I stood up, and all eyes in the room turned to me.

  “My liege, I have an idea that could help,” I said.

  The Duke nodded, “What is it journeyman? We are open to anything at this point, and it is why I asked that each guild bring a bright new mind.”

  More than a few of the mages changed from stares to glares with the “bright new mind” comment.

  “I believe that I can make magical rings for our defenders that could help protect them or be used offensively.

  Several of the mages openly scoffed. The war mage for the Conjurers said, “What significance could you possibly make against a horde of goblins?”

  He was right, it probably would not make a huge difference against that many goblins.

  The Duke frowned at the negative comment from the master. He asked me, “How many rings could you make?”

  “I could make a hundred rings with five sockets and filled with gems and several hundred Single Use Spell rings-”

  The conjurer scoffed again. “We have serious matters to discuss; let’s not get sidetracked with a journeyman’s attempt at grandstanding.”

  Master Draconis stood. “First off, the Duke did not ask for a single solution for all 100,000 goblins. He asked for ideas that could help. And as for this young journeyman, I was at his trials, and there are two things you should probably know before you dismiss him out of hand. First, he is a triple patron of the enchanter’s guild. I presume everyone in here has some idea of just what that means. And second, he is a master jeweler and ringmaker with talents for calling up the powers of magical gems that have not been seen in centuries. Who in here has ever heard of adding five sockets to a ring before?”

  The conjurer started to reply when Sage Davon stood up. “I can confirm Master Draconis’s assessment of Journeyman Istari. I suggest we hear him out.”

  Davon was young but was highly respected as a lore master, patron, and a grandmaster. His words had an effect. The conjurer was not convinced, but he considered his next words.

  While silence reigned, Master Nanren of the Thaumaturgists stood. He was Bido’s master and was a bit scary. I was surprised to see him stand to defend me. He said, “I too confirm and endorse this young journeyman. I also suggest we hear him out.”

  Emeritus Guildmaster Gaunt Nanren, known to many as the “puppetmaster” because he never committed to anything openly and worked quietly behind the scenes, drew the biggest reaction. No master in the room recalled him ever directly endorsing a plan or a person. This was a first, and it stopped the master conjurer from making any further comments.

  “Endorsement by three notable sources, and clearly, he is regarded by his guildmaster and Warmaster Glimmerblade, or else he would not be here. You have our attention, Journeyman Istari. Explain further.” The Duke stated formally.

  I did not expect to be put on the spot quite this openly. I had thought a bunch of people would throw out ideas and we would work on them.

  Apparently not.

  “Single Use Spells, as the mages present can attest, can be used by anyone. In this case, they could be used by soldiers on the wall to shoot dozens of fireballs, lightning bolts, webs, or even group healings. They are the easiest to produce, and several hundred could be made by week’s end. Maybe more.”

  The Duke nodded, and several of the soldiers could see the benefits of such rings based on their nods of approval.

  “The other rings that I had in mind would be made of Dwarven Copper and-”

  The conjurer grew bold again in an attempt to save some of the reputation he lost when mages stood in my defense. “And just how will we get these back in time from the Copper Mountains before the horde gets here?”

  Several of the mages seemed to nod in agreement. It was a good idea, but the timing was impractical.

  “I can make them, master conjurer,” I said simply.

  The room went quiet, and my master and the guildmaster both had grins on their faces.

  “You?” The conjurer asked weakly.

  “Yes. I made the rings I am wearing. My former master instructed me carefully in Dwarven Copper forgecraft for several years.”

  Magical items had to be made from pure materials. The two strongest known magical metal enchantments, and both closely held secrets, were Elven Silver and Dwarven Copper. Special processes were involved in the making of those two substances, and anything made of them was no longer restricted to the typical limitations that pure copper, silver, gold, or platinum placed on magical enchantments.

  With the unusual exception of Quartz’s Dwarven Copper shield, which had gotten bent in the jaws of the magical beast in Shark Bay, the materials were nearly indestructible and were ideal for weapons.

