That was odd.
He circled the Captain’s fortress, his gaze sweeping along for a moment, but even as he did, he didn’t see anything suspicious.
Maybe he was so busy moving the enchantments that he’d sent his guards away.
That seemed unlikely as well.
Gavin reached the main gate. The rectangular iron gate was closed, and as Gavin reached for it, he found that it was also locked.
Maybe the Captain decided that he didn’t need anybody standing guard over his fortress. If so, that had been a change for him, as he certainly had kept a watch previously.
Gavin traced his hand along the metal and looked up to the Captain’s fortress.
“Gaspar. Wrenlow.” He said both of their names into the enchantment, though he wasn’t sure that either of them would answer. Gaspar hadn’t throughout the day, and Wrenlow was busy with Olivia.
“If you’re listening, I’m heading into the Captain’s fortress. Something isn’t right here.”
He focused on his core reserves, feeling that power just below the surface deep within him, as if he were pulling upon some part of his belly where that power was stored. He pushed it out from him and jumped. The jump carried him to the top of the wall. There was a time when Gavin would’ve thought that he was just a gifted jumper before he understood his magic, what the core reserves meant to him and for him, but now he understood better. He was drawing upon something else and funneling that power out of him in using that power now. Gavin was using magic.
He didn’t have any control over it the way that he suspected he would need to. For now, all that mattered was that Gavin could call upon that power, and he could use it when he needed, but he wasn’t sure how else he might be able to utilize that magic. If it were El’aras magic the way he increasingly suspected, then there should be a way for him to utilize his magic in the same manner as the El’aras used theirs.
One more thing to learn.
Later, though.
So many things were delayed for him now. All the time he spent in Yoran forced him to put these off.
He looked along the wall but didn’t see any shadows moving on the lawn. It was possible that whoever the Captain had patrolling in the yard had enchantments which concealed them, though Gavin didn’t see any indications to suggest that anything here was enchanted. Still, he waited a moment. Then another. Then another. If anyone were enchanted in the yard, he wanted to give himself every opportunity to find them and make sure that he knew where they were so that he wouldn’t be surprised.
Nothing.
Gavin jumped down, moving silently.
His heart quickened. Just a little, this time with a thrill of excitement that he hadn’t expected on this job.
It wasn’t that Gavin wanted danger, but he didn’t fear it either. He had come anticipating that this would be reasonably straightforward. Ask the Captain what was going on. Maybe he would lie, and Gavin might have to force him to share why he moved the enchantments out of the city, but he hadn’t expected that he would find any real danger.
He swept along the wall, keeping his gaze toward the fortress. He didn’t see anything there.
It was dark.
That, more than anything, alerted him that something was off more than what he had suspected before.
Gavin crept forward, pausing every so often to look around and see if he would find any evidence of the patrols that had been here before.
As he neared the main door leading into the Captain’s fortress, he saw a leg.
He slipped over to the fallen guard. He had a muscular build, dressed in leathers, and still had a sword sheathed. The several enchantments on his wrist told Gavin he would have been formidable. The man wasn’t moving.
He checked for a pulse. There was nothing.
He saw no sign of injury, though.
There were plenty of ways that he could imagine something like that occurring. Gavin knew dozens of different lethal techniques that he could use on somebody without leaving any apparent wound, but it was the nonphysical technique he was more concerned about.
If this was magic…
He focused on his core reserves again.
He had to make sure that he had access to that power.
Gavin unsheathed the dagger. He swept it in front of him, but there was no sign of glowing from the blade to indicate any magic nearby.
That only told him that there was no magic nearby. Not that there was no magic used at all.
Gavin crept forward, and when he reached the door to the home, he pressed, but it was locked.
This was not a time for noise. If there was an attacker inside the fortress, he didn’t want them to be alerted of his presence too soon.
Gavin used the El’aras dagger, shoving it into the lock and twisting. He managed to pry the door open. There were probably enchantments set into the door that would keep it locked. Still, the power that existed naturally within the El’aras blade offered a means of carving through those enchantments. They allowed Gavin to slip in more quietly.
And that was what he needed now.
Quiet.
Gavin pulled the door open, looking into the darkened fortress.
He slipped inside, closing the door behind him, careful not to make any more noise than necessary. If somebody had used magic on the door, they might be aware that he had pulled it open. If only the enchanted seals that the Captain had placed, it wouldn’t be an issue.
When he had gone only a short distance into the entryway, he found another fallen guard, dressed the same as the last and equally muscular. Gavin checked him for a pulse, but there was none.
