Shadows in the Smoke - 19 - Never Meet Your Heroes​

"Without firearms, the Republic would surely have ceased to exist as a nation. When the Empire decided to impose its reactionary ideals on the Republic, they were key in being able to repulse its invasion. Against the Liche Kings, their importance has only increased. While the Republic makes full use of anyone with Talent, when faced with the threat of the undead, magical Talent alone is insufficient."

The Struggle for Freedom by Bjarne Midthun

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Ester followed Sonja down a series corridors before three people standing outside a door came into view. Sonja looked them over around and then huffed.

"We'll probably have to wait a couple of minutes, Arcanist-Colonel Lindholm is a very busy woman, as you'd expect."

"Of course," Ester nodded. "I completely understand." She schooled her face and limbs into stillness and carefully didn't fidget or bounce around as they waited outside. The queuing people, kept shooting glances at them and she did her best to ignore it.

In the end it wasn't long before a young man in the uniform of one of the College's apprentices emerged from the room, looking a little stunned. He glanced at Sonja and Ester as he went and nodded to them before hurrying off.

"Well, that'll be our cue then." Sonja started for the door. None of the queuing people protested. Had she already arranged an appointment? She didn't seem to have any intention of waiting to be called in, or letting any of the other people go first. Presumably they were due to see Lindholm after her. She did seem to do whatever she wanted without really worrying about what other people thought, it was quite impressive.

Ester could only dream of being that confident, but with Sonja leading the way it was easy to follow.

Inside, Lindholm was sat in a plain, high backed chair, facing two more empty chairs. Now that she was closer, it was even more obvious that she was a small woman, the chair actually looked too big for her. There was something about her though. It wasn't magical as such, unlike with Archmage Raeisi or even Master Tabasi, but even without speaking to her, Ester felt like Lindholm could dominate any room with sheer presence.

"Ah, Arcanist Rosholt." Lindholm didn't stand. "They said you wanted me to meet someone. So, of course I am delighted to find the time." Her tone was dry and her piercing blue eyes flicked between Sonja and Ester.

"And I do appreciate it, Arcanist-Colonel Lindholm. I know you're very busy, but I'm sure we won't take up much of your time." Sonja seemed as cheerful as ever, although there was a slight tightening around her eyes. "This is Ester Mazar, she's—"

"That is not a typical Itrian name," Lindholm cut her off.

If she was flustered by the interruption, Sonja didn't show it. "Indeed not, Ester here is a Chartered Mage, part of the Empire's diplomatic delegation who are—"

"No." Lindholm interrupted her again.

"I beg your pardon?"

"No, I have no interest in speaking to her. You should really know better than to waste my time with this, Rosholt."

This time Sonja did frown. "Take care with your words, Citizen." There was no cheeriness to her tone as Ester looked from one woman to the other. "This is a matter of some importance to the Republic."

Was it? Ester looked between the two angry women again. This wasn't the kind of situation she wanted to be in. Thoughts of Lord Hatami's face if she caused some kind of diplomatic incident flashed through her mind. Should she just leave?

"Important to the Republic? I am out on the front lines, risking my life fighting our enemies and now you want me to play nicely with the representative of another enemy? A privileged girl who thinks we are dangerous scum? Need I remind you what the Empire did to the Republic within both our lifetimes?"

The venom in Lindholm's tone made Ester want to recoil, even as outrage flared in her. She bit her lip. She couldn't say anything. Not without risking making things worse.

"I doubt any of us have forgotten." Sonja took a step towards Lindholm, Ester wasn't sure she'd have been willing to do that. Her tone didn't change, but there was a tension in Sonja's posture. "As for fighting on the frontlines, I'm certainly grateful for your efforts and wouldn't tell you how to do that. But, I'd appreciate it if you could accept that I also serve the Republic and I hope you agree that your own fight would be rather easier with a friendly Empire to our south, or at least one that's not actively hostile. Regardless, Ester here certainly wasn't involved in the last war, surely you realise that?" She didn't give Lindholm time to answer. "As it is, this is not a discussion that we should be having in front of her. Suffice to say, Ester was largely responsible for exposing and defeating the Duke of Vass Karan, I'd have thought your dislike for necromancers might be sufficient to get you to think rationally. Unless you'd rather we take this talk somewhere more private?"

Ester leaned away slightly, that had sounded a lot like a threat, but she couldn't really imagine Sonja threatening anyone, let alone the hard-eyed woman in front of them.

If Lindholm felt threatened by Sonja's words, she didn't show it. Instead, she let out a long suffering sigh. "Fine. I suppose I can hardly blame the girl for the actions of her parents and her rulers."

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Ester took a deep breath. She needed to be diplomatic. She had to ignore the slander about the empire. Not to mention the way they were just talking as if she wasn't there was. It was not surprise that the Republic would have told its people lies. Ester would be the adult in the room and stay as polite as possible. She'd just act like she was talking to one of the stricter professors at the Academy.

"Thank you Arcanist-Colonel Lindholm," Ester bowed. "I am sorry if I have caused any inconvenience. I had just thought your demonstration with the new Arcanists earlier was very impressive, as is your fight against the Liche Kings. Regardless of any past disagreements, I think we can agree that the Liche Kings are enemies of all of us." Flattery never hurt, particularly when it was true.

"Hmph." Lindholm grunted at Ester's words. "I get flattered far too often, are you going to do me a little dance too?"

"Arcanist…" Lindholm ignored the warning tone in Sonja's voice as Ester felt her face heat.

"Tell me then, girl. How did you beat your necromancer Duke?"

