Chapter 14

Koji sat in the archives of the Order of the Unbroken Path, poring over books and scrolls again. He had spent the last two hours doing this, and his eyes were starting to feel dry and sore. He had specifically asked the librarian to bring him tomes about the Magecroft Organization, but he was beginning to think that it may have been an incorrect call.

For starters, a lot of the texts about magic and the Magecroft Organization were restricted. It was only by pulling his rank as a hero of the Order that Koji was even able to get his hands on these books at all.

And when he managed to get the books at last, he found them to be very complex and laced with what he suspected was superstition. From what he had seen of magic in his time in Behalan, not all of this could possibly be true. Many of the tomes had information about how to do battle with and defeat magic users.

One thing he had learned, however, was that the symbol that he kept seeing both in his dreams and real life, seemed to be strongly associated with the Magecroft Organization. Wherever they were to be found, the symbol inevitably followed.

“Kind of like a crest or emblem…” Koji muttered to himself.

Another hour passed, and he still did not find much tactile information on the Magecroft Organization. So he picked up the books to return them to the librarian, instead choosing to ask them a few questions.

The librarian was an older man with greying hair and a short, well-trimmed beard. He wore a set of dark red robes that were emblazoned with the Order’s sigil in golden thread. He turned to look at Koji as he came back to the desk with the stack of books and scrolls he had borrowed.

“Here you go,” Koji said, carefully placing the texts on the desk. “Thank you for letting me see them.”

“Hmph. You’re welcome, I suppose,” the librarian grunted. “Did you learn what you wanted to?”

“Uh, kind of…” Koji lied. “I still had a few questions about some topics, though.”

The librarian peered at Koji. He grunted again. “Well, good to see that at least one young person has an interest in studying. Too many of them don’t bother to look past the point of a sword. But I’m getting ahead of myself. What did you want to know about, lad?”

“I wanted to know the history of the Order of the Unbroken Path, as well as their history with the Magecroft Organization. When both groups were founded, what their early days were like, things like that.”

“Hmm, I suppose I have some books on the founding of the Order of the Unbroken Path…” The librarian mused. “But as for the Magecroft Organization, I don’t think you will find any scripts or texts here about their founding.”

“Why not?” Koji asked curiously.

“As far as I know, the Magecroft Organization is ancient,” The librarian told Koji with a disapproving look on his face. “There is evidence of them existing dating back thousands of years, even to before the founding of the kingdom of Firosa.”

“They’re that old?” Koji could not hide his surprise.

“Well, the evidence points that way. I wouldn’t put it past them to have planted it with their deceitful magics just to try and demoralize us. Who knows what they are capable of. Do you still want those books?”

“Eh, maybe next time. I just remembered I need to be somewhere.”

Koji waved goodbye to the surly librarian and made his way out of the archives. His mind was working overtime. He had the distinct feeling that whatever answers he wanted, he wasn’t going to find them in the Order’s archives.

He sighed and shook his head. Originally, he had wanted to spend time with Sylvia, but she was nowhere to be found and Koji did not have a messenger hawk to send her a message with. He found himself missing his phone and how he had taken the ability to instantly talk to anyone for granted.

So today he was on his own.

He stopped to consider. If the Magecroft Organization was really that old, then surely there would be people in the city of Behalan who remembered what it was like before the Order of the Unbroken Path had come here thirteen years ago. He had overheard those two old women talking about the old days a while ago. There had to be others.

However, Koji knew better than to just go around asking people about the Magecroft Organization. While he had at first been reluctant to admit it, he was now a very well known person in the city, especially among those of the Order and those associated with them. They would not take kindly to him asking questions about the enemy, for sure. And people who did sympathize with magicians wouldn’t give him a straight answer, not after what he had done to impede their plans in the past few weeks. Not to mention admitting to having anything to do with magic was a one way ticket to the Order’s prisons.

That gave Koji pause. The Order had apprehended a number of people from the missions he had been on, and probably others besides.

Stirring himself, Koji walked up to the nearest Order soldier and asked, “Excuse me, could you tell me where the Order keeps the people who get arrested for doing magic?”

The soldier saluted to Koji, then told him, “The prisoners are kept in the holding cells. They’re underneath the main barracks, sir.”

Koji thanked the woman and briskly made his way over to the barracks. He had made it his mission to memorize the layout of the Order’s headquarters and now it was paying off; he couldn’t rely on Sylvia to chaperone him everywhere, after all.

The guards at the barracks let him in without a problem, and Koji quickly found the entrance to the holding cells after that. The way down was well lit, and the walls were studded with Magicide crystals to deter any and all forms of magical escape or mischief.

Eventually Koji reached the bottom, and found himself in a space with two rows of prison cells in a long hallway. There were more soldiers of the Order keeping watch down here. It was noticeably quiet down here, as if most of the cells were empty.

“Excuse me,” Koji walked up to the closest soldier, who recognized and gave the youth a salute. “Could you tell me where you are holding the people who were arrested from the shipyard raid?”

