As midday came closer, the hills around the dueling grounds steadily filled up with mages. At a glance, Arran thought there were tens of thousands of them, and more kept arriving with each passing minute.
The three Elders who would face Brightblade arrived as well, a large group of other mages following behind them. It was clear that they had many allies, both in the House of Seals and in the other Houses.
Arran stayed well away from the group. Giving them the chance to seek a confrontation would be foolish. It would hand them a way to get to Brightblade through him, and for no good reason.
Instead, he swallowed his anger and turned away from the group. Brightblade would put them in their place soon enough.
More mages gathered around Arran and Elder Theron as well, however. Some of these merely gave friendly nods and smiles, but others came over to introduce themselves, and a few even approached Arran to discuss his plans after the duel.
