Chapter 074: Reunion in Lakeshire

Jess barely heard another word of the king's speech.

He was going to enter the Wizard's Sanctum for real. Not as an assistant working on the edges of things, but as an apprentice. At least on paper, that meant he'd joined the ranks of the mages.

He still couldn't sense the ley network, and he couldn't cast a single arcane spell, but still...

The reason mages disliked taking older students without obvious talent was mostly that they didn't want to waste resources. It wasn't that anyone past their early teens was completely incapable of learning magic.

Arcane magic offered so many useful abilities: conjuring water and food, invisibility, even teleportation. Of course, Jess didn't expect to learn how to teleport anytime soon.

He could make up for offensive magic with shadow spells and sword training. If he mastered only one or two practical arcane spells, even without learning many others, his fighting ability would improve enormously.

And at the Wizard's Sanctum—perhaps even one day in Dalaran—he believed he could study how energy worked in this world more deeply. He might discover ways to reduce the harmful effects shadow energy had on his body and mind. That was one of his chief goals.

After the ceremony, he heard plenty of people praising him on the way back to his room. Everyone was excited by the victory, by having survived the battle, and by the king's visit.

But Jess still felt uneasy about what had happened that night.

Did courage stirred up by shadow power really count as courage?

Back at his window, Jess turned over the sole of his shoe. Dark scorch marks remained where he'd stepped on the shadow fires burning on the corpses.

Those gnoll bodies... would the people disposing of them recognize the shadow fire?

What would Morgans think when he saw gnolls killed by those unnatural flames?

"I used a sword set alight by a gnoll warlock to kill the gnolls..." Jess murmured to himself, as though rehearsing an excuse.

"Jess Seso."

He whirled around at the voice.

But it was only Colonel Todman.

Of course. Morgans had hurried back to Stormwind already. He shouldn't be here.

"You did well today, boy!" Todman said with a booming laugh. "You're the first man I've ever seen dare to headbutt the king in the chest! Ha ha ha!"

Jess's mouth twitched.

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"Don't be so nervous." The colonel patted his shoulder. "It's normal for a young man to be nervous on an occasion like that. I thought the king was more nervous than you! When do you plan to go back? You can stay as long as you like. His Majesty may spend another day or two here watching us train."

"I still have business at the Wizard's Sanctum." Jess tightened his bag. "And I have a friend in Lakeshire who was injured a few days ago. I need to check on him."

Todman pointed downstairs.

"A patrol is leaving right now. Want to ride to Lakeshire with them?"

"Yes! That would be great," Jess said. "I'll go get my horse. Please wait a moment."

He wanted to leave this place as quickly as possible—to get far away from the dead gnolls.

That afternoon, Jess rode back with Stonewatch's patrol. As soon as he arrived in Lakeshire, he headed straight for the herbalist's clinic. But halfway there, he caught sight of a familiar figure on the dock.

"How... you... Gred?"

Gred turned at the sound of his voice.

"Where have you been?"

Seeing the dwarf sitting there in one piece, Jess could barely contain his excitement. Gred had looked almost dead before.

"The apothecary said you might be unconscious for days."

"What's he take me for?" Gred laughed. "A little shock, that's all. It's not like I've never been hit by lightning before. I was a gryphon rider! My own hammer was blessed with lightning by the sages. What does he think I am?"

"That's wonderful," Jess said. "So you can repay my medical expenses now. Three silver coins. I'm almost too broke to eat."

"You haven't paid me for your sword lessons yet, little brother," Gred said calmly. "And three silver wasn't enough. I paid some more myself. You think I handle money as badly as a poor wretch like you? We may have left Ironforge, but we've kept every one of the finest dwarf qualities."

"You lost your bag. Where'd you get more money?"

"Who keeps all their money in a bag? One thief takes it and you're poor again!"

Jess glanced at Gred's boots.

"Doesn't that hurt your feet?"

"Who said it's in my shoes? That's a secret."

Gred gave him a sideways look.

"Anyway, the apothecary said you were returning to Stormwind. I thought you'd left already."

"I was delayed at Stonewatch for two days."

Jess sat beside him. Gred noticed the bandage on his hand.

"What happened? Were you misbehaving and the mages at Stonewatch smacked your hand?"

"Where do you come up with this stuff?" Jess shook his head. "Gnolls attacked the keep at night, and I happened to be there. How's that for bad luck?"

"Did you use the sword techniques I taught you?" Gred asked. "I bet you didn't. Without me beside you, you probably used dark magic left and right and made a complete mess of the place!"

"Then how could I come back alive? Wouldn't the soldiers have mistaken me for an orc and chopped off my head?"

Gred studied his eyes and licked his teeth.

"Fair point."

Jess hugged his warlock bag to his chest.

"Anyway, I survived. The commander thought I'd saved the fortress, so he told the king about it!"

"What?!" Gred shouted. "The king passed through Lakeshire on his way to Stonewatch the day before yesterday. Was that because of the gnolls? What sort of attack was it, to bring that little king out here?"

"Exactly." Jess smiled smugly. "He promised to help me enter the Wizard's Sanctum and become a real mage."

"You? A real mage? You've already wandered onto the wrong path!" Gred cried.

"Keep your voice down!" Jess hissed.

"All right, all right." Gred sighed deeply. "Wonderful. How come nothing that good ever happens to me? I'd settle for the human king giving me a few lumps of gold."

"You've got some nerve," Jess said. "Who told me we'd never run into a difficult job? Who said we could split a bounty worth more than a dozen silver coins if I went hunting an orc mage with him? Who took one lightning blast and collapsed so completely that I had to carry him all the way back from even farther east than the logging camp? Tell me why you didn't get such a wonderful opportunity."

Gred grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry about that. That orc was rather stronger than I expected."

Then his expression changed as he remembered something.

"Wait. How did you defeat him?"