Chapter 132 – Mission Log: Chosen

Doc kept the hilt out. The light was gone but the weapon stayed in his hand, hilt forward. The corpse lay still. Smoke stopped rising from the chest.

Lux ran the scan.

Necrotic signature absent, no active mana detected. Thermal output matches ambient decay.

Mazoga stood over the body with the hammer's head resting on the stone. Her breathing was steady. Her eyes stayed on the corpse.

"It was dead last time," she said.

Around them, the Imperial soldiers reformed their line. Two were helping a third who had gone down when the creature threw him into the wall. The magister at the gate had gotten the last students out. The courtyard was still except for the movement at the perimeter and the two of them standing over a corpse that might not stay dead.

Doc's sensors tracked movement near the Academy doors. Kaine and Serin remained where they'd stopped. Kaine's shoulders had gone slack. Serin leaned against the doorframe with one hand pressed to her ribs. Mar was already moving toward her.

Cassira followed him but kept her distance, watching the corpse and not coming closer.

Magisters began spreading across the courtyard. One was speaking into a communication crystal. Another walked the perimeter with his hand out, checking something Doc couldn't see.

Doc noticed the stares.

Not at the body. At him.

A soldier near the line said something to the man beside him that Doc didn't catch. A magister closer to the gates spoke quietly to another, both of them looking at the hilt still in Doc's hand. The third magister, the one checking the perimeter, stopped moving and turned to face Doc instead of the wards.

A fragment reached him. "—divine mana—"

Another, from near the soldiers. "—what class even—"

"—who is he—"

Doc kept his focus on the corpse.

"Lux," he said quietly. "What do they mean, divine mana?"

Clarification required. The term 'divine mana' does not appear in cataloged references. Energy signature from the weapon remains distinct from ambient mana samples. Further analysis unavailable without additional data.

"Helpful."

Accurate.

Kaine started across the courtyard. His steps were measured. His robes were torn at the shoulder, and ash marked the hem. He stopped three paces from the corpse and did not come closer.

"Thank you," he said. "Both of you."

Mazoga didn't look up. "Still not sure it's done."

Kaine's gaze dropped to the hilt in Doc's hand, then returned to his face.

A moment later, it dropped again.

"That weapon," Kaine began. He paused. "Where did it come from?"

Doc considered his answer. "It was made by someone I know."

"A smith?"

"Yes."

Kaine's expression didn't change. "I have never seen anything quite like it."

"It's unique," Doc said.

That much was true. Dulric had rebuilt the weapon from the shattered remains of Doc's old plasma blade, using a mana stone someone had given him and the Forgeheart to make it work with mana instead of the technology that had originally powered it.

Doc still wasn't entirely sure what the reforging had turned it into.

Kaine nodded slowly. He didn't ask again.

"The remains stay exactly where they are," Kaine said, louder now. He was speaking to the magisters and soldiers both. "No one touches them until we determine a containment method or a means of destruction."

One of the magisters near the perimeter spoke up. "Archmagister, if it regenerates—"

"Then we deal with it," Kaine said. "But I will not risk moving it and losing control again."

The magister didn't argue.

Mazoga lifted her hammer from the stone but kept it ready.

The sound of boots reached them before the formation did. Doc turned toward the gate and saw more Imperial soldiers entering the courtyard. Twenty at least moving in tight rows. An officer led them.

Lux flagged the signature before Doc saw the insignia. Commander Varro. Previously encountered during Princess Cassira's return to Glasshold.

Varro stopped at the courtyard's center and surveyed the scene. His attention moved across the magisters, the injured soldiers, the scorched stone near the doors, and finally settled on the corpse.

Then on Doc and Mazoga standing over it.

Varro's expression didn't shift.

He crossed the courtyard without hurrying. When he reached them, he passed Doc and Mazoga without acknowledgment. His attention went to the Imperial soldiers instead

"Report," Varro said.