  “But gems, we would need hundreds, or more like thousands, to get the usable abilities we sought.” The conjurer said in a final defense of his objections.

  “That is not exactly correct. I can pull the rare abilities out of gems as a part of my gifts as a patron. We are only limited in the number of gems we can acquire in the next week. And, in a pinch, I can also use crystals for the lowest level of spell effects as a kind of Single Use Spell gemstone that can be inserted into sockets if prepared correctly as 7pt gems.”

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  The conjurer’s mouth was open, and he stared at me. He realized he must look the fool and snapped it shut. His guildmaster whispered something to him, and he whispered back. The guild master said something short but to the point, and the conjurer stood and stated, “After conferring with my esteemed colleagues about the journeyman's plan, as a partial solution to our imminent threat, we believe it could prove valuable. I withdraw my objection.”

  “I bet you do.” My master whispered so that only the guildmaster and I could hear.

  The Duke held his face steady, but there was a twinkle in his eyes. “Thank you, Warmaster.” He said to the conjurer. He looked around the room, “Are there any other questions or concerns about this, the first of many plans we shall discuss?”

  Eyes lingered on me, but nobody said anything for a moment until the Bishop stood. “I suggest we set the lad apart and provide him with the resources he needs. The Church will do its part to support him.”

  The Duke nodded deferentially to the Bishop and then turned back to me. “Journeyman Istari, will you come forward, please?”

  I walked down to the front and stood before the raised podium, looking awkward. The Duke said, “I appoint you Commander of Special Services. You and a team you shall gather will be tasked with as many out-of-the-box ideas as possible to defend our soldiers and city. Do you accept this charge?”

  “Yes, my liege,” I said, wondering what I had just gotten myself into.

  The Bishop, who was still standing, remarked, “I will send to you my chosen journeyman, who also is full of bright ideas, to aid you in your work.” He leaned down and said to Steven, “Go to your friend and stand beside him.”

  Steven walked to my side.

  Master Nanren stood and said, “The thaumaturgists will also send their brightest journeyman to join the Special Services under the authority of Commander Istari.” And he sent Bido to stand with me.

  Adriana looked to her master, who nodded and said, without standing, “So do the elementalists.”

  And then, as one, each of the remaining mage guilds sent their chosen journeyman to stand beside me.

  The guild master of the brawler’s guild stood and bellowed in his deep voice, “And the brawler’s will send our chosen journeyman to help protect the Patron.” He looked over toward a corner where a group of soldiers had gathered. “Biff, go to the Patron’s side.”

  And my best friend in the world, Biff, who I had grown up with at Sundance’s shoppe, strode toward me and stood at my right side and just behind me.

  None of the warrior guilds offered one of their own, but then they had enough work in store for them as it was.

  The Duke walked down the stairs to stand beside me and shake my hand. He spoke quietly so that only those closest to me could hear. “I know and respect your father. And I am so very sorry to hear about the loss of your dwarven master. Sundance will be missed. I just wanted you to hear that from me. Be ready to answer me when I ask what you will need to get Special Services underway.”

  He turned and walked back to the podium. “Commander Istari, what assistance do you need to get started?”

  I was thankful he gave me a few seconds' heads up about his question. I would need to think this over to really know what we would need, but a few things leaped out at me.

  “My team and I will assess needs together, but there are a number of things that we will need for sure.”

  The Duke replied, “What are they?”

  “Access to the university to collect both resources and individuals with unique talents that are necessary for the work I have in mind.”

  The Duke turned to his secretary and said, “Jon, draft a letter right now to President Hollandfield that requests open access for Commander Istari to university personnel and resources.” He looked back at me and asked, “What else?”

  “Access to master jewelers and gem crafters. We have a lot of work to do, and many hands will make it simpler.”

  The Duke told Jonathan, “Draft a letter of introduction to Guild Master Toleraine requesting assistance in outreach to all their various members.” Turning to me, he asked again, “What else?’

