27 - More Questions Than Answers
Garrick sighed as Varne’s face flickered in the smooth surface of the communication stone.
“Are you certain?” he asked.
“Quite,” Varne said. “The reports were thorough and clear - there were no leads found in Nireya regarding the monster’s origins. I’ve put them on the other potential lead to see if there’s any merit in the healer’s theories of it being an undiscovered race, but our resources are stretched thin. I suspect they are beginning to feel the tension of a two-month long ceasefire, so they’re beginning to lock down any potential information leaks.”
“Two months is quite a while,” Garrick admitted. “We were lucky they took so long.”
“It helped that their focus was on recovering the monster. But our intelligence unit has also worked hard in shutting down on any information regarding that as well,” Varne said.
Garrick just grunted. He frowned deeply, rubbing his medallion between his thumb and forefinger again as he stared off to the side. Varne tilted his head as he noticed Garrick’s far-off look.
“High commander?” he asked. “Talk to me.”
“It’s nothing,” Garrick sighed.
Varne raised one brow, arching it in quiet skepticism.
“You’re still a bad liar,” Varne said.
Garrick snorted.
“I’m just feeling a little lost here,” he admitted, sitting forward and leaning on his desk. “There’s a lot of conflicting information.”
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“Talk to me,” Varne repeated.
Garrick took a deep breath.
“I feel like I’m missing something. Things are going smoothly since the fever. Almost too smoothly.” He paused and glanced at the tiles. “At first, I thought maybe Maeve was right, that he’s a different race or species, something that mimics the mortal kind - what’s the term she used? Bi…bipedal classification.”
Varne frowned, confused.
“Bipedal, sir?”
“Two legged,” Garrick laughed. “Don’t worry, I had to ask, too.”
Varne grinned. “So, what’s making you pause?”
Garrick shook his head. “I’m honestly not sure. Not beyond ‘gut feeling’ anyway.”
“But knowing you, your gut feelings are usually spot on,” said the marshal.
The high commander looked down at the medallion, playing with it as he continued.
“His reactions remind me more like a wounded animal than an intelligent species, but he learns quickly. He’s feral and wild, but he shows moments of understanding. He heals at a rate that defies human capabilities, like an elf, but he presents anatomically as human.”
“Are there any head injuries?”
Garrick looked up, frowning. “Why do you ask?”
Varne shrugged. The image on the stone shimmered briefly as he did.
“Just sounds like you might think he’s human or at least mortal kind,” Varne said. “If so, a head injury could explain his mental regression. He did go through that rather fiery trial.”
Garrick swallowed. He hadn’t realized he’d been leaning so heavily towards this idea that he might be human. Leaning back again, he hummed thoughtfully.
“No head injuries were reported,” Garrick said. “But…doesn’t mean the mage’s fire didn’t have some kind of effect on his mental state.”
A knock at the door interrupted his thought. He glanced up at the door.
“Enter. Oh, Lyndon.”
He raised his brows in question. The knight commander nodded in confirmation.
“Seems like his majesty and the archmage are both here,” Garrick murmured to Varne.
“Indeed, they are. You may not have heard their approach, sir, given that his majesty has once more abandoned his escort,” Lyndon said dryly, hands firmly clasped together in front of him.
In the communication stone, Varne winced. Garrick didn’t blame him. The knight commander’s tone did not promise good things. But Garrick wisely stayed silent. Let Lyndon scold Fenric for his recklessness. Garrick had done enough of that and it still didn’t seem to be doing any good.
“We’d better go,” Garrick said, putting the medallion in his pocket. “Thank you for the report, Varne.”
“Let me know if you figure it out,” Varne said.
The stone went dead.
