Epilogue: Gathering Storm

Ansovald, called by some the Nighthawk, by some the Carrion Crow, and by other coarser names besides, studied the report on his desk, reading it from start to finish for the third time. At first he dismissed it as simply more of the internecine inter-tribal warfare among the subhumans, but something about his informant's words nagged at the back of his mind. Centaurs traditionally do not have high affinity for fire magic, nor do any of the tribes which surrounded their territory. For a Fire Mage with skill sufficient to master a spell capable of being seen from miles away to have slipped by unremarked until now was troublesome. Perhaps it was an exaggerated story; his informant had not witnessed the supposed battle first hand, nor had the one who told them. Ansovald, however, did not rise to his current post by being lackadaisical about his information gathering. He lifted the small silver bell from his desk and rang it once. Immediately, the door leading out of his office opened and his manservant, Sel, entered and bowed silently, awaiting his Lord's command.

"Sel, send for Kaleb. I have a hunting job for him out in the Wildlands. We may need to do a bit of pruning again among the subhumans."

"At once, my Lord," replied Sel in a soft voice, bowing and slipping out from the office to complete his task. Ansovald did not even hear him, having already dismissed his servant from his mind. After all, the magic in the heavy iron collar around the Elf's neck absolutely prevented its wearer from acting in any way to harm the one who it was keyed to. Lord Ansovald, Spymaster of the Kingdom of Gilhardt, prided himself on being thorough.

Author's Note: This is the end of Book I of Aidan's story. Posting will slow down over the next few weeks, as I intend to go back over Book I and edit it thoroughly as well as plot out the major arcs of Book II. In the mean time, this main branch will not be updated, but I do intend to write a few side-stories and additional What If chapters as I find time. I am in the process of moving to a new apartment, which will suck away a lot of time in the near future, but hopefully work and the weather will cooperate and I won't lose too much momentum. At the moment I am targeting the start of October for the beginning of Book II, but that is very subject to change. If things proceed more smoothly than I am planning for, I may begin posting Book II earlier than that.