Xavier arrived in Fuera de Mola several days later. The horse was very helpful. A group of knights waited for him right outside his house.
"Nobles sure move fast," Xavier thought, approaching slowly.
'Mage Xavier de Vonder, by order of the honorable Clerence Van Fillode of the honorable house of Fillodes, lord of the Duero citadel, you are under arrest on suspicion of being a warlock. I advise you to dismount your horse and surrender peacefully.' Said one of the knights, clearly the leader of the group.
"This is not what I expected" Xavier was wondering how this could have happened. "Perhaps the rumors of what we did in the swamp didn't reach over here. Damn it! What do I do now?" Xavier slowly dismounted from the horse. If he tried to run away, the knights who carried crossbows would kill him.
'Is there any evidence that I am a warlock?' asked Xavier, trying to gain time.
'Evidence? Do you doubt the veracity of the orders of the Van Fillode house?' The knight answered.
"This is not going to end well for me." Xavier knew that if he was arrested, anything could happen to him. He never forgot Aleum's demise.
The knights approached, arms in hand, while two other men kept their distance. The badges on their chests identified them as magicians; one had an ice badge, and another had a wind badge.
Suddenly, a flame covered the sky. The knights, the magicians, and Xavier himself looked in the direction from which the fire spread. Temma had come out of the trees, and after his demonstration of power, he approached Xavier. Uruk walked behind him with a cruel smile that showed his sharp teeth.
'Uncle Xavier, what's going on?' asked Temma.
'I appear to be under arrest for being a warlock,' Xavier calmly replied. Now that the salamanders were here, he wasn't in any danger.
'Wow! Are you a warlock, Uncle Xavier?'
'No,' replied Xavier.
'And there you have it, gentlemen. Uncle Xavier says he is not a sorcerer,' said Uruk, pointing with both hands to Xavier and looking at the knights with a mocking smile.
'That's not enough for...'
Uruk interrupted the gentleman. 'Do you doubt the word of the noble house de Vonder?'
'The authority of the lord of...' He couldn't finish the sentence. Before anyone could even blink, Uruk had moved in front of the knight. With his left hand, he held the gentleman's right hand. The sword the knight held fell to the ground. Uruk's right hand held the knight by the neck, lifting him up as he looked into his eyes. Even after activating his armor, the knight was unable to overcome Uruk's physical force.
'The lord of Duero is not here,' yelled Uruk.
The other knights were preparing to attack, and the magicians were retreating to seek further distance from their opponent.
'If anyone moves, I will break his neck,' Uruk threatened.
Since he had demonstrated his physical ability, the knights thought that his hunter's clothes must somehow be enchanted to produce such strength. But he was still just one man. The other three knights and the two magicians were supposed to be enough to deal with him.
Like if he were reading their thoughts. 'Ladies and gentlemen, do not forget about us.' Xavier said.
The situation was tense, and the slightest hostile gesture from either side would unleash a bloody battle. Although Xavier and the salamanders were not very concerned about their lives, Xavier knew that an incident of this magnitude could bring them a lot of trouble. At that time, in the distance, a group of men were approaching down the dusty road.
"Fuck" they all thought at the same time.
None of the two sides knew which side the men approaching belonged to. The tension just increased.
'More men will be useless. They will only increase the number of casualties' Xavier warned.
'They are not ours,' one of the magicians said.
As everyone looked at each other, a tacit agreement was reached.
'Uruk, let him go,' said Xavier.
Uruk clicked with his tonge, showing his disagreement with his uncle's decision, but let go of the knigth's neck and let him fall to the ground. The man rose to his feet, weeping from the pain in his right hand and neck. Everyone changed their attitude; now they were on alert against the newcomers.
'Good afternoon, gentlemen,' greeted one of the newcomers; he was a fire magician.
The group consisted of three magicians: two male fire magicians and a female wind magician. Behind them were four men. Judging by their physical appearance, it was obvious that they were knights; they all dressed as hunters.
'Are you, sir, by any chance, your honor, Xavier de Vonder?" asked the fire mage walking at the front of the group.
'That is correct,' replied Xavier.
'Excellent,' smiled the magician. 'I imagine that these fine young men must be your nephews.'
'Correct'
'Fantastic. Excuse the inconvenience. My name is Ezdra. My lord, Tamalor Van Trell, lord of Farpas Citadel, sent us to invite you and your nephews to visit his mansion. Our Lord has several interesting proposals for you'.
The knights and magicians of Duero were confused; the man they came to capture was being invited to the mansion of the lord of the most important citadel in the dynasty.
