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On the bottom floor, I paused.

“We may need to plan a final push against the shifters. Wipe them out with a weapon of mass destruction.”

Harris’s eyes narrowed. “You warned of consequences before?.”

I shrugged. “What will the repercussions be? Fines? Come on.”

Harris seemed to consider it.

“Ask Saufin.”

Getting hold of the old wizard was not as easy as one might think. I knew this. You needed an in, someone to make an appointment. It used to be Alexandra for me but I didn’t want to use her now.

I went into the heart of the Capital, the seat of government. Again, I marveled at how the humans scuttled about, like ants, so busy, busy, busy. It was as if they were scared to stop, to breathe, to notice that they were alive. Saufin had an office here but he was almost never there, preferring to do most of his work from his temple, situated on a hill outside of the city. There was a walled gate with a guard and I informed him that I had urgent business with the wizard.

“He is in meetings all day,” I was informed. I switched my eyes on and easily got past him but once inside, the park was huge, green fields and trees that stretched for miles. I knew there was a wooden temple near a river, a deceptively simple structure without any ornamentation. Saufin was known for humility and tranquility. He was wise and knowledgeable. Not a great friend of shifters or vampires, but he did believe in peace. I zoomed in over the estate, spotting various guards and trained eyes noting my arrival but I had urgent business of the state with him.

I found the wooden house between the trees easily enough. I sensed armed men coming towards me and held up my arms, calling out loudly, “I come in peace. An urgent message from King Vlas the First.”

One of the men came up to me, pressed a rifle against my chest.

“Identify yourself!”

“Lord Luc D’Essay, counsel and general to King Vlas the First.”

A voice floated up to us. “It’s all right, Mitch, I’ll take it from here.”

“With all due respect, my Lord, we don’t know his intentions!” the masked guard objected. “I think if he wanted to kill us, we’d already be dead,” the wizard remarked with a chuckle.

He was a small man, with long grey hair and a wispy beard. He perpetually had a smile on his face as if he was in on a joke no-one else understood.

“Walk with me,” he said to me and turned to walk down a wooden walkway leading to the river below. As we came closer, the water gurgled pleasantly. It was a lovely setting, I could understand why he’d want to talk here.

“Troubling times, no?” he said to me and I nodded.

“The king wants peace,” I said.

“I hear he is dying,” Saufin said, looking at me.

“It’s true,” There was no point lying to the old man. “He is willing to negotiate, but I fear the tide is turning against us in the Capital.”

Saufin nodded. “There is fear, and where there is fear, the door opens to darkness.”

“And you? Where do you stand?”

“I am but an emissary of the people,” he said, quietly. “I do as they command.”

“What if they choose to align with shifters?”

“Perhaps they already have?”

He confirmed my worst fears. “My counsel is to destroy them in one fell swoop. They have damaged our relations with you by damaging the blood stores. I would not consider this unless I felt I had to but their actions have prompted it.”

Saufin looked at me, considering. “This act may tip the scales,” he warned. “You have lost favor already…”

“We could make gifts of reparation, give land, properties?”

The old man stopped walking. “The Straits?”