Bloodflowers Bloom (The Astral Wanderer Book 2)

into his pocket. “Those damned Templars.”
Koli nodded. He had assumed it would come to that eventually. “Is that an order from your glorious leader?” This was answered by something sharp and warm that poked at his cheek. His partner had produced his wand, Kapre, and pointed it at him with a shaking fist.
“Do not mock me or him, Koli!” he insisted and small sparks of flame flared from the red jewel at the top of the wand. “And don’t be so arrogant. You had the box and lost it. You couldn’t even handle a few brats so I will not listen to you prattle on about your—”
“If you recall,” Koli interrupted as he slipped a hand under his eyepatch, “it was my partner who was the first to retreat.” He raised the eyepatch to reveal his malefic. “And, as much fun as it would have been to have a chance at the mori, a rather interesting development occurred during my fight as well.”
Salvo hesitated and the sparks faded from his wand as he growled and put it away. “Yeah, that majestic blade. You told us,” he muttered. As much as his rage fueled him, his better judgment still won out. He couldn’t fight Koli on his own and especially not in a place like this. “Whatever. Leave it be. I’ll have my chance to see what it does for myself.” With that, he attempted to leave again but his companion reached back and caught his sleeve.
“Tell me, do you have a plan to find them?” he asked, “or will you simply spend a good while walking the lands in a big game of hide and seek?”
Salvo yanked his sleeve away. “I’ll start burning things and get their attention. Maybe I’ll start with Rouxwoods where we saw them last.”
Koli chuckled. “I admire your tenacity, but that’s more likely to draw in far more than only the Templars, if they show up at all.”
“So be it,” the other magi retorted. “I need to release some anger anyway, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll eventually think of something else once I’ve cooled down.”
“Cooled down?” The trickster continued to snicker. “There’s a better chance of the Astrals returning than that happening, Salvo. Even in your state, you must realize that.”
“What’s it to you?” Salvo snapped and spun to face him. “You’ve run odd jobs since the failure the same as I have. I haven’t seen you doing anything to help look for them.”
“I was not asked to,” Koli stated, his tone matter of fact. “I’m on contract, unlike you. In fact, I made a delivery to our dear friends down below that will finish my term under your lord’s employ. I had hoped to run into you at the estate, but it seems fortuitous that I run into you now.”
“Is that so?” the fire magi muttered and shook his head. “I know you are playing coy, Koli. You have at least some idea of what he plans to do. Why bother leaving? You are paid well and once he changes the realms, what good will it be to not serve under him?”
Koli frowned and pulled his eyepatch down. “I still have my freedom of choice, Salvo. No one will strip that from me,” he replied, his gaze calm and deliberate. “That was something we both held dear at one point.”
Salvo’s eyes narrowed behind their shades. “Who says I don’t? But even I can see the inevitable. I guess I learned that no matter how far above fate you think you are, it finds a way to slap you back into reality.”
The assassin studied the man he once believed he knew and felt somewhat disappointed. But in spite of that—or perhaps due to the time they had shared—he decided to offer him some aid. He reached into his tunic and retrieved a device. “Here, take this.”
“An a-stone?” The fire magi took it and examined it curiously. “What? Is this for us to stay in touch?”
“You know I’m not that sentimental, Salvo,” Koli teased and held a finger up. “During that little scuffle in Rouxwoods, I did one small thing to be safe. I planted a rune—a tiny one—that let me attach a trace amount of mana onto it to open a small line of communication, which would allow me to listen to anyone speaking within the vicinity of the box.”
“What?” The other man gasped. “And you didn’t tell anyone?”
“I told your boss,” he said with a smirk. “I let him decide whether to tell others. I guess he chose to keep it to himself.”
Salvo grimaced but looked at the a-stone. “How much longer will the rune last?”
“Oh, not long at all at this point,” Koli admitted with a shrug. “A day, maybe a little more. As I said, it was rather small so it would not be discovered easily. Fortunately, the contents of the box seemed to obscure it for the most part. But that’s not what you should be concerned about.” He pointed at the a-stone and circled his finger. “I heard something quite interesting before I arrived. It appears your quarry is preparing to leave on another mission. They intend to go to Levirei to investigate some disturbance there.”
“They are?” his partner asked, his eyes wide as the smallest grin began to form on his lips. “When?”
“In a day or so. You can listen to the conversation for yourself. The mori won’t be with them, it seems. Another Templar named Wulfsun will lead them. And it appears they are investigating dark, ominous magic that has been springing up throughout all the kingdoms. It seems Alastair is getting things going now, huh?”
Salvo’s eyes widened even more. “He’s already beginning? No, this must be one of the tests he mentioned.”
“I would think so. It’s causing quite a fuss, whatever it is, but it’s hardly something that will bring down kingdoms and empires.” Koli smirked. “Do with the information what you will but hopefully, you won’t be so sulky from now on.”
Salvo certainly was not. He