The soldier straightened. "Undead creature broke through the Academy doors, sir. We engaged, but it was fast. Stronger than it looked." He paused. "It grabbed Delric. I don't know what it did to him. He just... disappeared into it. Then the thing got bigger. We couldn't hold it."

Varro's jaw tightened. "How many are down?"

The soldier looked toward the others.

"At least four, sir. Delric's gone. I don't know how bad the rest are yet."

Varro looked across the courtyard at the soldiers still helping the wounded.

"Get them to the barracks."

"Sir."

The soldiers moved immediately. Two lifted the man near the wall onto a shield and carried him toward the gate. Another helped a soldier with a mangled arm through the line. Varro watched them go before turning to the sergeant who'd taken over the formation.

"What happened?"

"The Academy alarm went off, sir. We responded and found the magisters evacuating students from the western side." The sergeant glanced toward the broken doors. "Then that thing came through."

Varro's expression didn't change, but Doc caught the shift in his posture. The commander turned toward Kaine.

"Archmagister." The word carried weight. "What was that thing, and how did it get loose?"

Kaine straightened despite the exhaustion. "An adventurer brought the body in yesterday. We believed it was dead. We were examining it because it resembled another creature reported recently."

Varro's attention sharpened. "Another one?"

"The one from the stronghold in the Waste," Doc said.

Varro looked at him.

"The creature from Princess Cassira's rescue?"

Doc nodded. "Same kind, or close enough."

Varro's gaze returned to the corpse. "So this wasn't the first."

"No," Kaine said.

Silence stretched across the courtyard. Varro said nothing for several seconds.

"How many more?" he asked.

"Unknown," Kaine said. "Which is why the examination was necessary."

Varro looked at the corpse, then at the scorched stone, then at the damaged Academy doors. "The specimen and your investigation fall under Academy authority. I understand that. But once Imperial soldiers die in the middle of Glasshold because of it, it stops being solely your concern."

Kaine's tone stayed level. "I am not disputing Imperial jurisdiction over the attack itself. I am stating that the investigation into these creatures remains with the Academy."

"Then the Academy needs better safeguards."

"Agreed."

Neither man raised his voice.

That seemed to settle it for the moment.

Varro's attention shifted to Mazoga, then to the hilt in Doc's hand.

"You two killed it?"

Mazoga rested the hammer against her shoulder. "Eventually."

Varro looked at Doc. "What did you use?"

"This."

Doc raised the hilt slightly.

Varro studied it. "A sword?"

"Something like that."

Kaine spoke before Varro could ask another question.

"The blade carried divine mana."

Varro looked at him.

"You're certain?"

"I am."

His attention returned to Doc.

"Where did you get it?"

"It was made for me."

"By whom?"

"A smith I know."

Varro's eyes stayed on the hilt. "And the divine mana?"

Doc hesitated.

"I didn't know it was divine."

That got Varro's attention.

"You didn't know?"

"No."

Kaine said nothing, but his gaze returned to the weapon.

Varro looked between them before turning back toward the courtyard.

"I'll need statements from everyone involved."

"After the Academy is secured," Kaine said.

Varro nodded once. "Fine. But I want them today."

Kaine directed everyone away from the courtyard. "Let's move this inside. Somewhere secure."

Varro gestured to his soldiers. "Hold the perimeter. No one touches that corpse until we decide what to do with it."

The sergeant saluted and turned back to his men.

Doc followed Kaine toward an entrance on the far side of the courtyard, with Mazoga beside him. Serin came with them, and Varro followed with two of his officers.

Mar remained near the gate with Cassira and the evacuated students.

The room Kaine chose was small—stone walls, a single table, six chairs. A ward-light pulsed above the door frame. Kaine closed the door and gestured for everyone to sit.

Kaine exhaled slowly. "The specimen regenerated. Fully. One of my researchers opened the containment to confirm death status, and it woke. It killed him before we could respond. Another researcher attempted to flee. The creature dragged him back inside and consumed him.

