It had been a bit of a blessing in disguise that Kwez had been absent. Because as soon as the inn keeper was done with calling him every name under the sun the little critter had made his appearance, arriving with the creepy demon child Devi or whatever. Regardless, she handed the inn keeper a letter and a hefty sum for the repairs, courtesy of her master. They would have to leave in any case, so Ivan got their things and Nic, following back to Alistair's ... building. Let's just call it that.
As soon as they were there he had deposited Nic on a settee who still slept away. When he finally got an explanation it was from Kwez who had gotten to Alistair when the whole fiasco had about been over. Seemingly Nic had released some impressive amount of magic and spells in his sleep which had repelled some ne'er do wells, which the critter had used in the situation. The first thought that entered Ivan's mind was less than complementary as he was quite sure that it hadn't been necessary to solve things that violently, but he kept that to himself.
Now that he knew he recognized the symptoms well enough. Which meant Nic would probably stay asleep for a good while longer. With that came the boredom.
Ivan had nothing to do and was useless in this situation. He had been getting restless in the last days anyway, so for whatever reason he had opted to take a stroll through the city, but wearing a cloak with a hood to hide his general features. Not on his own volition, as Deva had all but threatened to put it in him herself if he didn't do so. Looking back afterwards he was even a bit thankful she had thought so, as he had soon noticed many whispers which were giving him a headache.
"Did you hear about Mafalda's?"
"Yes, terrible, I tell you, terrible. Those dark idiots and their flexing, terrible!"
"They are getting cocky, something has to be done!"
Ivan was listening and for once taking note very intently of what was spoken. That was just one conversation he heard, but it did not stop there.
"The council now wants to –"
"– just thinking about it, they should –"
"– to the gaols, I tell you–"
"– right? Those strangers, knew they were bad news. Did you know–"
Whatever he happened to overhear, the basic tenor was about the same everywhere, at least on the main streets. But even in the side streets the activity had taken up a note, the hustling and bustling had become filled with a strange kind of energy that he did not like one bit. They probably should just up and run, as soon as Nic was awake that is. Some were even talking about a death sentence, eagerly advocating for it, that was the kind of spectacle Ivan did not want to see through. Not with his own eyes for sure.
"Not all that unexpected, that much is sure," Alistair lackadaisically responded to his explanation.
"Why? If I understand that correctly the city could face a civil war?" Ivan questioned visibly confused.
"Look, this happening is a regular thing in All-Mag'Ick, nothing out of the norm at all. Every few decades our leadership changes, sometimes more representing the light, sometimes the dark, at other even balanced. Even a few years without leadership at all aren't that much out of the norm."
Alistair was fiddling with his various chronometers while casually explaining. His laboratory as he called it was illuminated in a rainbow of differing colors and the light was pulsing from time to time. But not at all bothered, even if Ivan and Nic now had the problem thrown at their feet.
As if having read his thoughts he went on, "Well, in the last decades the focus fell to the light, so to speak. On a fanatic level even, so we on the other side do as we always did – fall back a bit, fade into the shadows and wait for our time to strike. Then a bit of public warfare occurs, a reform follows and in a few decades it will happen the other way around."
Ivan could hardly believe what the guy told him. That would be like half the village would wage war against the other just to attain a period of grudgingly accepted peace. And take some form of revenge at a later date to start the cycle anew.
"As those living in the city we of the darker nature do not have to fear as much of extreme retaliation as you as outsiders would," Alistair added after a few moments, much like an afterthought. "That is why I will be helping you leave the city on a quieter route through the catacombs with the help of a few friends of mine. As soon as you are out of them you should probably get as far away as you are able to. The easiest would be taking a ship from Piskisport and sail to another continent altogether."
"Where's that now supposed to be?" a very much welcome voice asked sleepily. Ivan turned around and lo and behold, Nic was at least awake, if still a bit peaky looking.
To be honest he was probably only standing as he was leaning heavily against the door frame. Ivan wondered what kind of town that should be though, if he remembered the map there couldn't be much more than a small village at best. And the small fishing towns he had in mind would not offer such ships for sailing across the ocean. Arguably, if he believed the map All-Mag'Ick was supposed to be a small cluster of huts as well.
"To the east, about two days travel time, I think."
Some instruments produced tingling sound which had Alistair furrowing his brow.
"Why is it even that extreme this time?" Ivan finally inquired. The earlier behavior had indicated more of an attitude that nobody raised an eye. Not quite understandable how one came from that to calling for a death sentence in his opinion.
"That would be a fault lying with the council. They are of the opinion that the other possible route for your friend would not be barred by now. Or rather they take it to mean something it does not."
Now that was strangely cryptic. Before he could ask anything else another apparatus was ringing and chiming, Alistair clicked his tongue at that.
"Regardless, they will get very persistent soon enough, so you'd be better off if you are gone sooner than later. Though I might have to explain a bit, hopefully I will not be regretting it too much as if I hadn't."
Nic had been listening with just half an ear after that, too absorbed in the going-ons about him. So, if he did understand it correctly, then some powerful bigwig was after him so he could become a mentor. Though, as Alistair had explained, what that guy viewed as one didn't make much sense to him by definition and how one should be taught to be one was a bit beyond him as well. In the end he shouldn't concern himself with it, as there was another route that one became one and it didn't exclusively have to do with guiding heroes per se. The old magician had just patted him on the head – figuratively, thank whatever deity for that – and told him to just follow his goals.
Right, back to the more important things. Alistair's friends were a bit of an unusual bunch and Nic wasn't very trusting of them either way. Friends was no guarantee that there wouldn't be traitor15 somewhere. It did sound farfetched, yes, but it was a risk that wasn't something he wanted to encounter while navigating without being able to do so himself in catacombs and unknown cave systems adjacent to them. So, even those fellows he had disturbed in their rituals were more preferred, as he was quite sure they were less liable to get him killed. He was not yet ready to be pushing up daisies. And spending his time in some dungeon wasn't much more appealing either.
"... what should be enough."
What had he missed? My, Ivan had been listening though.
"Alright, let's get going then," Ivan jovially babbled.
Sighing he had to rethink that. His friend would probably not remember what was important when they needed it and if he had taken any information from this it was useless. Or would overlook details he didn't deem crucial for one reason or another. Which might cause them trouble down the line they could have avoided in the first place. Well, Nic smiled despite his foreboding intuition. First they had to get through the underground labyrinths and then one would see.
**********15The kind of people who let their kind of service cost a very pretty penny. Sadly, most never get the chance to fully enjoy said penny and more often than not that money went back to the one who paid it in the first place. Nobody liked traitors.