Dread Mage

“Hiraeth,” Vell called, and the sprite climbed out of the bag quietly, as he already knew the situation they were in.

Technically, only Vell was allowed in Irath; they didn’t see Sonder as a person.

If they caught the sprite with Vell, he would be thrown out without question, maybe even thrown in jail for fraud or trafficking.

"Yes?" The sprite asked as Vell set him down on the ground.

"How unseen can you move?"

Hiraeth grinned mischievously. "I can move without even a whisper of sound, my friend. My presence is that of a shadow. I am the master of stealth."

Vell nodded, impressed by Hiraeth's confidence. "Good. I need you to sneak around and find out where they are holding Sonder. I need to know."

Hiraeth's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "That's a dangerous task, Vell. Are you sure you want me to take on such a risk?"

Vell nodded solemnly. "I trust you, Hiraeth. You've never let me down before. Please, do this for me."

The sprite didn't have to think long about it. "Consider it done."

"When you're done, wait for me in my room. I have other things to do."

With a quick nod, Hiraeth disappeared into the shadows, leaving Vell alone with his thoughts and his growing sense of unease.

Now is his time to take action; most likely, he will regret it.

He wandered the halls of the palace and turned a few corners, and when he saw a lone irathy mage walking towards him,.

When they were further out of sight, Vell grabbed the mage, took something out of his pockets, and held it close to his victim.

"Don't try to cast anything," Vell threatened. He already knew that the mage wouldn't screma for help; that was just something the irathy wouldn't do.

But they would try to free themselves by some other means, most likely in a magical way.

Vell opened his hand and revealed a small blue ball.

"Do you know what this is?" He asked. "It's an etherbomb; just the slightest amount of any magical power will set it off and take the palace with it. The king would die, all the top mages would die, and all your precious records would be destroyed. All of that could be avoided if you tell me what I want to know."

"Have you no care for your own life, Dread Mage?" The irath mage asked.

"I have no fears that I would survive; no worse for wear," Vell said.

Though he mostly trained his mind and magic, might was not something he forgot about.

He didn't train it as often as he should have, but surviving an explosion of that size would be something he should be able to do.

Though getting the mana sucked out of him in a violent way would sting for weeks after.

An etherbomb used all the magic in an area to power itself. The more it was around, the stronger it would be, and the concentration of it in the palace was immense.

Of course, he would be immune to his own mana, but that still wouldn't make being bombarded with the mana of the other mages here pleasant.

The mage relented under Vell's vise-like grip as he realized that the Dread Mage wasn't bluffing. "What do you want to know?"