I still couldn't believe that Jax wanted me to shake down the Mayor of all people. The twenty border cities of which Eden City is one, existed in fixed points around the world. These points would act as anchors between the border cities and Earth. While there had always been very few normal humans aware of the existence of the border cities, those who were aware were normally important figures such as presidents and kings. Thanks to that, the Mayor of one of the border cities had long been a role on par with the leaders of entire countries. All of this was clear in my mind as I sat in my car outside Jax's theater. I was sure that someone like Mayor Percy wouldn't be the sort who I could just find alone at a bar or park. Well as it turned out I was very wrong.

The tracking spell I used In hopes of finding the Mayor's location understandably failed. After all, the Mayor always worked closely with the local branches of the Towers and as such normally had quite a bit of magical protection from things like tracking and divining spells. But I noted with no small amount of smugness, none of the towers would have proper protections against runes. Seeing as how runecraft was considered a lost art with less than a dozen mages in the world who had done any research on the art whatsoever. I reached into my back pocket and withdrew a small notebook that had a runic sigil carved on the cover. If anyone were to look inside the notebook they would have found it empty. I passed my hand over the rune on the cover activating the magic held within. Then I opened the notebook which now held several partially completed runic sigils carefully written on each page. Flipping through the pages I found the knowledge rune I was looking for. As was typical of that particular craft, it was an extremely dangerous bit of magic to use and required a lot of caution. But I could use it to divine the location of a person. I withdrew an erasable pen and completed the sigil, a moment later I was overcome with a variety of images and sounds all at once. I quickly erased the line breaking the magic and halting the onslaught. Recovering from the use of the spell I turned the key in my ignition and drove out into traffic. The magic had supposedly told me exactly where I could find the Mayor, but a part of me wondered if I hadn't made a mistake somehow. If I hadn't then I would definitely need to ask the Mayor a couple of questions. First and foremost of them being, why was such an important man currently unguarded inside the back of what looked in the visions like a strip club? I just prayed that when I got there I wouldn't walk in on anything best left unseen.

The outside of the building proved to be rather unremarkable. It was sizeable in a light earthy tone and the only evidence of what the place held was a simple sign providing the name of the establishment as The Renegade. The club's interior was closer to what would be expected. It was dark with several cheap wooden tables scattered throughout surrounding four stages with poles reaching the ceiling. The place was clearly in its off hours as none of the stages were currently in use and the entire club was bereft of customers. The visions had shown me an image of the building's sign, the street outside, and what looked like a small room with a large cushioned bench facing a pole. In the last image, I saw the Mayor talking to a scantily clad blonde woman. Making an educated guess as to where the room most likely was I started heading to the back of the club. But my progress was quickly stopped when a woman in heels wearing a very tight-fitting shirt and a skirt I was almost certain was too short to be publicly acceptable stepped into my path. I pegged the woman's height at about 5'4" without the heels. She had auburn hair held in a neat braid and was holding a bat loosely in one hand.

The woman fixed me with a pointed stare and said in a clipped tone "Excuse me, sir. But we're closed right now. If you want a show come back at seven."

"I'm not here for a show. I was just trying to find a friend I heard was here." I replied trying to play things off.

I was rewarded with an eye roll and a tone dripping with disdain "Look buddy. Just because you gave her a bunch of money, or had what you consider the deepest conversation of your life, doesn't give you the right to come in here before opening to harass one of the girls. Now get out before I have security throw your scrawny ass out."

"I'm not here for one of the girls. I'm looking for Mayor Percy."

"Why would the Mayor be in a strip club before opening? I think you're in the wrong place buddy."

Taking a chance I said, "I'm here to collect on a debt for Jax." Seeing that her only reaction to my claim was a raised eyebrow I fished a twenty out of my wallet and held it out to her.

She snatched the bill away and inspected it for a moment before jerking her head to the door behind her and saying "Head straight back then take a left, He's in the second room. Do me a favor though, Let Justice leave before you rough him up."

"Sure. But I'm not planning on roughing him up. I'm hoping we can solve this nonviolently."

She smirked at that and with mild disbelief said "What kind of bruiser avoids violence?"

"The kind that doesn't normally go around collecting debts. This is just me providing Jax with my own payment. You know you're awfully judgmental for a stripper."

"I'm not a stripper, I work as a bartender here."

Trying to be polite I asked "Oh? Does it pay well?"

She snorted and said, "Not nearly enough to make up for all the perverts who try to cop a feel."

"Oh. Well if you're ever in the market for a new job, my buddy happens to own a tavern, and he needs a new bartender."

"What happened to the old bartender?"