'Who are you?' asked the knight in charge of the group from Duero Citadel.
'Oh, my apologies. Here are our identifications' Ezdra presented his documents to the knights of Duero.
They were indeed magicians at the service of the citadel of Farpas, under the direct command of Lord Tamalor.
'These men were about to be arrested,' said the knight of Duero.
'Arrested? That must be a mistake. Perhaps you should confirm that with your superiors, it would be a big incident if Vonder's venerable family were accidentally disrespected' Ezdra commented, pointing to Xavier and his "nephews". Then he approached the knight of Douro and took him away.
'Listen, we both work for the high nobility. I'm trying to help you. One of those two young men could be an elite magician. A week ago, these three subjugated the miasma core of the lifeless swamp in less than an hour by themselves. Can you imagine what would happen if you created an enmity with them?'
The knight of Duero looked at the two young men, cold sweat running down his back as he remembered the flame that had covered the sky and how Uruk almost broke his neck.
'Seriously, I'm doing you a favor. Let us deal with this, go back to the citadel, consult with your superior, investigate these three guys a little bit, and you'll see how things aren't what they seem to be,' advised Ezdra.
'There seems to have been a mistake. We will return to Duero to confirm this matter. The knight told his men as he walked away.
'See you later,' said Uruk with a diabolical smile, as he stared firmly at the knight and thought. "One day I'll chew your dumb face."
'Gentlemen, as I said, if you agree, tomorrow early in the morning, one of our carriages will come to pick you up. Can we count on your assistance?' asked Ezdra, looking at Xavier.
Xavier remained thoughtful. Ezdra looked at the two young men, seeking confirmation. Uruk showed himself uninterested, looking in all directions in a clear sign of boredom.
'Uncle Xavier is the one to decide,' replied Temma to Ezdra's inquisitive gaze.
Ezdra did not like the situation. "These boys follow their uncle to the letter; it all depends on him." He focused his eyes on Xavier once again.
'I suppose we could visit Farpas, I haven't been there in a long time, and the boys have never seen it,' Xavier finally answered.
These words drew a smile on Ezra's face. His superior had been very clear. Bring the Vonder to Farpas at any cost. Preferably, they had to be discreet; however, the situation with the Duero knights forced them to act. In any case, those knights should be grateful for their interference once they learn about the truth about these three men.
'Very well, gentlemen. We will take our leave; have a nice day' Ezdra and his men left.
'Is that all?' asked one of the men who traveled with Ezra.
'It's like fishing. They're approaching the hook, we can't scare them. They will feel a little in debt for our help with the knights of Duero," Ezdra said with a smile.
Meanwhile, inside the house, Xavier repeated the Ezdra exact words to Uruk and Temma; the salamanders were not using their illusion magic and appeared with their respective red and gray scally skins.
'That is what they must be thinking. They want to make us feel in debt to secure our visit and collaboration with Farpas. As I told you earlier, powerful magicians are a great commodity; they will try to offer you all sorts of things. They will see you as a pair of young boys of humble origin, easily influenced, and easy to manipulate; they will introduce you to women; they will try to impress them with things like clothes, jewelry, and mansions; they will invite you to parties; and somehow they will try to make me aside. For the time being, we will play their game. Do you remember what I told you?'
'Power and money,' the salamanders replied.
Xavier smiled. Soon Moger would take care of the money problem, although it could not be too obvious. Their trips into the Morr jungle did not justify high incomes yet. But tomorrow they could make high amounts of money by selling the parts of several monsters in Farpas; they would use that to mask the income from other sources.
Ezra and his group arrived at the village. A wagon took them to Mola, where they boarded a Tumulos carriage that was already waiting for them. A few hours later, at dawn, they arrived at Farpas.
'I hope you bring good news,' said Tamalor while he was eating dinner.
'I do, my lord,' replied the knight. 'I sent Ezra and his group to contact the De Vonder's family. One of the men Ezra left guarding the house alerted them to a tense situation with a patrol of knights and magicians from Duero Citadel. Our men intervened to cool down the situation. Apparently, the mercenaries spread rumors that Xavier de Vonder was a warlock who murdered mercenaries in the Morr jungle.
'Doesn't Fillode know about Vonder's exploits in the lifeless swamp?' asked Tamalor.
'The news was obscured by the rumors, my lord. Anyway, it was a rumor that was hard to believe.'
Tamalor laughed.
'Then when are the Vonders coming for a visit?'
'Tomorrow, my lord, a carriage will go pick them up first thing in the morning.'
Tamalor was still laughing as he thought of the face Fillode would make when he found out he had lost an elite magician.