I didn't stop running until the sounds of the town bells faded into the distance. My lungs were on their limits, and the heavy bag bumped rhythmically against my hip, a constant reminder that I was carrying enough magical ordnance to blow myself into the next Age.
I crashed through the final line of brush and stumbled into the clearing of the Old Oak.
Kaelen was there.
He was sitting on a large exposed root, calmly peeling an apple with a small knife. He looked as if he had been there for hours, not minutes.
He didn't look up as I collapsed onto the grass, clutching the satchel.
"Your form while running is offensive," Kaelen noted, slicing a piece of apple. "You stomp. You're loud. A deaf bear could track you."
"I... huff... secured... huff... the package," I wheezed, throwing the leather bag at his feet.
Kaelen caught the bag with his foot, cushioning the impact before it hit the ground. He raised an eyebrow.
"Careful. If that glass breaks, we both become dust on the wind."
He set his apple and knife aside and picked up the satchel. He undid the straps with long, dexterous fingers. The violet glow of the Ether spilled out, reflecting in his eyes.
"Twelve vials," he murmured. "High purity. The Alchemists' Guild would kill to get this back. The Shadow-Steel Mercenaries would kill twice as hard."
He looked at me then. A slow, terrifying smile spread across his face.
"I expected you to freeze, Adam. Or to run away when the gas hit."
"I'm not like others," I said, finally catching my breath. "And I wasn't going to let the Guards grab you. If they saw an Elf in a hood holding the bag, the whole town would be on a witch hunt."
"True," Kaelen conceded. "But you improvised. You used the girl as a distraction. You utilized the chaos."
He tossed me a piece of apple. I caught it reflexively.
"Not bad," he said. "For a human."
"Thanks," I muttered, taking a bite. It was sour.
I chewed slowly, the adrenaline finally fading enough for my brain to start working again. I looked at the elf, then at the bag of explosives, then back at the elf.
Something didn't add up.
"Wait a minute," I said, lowering the apple. "Why were you there, Kaelen?"
Kaelen didn't pause in his slicing. "I enjoy higher education. The lecture on trade routes was quite something."
"I'm serious," I snapped, stepping closer. "You hate the town. You hate crowds. And you said we were going to 'wait for leverage.' But you were at the school before anyone knew Halloway had the bag. You timed the gas perfectly. You knew exactly where he was."
I narrowed my eyes.
"That was an intervention. How did you know?"
Kaelen sighed. A long, weary sound that seemed to rattle in his chest. He reached into his tunic and pulled out a small, grey stone.
It was identical to the Whisper Stone he had given me.
"Check your pocket, Adam," he said.
I fished my own stone out. It was cold and dormant now, but earlier, in the classroom, it had been burning hot.
"They are paired," Kaelen explained, tossing his stone in the air and catching it without looking. "Twin-linked geodes from the Deep Mines. When one vibrates, the other resonates. It's how hunting parties communicate silently over vast distances."
He stopped slicing the apple and pointed the knife at me.
"Today, while I was meditating, my stone didn't just vibrate. It screamed."
He stood up, his casual demeanor vanishing instantly. The predator was back.
"The stone reacts to unstable magical cores. Volatile Ether. When you walked into that classroom, your stone went into a frenzy because you were sitting next to a localized cataclysm. It was sending a distress signal directly to me."
"So you tracked me?"
"Yes, that I did," Kaelen corrected. "I shadow-stepped to the roof of your school. I looked through the skylight. I saw your teacher."
Kaelen's face darkened. His violet eyes went cold, remembering what he saw.
"I read his Intent, Adam. That is why I didn't wait."
"He was scared?" I guessed.
"No," Kaelen said softly. "He wasn't scared. He was resigned."
I felt a chill that had nothing to do with the night air. "Resigned?"
Kaelen said grimly. "I watched his heart rate. It wasn't the erratic rhythm of panic; it was the slow, heavy beat of a man who has accepted his death."
My mouth went dry. "He was going to blow it up? With the class inside?"
"He was going to erase the school," Kaelen confirmed. "Maybe he was coerced. Or maybe he was a fanatic and take everyone with him. But make no mistake—if I hadn't gassed that room when I did, your teacher, would have cracked a vial within the next minute."
I looked down at the leather satchel at my feet. I wasn't just carrying contraband. I was carrying a mass murder that didn't happen.
"He wanted to kill everyone," I whispered. "That includes me."
"And he would have succeeded," Kaelen said, kicking the dirt near the bag. "Which is why I couldn't let the Guards handle it. If they had burst in, Halloway would have detonated it out of spite. It required... a gentler touch."
He gestured to the satchel.
"And now, we have the weapon he tried to use. And Halloway is alive to answer for it—if he ever wakes up."
Kaelen walked over to a hollow in the Old Oak. He pulled out a heavy lead-lined box he had stashed there previously—the kind used for storing dangerous magical artifacts.
"Put it in," Kaelen ordered. "Lead dampens the magical signature. It will stop the degradation."
I picked up the bag. My hands were shaking slightly. I placed it gently inside the cold metal box. Kaelen slammed the lid shut and turned the heavy iron lock.
Click.
The threat was contained.
"Go home, Adam," Kaelen said, his voice tired. "Wash the soot off your face. Burn that tunic. Go to school tomorrow. Act shocked. Act confused."
"And the Ether?" I asked, looking at the buried box.
"It stays here. Safely buried," Kaelen said. "We wait. We let the rats in the town scurry around, wondering why their explosion didn't happen."
He turned to leave, vanishing into the deeper shadows of the forest. but stopped and looked back over his shoulder, his silhouette blending with the tree trunk. "Get some rest, hero. Training resumes tomorrow night. And bring your spear. You're going to need it."
Then he was gone.