"She caught him sleeping with her sister."

At this, the woman barked out a laugh "Yeah that would do it."

I extended a hand and told her, "I'm James by the way."

Taking my hand she replied "Cassidy. So where exactly is this friend's tavern?"

"It's called the Siren's Call" I answered before giving her the address and proceeding past her to the door in the back. Following Cassidy's directions, I walked up to the door indicated and took a long deep breath before opening it. And immediately wished I hadn't.

Mayor Percy was on all fours with the girl who I was guessing must have been Justice sitting on his back and hurling insults at him in a bored tone. But the most uncomfortable part of it was the vegetable. Let's just say that after what I saw, I was certain that I could never eat a squash again. I cleared my throat feeling awkward and they both immediately shot up to their feet. Justice was just standing there looking embarrassed, but Mayor Percy immediately started chewing me out.

"This is a private room Jackass! Who the fuck do you think you are? Get the hell out!"

Deciding that the only thing I could do was to double down I looked over at the stripper and said "Out."

She didn't need me to say it twice immediately making a beeline for the door. I closed and locked the door behind her while the mayor continued to chew me out. Then I turned back to him and let familiar habits take over.

"Mayor Percy, I really, really, don't want to be here right now. Ok? But I just got done trying to track your pervert ass down because I need some information. Relax not from you. No, I need some information from Jax, and he said that the only way I was going to get that information, was if you paid him for his assistance." He started opening his mouth, but I silenced him with a raised hand before continuing, "I don't need to know what he did for you, or why, or any of that shit. I just need you, to pay him what he's owed. Ok?"

Puffing up with bluster he replied "Do you have any idea who I am? You think I'm scared of you asshole?"

I rolled my eyes but answered "I literally just said your name. And as for you not being afraid, that's fine. I'm not here to scare or intimidate you. I'm just here because I have to be. Now again, I don't care why you refused to pay him. But you are going to pay him."

"Oh yeah? And what are you going to do if I say no?"

"Did you know that there's a curse out there which causes impotence? It's a pretty common one among some of the less skilled witches. But what's really interesting is that that curse can actually be combined with sympathetic magic. Essentially, once active the curse can't be stopped or interfered with except by destroying the item the curse is tied to." As I spoke I reached into my jacket pocket which thanks to another one of the runes my father managed to recreate was much deeper than would otherwise be possible. I retrieved from within the pocket a small plastic figure only an inch in size. Holding up the figure I continued, "I'm pretty sure if I cast the curse on you and tie it to this little guy then drop him in the river, it's going to be really hard for you to find him to undo the curse. So you can either go fishing" I waggled the figure, "or you can agree to pay Jax."

"Fuck you!" He started to work himself back up into another yelling fit but stopped quickly when I started chanting the spell for the curse. In truth, while such a curse did exist, it was not nearly as powerful or long-lasting as I suggested. Not to mention the fact that such a curse could easily be countered without needing the foci it's tied to, or the fact that if I dropped the figure in a river it would just dispel the curse since running water is one of the many natural phenomena that Interferes with magic. Regardless Mayor Percy quickly said "Fine! I'll do it. I'm wiring the money right now and my lawyer will have the deed transfer done by the end of the day."

"Glad we could work this all out." I told him with a smile as I turned and exited the room. I heard him hurling insults at me again on my way out of the club, and clearly, Cassidy did too as she shot me an amused smirk as I passed. I gave her a small wave which she returned.

My task done I made a beeline for Jax's theater eager to get the information I needed from him. Unfortunately, I didn't make it very far before my car suddenly shut down on a side street and I saw a black car stop behind me with three masked figures exiting shortly. It was the Inquisitors again. I began muttering a complex spell of protection under my breath. The spell wouldn't completely keep me from harm, but it would help to stop most forms of instant death performed via magic. Then I stepped out of the car myself and faced the Inquisitors.

"Hey guys. Any chance we can have this chat later? I'm kind of in a hurry if you don't mind."

They didn't answer but took up positions in a triangular shape in front of me.

I knew of course that they wouldn't let me go that easily. But felt it was only responsible to at least try. They began advancing slowly staying in their odd formation and I felt my pulse quicken slightly. I knew that I was a skilled practitioner, but the inquisitors were famous for their power. Furthermore, It was only recently that I began using magic again. When Jax and I had our falling out I had just turned 23. Having grown tired of his harsh teaching style and the constant errands he would make me run, I decided that I had finally had enough. One day it all came to a head and we got into one of our usual altercations. The difference was that after that particular scuffle, I picked myself up from the dirt like always and proclaimed that I was done. That I was tired of magic, fighting, and having to constantly look over my shoulder for fear of my uncle deciding that taking my inheritance wasn't enough. And I left that very night. I spent the next seven years in the outside world trying to forget about magic, and monsters, and everything else that didn't fit in with the normalcy I had begun to crave. And so as those Inquisitors began closing in on me I wasn't sure that this wouldn't be the end of the line for me. That all those sleepless nights I sat awake as a young man terrified that the Tower would decide to erase me, the last reminder of their failure to protect one of their own, the tainted child of one of their most promising Mages and an outsider.

