[Mkguild] The Illusive Chain: Coincidence (9/?)

[Azariah Wolf]

A bit shorter once again, but not so short as Tuesday's portion.

-LurkingWolf

___

The sun had set hours before the last torch was extinguished and the 
occupants of the room left the ermine to his rest.They had made no 
progress as every poke and prod, whether from Balrog or Lucy, had 
revealed nothing more than what they could see at the surface.They had 
continued their work well beyond the point of exhaustion, but they had 
finally been forced to admit defeat.They hoped, perhaps vainly, that 
they could find the missing piece in the morning.

Nathan followed Balrog at a distance as the man walked slowly through 
the halls.The human scratched at his chin and twirled the braids of his 
beard around his thick fingers.Nathan was unwilling to0 shatter his 
contemplation in most cases, but he had detected something in his 
friend's manner that made him decide to violate that tendency.

"You have an idea, don't you?" he asked pointedly.

Balrog turned halfway, still walking, as though he had forgotten that he 
was not alone in the halls.After seeing his commander he turned his 
attention once more to the path of his feet."I did not see anything 
foreign amidst the weaves of the spell," he replied.

"That is not the answer to the question I asked," the wolf noted.

Balrog sighed heavily."You read me too well, my friend," he admitted.

"And you avoid the point like the---like a priest avoids a 
brothel."Nathan winced at how near he had come to making a comparison in 
bad taste.Balrog clearly detected his change of direction, but he was 
not inclined to mention it.He had other inclinations.

"They do?"He snickered."I'm happy I never considered the 
occupation."Nathan was about to deliver a scathing retort when the human 
raised his hand to forestall him.

"Yes, I am avoiding the point.You are, of course, correct."He sighed as 
he made the admission, but continued on."Although I cannot see any 
evidence of tampering in the curse, the effects are clearly identical to 
those of a fetish stone.I would surmise that the shaman attempted to 
cast the spell held within the stone as a last defense, evidently a 
successful measure.My only questions are how it worked, and why there is 
no evidence of it afterwards."

"No progress on those answers, presumably?"

Balrog sighed with a shake of his head."Logically, there should be no 
way it would function.A fetish stone should be necessary as fuel for the 
spell, much a pyrock is required to kindle a fire spell for more than a 
few moments.That would explain the second question, as the spell simply 
should have dispersed after a little while, but that leave me with no 
answer to first.How is it possible for a spell to function after the 
weaves of magic are gone?"

Nathan shrugged."Well, as you said, a pyrock is needed to magically 
sustain a fire spell, but only fuel and air are necessary for a fire to 
spread after the spell has been cast.The actual spell is gone, but the 
fire continues."

Balrog stopped in his tracks as his commander spoke.He turned with an 
odd look on his face."Sir, that is a fascinating comparison," he said, a 
hint of admiration in his voice."'If fuel is present...'What sort of 
fuel could this spell consume, though?"He shook his head, pacing the 
short distance from one wall to the opposite in contemplation.

"Well, as fire burns wood, so magic burns mana, or so I've heard.Perhaps 
he was simply near enough to a magic nexus for the additional mana to 
further the spell?"

"No."Balrog shook his head and increase his pace."If that sort of thing 
could happen, any spell cast near Metamor would have the same 
inexplicable properties.Using a nexus requires conscious effort, and if 
this was a dying last defense as I have postulated then he wouldn't have 
had the time to perform something that complicated."He paced a few more 
steps before turning to look at the wolf."Keep talking, though.You have 
at least made some interesting observations."

Nathan shrugged."I think I played my trump too early, I can think of no 
theory more suitable."

Balrog chuckled quietly, slowing his pacing as he turned back towards 
the black wolf."There is something there, I think.At the very least, it 
gives me a place to start."He sighed."You are correct about one thing; 
mana is the fuel for magic.How this bears significance is the elusive 
point."He shook his head and kicked at the stone of the floor in 
annoyance."Unfortunately, I don't think that pacing around the area is 
likely to provide us with the answers."

"We can try again tomorrow," Nathan advised."I think Victor has been 
left to his own devices for a little bit longer than I would generally 
advise.I would like to check on him before it gets too much later."

Balrog nodded."I hope he has found the baths and a good meal or two.And, 
hopefully, he has managed to keep himself calm.The plague certainly had 
him shaken this morning."

Nathan nodded."I often miss them, but times like these I am happy that 
my family stayed in the Midlands.It gives me less to worry about in the 
meanwhile."He waved to Balrog and continued down the hall."Come; let's 
go find Victor and get some rest.Perhaps the answers we need will come 
to us over the night."

Balrog stood still for a few more moments, but he finally nodded and 
followed after his patrol commander.The two of them were already under 
suspicion from Lois' patrol.Even if he thought he had some revelation 
about the spell which his friend was suffering, returning would only 
result in more suspicion, if not outright hostility, from their hosts.He 
would have to renew his efforts in the morning.

At least he had been able to maneuver around Nathan's probing for now.
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