After explaining to Kat and Dothen how she found The Suit or how it found her, they decided that venturing further into the undercroft was foolish, given how low on Ether Fralend was. Besides, they had found what they were looking for, at least so they thought. Dothen had been studying history longer than any of them, and even he had no idea what The Suit was. Kat had been the only one to point out what should have been obvious; they thought they’d find a spell scroll or a tome that might help Fralend advance to High Magos. An eight-foot suit of armor would be much harder to conceal from the Athenaeum guard. Further conversation was to be put off until they got out of the undercroft and saw a bit of sunlight, to hopefully sort this out.

  “Do you think it's like, cursed, or something?” Kat asked as they trod back up the stairs, keeping a slow pace for Dothen.

  “No, no. Curses don’t animate things. They can merely alter an existing state, and only for short periods.” Fralend answered her handmaiden, who had little in the way of magical knowledge but was loyal to a fault and would never have agreed to being left behind at home.

  “Ah, you…Make the mistakes, of…Assuming our knowledge of magic is.” Dothen took a deep breath. “Not without gaps.” He finally finished.

  “It would have been discovered by independent Mages outside the formal Magos if that were the case. I’m sure there are great spells hidden away in history, but the fundamentals are the same, Doth.”

  “Confidence, based on an education that is designed…” Dothen sucked in air agian.

  “To hide the truth.” Fralend didn’t feel like arguing again with her former teacher, especially when he could barely breathe.

  The rhythm of The Suit walking ahead of them was so steady you could set a clock to it. Thud, clank, thud, clank, thud, clank.

  “Are you cursed?” Fralend asked, looking at The Suit.

  It shrugged its shoulders without looking back. It had a habit of answering most questions that way, much to Fralend's frustration.

  “Do you know what a curse is?” It shook its head, no.

  “That’s not very helpful. How is a magic-based creature so ignorant of magic?” Fralend remarked.

  “Don’t insult it Fae! Goodness, you lose your manners just because it doesn’t have a body? She wasn’t being mean, we’re all just tired.” Fralend smiled at Kats attempt to smooth over her remark. She was a sweet girl. Fralend felt terrible about dragging her along for all this, but if anyone saw Kat without Fralend, they’d grow suspicious. It was fortunate that Kat wanted to come along anyway; still, if they were caught, it was all on Fralend. The thought weighed heavily on her, but she would not be consigned to merely a Magos building a Spire in someone else’s glory. She had already accepted the consequences before their search of the first ruin they had ever found, just under two years ago. The Suit was the first authentic relic they had discovered thus far, and the new risk was making her rethink that resolve.

  After a few breaks for Dothen, the unlikely group returned to the ruined castle in the valley's dip. Being in the northern reaches of Verloran meant lush forests that were borderline jungles with a large amount of biodiversity. It was a shame how much lumber was needed for the Capital to the South; at least a quarter of the woods had already been felled in Fralend's lifetime, and she expected it to be almost gone by the time she grew old. For the time being, though, it was filled with mysteries and relics from a long-forgotten history, but that also meant dangers.

  “We’ll set up camp where we did last night, before we started going underground. The overhang from the castle will break up our fire's smoke to keep anyone from spotting us.” Fralend said as they began unloading their bags and stretching sore limbs.

  The Suit stared at the ruined castle. It had never walked aimlessly before, always with purpose and poise. Now it walked along a section of the collapsed wall, staring into the forest beyond.

  “Probably looks different than when you got sealed underground, hu?” Kat said as she noticed The Suit.

  “You know it’s been at least a thousand years since the Sundering caused all this, right?” Kat added while unrolling her sleeping blankets. The Suit stopped suddenly and slowly turned to face her.

  “Um, does that. Bother you?” Fralend asked after a moment of awkwardness.

  The Suit looked into the sky for a moment that couldn’t be mistaken, it was pondering something. Then it looked back at Fralend and shook its head, no.

  “That’s a relief, I’d be a little depressed if everyone I ever knew died a thousand years ago.” Kat continued setting up camp.

  “Kat!” Fralend barked.

  “What, it's true?” The Suit turned around and walked into the woods. In a moment, it was gone.

  “Wait, hey, what in the Divine Three!” Fralend ran after it. She didn’t have to go far, it was kneeling by a tree, picking up a stick.

  “She didn’t mean it as an insult,” Fralend said after realizing it wasn’t leaving them. It bent down to pick up another stick.

  “What are you doing?”

  The Suit picked up a third stick, making a bundle of them in its arms.

  “Firewood?” It nodded, yes.

  “Oh, th…thanks?” It nodded back.