But then the funniest thing happened. As I stood there bracing myself for the end I heard the voice of a memory in my head. The voice belonged to Jax and it was from when he first began teaching me. "Now listen kid, You've got to stop with the crying and whining. I get it, you lost your family, your home, and everything else. And it's not fair that something like that happened to someone so young. But the fact of the matter is, It happened. So you can wallow in your self-pity all you like. It won't do anything to help you. In fact, no one is going to lift a finger to help you from now on. The only person you can rely on is you. So the question is, are you going to sit there crying your eyes out? Or are you going to fucking fight?" And after his little speech I had found myself angry. And I unleashed all that anger and sadness and regret in that moment. I ended up biting his leg at one point. He never missed an opportunity to tell that particular story when given the chance. So when I saw those Inquisitors coming towards me. I found that I just didn't have it in me to resign myself to whatever fate they had in store for me. And so I fought. Just like I had all those years ago. But this time, I knew how to fight.

Silent casting my spell I surprised the one on the left when I threw my hand up and unleashed a small blast of fire. I knew that the inquisitors warded their uniforms as a precaution against magical attacks and that none of my magic would be powerful enough to damage the ward. I was skilled as a mage but that was mostly about the variety of magic I was capable of and my rare ability to cast without the need for vocalization. My attack managed to knock the inquisitor off of his feet. I didn't have time to enjoy the success of my surprise attack, however, as the other two inquisitors started shouting out spells.

Throwing myself to the right I turned my fall into a roll at the last second and regained my feet in a crouch. I ran my hands down the sides of my shoes and activated the runes I had inscribed there a few months ago for just such an occasion. The runes when activated granted me far greater speed than would normally be possible. Thanks to Jax I was more than used to having to fight other practitioners in situations where I was outnumbered. So without a second thought, I rushed at the Inquisitor on the right of the formation. Clearly, he or she hadn't expected me to charge in, as most mages conducted battle at a range. Once I was within reach of the inquisitor I used the added momentum of my speed boost to deliver a sharp strike to his solar plexus knocking the wind from his lungs. Not stopping for fear of being hit by another spell I pivoted and rushed the centermost man. I threw my hand up and used a simple spell to call forth light blinding him. With the man now off guard I delivered a kick to his knee causing him to jerk forward slightly and I grabbed his collar and pivoted taking control of his balance and using momentum to throw him to the ground. By this point, the first Inquisitor had managed to get to their feet so I rushed them striking hard and fast. I knew I couldn't keep it up for too much longer but I was already looking for a way out of the situation. But one of the inquisitors managed to catch me off guard with a concussive blast of wind powerful enough to tear a hole through someone. Luckily for me, my clothes were warded in much the same way as those of the inquisitors. So while the blow hurt, I was still left intact.

Seeing that all three Inquisitors were still relatively unharmed I decided I probably wasn't going to win the fight. So I chose to dart towards the inquisitors' car and unleashed two spells in quick succession. The first was a pressurized beam of water strong enough to cut a hole into the hood of the car. The next was a highly condensed gout of fire aimed directly at the hole. My gamble paid off as the fire caused the engine of the vehicle to ignite. Then throwing my hand up again I let loose a blindingly bright flash of light before all out sprinting back to my car. I prayed that whatever the Inquisitors had done to shut down my car had only been a temporary thing. And that with them now in such disarray they wouldn't be able to repeat it. Sure enough, my car started right up again and I flipped a turn to get as far away as possible.

By that point, the Inquisitors had recovered fully from my onslaught and were beginning to hurl spells at me again. But I was one step ahead of them. Located just below my car's steering wheel was a partial rune of protection. I scratched the last line into the rune and activated it granting my car increased protection. I didn't bother looking back at the Inquisitors as I gunned the car and tore off trying to put as much distance between myself and them as possible. There was no way I was going anywhere other than home after that. Grey Manor was the only place I knew for certain would be able to withstand a magical assault. I drove as fast as I could without raising suspicion, looking in the rearview frequently to see if the Inquisitors had managed to somehow catch up or send another team. When I pulled into Grey Manor I hopped out of my car and made a beeline for the door.

