Noctifer couldn't help but feel a little uneasy as they walked the streets of Langerich once more. There had been a few occasions where he accompanied Ordephus to the town next to the tower, but this was the first time he traveled with them all in disguise. It was a pain remembering all their new names as well. Iver hadn't changed much, only with his blue eyes changed to brown, and held the name of Oriel. He himself now had brown hair and hazel eyes under the alias Nox. Both the legend and the boy had blond hair and blue eyes, dubbed Almar and Azure. But on their way to Langerich, Ordephus had once again taken the mask of Darin. It would have been bad if he were recognized with different hair or eyes, they had all decided.

They had set off a couple weeks prior from the tower, traversing through the snow as it became colder the further north they went. It was mid-snowfall, after all. They would have left sooner, but it was unanimously agreed that they would wait for the boy to fully heal before putting their plans into action. In the meantime, it wasn't as if they were sitting idly, either. Quite the opposite, in fact. Everything was prepared—and Ordephus made a variety of inventions, some of which they had no idea it was supposed to be used for—all they needed now were those who would join them in the battle ahead.

Hence why they were currently standing before the apothecary. Ordephus didn't hesitate to enter, whereas Noctifer warily followed after everyone else. He wasn't aware if they needed any more medicinal supplies, nor could he think of how an apothecary could help them in the first place. It would all be explained soon, however, as Amonis began to speak to them from behind the counter.

"You're back earlier than I had anticipated," he commented with vague surprise, but Noctifer couldn't help but think it sounded ungenuine. That made him narrow his eyes in suspicion. Had he been expecting them? Amonis continued before he could ponder it any further. "So I'll assume you didn't make it to the Feydra Mountains?"

"There was no need," Ordephus replied easily with a grin. "I found something better."

"Oh?" Amonis looked past them to the door, and the open sign flipped over on its own. "Lottie is spending time with her family on the other side of the city. Let's talk in the back."

One by one they filed into the back room. It was smaller than the store itself but still spacious enough to hold the five of them. Shelves lined the walls, filled with ingredients and equipment, some of which they recognized being in the tower's workshop. It was obvious Amonis had been expecting them, however, as all tables had been pushed to the wall, save for the one in the middle that had eight chairs around it. Once they were all inside, Amonis shut the door with a click and turned to give a pointed glare at Ordephus.

"Do you have any idea how much of an uproar you've caused back in Weststar?" he hissed. "You just don't know how to be subtle, do you. How in Amaredeia have you kept your little secret for hundreds of years when you're this dramatic? You wiped out an entire squadron of Order soldiers!" He then motioned to all of Ordephus. "And you're still using this form!"

"They never found a body, anyway."

"That's even worse!" Amonis gave a frustrated sigh, rubbing his temples. "Either way, as you can see, everything is prepared to have this long discussion. And you will explain everything."

Ordephus raised his hands in surrender. "Yes, yes, I will. That's why I asked this of you, isn't it? And I was serious when I said I found something better."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the second vial of the Dew of the Gods. It was a few moments before Amonis understood what he was looking at, and his eyes widened in shock. With a small smile, Ordephus took his hand and placed the vial gently into his palm.

"I could only get one more since I was sure the Faerie King would've stabbed me if I tried for a third," he said as Amonis' fingers curled around the vial delicately. "And I know it's mostly used as a universal antidote for poisons, but I thought it would help with Areniah as well."

Amonis swallowed thickly and nodded, walking a few paces away to set the vial in a secure box. One that had a lock and key. When he returned, he gave him a grateful smile. "Thank you."

"There's no need to thank me. I would do anything for her."

The sound of the shop door alerted them all to newcomers despite the sign stating the store was closed. Noctifer went to grasp the hilt of his claymore, Iver and Argent doing similar gestures to their sides, but Ordephus raised his hand, signaling them to stop. Both he and Amonis gazed at the door silently. They were expecting more guests to arrive, but it wasn't clear if the two sets of footsteps approaching the backroom belonged to the invited or the uninvited. Their question was answered as the door opened, letting in a dark-haired woman and a man behind her. They looked similar to each other, and both were familiar.

"It appears we're a little late to the party," Namari mused, immediately stepping up to the group as Moric lingered farther behind and shut the door. She was dressed modestly—it was the dead of Snowfall—and there was no striped cloth around her waist. "So what's all this about?"

"Yes, please tell," Moric added, looking concerned between everyone in the room with his arms crossed, his fingers drumming idly at his armor plates. It looked as if he came straight from the reservoir. "The message sounded urgent, especially when you asked me to dispose of it after reading it. What's going on?"

"I think we should sit for this," Amonis said, looking at Ordephus who nodded in agreement.

