Feral Mage Book 3: Chapter 1

Bryce entered the tavern of the mercenary guildhall with the goal of a cool drink and hot food after training in the yard. Before he made it to the bar to order something, he paused. It was mid-morning, and most of the mercs had left for contracts or to visit the markets and shops that were just opening, leaving the main floor sparsely populated.

Thankfully.

“Sorry, Omelet,” Bryce sighed. “If only I had gotten here sooner.”

If he had, he might have saved the griffin chick from this fate. Bryce could have taken him out to the training yard with him or even taken him on a walk through the city.

Omelet stared up at him from under one of the tables, a pink bonnet tied to his head. Something either Thea or Alice had done to the poor monster.

He shook his head and began looking around the tavern for the girls.

That was when he heard laughter from behind him. Turning, he saw Mark with a massive grin on the berserker's face.

“That pink really suits him, matches the brown of his feathers,” Mark chuckled.

Bryce groaned.

“I’ll remind you of that when Omelet’s the size of a horse,” he countered.

At least, I hope he will be…

He was a little worried about the griffin chick. Omelet’s growth spurt had slowed down, and he had started to gain weight. Bryce knew a hawk griffin like Omelet should be about twice the size he was right now.

I need to bring this up with Bellamy.

Mark smacked him on the arm.

“You’re going to need a bigger bonnet,” the guildmaster laughed. “Come to my office. I have a contract for you.”

Bryce’s lips thinned.

“You mean you have an errand you don’t want to run and are going to pawn off on me,” he growled.

Mark nodded.

“With pay,” he smiled. “Hey, it’ll get you out of the guildhall for a bit.”

Mark turned and started for his office. Bryce snatched the bonnet from Omelet’s head, throwing it on the table before following the guild leader.

The past three months had been the dullest of his life. Even compared to living on a farm, it was dull. When he brought Thea back to the guildhall, he expected turbulent times ahead, which meant work for a merc like him and the girls.

Instead, Thea was writing letters and rubbing elbows with the upper crust of Witchbrook. Mark had told him multiple times that it was Thea using her nobility to further her efforts to stop her Uncle, Harold Volson.

Bryce found the whole affair tedious. The Kingdom of Volpin now had an army stationed in the lands of the Kingdom of Brook, yet all everyone was doing was talking.

“Where did the girls run off to?” Bryce asked.

Mark looked back at him.

“Lady Thea wanted to go shopping with Alice,” Mark answered. “Pretty sure Callie dragged your two girls along with them as bodyguards.”

They passed by the wall of dog tags that was the memorial for fallen mercenaries of the guild. Bryce looked at the tags of his fallen brothers and sisters. He broke his gaze when he saw an elven woman with ashen skin in the reflection of the polished metal.

She’s still watching me.

The strange woman hadn’t left him since the battle back in Stonewall, where he rescued Thea. He never told anyone about her, not even Vex or Janna. How could he without sounding crazy?

Bryce did what he always did and ignored her, looking instead to the door Mark had just walked through. His office was a plain room with a desk, chair, and wall mount for the berserker’s beloved battle axe.

That’s new.

Bryce walked over to the small table in the corner of the room. Laid out on it was a map of the Kingdom of Brook with wooden soldiers set up where the Kingdom of Volpin had a foothold.

“Planning to lead the offensive yourself?” Bryce asked, picking up one of the soldiers.

The comment had been a joke. Mark was the guild leader of Witchbrook Mercenary Guild. It made sense that he would keep tabs on the happenings of a war in his own home Kingdom. Still, this was the first time he had seen an actual map laid out in his office with pieces, and there had been plenty of wars over the years.

“This war is different, given what you told me,” Mark said as he took a seat at his desk. “The Kingdom of Brook isn’t being invaded by one Kingdom, it’s being invaded by three. All under the control of some puppet master.”

He sighed and pointed at the empty chair across from him. Once Bryce was seated, Mark continued.

“Which brings me to the job I have for you. My friends have found some information on what Harold Volson might be,” Mark said.

Bryce sat a little straighter.

“Finally, some good news,” he said. “Maybe this will help Lady Thea convince those jackass nobles.”

She would attend every event for nobility in Witchbrook with Baroness Julia, and Bryce would get dragged into it as her bodyguard. He hated it and not just for his usual distaste of his betters, as they would say.

Thea would speak to them about what her Uncle was planning and the fate that would await the Kingdom of Brook if they didn’t act. Few ever heard her words. Most would bob their heads like a yard hen before shifting the topic to the dress she wore or about themselves. The worst was those who wanted to know about what happened to the Redpine Family and Prince Vance. Thea would always go quiet when they asked that, and Bryce had developed a habit of stepping in and escorting her away when anyone even hinted at the subject.

Mark nodded.

“I need you to go meet with them at the Witchbrook University,” he said. “Pay is five silver.”

Bryce narrowed his eyes at Mark.

“You’re paying me five silver to walk across the city?” he laughed. “What’s the catch?”

“Maybe I’m just a busy man?” Mark replied.

Bryce raised an eyebrow, and Mark sighed.