Johann tried to greet me but I cut him off saying "I was just attacked. Get the manor ready for a possible assault."

Not needing another word he immediately turned and rushed off calling for Sarah and Tyr to begin securing the manor. I went straight to my room confident in the staff's ability to follow through on my command. Once there I stripped out of my now filthy clothes and turned on my shower. But as I sat on the edge of my bed waiting for the water to heat up I tried to process what had just happened. Inquisitors were given a lot of free reign to do their job but even they didn't make a habit of attacking someone in the middle of the street like that. I thought briefly that maybe they had been there to simply question me or something similar. But decided that probably wasn't the case. If they had been interested in talking they would have said something instead of remaining silent the whole time. Indeed the only words that had come out of any of their mouths had been to cast spells. No, they had been there to assault me, or at the very least rough me up before taking me back to interrogate. The initial spell the lead inquisitor had cast was too complex, too controlled a blast of energy to have been done in reaction to my attack. He would have had to have already been casting it before my gout of flame to have sent it at me so quickly. My worst fears had proven true, someone in one of the towers had authorized the inquisitors to take care of me. And based on the insignia I had spotted on the uniform of one of the inquisitors, they belonged to the Midnight Tower. It was official, the tower had declared war on me. And as this revelation sank in, I briefly wondered why in the world I had ever thought it a good idea to come back to Eden City.

The shower proved to be just the rejuvenating reprieve I had needed, taking the opportunity to let the hot water ease my aching muscles. The rune I had used to boost my speed was extremely effective but put an immense strain on my body. As a result, nearly every muscle I had used in that fight was left incredibly sore. Once done showering, I made my way to the library and made sure to put extra protections in place around the hidden door to my father's secret study. The idea of anyone managing to get far enough into the estate to discover the room was inconceivable but all the same, given who I was up against, I had thought it wise to be on the safe side. It took me nearly three hours to complete, but the spell I had put in place would make it so that anyone who came looking through the study would be compelled to ignore the copy of the Malleus Maleficarum which served as the switch for the hidden door. Satisfied in my rushed concealment spell I next made my way downstairs and found Johann.

"How are things going with securing the estate?" I asked upon finding the wooden butler

"We are making excellent progress Master Grey. Tyr is finishing up his check of the wards surrounding the estate and Sarah has just finished resecuring the barn."

Trying to hide my sudden surprise I say "Wait you sent Sarah to the barn? Alone?"

"It's quite alright sir. She was simply instructed to make sure that the exterior of the barn was still properly secured. At no point did she enter it."

I breathed a small sigh of relief and replied "Ok then. Let me know when dinner is ready, will you? I'm going to go check on Mephy."

"Of course Master Grey." Johann delivered the words with a slight bow as I turned and made my way to the basement where I was sure to find my dog.

Mephistopheles, or Mephy as I called him, Was an honest-to-good hellhound. It was not uncommon for practitioners to have familiars. But most tended to have magical beasts like shadow hounds or phoenixes. I had yet to encounter anyone who could claim to possess a hellhound. Mostly because Hellhounds were notorious for being resistant to all known forms of magic and as their name suggested made their home in the realm of hell. Nonetheless, he and I had become steadfast friends, and It had been meeting Mephy that had been the driving catalyst behind my decision to return home to Eden City. When I came back I had been delighted to find that Grey Manor was the same as when I had left it. I hadn't wanted to live there after my father's passing, and at the time thanks to my uncle stealing the majority of my inheritance I had lacked the funds necessary to pay for the utilities on the place. But thanks to Sarah and Johann the manor remained in as good a shape as ever.

I found Mephy seated upon his bed in the basement's main chamber. His bed was in fact an entire king-sized mattress. As the enormous hound was approximately four and a half feet tall at the shoulder.
"Hey bud, there as some bad guys looking to hurt me right now. I need you to be on your guard for the next few days ok?"

My words were rewarded with a booming woof. One of the many great traits of hellhounds was the fact that they were easily as intelligent as a person. This meant that while he couldn't talk himself, I knew Mephy could understand whatever I said to him. If I said to be on guard, then he would be the best guard dog alive.

Still nervous about the foreseeable future I started back to the dining room, sure that by now Johann would have something ready for me to eat. But as my phone rang I felt that familiar pit of dread in my stomach.

"Hello?" I said upon answering the unfamiliar number and the voice on the other side was enough to stop me in my tracks. It was a voice I could only remember hearing twice in my life.

"Hello, James. We need to talk." Came the voice of Archibald Grey; Master of the Midnight Tower, and my grandfather.