It was an awkward few minutes as they situated themselves around the table. Only Amonis and Ordephus knew what was going on while the rest of them were left somewhat in the dark. Because of that, they naturally took the heads of the table, leaving the rest of them to choose their seats. In the end, Argent and Iver sat on either side of the legend, Noctifer sat next to Argent, and Namari and Moric settled on the side of Iver. This left the other side of Amonis empty.

"Are we expecting one more person?" Moric asked as he eyed the seat across from his sister.

"I guess you could say that," Ordephus said, "but she might be late. That's alright, though, as I can explain this first part without her present."

"But perhaps we should start with this first," Amonis interjected, aiming his focus on the siblings. "We have been friends for many years since we first joined the wizard's guild, and we share many of the same beliefs. But just to be sure, we need your honest opinion on this: The dragonkind, both from before and after the war."

The siblings gave each other an uneasy glance, both silently telling the other to go first.

"You won't be jailed for your opinion here," Ordephus assured them with a chuckle, "nor will we rat you out."

"I'm not sure how I feel about them," Namari began. "I've always been told to stay away from them when I was a child, but it wasn't as if any of the dragonkind children were mean or troublesome. But then the war happened, and they were all sent to the work camps."

"It was the same for me, of course, except I highly dislike the way The Alliance has been handling the aftermath," Moric scowled. "I'm fortunate to have aimed my specialty towards realm barriers, or else I might be overseeing Iforia Mines rather than the Langerich Reservoir. That's not something I'm sure I could do." He paused to glance nervously between the two other wizards. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I'll try to do this as effectively as possible, but let's just say it's a good thing you two are sitting down," Ordephus said, gesturing to Argent. "First, let's start with my apprentice."

"Another apprentice? What happened to the previous—" Moric's mouth dropped open as Argent's glamour dissipated, revealing his brand and silver, slit-pupil eyes. "O-Oh. I see."

"As well as these two." He discontinued the glamours over the elf and the warrior. "You met them briefly, but they're still the same people who were with me the last time I was in Langerich. Iver and Noctifer."

"I'm still not sure I understand," Namari said, confused.

"I think I do," Moric stated, leaning forward with a serious expression. "This has something to do with what happened in Weststar, isn't it."

Ordephus nodded grimly.

A pause. "Are you the unknown wizard?"

"Yes," he answered hesitantly, "but there's much, much more than that."

"Wait," Namari suddenly interjected. "If the boy is the dragonkind, they said the harborer was executed. He's your apprentice. Did someone else take the fall for you?"

Ordephus sucked air through his teeth, glancing between his companions. Amonis and Noctifer only gave him a blank look as if saying, "Your secret, your problem," while Iver and Argent looked quite enraptured with the items on the shelves. Wow. Thanks for the help, friends. "No, it was still me."

Silence.

". . . They did say the body went missing," Moric offered, though mostly for Namari. "It was really lucky of you since they must not have checked to see if you were really dead."

"No, I died alright." Ordephus tapped his neck. This time, he got incredulous, if not unsettled, stares. He sighed heavily and put his head in his hands momentarily. "Alright. I don't know how else to do this besides just showing you. Just—please refrain from screaming or running. This room isn't completely soundproof."

He could feel the glamour slowly fade away, and a few stray strands hanging before his eyes turned white. He didn't need confirmation that the glamour had fully faded from his eyes as well. The sibling's reaction was proof enough.

"I'm sure you've figured it out by now, but," he shrugged, "I'm Ordephus. And long story short, I can't die."

The next few moments of dawning realization between the two almost made him burst out laughing.

On one end of the spectrum, Moric stared blankly at him, processing the fact that all these years he's been talking with a legend, and of course he can fight a harbinger deity. He's the Father of Magic! A pioneer of the art! The Great Sorcerer considered him a friend!

On the other, Namari had her hands in her hair as she exclaimed in a hushed voice: "I've slept with a god."

Ordephus couldn't help but snort at that. "I'm not a god."

"You might as well be! People utter your name more than any of the gods combined!" Her attention suddenly snapped to Amonis, who had yet to say anything. "Hold on a second, why aren't you doing anything?"

"The Rummenods are descendants of Ordephus," Amonis explained, and Ordephus nodded his head in confirmation. "I didn't know it was him at first, but it was easy to figure out once he began frequenting the apothecary to gather commissions."

"That's somewhat why I travel around so often," Ordephus explained. "It's better if no one recognizes me in case I need to change identities at a moment's notice, such as after incidents like Weststar."

"You were Darin a few seconds ago," Namari pointed out.

