He's a Bastard - 12. Chapter 12- A Wanderer Gone Astray

The sun had set mercilessly fast on the horizon. Alexandra and Revelin mindlessly built a fire from the wooden rubble, and we all sat with our knees bent, gazing absently at the flames. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the silent tears rolling down Lexie's cheeks.

Losing both Makith and Itharos at once must have been a difficult thing to process. Not to mention Rev's godson and Duncan. From what I had grasped, Makith was Revelin's best friend, and Itharos had been his best rival…almost as if one brother had kidnapped the other. At that point, even I would have preferred it to have been a scorned lover or vengeful assistant who attacked Revelin's mansion and caused such destruction to Makith's home.

My mentor sighed, raking his nails through his scalp. Before I knew it, I had reached over to place a hand on his arm. He turned towards me, and I had never seen him look so lost. So, I tried to distract him.

"Still cold?" I asked him.

"Yeah, but only when the breeze sneaks in between the stones." He replied in a half-playful manner. Without the usual smirk of superiority on his face, it came off as flat.

"Don't worry so much," Alexandra sighed from the far right. Her voice was no longer shaking, but her body still was. "We shouldn't be sitting around moping. We should be figuring out how to get Makith back along with those young-ins."

"Your bracelet," I pointed out, having figured out what she used it for. "It has both Itharos and Makith's signature Vim, does it not?"

"Yeah, but it's not enough to even..." Her voice ended in a surprised choke when she saw the round charm on her bracelet begin to glow a plum hue. She glanced up and locked eyes with me, both sets widening in surprise. "I don't believe it..." She whispered just as a petite form began to materialize beside her.

"You better damn well believe it," Verity scoffed as she pulled her plum hood back to reveal her round face. All of us quickly rose to our feet. But, it was Alexandra who nearly tripped herself on the way up.

"Verity," Alexandra's voice began to break as she took in the sight of her friend. Her back straightened abruptly as if she were pulling herself together. "Shorter hair sure looks good on you." She said as she took in Verity's pixie cut.

"You too," She replied with a smirk until her expression changed into a frown. "Though that color does not suit you." She reached out to shake her fingers through Alexandra's hair, restoring the black strands to their original purple shade. I was impressed. "Much better."

"Damn, I missed you, girl." Alexandra hissed as she hugged Verity tightly. "You have no idea what we've just been through."

Verity snorted. "Let me guess...Itharos? You don't know the half of it."

"Please, enlighten us," Revelin prompted.

"Well then, everyone needs to sit their butts back down, and I'll show you everything I've witnessed," Verity explained as she took her place in front of the fire. A plum-hued staff formed on her hand. As she twirled it over the fire, the flames took on the same hue, and a flickering image formed inside it.

:::

"You don't understand. Those waves looked too sharply cut to be a natural-occurring Tsunami," the Verity in the recorded image growled at one of the priests in a church. Which means that this last one was anything but natural."

"Fine, don't believe me," she sighed. "Just make sure that everyone is safe while I go investigate."

She pulled her hood back over her head and headed towards the shore. After some heavy bribing, she managed to get a crew to take her out to sea in the direction that the tsunami was first seen.

When they were far enough on the water, she formed a staff in her hands and twirled it over the water, using an activation spell. If the water was manipulated by Vim, it would give off a glow. If no form of power was used, then it would remain the same.

What we all saw in the recorded image made us frown.

"That is a long trail of Vim... only a few people are capable of doing this much. Not at this scale."

The next image showed Verity confronting Itharos. His wrist cuff glinted. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to me made of the scales of a water serpent.

"Just what were your motives for trying to drown the Trade Island? Or did you lose control of your Vim out in the ocean while hunting for the serpent that became your cuff?" Verity questioned as she motioned with her hand towards his wrist. "Talk to me, Itharos."

His silver eyes were glowing, and there was something about his stance and the way he slowly walked towards Verity that seemed off. The petite woman immediately formed a Vim shield around herself as he approached.

"Dearest Verity." Though the words rolled out in a purr, there was a sharpness of warning to them. As he spoke, the arch-passage behind Verity began to activate. "It's far too soon for you to interfere." In one swift move, he shoved her right through the arch-passage and inactivated it.

In the next recorded image, Verity was shown trudging through a tundra and coming across an arctic dragon. The pale creature's azure eyes settled on her tiny form. She tossed up a shield just as blue fire rained down from above…

:::

"Just when I thought I was finished with feeling so cold!" Revelin complained while rubbing his arms as Verity's final recording ended.

"I can certainly see how Itharos could have used water to exploit the weaknesses of these structures," I commented aloud as my eyes gazed at the ruins of what used to be the nymph kingdom.

"My question is the same as yours, Verity." My mentor prompted. "The Vim required to bring that much water out here to a desert...Itharos is a powerful Wanderer. But, not even all of us together would have been able to accomplish as much."

"And you said that the signature Vim in your bracelet isn't enough to form a trace?" I asked Alexandra.

"Oh?" Verity asked. "But, perhaps with this, it will be enough?" She suggested as she pulled out Itharos's serpent skin cuff from within her burgundy robes.

"I should have known!" Revelin cried as a genuine smile formed on his face at last. "Verity, welcome back into the fold. We're lucky to have you."

"I know, I know," Verity replied with an answering grin. She turned towards Alexandra. "Well, Lexie? Let's get to work on extracting the Vim from that book-shaped charm of yours."

"With pleasure." She conceded as she plucked the charm right off her bracelet.

Soon, the two of them managed to stabilize a connection between Itharos's Vim and his whereabouts. Once again, a violet Vim sphere formed before us. The sphere began to show dark figures dashing about.

"What are those things?" Lexie asked while frowning at one of the shadow-like forms.

"I've been trying to figure that out since I first saw them," I huffed.

"Look, there's Makith!"

"He has Makith?" Verity asked with a frown.

"Yes, he kidnapped him along with two others." Revelin supplied.

We all looked on as Itharos approached the nymph. Makith's wrists were held above his head in a cloth-like material, and his feet were each held down by chains on the ground. "They will come for you," Itharos said as he trailed his fingers along the side of Makith's throat. "And then, I'll finally rid myself of them one at a time."

Alexandra cursed when the image dissipated. "Shit!" She looked at everyone in turn. "Does anyone have any idea where they could be based on what we saw?"

"I do." I sighed. My mentor also knew the answer before the words even came out of my mouth. "They're in Revelin's mansion."