“Apparently, this information is restricted knowledge. The books will be a pain in your ass to get access to,” Mark answered with a smile. “Believe it or not, I’m not a very patient man. So why not pawn this off on the man who keeps bringing Princesses to my damn guildhall?”

Bryce scratched his cheek.

“Fine, I’ll do it,” he said.

At least it will get me out of the guildhall.

That thought bit him in the ass the moment he was past the walls of the guild and saw a woman waiting for him across the street. The other people on the street moved out of the way as the red-headed sea elf skipped over to him, a bright and cheerful smile on her face.

“I heard you were training in the yard shirtless, Darling,” Isabelle said, twirling a lock of her red hair. “Sad I missed it.”

Bryce still had no idea why she was so interested in him, but Isabelle seemed to take any opportunity she could to be by him.

“I’m on a job today, Isabelle,” Bryce said, turning and moving down the street.

Isabelle clicked her tongue and followed beside him.

“You must be getting a lot of jobs around the City lately. I keep putting in contracts for you, but they go unanswered,” she said, then pouted. “Did you not like our little date to the circus?”

Bryce glared at the pouting sea elf.

“The circus was fun,” he said. “The surprise haircut you gave me a few days later was not.”

Isabelle’s pout shifted to an eyeroll.

“Ignore a girl for months just because she wanted a little keepsake,” she said, shaking her head at Bryce.

Bryce sighed as he saw a group of people in front of them spotted Isabelle and quickly left the street.

“Like I said, Isabelle, I’m doing a job,” Bryce growled.

She smiled at him.

“What’s the job?” she asked. “Also, where’s Wolfy, Foxy, and Snowy?”

It took Bryce a second to piece together that she was referring to Vex, Janna, and Callie.

“They’re out shopping, and the job is at the university,” he answered.

He hoped this would deter her. He doubted the university would let a well-known criminal like Isabelle into the building, let alone see restricted information.

The gang boss just hummed a tune as she reached out and grabbed the edge of his jacket, holding it.

The two of them made their way through the inner city of Witchbrook, where the guildhalls were located, and from there they traveled along the port side. Soon they arrived at a peninsula that curved around the harbor like a giant hook. High stone walls separated this peninsula from the rest of Witchbrook and the three large stone buildings that served as the university.

Witchbrook University had been a place Bryce had seen several times from afar and heard about in conversation, but other than that, it had been far from his mind.

The place was the second-largest center of learning in the Kingdom of Brook, the first being the university located within the capital. Those with the means would pay chests of coins to come here and learn. The coin went to expanding and maintaining the large library of books and paying the staff.

Nicole had gone there a few times for research into improving her magic, as had other mages from the guildhall. Bryce’s magic was simpler in its nature, so he doubted there would be anything there that would help him.

Besides, the books that interested him could be found for a copper at a stall in the market.

The guards watched them as they approached the gates. They all wore full sets of plate armor that probably cost enough to outfit Bryce, Callie, Vex, and Janna in better gear than they currently had, with coin to spare. One of the first signs of the wealth that went into this place.

“What brings you to the university today?” the guard greeted with a smile.

The smile was welcoming, but Bryce caught the subtle shift in stance and the fact that the guard’s hand was now resting on the hilt of his sword.

“I’m here on the orders of Guildmaster Mark of the Mercenary Guild,” Bryce said.

At the mention of Mark’s name, the hand dropped from the hilt, but the guard turned to look at Isabelle. A smile still on his face, but his eyes locked on the twin swords whose handles stuck out from under her white fur coat.

“I’m his assistant,” Isabelle said, looping her arm through Bryce’s.

To his surprise, the guard nodded and stepped aside, gesturing for them to enter.

“Scribe Alex has been waiting for you,” he said. “Just ask for him at the main desk and they will direct you to him.”

As they walked past the gates, a large courtyard with gardens, fountains, and stone benches greeted them. Isabelle tugged on his arm to lead him to one fountain in particular, a nude woman emptying a vase from where the water poured.

When they arrived at the fountain, Bryce saw that the water was landing on stone flowers near her feet to create the image of the woman emptying a vase of flowers before placing new ones. Large colorful fish swam in the base of the fountain, ones unlike any Bryce had seen before.

He stared at them curiously.

“I always like coming here to watch the fish. Every fountain has some in it, a gift to the university from one of the Horo-Kitsune clans years ago. A species from the Ember Islands called Koi,” Isabelle stated.

Bryce looked from the fish to Isabelle.

“You come here a lot?” he heard his doubt echoed in his voice.

Isabelle chuckled.

“What? Just because I’m a brothel owner, you think I shouldn’t be interested in learning?” she said, batting her eyes.

Then she stood on her tiptoes, her hand coming up to lightly brush against his chin as her voice became quieter.

“And it’s cute that you think they got all their collection through legitimate means. The university is one of my best customers, and I’m not referring to the brothel,” she whispered.

Bryce leaned back to escape her fingers, and Isabelle smiled before returning to her more chipper personality.

“Well, let’s go meet with this Alex,” she said, tugging him away from the fountain. “It would be rude to keep him waiting.”