"We engaged it immediately. Standard offensive spells—fire, force, piercing ice. Everything landed. Everything damaged it. Nothing stopped the regeneration. It healed faster than we could wound it."

Serin spoke quietly. "We drained our reserves trying to keep it contained long enough to evacuate the students. It broke through every barrier we raised."

Varro's tone stayed flat. "How long did you fight it before it reached the courtyard?"

Kaine shook his head. "I'm not sure. A few minutes."

"And in that time, it killed two researchers, broke containment, and forced both of you back."

"Yes."

Mazoga spoke up. "I took its head off. Thought that was enough."

Kaine shook his head. "My examiners agreed. No pulse. No mana activity. No sign it was regenerating. By every measure we had, it was dead."

"Except it wasn't," Mazoga said.

"No."

Silence settled across the room.

Mazoga looked down at the table.

Kaine broke the quiet. "I still need your full account, but given the circumstances, I'm postponing the formal interview. Right now, I need the essential details. Where did you encounter it?"

Mazoga shifted her stance. "We found an adventuring company pinned down in an abandoned village. They'd taken a clearing contract for thirty draugr. Said more than forty showed up."

"And the creature?"

"According to them, it came out of the trees during the fight. Grabbed one of their people and pulled him into its body. Got bigger afterward. They lost three more during the retreat, and it fed on the bodies."

Mazoga paused.

"By the time we got there, they were barricaded inside a building and the whole place was crawling with draugr. The big one was still outside."

Kaine frowned. "The village was already abandoned?"

"Looked that way. No people. No livestock. Wagon tracks heading south."

Varro looked at Kaine. "That matches the refugee reports. Villages emptying faster than patrols can respond. People fleeing south while something pushes from the north."

Kaine's expression darkened. "And now we know at least part of what they're fleeing from."

Doc frowned.

Another one of those creatures, and another abandoned village.

Kaine straightened. "The immediate concern is what we do with the remains."

Varro answered first. "Destroy them."

"I still need samples," Kaine said. "If more of these creatures exist, we need to understand them."

Varro looked at him. "The last body you studied got back up."

"I know."

Doc glanced toward the door. "Whatever you do, don't assume it's dead this time."

Kaine was quiet for a moment.

"Small samples only," he said. "The rest will be destroyed."

"When?" Varro asked.

"Today."

"Good."

Kaine looked at Mazoga. "We'll reschedule your full interview. Later this week."

"Understood."

Varro stood. "I'll sit in."

Kaine looked at him.

"If this is connected to what's happening in the north, the Empire needs the same account."

Kaine nodded. "Agreed."

He opened the door. "We'll speak again later this week."

Doc and Mazoga crossed the courtyard toward the gate. Soldiers still stood watch over the corpse while magisters worked near the damaged Academy doors.

People had begun filtering back into the area. More than a few watched Doc as he passed.

Several of them looked at the hilt on his side.

Lux's reminder pulsed quietly through the link. Radio meeting scheduled in forty-seven minutes. Edda. Threeburrow council. Priority topic: refugee intake capacity.

Doc looked past the gate toward the camps outside the walls and sighed.

"Perfect timing."

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Varro waited until the door closed behind Duckworth and Mazoga.

"What do we actually know about him?"

Kaine was quiet for a moment.

"He comes from Foroughfore. A new settlement in the Waste."

"And he helped rescue Princess Cassira," Serin added.

Varro nodded. "Anything before that?"

Neither answered.

Serin looked toward the closed door.

"Could he be Chosen?"

Kaine's eyes shifted to her.

Varro didn't answer immediately.

The divine weapon. The strange equipment. A man no one seemed to know anything about who had appeared in the North and expected nothing after returning the High King's daughter.

"It would explain some things," Kaine said.

"Not all of them," Varro replied.

Serin frowned. "He didn't even know the weapon carried divine mana."

Varro looked toward the door. "So he says."

Kaine waited.

Varro sighed.

"If he is one of the Emperor's Chosen, what is he doing this far north?"