Well, if Lindholm didn't want flattery… "My name is Ester Mazar, please use it." For a moment she considered lying, but no that wasn't what she wanted. She was no braggart even if she wouldn't tell Lindholm the whole truth. "I got lucky. He was stronger than me, but I had the edge on speed and spellcraft. He tried to ambush me, but I was just about able to overwhelm him. When he realised he could not beat me singlehanded, he threw undead at me. I could not fight them at the same time as him, so I ran. In the end, someone else distracted him for long enough to bring him down."

"Hmph." Lindholm grunted again, although her voice softened a hair. "Honest at least. Very well, Mage Mazar, what kind of undead did he have at his disposal? How many?"

"I do not know what you would call them. They were walking corpses, that attempted to get close and attack me." Ester shuddered at the memory. "They were not difficult individually, but he had a lot of them and I could not kill them fast enough and fight him at the same time." Then there'd been the Mehrzad, that was another memory she didn't want to revisit.

"Walkers. So no vampires, or wights, or other greater undead?"

"I do not think so." What were they? They hadn't mentioned those at the Academy. Just vague references to 'undead horrors'. Was the Mehrzad one? "There was a Mehrzad. I am not quite sure whether she was dead, but…" Ester trailed off with a shudder.

"A Mehrzad? What do you mean?" Lindholm's lips twisted down.

"The Duke had her imprisoned and he had done something to her." She forced her voice to stay level as the Merhzad's grating, tormented voice echoed through her head. "I am not sure exactly what he had done to her, but she seemed to be fighting it. She alternated between telling me to flee and saying how hungry she was and how much she wanted to eat me." It sounded so simple, yet the reality had been so much worse.

"Interesting. It sounds as if he had graduated into sapient undead then. Although why he would choose a Mehrzad, I do not know." Lindholm grimaced. "I would not expect a necromancer to have the morals not to, but purely on a practical level I would think that a Mehrzad's magic resistance would make them poor subjects. I suppose her ability not to be subsumed entirely into the Hunger illustrates that."

"The Hunger?" Ester suspected she'd regret asking, but couldn't quite restrain herself.

"Yes. Do they not teach you about that at your Academy?" Beside Ester, Sonja made a faint noise and Lindholm threw her hands into their air. "Fine! I apologise. Of course you would not have had the same teaching about the undead given they tend not to bother the Empire as much. The Hunger is what we call the undead's desire to consume life. Every undead wants nothing more than to eat you, me and every other living person. It might be your body, it might be your life force, but they want it. The more powerful ones can control the Hunger. They can play the long game, farm rather than hunt." A look of disgust flashed across her face. "If they could not, the Lands of the Dead would be far less of a threat. However, it wipes away all morality. All human feeling or desire, just gone to be replaced by cold, dead Hunger."

Ester slowly nodded. That wasn't so far off what she'd learnt, it just hadn't been worded like that. "So, are you saying that the Mehrzad was a particularly powerful undead because she wasn't completely consumed by the Hunger?"

"Most likely not. It sounds more like your Duke had not been able to fully complete whatever process he was trying to follow and it was the Mehrzad's magic resistance that allowed her some small, remnant of control. Not a necromancer of any great power I suspect."

"Enough power to have undead swarming through the tunnels under his palace and to corrupt a Mehrzad enough to make her try to kill me." Ester regretted snapping almost as soon as the words had left her mouth. "He was powerful, just not as skilled as he might have been."

"A story I have heard all too often. A lesser version of the Liche Kings. It is the same time and time again. People want immortality and power, only natural, I suppose, but they lack the skill to reach their goals. Immortality, pah, any incompetent fool with enough power can achieve it with necromancy, but only as long as they are willing to give up everything that makes being alive worthwhile. Weak, deluded fools who impose their own failures on the world." Lindholm's thin lips stretched into a wry smile. "Anyway, anyone who can strike a blow against a necromancer cannot be all that bad. I certainly have no time for the Empire, but I shall not hold that against you. Keep up the good work, Mage Mazar, I hope you kill many more of them through your career. Perhaps, if relations with the Empire continue to improve, we might even meet as allies. Stranger things have happened." With that she glanced behind Ester. "Now, I have many more people I need to meet with before I return to the front."

Lindholm's dismissal was clear. Ester bit her tongue. There was so much more she wanted to ask Lindholm, but at least the older woman had stopped being quite so hostile.

"Thank you, Arcanist-Colonel Lindholm." Ester bowed. "It has been a pleasure to meet you." She wasn't sure that was entirely true, but it had still been exciting to meet someone who was a true hero, even if she was fighting for the wrong nation. If only she could learn how she did it…

"I am sure I will hear your name again. Sonja." Lindholm nodded to them both.

Outside the room, Sonja sighed deeply before turning to Ester. "Well, I'm sorry about that. I hadn't realised she'd be quite so abrasive. This is the problem with war veterans, they forget how to behave away from the frontlines."

"Huh?" Ester jumped slightly as Sonja's words pulled her out of her own thoughts. "Please, Sonja, do not worry. I am not offended." That wasn't entirely true, but she had much more to think about than whether Lindholm was a bit rude. "It was very kind of you to organise a meeting for me and Arcanist-Colonel Lindholm. I am just sorry that there was not time for us to speak more, at least once she softened up a bit."

"Well, thank you, Ester. I'm grateful for your understanding. A bit more diplomacy wouldn't go amiss in general. Now, let's get back to Nilrava. Unless you want to stay for the graduation party?"

Ester blinked, she'd already been going back to thoughts of the undead. "Graduation party? Oh, Great Spirits no!" A party might be fun, she hadn't really been to many. But, not one with a bunch of indoctrinated, young Arcanists who saw her as an enemy of the People or something similarly ridiculous. I think back to Nilrava would be a far better idea."

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