  “We will need funds to support our work and the acquisition of gems.”

  The Duke repeated his order, this time asking Jonathan to “Draft a note to Bank Director Silverchips with a transfer of 50,000 gold to Commander Istari.”

  I added, “It will need to be across multiple coin types.”

  The Duke said, “Amend it to state 50,000 gold in value, the coin types to be determined by the commander. What else?” He asked me.

  “I would like an introduction to the Elven ambassador to make a sensitive request that could prove very helpful.”

  The Duke raised his eyebrows but spoke over his shoulder again at his secretary without taking his eyes off me. “Jon, draft that too. What else, Commander?”

  “Much of the work we will do will utilize casting points, and so, with respect to the leadership of Alchemists, I would ask for a substantial supply of Magical Restoration Potions to speed the work.”

  The Duke turned back to the mages and directed his gaze to the indigo-robed alchemists. “What say the alchemists?”

  They had already sent their journeyman to stand in my group, and so this put them in a bit of a bind. The momentary anger on the face of the mage beside the guildmaster gave me an uncomfortable feeling.

  But the guildmaster said, “The guild promises three crates, each filled with potions totaling one thousand points of restoration to assist with magical castings for the defense of the city.”

  “Thank you, guildmaster.” The Duke said with a deferential nod.

  He turned back to me, “What else do you need?”

  “That is all I can think of right now, my liege,” I replied.

  He motioned for his secretary to come forward. “I want you to go with the Commander to make sure this gets done quickly.” As he signed the parchments placed before him, he said to me and his secretary, “No news of this is to leak out to the public until our military assets are in place to ensure order and minimize panic. We will then announce it to everyone around 3:00 pm this afternoon. You may tell the university president and the master guildmaster what has happened. But nobody else, yet without permission. Is that understood?”

  We both nodded in agreement.

  “The Elven ambassador knows all of this and more.” The Duke added. “He is the one who informed me at 4:00 this morning. You may speak freely with him, Gwydion. And good luck.”

  He came down from the podium once more, shook my hand, and dismissed us from the meeting to get started.

  “Where first, Commander?” Jonathan asked me as we marched out of the meeting hall.

  “The university president. Then we will go to the master jeweler and the Bank Director. I need to see someone before I meet with the Elven ambassador.”

  And so we walked out of the Council Chamber, through the halls, and out into the courtyard of Watch Keep. A group of four Watch soldiers caught up with us.

  The sergeant said, “We meet again, enchanter!”

  I turned to see Watch Sergeant Philip Dundgers from our undead adventure at Barricade Park. Patrolman Adam was with him.

  “What are you two up to?” I asked.

  “We four,” he said, pointing at two other patrolmen I did not recognize, “Are on babysitting duty. Some upstart enchanter got himself promoted above his station, and we need to keep him alive.”

  Biff grumbled, “I think you need to end that sentence with a sir, don’t you, sergeant?”

  Philip turned to his left and then had to look up into the growling face of my brawler bodyguard.

  “Wow, they make these in talking models, now.” He said with wide eyes.

  Biff gave him a bear hug and then clasped arms. They both looked at me, and Biff said, “Where to next?”

  I shook my head, but Bido, Steven, and Adriana all chuckled. Simon, who had snuck up on us from behind, said, “The abbot sends his regards and wishes for a peaceful resolution. Barring that, he wishes for your plans to work and so to end the threat in as dramatic and rapid a fashion as possible.”

  “Wow, he said all that?” I asked, having met the abbot once and thought he was the most stoic man I had ever known.

  Simon said, “Well, no. All he said was ‘go with him,’ but I knew that this was what he meant.”

  “For a holy man, you sure are a bit of a card,” Adiana added from behind the wall that was Biff.

  “So they keep telling me,” Simon said with a grin.

  I had a cohort of talented mage journeyman, and a few others, walking beside me. What had I gotten myself into?