"Yes, well, I'm afraid I broke my own rule this time around," he laughed sheepishly. "I didn't want to be recognized if I only changed my hair or eyes. That would bring much more suspicion onto me."

"That does make sense," Moric agreed reluctantly before peering at Ordephus anxiously. "But why are you telling us this?"

"Because it's time something's done about this," he said. He didn't need to elaborate for them to get what he meant. "I've lived for a long time, now, and it's been centuries since I've realized my mistake. No race is inherently evil, fae-blood or not." He sighed and looked down at the table. "Especially the dragonkind. If anything, I owe everything to them. Agkaneel was the one who freed me and raised us dragon-born children. I repaid his kindness by killing him in cold blood.

"But no more of that. What matters now is that we can do something about this. I thought everything could be resolved with time without my interjection, but The Alliance and the Order of Ordephus—another one of my many failures—have taken things too far. As much as I'm sure everyone would like to believe I can do it all on my own, I'm still a mortal who happens to have a somewhat unlimited source of magic and is incapable of dying. So, I need your help."

"You need our help?" Moric exclaimed.

"Didn't you just hear me? I said I'm still human. Yes, I have literal centuries of experience, but there's still only so much I can do without dying a million times over."

"What do you even plan on doing?" Namari asked.

"Well, your roll, sweetheart, is intel," Ordephus said. "In the first part of the plan, that is. I'll need every bit of dirt on whoever frequents your bordello as well as the others to gather the general opinion of everyone. I'm sure you'll find ways to get them to talk. About both them and their friends."

Namari smirked at that. "Is that doubt I hear? Just leave it to me, and you'll know who washes behind their ears and who doesn't like carrots in their stew."

"I don't need to know all that, but I'll give you a list of what I need answers to," he chuckled before turning to Moric, who immediately straightened. "And you, I was hoping for protection."

"Protection?"

"I want Langerich to be my stronghold," he explained shortly. "It is the perfect wizard's fortress, after all. Not to mention, everyone here can do magic, not just the soldiers. But, ultimately, you and your men have had the most training, especially with barriers. Anyone who wishes not to fight or can't, I was planning on sending them to the Vecjivi to live with—their methodology revolves around peace and hospitality, so I doubt they'll be turned away—but in case they are, I do have another location in mind. What I need to know is how many would be willing to fight for a cause like this? Because when I set this plan into motion, there is sure to be a war to follow."

"Many of us are here in Langerich for the same reason as myself: We don't believe in the enslavement of dragonkind." He looked at Argent and nodded. "I'll admit I thought of you as strangers, but I'm willing to change my views and fight for you."

Argent nodded back and said quietly, "Thank you. To all of you for doing this. It . . . it really means a lot."

Ordephus smiled fondly at the boy and ruffled his hair lightly. In annoyance, Argent half-heartedly batted his hand away, but a small time tugged at his lips.

The shop door swung open once again, but before the fighters of the group could reach for their weapons, a voice rang out.

"Father?" the voice of a woman said as footsteps headed towards the backroom door. Noctifer's eyes drifted to Amonis, silently wondering if he had an older daughter that he had failed to mention before. But Iver's brow furrowed in confusion. He vaguely recognized the voice, and the magic signature was one he had felt before as well. The voice called out again. "Father, is that you?"

"In the back, Tarkana."

Every head whipped to the legend in utter shock at what he just said—except Amonis, who snickered under his breath at everyone's reaction. Ordephus, meanwhile, looked amused.

"Oh, good!" Tarkana—the Lady Tarkana or someone with the same name?—said cheerily, her voice getting clearer and louder the closer she got to the room. "I set off immediately when I received your message, but I got caught in the snow for a few days in a village just outside of—" The door swung open to show a woman with obvious elven ancestry, reddish hair, and blue eyes. Her eyes flew wide open when she saw multiple people in the room immediately backtracked. "There are others!" She then jumped back in after a beat, staring at Ordephus—who currently looked like Ordephus—with narrowed eyes. "Wait."

It took a moment for Ordephus to calm his laughter, waving for her to come in. "It's alright, Tarkana. They know who I am."

Tarkana let out a sigh of relief, her hand over her heart. "Oh, thank goodness. I thought I just exposed your whole identity." She looked at the people around the table, and her eyes lit up in recognition when she saw Iver. "Hello, Iver! I didn't know you were part of this company, but it's good to see you!"

"Hello, Tarkana," Iver replied weakly. "It is good to see you, too." He glanced between her and the legend. "Um . . ."

With a nonchalant grin, Ordephus nodded his head. "Tarkana is my biological daughter, yes."

That caused a minor uproar with a chorus of shocked exclamation.

Word count: 2953