“All you need to know . . .”

It implied that she might well withhold other information. Why? Because it was knowledge of dark magic that she would use to add to her own strength? We had been close allies once, but by failing to join her quest to destroy the Kobalos last year, I had created a gulf between us. I had to remind myself that, after all, she was a witch; in spite of our past, we were not natural allies.

I had another disquieting thought. Grimalkin had visited the Kobalos city, Valkarky, and knew a good deal about the enemy. . . . Had I perhaps withdrawn from the coming confrontation a little too easily? I was the Chipenden Spook, after all.

Would my master have left it all to Grimalkin? I wondered.

Back at the house, I pulled the document written by Nicholas Browne out of the envelope. It was a glossary of Kobalos words that revealed much about their magic and culture.

I skimmed through it with interest. My master had once read a copy of this, but he had dismissed it, thinking it was unlikely to be accurate. He had made a brief reference to it in his Bestiary.

I decided to make another copy. It wasn’t a particularly lengthy document—it would only take a couple of hours. I could then keep one in the library and use the new one for study.

I left spaces in my new version to enable me to insert extra entries as we learned more about the Kobalos, and to add comments to Browne’s entries in case they needed augmenting or refuting.

Once that was done, I read it carefully from beginning to end. I then went straight back to the entry on mages.

Mages: There are many types of human mage; the same is also true of the Kobalos. But for an outsider, they are difficult to describe and categorize. However, the highest rank is nominally that of a high mage. There is also one type, the haizda mage, that does not fit within that hierarchy, for these are outsiders who dwell in their own individual territories far from Valkarky. Their powers are hard to quantify.

It was obvious that Browne had known little about haizda mages. I could only hope that Grimalkin increased our knowledge in case I ever encountered another. It certainly wouldn’t do to face one without the Starblade. And it was scary to think that there were many other types with magical power. The Kobalos were beginning to sound more and more dangerous.

I read the entry on boska, too:

Boska: This is the breath of a Kobalos haizda mage, which can be used to induce sudden unconsciousness, paralysis, or terror in a human victim. The mage varies the effects of boska by adjusting the chemical composition of his breath. It is also sometimes used to change the mood of animals.

I decided to begin my updates here, adding my own observations and possible countermeasures.