Seven Grandmasters sat around the Healers Guild leadership table in the guild hall in Decharte City, the capital of the Kingdom of Decharte. Only one seat was empty. The seat formerly held by Grandmaster Yuri of House Viwren. Grandmaster Yuri was dead, and his seat needed to be filled. By the end of the conference, the seven Grandmasters would elevate another member to their ranks, filling the empty seat.

  But not only who would be the new Grandmaster would be decided, but where would they reside. Forest Glen was no longer available as a seat for a Healers Guild Grandmaster. Earl Mikael of House Donnert had made that clear. In fact, none of the Grandmasters were to be allowed in Renovolt county. Because of Yuri’s actions, Earl Donnert was able to gain control of the two Healers Guild chapter in Forest Glen and Toverville. This gave him insight into the inner workings and machinations of the Healers Guild. The Earl sent a letter informing the Decharte Grandmaster that he was taking control of the Forest Glen chapter, and the one in Toverville as recompense for Yuri’s schemes and if the Council of Grandmasters objected, he would make public the documents he had found incriminating both Yuri and the Healers Guild. The Earl did not go into specifics in his letter, but just the allegations of wrongdoing made the Council nervous.

  Supreme Grandmaster Pilus had just finished laying out the problems that Yuri had created, when there a loud knock on the door. Everyone turned towards the door. Then the door was flung open. A tall solitary figure stood in the doorway. He was beyond handsome. He was beautiful with an unearthly beauty. He had a command aura, and everybody who looked at him wanted to serve. He looked over the Council members for a few seconds, then strode into the room commanding the attention of everyone. Pilus, the Supreme Grandmaster of the Healers Guild, stood up and offered the stranger his seat at the head of the table, then moved to occupy the empty seat.

  “Welcome to the Council of Grandmasters, my Lord Archon. How may we serve you today?” Pilus said as he sat down.

  Lord Archon looked at Pilus and said “Let’s get straight to it then. You can explain to me how you lost control of Renovolt county. How did the knowledge of magical healing reappear? I have spent hundreds of years ensuring this knowledge was locked away, and now, NOW, it has returned. WHY IS THIS TREVOR OF HOUSE TIERRA NOT DEAD?” Lord Archon’s voice kept rising until he was shouting at the end.

  “Lord Archon, Yuri of House Viwren was responsible for the loss in Renovolt. He tried to have Trevor assassinated and failed. Before he could be captured by the Earl, he fled Forest Glen and Renovolt. The Earl used that as a reason to take control of the Forest Glen chapter. He was able to find documents detailing the schemes Yuri was up to, and used that information to seize control of all Healers Guild property in Renovolt. The Earl knows too much and we are unable to move against him.” Pilus paused waiting for questions from Lord Archon. Lord Archon flicked his hand indicating that Pilus should continue.

  “The first thing the Earl did was identify the Healers Guild leadership and our agents and then banish them from Renovolt county. How he identified our agents, we don’t know, but I assume there was a list in Yuri’s documents. Most of the remaining former guild members decided to stay behind. Apparently, Yuri and his syncopates were not well liked by the general membership. The Earl was able to convince the King to side with him. We are now blind in Renovolt.” Another pause to see if there were questions.

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  “The first two assassination attempts through the local Assassins Guild failed. Since, then Trevor of House Tierra joined the Adventures Guild. This provides him protection from the local Assassins because of an agreement between the two guilds. We convinced a corrupt Death Priest to send Death Merchants after Trevor. The next day, three Death Merchants were dispatched to kill Trevor, but contact was lost as soon as they set foot in Renovolt county. We assume the worst. We can and will hire more Death Merchants, but I have little hope they will succeed. We are also trying to put in place spies that will operate within Forest Glen. But every time we have tried to insert an asset, they have gone silent within a day. We suspect the Earl has some type of magic detection or future sight. Finally, we expect that Trevor is higher leveled than our Identification has shown. Much higher. We know for a fact that his class is hidden and suspect he is at least level 30, maybe even level 35. “

  “It is good that you have plans and back up plans. I feared you would have given up. At least you are trying something. All your plans will fail, but continue on with your efforts. You may get lucky. However, you are misinformed about something. Trevor is level 1. He is soul damaged, so he cannot gain levels. His true class is a variation of Champion.” Gasps were heard coming from the grandmasters.

  “Now! Let me be clear. Trevor of House Tierra is the most important thing on your agenda. Since he knows magical healing, he must be removed. All other activities will take second place to killing him. Magical healing knowledge must not be allowed to spread. IF it does start to spread, I have no use for the Healers Guild. Do I make myself clear?” Lord Archon fixed each Grandmaster with a stare, sending shivers into their souls.

  Lord Archon disappeared as if he had never been there.

  *-------------*

  “My lord, Trevor of House Tierra is still important to the future of Forest Glen. At first, I thought he was just sent here to heal you after the last monster wave. My vision was clear about that. Now I am getting vague glimpses of him fighting in a monster wave. The feeling is that if he doesn’t fight, then we will be overrun and utterly destroyed” Ruberm said.

  “How can a soul damaged level 1 unclassed, healer be that important? How can he even make a difference. It defies reason Ruberm.” Earl Donnert just shook his head as he spoke.

  “Trevor’s dismantling of Jasper suggests his level is immaterial. He obviously operates at a much higher level. Justinian has suggested he could be equivalent to a level 20 or 25. That was only after a quick observation. Gorver, the Adventurers Guild master has suggested even higher. Maybe level 35. I would give more credence to Gorver’s assessment, since Trevor had to pass the Adventurers Guild initial evaluation.”

  “We know he is an outworlder, so maybe he was a warrior on the other world. But what matters is protecting him. What are the Healers Association plan to kill him?”

  “They have hired the Decharte Assassins Guild. I believe they have sent two teams. We intercepted the first team, but I haven’t been able to locate the second team. Worse yet, Grandmaster Yuri bribed a Death Priest to send Death Merchants after Trevor. I have requested the local Death God’s head priest meet with you tomorrow, so you can convince him to call off the Death Merchants. Here is a copy of the letter between Yuri and the corrupted Death Priest.” Ruberm handed the Earl an envelope.

  Earl Donnert read the letter. “Dammit, why would the Healers Guild go to all this trouble? They have already lost Renovolt and must know that I will go to the King if I can connect them to Trevor’s death.”

  “My sources say they are taking orders from one Lord Archon. Of course, Lord Archon is an alias. I have been unable to find his real identity.”

  “Continue your efforts. We must protect Trevor for the future for Forest Glen. Maybe for Decharte. I never would have imagined it. A healer is the lynchpin to the future.”