Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 109329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
He took a deep breath, stopping in his meandering to look out the window.
“Momar is highly intelligent. Niamh agrees. He’s cunning. If I were him, I’d send in a decoy. I’d send in someone or a few people to try to kill…whoever. They’d probably die, right? But how? That’s useful info.” He chewed his lip. “While they are either getting information or dying, I’d send in one or two highly powerful mages under the radar to get as much useful information as possible. Our weaknesses. I’d leave magic behind to help break in later.”
“We can smell magic. Austin’s patrols are highly organized, and the structure is always changing. If magic is done here, they’ll know it.”
Sebastian shook his head. “Firstly, just so you know—since you’re new to all this—you can smell a person who has done magic. The magic leaves a residue on them. But you can’t seem to smell spells, for whatever reason.
“Second, he’ll already have a spell or potion to deaden a person’s sense of smell. Sight, smell, sound—he’ll have something to entirely hide the person from you. My counter-potion won’t be enough to reveal them, not anymore. At this point, they are smarter than me. They have time on their side. Research. A big team with lots of ideas. I don’t have those things. We can assume I’ll be beaten. I need a way to flip the script.”
He turned to look at the books.
“I need ancient magic.” He scratched his head again. It probably looked like he had fleas. “Magic from an age lost, when there weren’t surveillance cameras. When a moat and castle walls weren’t good enough. And I need a ring of mages to help create the sort of power and complexity that Momar can’t even fathom.”
“You’ll get it,” Aljoe said with absolute conviction—like he’d personally move heaven and earth to make it so. “But it’ll take time. What can you do right now to balance out the odds? Or even get close. Narrow your scope to the bare minimum to level the magical playing field. Deaden their mages and let us handle the rest until we can get this conclave out of the way and focus on the larger goals.”
Sebastian turned to him with widened eyes. “Wow. You’re much better than a plant.”
Aljoe’s expression didn’t change. “Thank you.”
Sebatian nodded. “Okay. Level the playing field.”
He went to push up his sleeves before realizing he didn’t have any.
“Level the playing field,” he whispered. “Think it through.”
“Talk me through it.” Aljoe slid a bookmark into the crease of his book and set it on the table. He clasped his hands in his lap patiently.
So much better than a plant.
3
Jessie
It was six months until the conclave, and we were all gearing up. That time would pass in a blink, I knew it would. It needed to go well, and to do that, preparation for it was so incredibly important.
I slipped on my muumuu as the sun was sinking toward the horizon. A sheen of sweat covered my limbs, and I still hadn’t totally caught my breath.
“Looking good, Jessie.” A newer guardian gave me a thumbs-up as he strolled by with a buddy. They both had long wings and big shoulders, and each held a muumuu. They were strong and fast fliers, like many of the gargoyles coming in by droves to join our team.
“Yeah, real strong.” The other guy nodded with a delighted grin.
“Thanks.” I tucked my hair behind my ears as Tristan met me at our clothes pile.
“How do you feel?” He slipped his muumuu on and started walking.
I shrugged and fell in step beside him. “Good. I think I have the flight pattern thing down.”
“You do. You look great up there.”
“The spells Sebastian has me learning are a little weak, though.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. They’ll be fine for most non-magicals, but they won’t get through a magical shield.”
Tristan nodded in understanding. “He’s preparing for the conclave right now. Neither he nor Nimah—nor Nessa, for that matter—think Momar will make a large-scale move just yet. They’ve all agreed he’ll want to get information first. Weaker spells are safer.”
That was definitely true. It just felt like a waste of time for what was to come.
Conclave first. Attacking mages after. We needed our army. Without it, we wouldn’t have enough power behind us.
I sighed. “What a crazy turn my life took, huh? I am trying to amass an army, Tristan. That is absolutely wild. Some days I can’t believe this is my life.”
“I hear that. I thought I would wander forever. Now I am trying to put down roots in a small town in the Sierra foothills and trust my life and the secrets of my past to a female gargoyle, her off-kilter team, and a little sprite who has stolen my heart.”
I lifted my eyebrows, knowing who he was talking about and surprised to hear him admit it.