He found two bracelets, a ring, and a necklace adorning the man—all enchantments.
Whoever had attacked here had a way of fighting through these enchantments.
The dagger still hadn’t started to glow.
No magic, which worried him.
What if I’m too late?
He crept forward.
He had a general understanding of the fortress's layout, though not nearly well enough for him to know where the Captain might be found. When he reached the stairs leading up, he still hadn’t found any others, and Gavin crept up the staircase. He moved carefully, quietly, still holding onto the dagger while reaching for his core reserves and prepared himself in case he might need to utilize it.
When he rounded the landing, he paused again, peering up the stairs.
No shadowed forms moved.
He tapped on his enchantment and left it active. If nothing else, he wanted Gaspar and Wrenlow to be aware of what he was doing. That was if they were even listening.
Gavin had gotten too excited about taking a job on his own. That was a mistake.
I’ve become too reliant on others.
Maybe that was a mistake as well.
Gavin crept up the stairs. When he reached the top of the stairs, he still hadn’t seen anyone. He paused at the heavy wooden doors lining the hallway here.
The first one was a closet. He knew that from the last time that he had been here. He pushed it open, peering inside briefly, but saw nothing.
He headed along the hall, checking each door that he came upon, but there was nothing inside any of the doors.
Most of them were bedrooms, and when he had been here before, rescuing Alex, he had worked his way through these bedrooms, searching them until he had found what he needed.
This time, he found nothing.
No one to fight. No sign of the Captain.
Nothing.
He glanced down at the dagger.
It still hadn’t started to glow.
Gavin relaxed a little. It meant that he was too late. Whoever had come here had probably abducted the Captain.
When he had finished searching this level, he paused at the top of the stairs. There had still been no sign of the Captain.
This couldn’t be all of it, though. If he had a storeroom filled with enchantments, enough that would have filled the warehouse like he had
seen with Gaspar, then Gavin had to find where he had kept them.
He started down the stairs. He paused at the bottom of the stairs, looking over to the body, but there was no sign that anybody else had been there. Gavin was tempted to take the enchantments off the body, but they obviously hadn’t been effective in protecting that man, so they would likely do nothing for him, either.
He searched along this level. He found the kitchen, a massive dining room, and what looked to be a banquet hall—all empty. By the time he reached the main entrance, he had started to think that he might not find the Captain or what had happened to him.
There had to be more.
“Gavin?”
He breathed out a sigh, for once not annoyed to hear Wrenlow in his ear. “Wrenlow,” Gavin whispered. “Do you remember the Captain’s fortress layout?”
“I have it in my book.” He could imagine Wrenlow flipping through pages, coming up to the depiction of the Captain’s home. “Why?”
“Because the fortress has been attacked.”
“Are you sure that you want to stay there by yourself?”
It was almost enough to make Gavin regret having Wrenlow’s voice in his ear. “Just tell me if there are more than the two levels.”
“I don’t need my diagram for that. There’s a basement. I don’t have any details on it, though. The sources we had, and that Gaspar was able to uncover, couldn’t get us that information. Why?”
“Just a hunch.” Gavin swept his gaze around the inside of the entryway. “Where’s the basement?”
“There should be a staircase somewhere. Again, I don’t have a lot of details. I think there might be an access from the upper level.”
“The upper level?”
“That’s what I have in my notes. It’s why no one had any information about it.”
Balls.
He had looked there, though it had been a cursory glance.
He hurried up, already thinking where it would be. When he reached the room that belonged to the Captain, he passed through the large sitting room and made his way into the sleeping chamber.
There was a door along the back wall.
Gavin tested it. It was unlocked.
He pulled it open, and surprisingly, there was a narrow staircase that led down.
“Found it,” he said.
Gavin hurried down, holding the dagger out in front of him, watching for any sign of any glowing. If there was anybody using enchantments down here, then he wanted to ensure that he was prepared.
He found nothing.
The stairs were steep and headed down deep into the fortress.
This had to be it.
When they ended, he found another door. This one was massive. Iron. Symbols were worked into the door. Likely enchantments. Gavin tested it and found that it was unlocked.
That was enough to tell him that something was amiss.
He pushed it open and stepped into an enormous room. Rows of shelves and tables had dozens upon dozens of items stacked on them. They were all of various sizes, metal, and glass and wood—likely all enchantments.
This was the Captain’s enchantment vault.
A body lay sprawled out near him.
Gavin hurried over.
It was the Captain.