“Oh, those guys?” The guard picked up a small notebook and thumbed it open. “Yeah, we sent most of them down to the regular jail on the other side of the city. We just keep the ringleaders here, mostly.”

“That will do just fine,” Koji shrugged. “I want to question the, uh, suspect.”

“Come with me,” the guard said, putting the notebook back into his pocket.

He and another guard led Koji to one of the cells. They opened the door with a key, and Koji found himself inside a small, but clean jail cell. The leader from the raid was seated on the far side of the cell, bound to the wall with Magicide studded chains. He was still wearing his naval uniform, but he had obviously been relieved of his cutlass and any other items he had been carrying.

“Well, here you are,” The first guard said. He rapped his armored knuckles on the wall. “Get up, prisoner! Someone wants to speak with you.”

The chained man stirred and looked up. His face showed recognition.

“So, we meet again, boy,” He croaked. “What do you want from me?”

Koji turned to the guards who had accompanied him in. “Is it alright if I speak with him alone? He’s no threat to me, and I have some sensitive information to discuss.”

“Of course, sir,” the guards said. They saluted and walked out, closing the door behind them.

Koji waited for twenty seconds before addressing the prisoner again.

“Let’s start from the beginning. My name is-”

“I know what your name is, boy,” the prisoner growled. “Koji Hagane. The new favorite hero of the Order.”

“Well, you know my name,” Koji said, trying not to sound aggressive. “May I know yours?”

“First Mate Gregory of the Gallant Gale,” the man said after a pause. “Or former First Mate now.”

“The Gallant Gale?” Koji repeated. “Is that a ship?”

“Are you daft, boy? Of course it’s a ship. Or it was, until your Order took it from my captain and stripped it down to nothing.”

“Why would they do that?” Koji stared at Gregory. He looked smaller and more diminished now that he had been when they had first met at the shipyard.

“Magic, you fool!” Gregory waved his fist angrily through the air. “It’s always magic. The Gallant Gale was one of the finest cargo galleons on the seas, until the Order had it impounded because of suspicions that the boat was powered by magic.”

“And was it?” Koji prompted.

“Who the devil cares?” Gregory growled.

“I do.”

“Of course you care,” Gregory sneered. “You people with the Order are all the same. You don’t understand and fear magic, so you persecute those who aren’t. Boy, I thought you were smarter than that, being a fellow mage.”

“I am not a mage,” Koji said firmly. “Now get back to the point.”

“The point? The point?” Gregory ranted, his eyes gleaming like flints. “Fine then. They arrested my captain, a good man named Thatcher who had never harmed anyone in his life, and they had him imprisoned. It weren’t until two years later that me and my crew learned that your Order had him executed in secret. I suspect that’s what’ll happen to me, too.”

“Without a trial?”

“Do you see any courthouses here, boy? They were all condemned when the Order took a firm foothold in Behalan. Now the only thing that matters is the word of the so-called High Lords. Bunch of backwards, axe-dragging savages.”

”Don’t talk about them that way,” Koji felt a faint flare of anger inside him.

“Why not? It’s what they are,” Gregory rebutted. “Why don’t you ask them merchants in the Silver District what they think about the Order? Oh, wait, you can’t. They’re all gone!”

“That’s…” Koji was suddenly at a loss for words. He decided to change the subject. “You said you were brewing healing water back in the shipyard. Were you telling the truth?”

Gregory turned his head away, but kept his eyes on Koji. “Why would I lie about that, boy?”

”Because you’re with the Magecroft Organization,” Koji said firmly. “I know you are.”

“Sharp. I like that,” Gregory growled approvingly. “The Magecroft Organization was the best thing to ever happen to this city. Over thirteen years ago, Behalan was a roaring city of trade in both regular and magic items alike. A real golden age. A golden age that your Order came and strangled to near death. Only the pockets of resistance are left now, and the Magecroft Organization has been driven from within these walls. But mark my words, boy. This isn’t over. They’ll come back and return the city to the people, whether it takes ten or a hundred years.”

“The Order will never let that happen,” Koji refuted, thinking back to his near death experience in the mansion.

Gregory smiled grimly. “You’re right, boy. They won’t. All I can do now is hope that these old bones will live to see Behalan restored to its former glory.”

With that, Gregory leaned back on his prison bed and closed his eyes, all but telling Koji that their conversation was over. Koji turned around and made to leave, but then he heard, “Wait.”

Koji turned around. “What is it?”

Gregory stared at Koji’s face, his own expression inscrutable. “Let me give you this one word of warning, boy. The Order uses people and throws them away when they’re no longer useful. What’ll happen when you’re no longer useful? Food for thought.” Then he began laughing quietly to himself.

Koji left the cell swiftly, his ears still ringing with Gregory’s demented laughter. He did not feel safe until he had left the holding cells and re-emerged into the sunlight.