As they studied and learned, the four friends had no idea of what was happening outside their room, apart from what little news Eezel could pass them, but they dared not venture out while the hunt for them continued. Every moment was spent in preparation. Even a single, tiny clue could prove to be a powerful tool against Ash. However, as each day passed, they grew more desperate, for they had found nothing about the Argum Stone, how to awaken it or what powers it held stored within. This meant that Ash probably still had the information, assuming it actually existed at all. They had no choice, however, but to continue on-hour by hour, day by day.
‘A magician is coming!’ Samuel announced, feeling a sudden power beginning up the stairs.
The four of them stood and waited anxiously. They dared not summon their magic lest it gave them away altogether. After an ominous moment, there was a soft tap on the door. They each looked to the others, unsure whether to speak or remain silent. The knocking sounded again, much louder and more impatiently and then a familiar voice shouted in at them.
‘Open the door, you mangy street-whores before I blast it open!’ came the voice of Grand Master Anthem.
Eric lifted the bar and quickly opened the door. Grand Master Anthem stepped into the room without a pause and surveyed them all with discontent.
‘What a sorry welcome!’ he croaked irritably. ‘Oh, my poor stomach. I thought that cursed boat was going to roll at over any moment.’
‘Grand Master!’ Lomar said. ‘You’ve arrived at last. We’re so happy to see you!’
‘Let me sit down,’ Anthem said, pushing past them. ‘That ocean voyage has beaten me like a bully at an old dog.’
Samuel raised an eyebrow at the comment, for the old man was obviously in an unpleasant mood. His time in exile had certainly roughened him around the edges.
Anthem removed his blue travelling cloak, revealing a thin shirt and short pants. His pale, bony arms and legs poked out from his clothes, dispelling any guise of reverence he may have once possessed.
‘Looks like a beggars’ den,’ Anthem said, looking around at their room. ‘It’ll do…I guess.’ He then collapsed into a chair at the small table. ‘So what have you four been doing here all this time? I hear you have been causing all sorts of trouble and mischief, so I thought I had better come and lend you a hand before you mess everything up altogether. Can’t anyone do anything right without me?’
‘We have stolen back many books from the High Tower,’ Lomar said, gesturing to the books lying all over the room. ‘Dividian has been taking them from the Great Library and passing them to Lord Jarrod.’
‘Evidently,’ Anthem noted, picking up a small notebook from the table and flipping through its pages.
‘Ash has been researching and practising black magic,’ Samuel added.
‘Perhaps, that is exactly why Master Ash is the one using black magic,’ Goodfellow suggested. ‘Perhaps the Archmage or Lord Jarrod have goaded him into it.’
‘Possible,’ Anthem replied, nodding and raising one grey eyebrow in thought. ‘Master Ash would be only too keen to experiment with some power that could put him above other magicians, but it makes no real sense. The Archmage already has as many magicians as he requires at his command, and he has the Staff of Elders. Why would he want more power than that?’
‘For the Argum Stone,’ Samuel informed.
‘What’s that?’ Anthem asked.
Samuel was genuinely surprised that the old man had not heard of the relic. He was sure his old principal would have known everything. ‘It’s an artefact from the Age of the Ancients. It has been put inside the High Tower while they study it. We believe it is dormant now and that Ash is working to awaken it. They don’t seem to have discovered the final secrets on how to do so. We were hoping the secrets may be here in one of these books, but so far we’ve had little luck.’
‘And what do you think they’ll do with the thing if they do manage to awaken it? What can it do?’ Anthem asked with interest.
‘I’m not exactly sure anyone knows what it can do,’ Samuel informed the old man, ‘but the Archmage is certain it will help them to overthrow Garteny. In fact, he seems to think it will assure a sweeping victory.’
‘Can it be that powerful?’ the old man asked with a hint of disbelief.
‘He seemed to think so,’ Samuel replied.
‘Then what should we do?’ Goodfellow asked.
Anthem rubbed his whiskered chin with his bony, freckled hand. ‘The Gartens are already prepared for the war, but I fear it will be long and bloody. If the Emperor sends such an artefact into the fray, it will be nothing short of disastrous. Either way, if there is anything we can do to stop it, we should try.’
‘Is it true you are a Garten, Grand Master?’ Samuel asked.
The old man nodded solemnly. ‘I am, but I have not been back for a long, long time. It is not a place where I would be welcomed.’
‘How is it that Garten withstood the Emperor’s forces when every other nation of Amandia fell?’ Goodfellow asked. ‘No one seems to know the whole story of how the Great War ended. Was it because of something you did?’ At that, the old man pinned Goodfellow with blazing eyes. ‘I only ask because everyone has heard the tales and stories. It would be good to know first-hand what happened.’
‘That’s true enough-very few people know the whole truth of the Great War,’ the old man said. ‘I am one of them, so let me tell you what happened. As the nations of Amandia fell beneath the crushing might of the Empire, the Gartens, far away in the frigid north, became naturally wary. The Emperor’s diplomats had been pleading ignorance and spouting lies to King Otgart for years, but they were quickly removed from their heads after envoys from Pine Vale and Tudonnam came to see the King, begging for assistance and telling him of all the Empire had been plotting. The King sent his armies into battle without delay. When Garten and Turian forces first met on the battlefield, it looked as if the Gartens would last no longer than our neighbours, for the Emperor had five powerful magicians at his service who could tear through men like wet paper.’
‘The Lions?’ Goodfellow asked.
‘That’s right,’ Anthem confirmed with a nod. ‘They could not be defeated, and the battle looked set to be lost before it had hardly begun. It was then that the King sent my brother and me out to meet them.’
‘I didn’t know you had a brother,’ Samuel interrupted, full of surprise.
The old man gave Samuel a piercing look before continuing. ‘We faced them on Raven Fields-’
‘-and you beat them?’ Samuel said impatiently.
‘No, young fool. And stop interrupting me! If you want to hear the rest of this story hold your infernal tongue. My brother was greatest of the Garten magicians by far and I was but a distant second behind him. Together, we waged our spells against theirs and we fought long and hard. They were surprised at first that two men, especially barbaric Gartens, could stand against them for so long. I was quite strong at the time and my brother more so, and we held them back for as long as we could. As we tired, the Lions began to gain the upper hand. It was then, as fate would have it, that one of the Lions made a terrible mistake. He took a glancing blow from a savage spell sent by my brother and was befuddled momentarily, but long enough for him to inadvertently cast a spell against one of his own fellows-Levin Tudor was his name. The man was horribly wounded and would have died at once, had my brother not come to the man’s aid. At first, the others continued to attack my brother, pummelling him with spells that should have struck him dead, but his resolve was so great that he could not be felled. Finally, they realised what he was doing and stood dumbfounded by their own foolishness. There, amongst the blood and the bones and the corpses of the fallen on Raven Fields, the salvation of Garteny was founded in the pact we made.
‘So great was the relief of the Lions when they realised their friend had been saved, and so astounded were they by the compassion of my brother, that it was as if some dark veil was lifted from their eyes. They realised they had been fighting and conquering and ignorantly obeying the Emperor for so long that they had forgotten to use the greatest gift that any magician has-reason. Despite the fact that all five were the stoutest of Turian patriots, they finally gained the ability to actually think that, yes, perhaps the Emperor
‘We forged a plan and an alliance right there, that the Empire’s rampant warring should cease and we would