  It continued to gather sticks, and after a few moments, Fralend decided to leave it be. Returning to camp, she gave Kat a sour glance.

  “What?”

  “You know what.”

  “You said it was dumb first,” Kat replied while chewing on a dried compressed fruit bar.

  “I merely pointed out that a magic-based creature should know what a curse is. You brought up its past, which clearly is a sensitive subject.” Fralend replied while taking her bag off her shoulders. The straps had been digging into her shoulders, and she had red marks to prove it. Usually, she’d have Kat rub some ointment on them, but the city and her home were far away.

  Minor luxuries are worth missing to find a way up the ladder of the Athenaeum. She told herself while rubbing her sores.

  “Are we so sure it’s magic-based?” Dothen remarked while making a little tent of sticks in an area he’d cleared for a fire.

  “What else would it be?” Fralend replied.

  “Could be of the Ethereal Disciplines?” Dothen said in a sly voice, like he’d uncovered some major secret.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  “There’s no Ethereal summoning or binding. I find it hard to believe the Athenaeum would have been able to keep THAT a secret.”

  “What’s the significance?” Kat asked.

  Fralend removed her boots and let a cup of sand from the temple collapse pour out. Her feet had sores, too.

  “The Athenaeum breaks everything down in the Three Disciplines. Magical is one realm, and what we draw from to make spells. Corporeal is our realm, where we live. In the Corporeal realm, we can touch, see, and taste. We sacrifice items in the Corporeal to make Ether, which can be used to draw from the Magical realm. The Third is Ethereal, and it’s purely hypothetical, but it’s debated if our “essence” goes to either the Magical Realm or the Ethereal when we die. Ethereal is basically everything we can’t USE, like emotions.” Fralend finished.

  “I use emotions all the time to get what I want, though.” Kat smiled, and Fralend laughed.

  “You know what I meant, Kat.”

  Dothen cleared his throat. “Before I was removed as a Magos, I served High Magos Greymon of Hohl, who was fascinated by the Ethereal. Listening to him drove me to study more history, as his fascination with the Ethereal always brought him dangerously close to the Ancients. He theorized that using the Etheral like we do Magic was possible, and I would bet he knew more than he let on.”

  Fralend thought for a minute while lying on her bedroll, debating how sore her thighs would be when she woke in the morning.

  “The most straightforward explanation is a complex animation spell. That is far easier to explain than an entire school of magic unknown to the world.” She yawned partway through. It was already getting dark when they got out of the undercroft, and the tree tops were cutting off the last few rays of sunlight.

  “What about my father? He’d help us figure out what it is.” Fralend said.

  “Are you mad? He’s third from the top of a Discipline! That would require him to trust us, and he has a near-constant Athenaeum guard with him.”

  “Well, whom do you recommend?” Fralend knew it was a bad idea, but had nothing else. Walking around the city with a massive relic was basically like waving a flag that said, Please execute me.

  “I’ve been thinking about this, and High Magos Greymon would often contract work out of a master armorer here in Verloran. Nermoth of Boskyr, he’d be a good start to see what he thinks of that THING.”

  “Would he be able to recognize it as being a relic?” Kat added.

  “Hard to say, but I’d rather risk him than a Magos. Boskyr is off the major roads and doesn’t have an Athenaeum presence. Should be the safest option we have until we think of something better.”

  Thud, clank, thud, clank.

  “At least we can’t forget where it is.” Kat laughed.

  The Suit dropped the sticks next to Dothen, who looked up worriedly. He had agreed that bringing it with them was the best idea, but it was still unsafe.

  The Suit dropped to a knee and reached past Dothen, who was still organizing the sticks to start a fire. Dothen backed away to observe. The Suit had a rock he’d likely gotten while collecting sticks and struck it with one hand over the other hand's knuckle. The rock hitting the strange metal created a series of sparks that rapidly ate away at the sticks Dothen had prepared. The Suit started feeding more sticks into the fire.

  “Remarkable,” Dothen muttered, and The Suit turned to look at him.

  “There is no animated armor capable of such complex skills. You’d have to tell it twelve different commands to get it to do that.” Dothen's eyes locked with The Suits.

  “What are you?” Dothen asked slowly, warily.

  The Suit leaned forward and used his finger to draw in the dirt. Fralend and Kat leaned in to watch what it was doing. As it drew, Fralend's eyes moved over its body. The firelight made the engravings on each plate stand out, and she had failed to appreciate how intricate they were until now. Repeating patterns looped around the arms and legs, complex shapes of the same symbol dotted the chest seemingly at random. The harsh design of The Suit made it clear that while beautiful, its purpose was violence. The elbows were reinforced and ended in pointed tips that could easily kill. Little wasn’t covered by overlapping plates, but those few areas that would have been gaps had mesh similar to chainmail, but she saw no rivets, no bent links, just a solid string of metal wire like it had been poured as a single sheet when liquid. She followed its arm down to the pointed fingertips.

