Laying the Board

“STICK TO THE PLAN THIS TIME,” said Cerys, as we waited for the guild clerk to call for us. “Grandmaster Godwin was the primary mage of Lightbringer, and when it comes to magic, he has only grown stronger after retirement. If you try anything funny with him, he’ll see right through you.”

“Yes ma’am,” I replied with a gulp. Though I did feel an urge to tease her, Amelia is still staring at me after the previous incident, so I’m on my best behavior right now.

The goal of this meeting is to have Godwin approve of a second expedition to the Forbidden Forest, and let him pass the report to Silvano. Ideally, this will prompt Silvano to send another death squad after us, which we’ll counter-ambush and capture for interrogation.

By now, Silvano knows that the Thorns have a higher combat power than he anticipated, so he’s prone to send higher-level cultists after us. Unfortunately for him, he doesn’t know I made a contract with the girls, or that I’m with them to begin with, so we should be able to overwhelm the team he sends after us regardless.

That is, of course, as long as Godwin does his part. If he forbids us from entering the forest, we’re screwed. We’d draw too much suspicion if we went AWOL, and we’d also be in trouble if Godwin withheld the information about us leaving to find the Dead Tree again.

We need him to tell Silvano, no matter what. In fact, it would be best if he only told Silvano, because getting ambushed by the Cult would incriminate him.

Thus, the whole point of this meeting is to gently prod Godwin into helping Silvano send a kill-team after us. After that, we’ll capture the cultists, nab their memories, and come back at Silvano with a vengeance.

It should be simple enough… hopefully.

* * *

“THE GRANDMASTER WILL SEE YOU NOW,” said the clerk, catching me lying on Xana’s lap as she gave me some good ole belly rubs in my raven form. We had to wait for an hour before we were called, so the catgirl got impatient. Don’t judge.

“Let’s go,” said Amelia, prompting the pouting Xana to let go of me.

The girls got up and straightened themselves, and Cerys gave me a pat down to settle the feathers Xana had ruffled. I may be a bird, but I had to look at my best.

With that, we left the waiting room, and walked over to the Guild Master’s office next door. I’m not gonna lie, I’m getting a bit nervous, but I’m sure we’ll pull through.

The clerk knocked on the wooden door, and a muffled voice beckoned us in, before the clerk opened the door for us.

On the other side was a man in his early 60’s, sitting at a desk. He was tall and lean, but broad-shouldered, with long silver hair pulled back into a loose tail. He had a trimmed beard and mustache, well-kept and dignified, and a pair of piercing, pale gray eyes that quietly brimmed with magic.

His robes were layered in deep blue and gold, worn over a reinforced leather tunic, and he had a pipe in hand, sending a fine trail of smoke dancing in the air.

“The Rose’s Thorns are here to see you, Grandmaster,” said the clerk with a bow.

Grandmaster Godwin didn’t reply immediately, taking his time to survey us as he inhaled a deep puff from his pipe. He gave each of the girls a good stare, until he finally fixed his eyes on me.

I met his gaze for a moment, and he exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, before putting his pipe down on a receptacle on his desk.

“Thank you, Linda,” he replied with a deep, raspy voice. “Shut the door on your way out, please, and tell Anathema we have a guest. You can take the day off after that.”

“Certainly, Grandmaster,” said the clerk before bowing again and leaving.

Welp.

I think there goes our plan.

Looks like the bastard just sniffed me out.

“It’s good to see you again, Grandmaster Godwin,” said Amelia, trying to salvage the situation with a poker face.

“Yeah, it’s good to see you too, and all those pleasantries,” Godwin dismissively replied, before adding with more bite, “Thorns, you’ve got a lot of guts walking into my office with a goddamn dragon on your shoulder. Do you have any idea how dangerous that creature is?”

He pointed at me with indignation, like the girls had walked in with a rabid dog.

As for us, we were sweating buckets. Damn Godwin took our plan and threw it out the window like it was nobody’s business, and we’ve barely even talked.

“We’re aware, Grandmaster,” replied Amelia, the only one who didn’t flinch. “I’ll have you know, we already introduced him to Anathema, and I trust they will vouch for him. Mirabelle personally approved.”

“Ah, so I’m the one out of the loop,” said Godwin. “Forgive my rudeness, but I didn’t know a bringer of the end times was our friend. Would you care to introduce us?”

“This is John Doe,” said Amelia, all matter-of-factly. “He saved our lives in the Forbidden Forest, and has joined our cause.”

“Hah!” Godwin burst out in laughter. “A dragon called John! Oh Gods, this will be a good one. Hang on, I can’t be sober for this.”

The old man snapped his fingers, and the doors of a nearby cabinet opened. From it, a bottle of liquor flew to Godwin’s desk, followed by several glass cups, and even a plate with assorted snacks.

“I don’t usually drink on the job, but this warrants an exception,” he said as we stared at him. “What are you gawking at? Sit down, drink with me! It’s the least you could do, after the heart attack you almost gave me.”

Well, don’t mind if I do.

My disguise is useless by now, so I jumped off from Cerys’ shoulder and transformed into my human shape. As I did so, however, Godwin recoiled on his chair, and erected a powerful barrier around him.

“You son of a bitch!” he yelled. “You scared the crap out of me!”

He was livid, his face going red as he let his barrier dissolve in the air.

“I’m sorry!” I said, raising my hands up to my shoulders. I was feeling so proud about polymorphing with my armor on after Cerys enchanted it, but Godwin wasn’t having any of it.

“I thought you were changing into a dragon for a second!” he exclaimed. “I was this close to blasting your head off!”

“I’m so sorry, Grandmaster,” said Cerys with embarrassment. “John can be impulsive at times. Please forgive him.”

“By Astrevon, this must be a nightmare,” said Godwin, invoking the God of Magic as he shook his head, his palm to his face. Then, he uncorked the bottle of liquor and poured himself a cup, all the way to the brim.

Our meeting with him, uh… has had a rocky start, it seems.