Rune Knight: Book Two of The Empress Saga

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

It was the dawn of the second day after Ban returned to Ecclesia.

Ban straightened, rubbed at the knot forming in his lower back, and wiped sweat from his brow. He was shirtless as he stood at the top of the stormbreak. Another two dozen men and women from the Lost Company were with him, breaking off cracked or crumbling blocks of stone and lowering them to the ground with ropes and pulleys.

Once a ruined stone was removed, it was carefully spellwrought back together by arcanists below. Once renewed, the stones were hoisted up to be set back into place.

There were thirty arcanists within the Lost Company, only six of which were paladins. Most came from the goodfolk, hedge arcanists serving the kingdom for the promise of increased pay. A scarce handful were from noble houses. High born arcanists were afforded greater access to education and training and likely had ambitions for entering the magocracy, the ruling council for arcane study in the Five Kingdoms.

Even with so many arcanists working together, repairing the stormbreak within three days was a monumental task.

A good hundred feet above the ground, Ban might have once felt some vertigo. After the dragonback ride the other night, this didn't seem nearly as daunting.

He leaned over the edge to look down below. Paladin Hugin was easy to spot with the bright yellow and feathered cap he wore. His coarse voice and background in siege engineering made him the natural choice to pose as the foreman for the work crews. When patrols inevitably came to inquire as to why a few hundred people were milling over the stormbreak, Hugin could speak as someone who knew what they were talking about.

Hugin stood with a pair of men in steel caps and dark green cloaks. He gesticulated wildly, and his grumblings carried up to even this height. Before long, the Karst armsmen were making placating gestures and backing away before Hugin could continue his ranting over architectural setbacks.

Ban grinned before getting back to work. Sasha's forged orders must have been enough to allay suspicions for what the Lost Company was doing.

The stone block underneath him had its entire surface covered in runes, lines, and circles. None were overly complex or intricate, but this sort of work needed to be thorough. Bonding two blocks of stone as one was a simple spell for a scrivener, but there were many variables to consider.

Uwe and a heavily-muscled knight from House Urdov forced a new block into place over Ban's sigils. The crease between the two blocks flashed with etherlight then disappeared as if the two had always been one.

Ban experienced a brief moment of dizziness from the drain of ether. He'd been placing sigils since before sunrise, and he'd soon need a long breather if he wanted to avoid ethershock. He thanked the two women for their help before moving on to the next.

Spellwrought architecture was fast and long-lasting. Stronger than mundanely constructed structures and often more aesthetically pleasing. Spells could create what artisans could only dream of making with hands alone. Unfortunately, it left the arcanists taking part in it feeling like empty burlap sacks.

Grellin's voice carried over from the scaffolding. He shouted that the foreman needed to speak with "that fool mason with the lisp". It wouldn't do to have the names of wanted traitors being shouted across the shantytown, and this particular phrase was for summoning Ban.

Another scrivener came over to relieve him, and Ban picked his way gingerly through the work crews before descending the ladders.

"Captain," Hugin said once Ban reached him. He doffed his yellow hat as he spoke. "Eastern sections are complete."