  Razor sharp. She thought.

  “Do either of you know what that means?” Asked Kat as The Suit finished.

  “Mketh?” Kat said, thinking allowed.

  They both looked to Dothen, who covered his mouth with his hand…

  “I’ve seen that word on maps of long-dead cities. It always denoted the quarters inhabited by slaves.”

  The Suit placed a few more sticks in the fire, which popped and cracked — sending light through the visor slit, revealing a space where a face should have been.

  “We should get some rest. It’s a long trip to Boskyr.” Fralend said quickly, hoping to prevent Kat from saying something stupid.

  Fralend lay back on her sleeping roll, which she had placed just out from under the castle ruin overhang so she could look at the stars. They were something she didn’t get to look at in the city. The best part about being out in the wilds, besides the chance of something better than toiling away at building projects.

  Clank!

  Her head spun. The Suit was standing beside her, looking out over the ruined castle and forests beyond like a sentry.

  “You can sit down.”

  It looked down at her.

  It nodded and knelt beside her, facing her.

  This is better, I guess. She tried not to look at it as it still towered over her.

  “Could you maybe face that way?” She pointed towards the fire.

  Much to her dismay, The Suit did indeed turn to face the fire, but its helmet never moved and remained looking over her.

  That is more than a little weird. She thought before forcing her eyes closed to sleep.

  “There won’t BE a home if we don’t stand together, princess. Every man in Verloran is marching on the Breach; what kind of a man would I be to stay behind?” Stellan finished washing his hands and sat down at the table. After spending so long outside in the frigid winds, the fireplace warmed his chilled bones.

  “I’ve heard stories, horrible ones. No ones come back from the Breach, Stellan. What good is fighting back against them? They can do THINGS, I’ve heard they can conjure fire out of thin air that can melt metal. Get into a man’s mind and have him kill his friend. Turn horses into demons under the rider mid gallop. May the Gods help us, I want you to stop them, but what good would one extra man do?” She grabbed his hands as he sat. They only had a few minutes to talk before the children returned from the field.

  “Princess, I won’t make a difference. Not alone anyway. It’s together where we are strong—all of us, every warrior of Verloran together. Then, we stand a chance. Our Gods give strength only to those who deserve it. If we all run and hide in the mountains, we’ll be weak when they arrive, but we'll meet them in battle. Our Gods will see our strength and be on our side. Trust me, princess.”

  “Fralend”

  “Fae!” Something hit Fralend's head, and she woke up startled.

  “Mmm…What?” She pulled the blanket over her head.

  “Fae, where is The Suit?” Kat asked.

  Fralend paused a moment, her mind wasn’t fully awake yet. The sun was just barely up. Kat was accustomed to waking up early to cook Fralend's breakfast, but Fralend usually slept in as was her privilege as a Magos.

  “Shit.” She pulled the blanket off her head and sat up. Dothen was snoring, but The Suit was nowhere to be seen.

  “Can you give me my shoe back?” Asked Kat.

  Fralend ignored her and started pulling on her boots. As she put on the last boot, she heard a clanking sound from the woods.

  “Oh, thank the Three Disciplines.” Fralend sighed, surprised at how fast her heart was beating so early in the morning.

  Several branches were pushed aside, and The Suit walked out of the woods, carrying the carcass of a large deer under one arm. The legs of the animal were dragging through the dirt, but it seemed unbothered by the animal's weight.

  Fralend and Kat watched as it dropped the dead animal on a large rock that had fallen off the castle wall. Thankfully, The Suit stood between them and the makeshift rock table, so they were spared from seeing what happened next. The sounds that came from the other side of The Suit made their skin crawl. Ripping and tearing as The Suit used its raw strength to dismember and skin the animal.

  “By the Ether,” Fralend whispered, eyes fixated on the deer leg that had just dropped on the ground beside the table. After a few more horrifyingly sickening moments, The Suit walked past them to the fire, which was merely embers now. It started pushing sticks closer and rekindled the fire, lacking the ability to blow air into the fire didn’t seem to lessen its ability. After a moment, the fire was back, and The Suit placed a thin rock over it with several lean venison strips.

  “Nnnnnghhh! Good morning!” Dothen yawned.

  “Oh, it’s making breakfast?” He smiled, wondering why the other two looked sick.