The wave of magic that Will had built up and that he was riding as he sprinted across the countryside was titanic in size. He was moving at speeds that his father would have said were reserved for something called an airplane. As he burst through the border station and neared the Castle, his wave of power slammed into the magical defenses of the building and shattered them, Will skidded to a stop steps away from the throne, where a terrified King of Herzinia cowered behind a line of guards who looked equally terrified.
Will barked out one word, his mind still pulling in massive quantities of mana, "Where?"
The King squealed out an order, and a guard tossed forward a bound and gagged man who looked mortified and had pissed in his sackcloth pants. Suddenly, all the mana that Will had been gathering began to rush into his body as he stepped forward to undo the bonds and gag on the man. He knelt and gently grasped the man's face. His next words were filled with enough mana that reality bent, wanting to work to his words. "Tell me where Princess Illicia is."
The man stuttered out several things, and many of the guards collapsed. The King fled, and only the court wizard was left, staring in awe at Will.
[Gruben the Spy]
Gruben, or Grub for short, had been tasked to take a message to the King of Herzinia. It was known that Herzinia's King was a pervert on several levels and had been known to buy the daughters of noble houses just for those girls never to be seen again. Grub had thought that he had an easy assignment. The King had dispatched a message to Kolt just to verify and count on the protections for Envoys. He had given Grub a room and tasked him to wait the 4 days it would take. Grub had found a maid who needed some extra cash and taken her to his room for some evening fun.
That had been nearly five days ago. Yesterday, while he wandered the castle grounds, looking for another maid, he had been summoned to the King's reception as the Envoy had signaled he would be contacting the King shortly. When Grub arrived, the King had been in conversation with a panicked Envoy. The Guards had seized him, bound him, and then gagged him. He had spent the next 18 hours on the floor of the reception.
Now he was staring down a creature that had mana that Grub could only assume was on par with the gods. Grub felt his bladder empty and felt panic rising in his chest as his meager mana detection ability told him that untold vast quantities of mana were suddenly being sucked into this being. Grub felt himself being tossed forward, and then his bonds were removed. The man reached down to lift Grub's eyes to meet his own. Then he spoke. Grub felt power in this man's hand, but it was nothing compared to what was in his voice.
"Tell me where Princess Illicia is."
Suddenly, Grub was a prisoner in his own mind, as his body and the magic of the world tore the knowledge from his lips; no matter what Grub did to fight, his body would not respond. When the strange man had everything he wanted, he spoke once more.
"Thank you, now perish."
With that, Grub was dead.
[Will]
Will could feel the death of the dirty little spy. He turned to find that the only person still in the room and conscious was the court, Wizard. Will faced him, "You should know that I have heard of the predilections of the King of Herzinia."
The Wizard gulped. He knew exactly what Will was talking about. Will continued, "If I hear of it ever happening again, I will come back and ensure that the Kingdom of Herzinia needs a new royal family. I suggest that the King abdicate in favor of his daughter and that you teach her to be a good person. Then I suggest that the King suffer an accident."
The Wizard nodded his voice horse when he spoke, "I understand."
"Good, now, I must go meet this supposed King of the Thieves, Mardok. Send word to the leaders of the Gob'Ran Collective and inform them of what is happening here. Do you understand everything I have said?"
The Wizard nodded, and Will turned, mapping in his head where he needed to go and beginning to build a wave of magic that would rival the one that had brought him here. He knew his goal was far, even with Elf stones, so he had to get moving.
[Got'Ro and Yilan]
As Got'Ro and Yilan worked to go through all the data that they were aggregating to try and collect any tidbits about Illicia, one of the mages rushed in. "A connection to the Court Wizard of Herzinia has been established."
Got'Ro and Yilan stepped into the other room and listened to what the Wizard had to say.
"I have been tasked to tell you what just happened by a man the likes of which I have never seen before." The Wizard said and relayed exactly what had happened.
Yilan nodded, asking several questions. With her questions, she was building a picture of several things, not the least of which was exactly how powerful Will had become. She did not know who had been exercising his magic for him while it was sealed, but they had unleashed truly unheard-of power on Will when they returned it.
Got'Ro interrupted, "Did you happen to catch where the boy was headed?"
The Wizard nodded, "The fortress of Gor'An Wat. One of the twelve ancient demon kings."
Yilan cut the connection and followed Got'Ro as he walked towards the open doors of a balcony that overlooked the collective.
When he stepped out, he took a deep breath and unleashed a roar that silenced everyone for nearly a mile. They all rushed to the courtyard under the window.
"Vem Bak! Gob'Ran Gurdan Na!" Got'Ro was furious, and Yilan translated using magic for any who could not understand Orkish.
"Clans Gather! The Gob'Ran goes to war!" Got'Ro said, "Someone threatens Will and Illicia. While that is enough for me. These people have made a home in the halls of Gor'An Wat! They desecrate our sacred dead."
Instantly, every Orc in the courtyard grew furious. Got'Ro continued, "I march to Gor'An Wat. To assist my grandson and to show these fools that they should not disturb the sacred dead of the Orcs."
Got'Ro jumped from the Balcony and headed out, and almost every Orc in attendance followed. Yilan quickly coordinated with several others to get enough food and equipment on the road as well before she floated to the ground, catching up to her husband.
She looked at the army that had formed up and was marching. Even for the spur of the moment, there were three thousand orcs, with more streaming in as runners spread the news. Yilan shook her head and thought to herself. "Oh, you poor fool, Mardok. If only you knew just what you had unleashed upon yourself. The Orcs are bad enough, but I suspect that the one you should worry about more is Will."
With that, she continued marching with her husband and quietly used a message spell to call in an old favor to a shady friend.
