But to him, it was Neil's Fire tome, left behind by the mage in his urgency. A fake cover for it will help keep it secret. For now. But at least now he had options at his disposal. But what could he do right now? Stare at a book waiting in Pharae for a couple weeks for Wolfram to arrive. By then, he'd probably recover normally and not need his help. As he turned in bed, he saw the red haired woman from the school again. "Huh?"

"Shh...be quiet. I just wanted to thank you for saving the village," Alice responded. Shad swallowed. What did she see? "I ran with the others when the boulder hit the school. I saw that man, the one you told the kid about, and I followed him when he came to help. So I just followed him back here. I've been working up the courage to come in and thank you." She explained.

"The door was locked," he countered. He turned his head towards the window and noticed the panes were fixed in place. He looked back at Alice.

"Okay, so I was working on the lock. It's a different make than I'm used to," She replied, a bit flustered. Shad tried to look back at his hand, when Alice stopped him. "No, I'm not stealing that ring again. It's too easy right now." Shad tried to look back again when Alice dropped the ring on the bed next to him. "I-I'm just practicing. O-okay?"

"Where did the others go?"

"Not sure about the loud one. I swear I still hear her voice ringing in my ear. Both of the guys are gone. I'm not sure about the ditzy one, but I know I saw the 'leader' of your group in town. I think she works in the castles library or something," Alice explained.

"You think?" he questioned."Or you know?"

"That's for you to find out. I need to be going," Alice dodged. She turned and slipped out the door. Shad just looked at the door for a bit before looking at the ring. Who was that woman? Is she following him or something?