He was a muscular man, solidly built, though older with graying hair. He wore enchantments all along both arms, as well as a chain necklace around his neck. Whoever had knocked him down had enough skill—and power—to handle somebody with enchantments.
Balls.
That meant a sorcerer. It had to.
The Captain wasn’t dead. He rolled his head, looking at Gavin.
“What happened?” Gavin whispered.
“Don’t let him take it.”
Gavin frowned. “Take what?”
“Don’t. Let. Take it.”
The Captain reached for Gavin’s arm, holding his gaze for a moment, but then life faded from his eyes.
Gavin looked up.
Somebody slammed into him, knocking him back, and went racing up the stairs.
Chapter Five
Gavin got to his feet. As he did, he felt power building. He had no idea how he could feel it, only that he was aware of it. This entire room was a massive vault. He didn’t know what the enchantments in the room were, or what the Captain intended gathering them all here, but the fact that he had kept them hidden suggested that they were powerful.
Gavin needed a chance to find the necklace.
But he needed to know who had attacked here.
He looked down to the Captain.
Don’t let him take it.
What had the attacker taken?
Gavin looked at the rest of the vault. He could sort through this later. He could find the necklace later.
For now…
Now he needed to find the attacker.
After checking the Captain—he was dead, as far as Gavin’s cursory check could reveal—he raced up the stairs, and by the time he reached the door at the top of the stairs, he found it locked. He summoned the power within him through his core reserves and slammed into the door, forcing it open. It thundered as it crashed open.
Gavin tore through the sleeping chamber, to the sitting room, and then down the stairs. There was still no sign of the attacker.
He reached the door leading out of the fortress.
A shadowed form appeared on top of the wall. They were moving fast.
It had to be a sorcerer, though as Gavin looked at the El’aras dagger, it still hadn’t started to glow. If it was a sorcerer, then they weren’t using any power.
What have I gotten myself into now?
He pulled the door to the fortress closed and raced forward, reaching the wall, using a surge of power through his core reserves to jump.
When he did, he could feel the power surging within him, and he reached the top of the wall.
He hesitated there.
Where’s the attacker?
They were still out there. Somewhere.
Gavin swept his gaze around him.
There.
He saw a shadowed form racing through the streets.
Gavin jumped, landing in a run.
“Wrenlow,” he said as he raced forward. “The Captain is dead. I’m chasing his attacker.”
“Are you sure you want to do that?”
Gavin ignored that question. “If you can reach Gaspar, I might need his help.”
He caught another glimpse of the shadowed form streaking down the street and raced after them. He had to get to them. Somehow.
Gavin ran as quickly as possible, but it seemed as if the attacker made their way even faster than Gavin.
They had to be enchanted, though as he looked down at the El’aras dagger, he saw no sign of glowing.
“What can you tell me?” Wrenlow asked.
Gavin didn’t know whether he should be relieved that he had Wrenlow in his ear or irritated. At this point, he needed to just chase the person down.
I wouldn’t have found the basement without Wrenlow’s help.
Reminding himself of that didn’t make him feel that much better.
“Probably a sorcerer. The Captain was heavily enchanted. Whoever got to him took him out quickly.”
Not only him but all his guards.
If there was just one attacker, whoever they were was skilled.
A skilled sorcerer in the city.
Why did that strike him too much like the Mistress of Vines?
And another attack on the Captain.
Only this one Gavin had failed to stop.
He didn’t feel that much remorse at his death. Especially not with the Captain willingly moving his enchantments out of the city, posing a danger to the delicate peace within the city. Still, Gavin wanted to know what had happened and wanted to find the attacker, if only so he could uncover why the person was operating in the city.
Don’t let him take it.
Whatever the sorcerer had taken—and Gavin was c
onvinced that it was a sorcerer—was dangerous enough that the Captain feared them having it.
What could the Captain have had within his vault that would be that dangerous?
Another flicker of movement, and Gavin hurried forward.
Finally, he saw the figure slowing.
Gavin slowed along with them. There was no point in racing after this person until he had a chance to figure out where they were going. Only then would he make his move.
Gavin slipped along the street, trying to see through the cloud of night. This part of the city was older, all stone buildings. Some of them had crumbled, though most remained intact, a sign of the Yoran that once had been. A few streetlights were staggered, though the light they cast was dim and muted. Shadows lingered, spreading outward like a fog in the night. A gentle breeze carried a hint of the forest just at the edge of Yoran, but the scent was buried beneath the stench of the city.
He thought the figure moved toward a home at the end of the street but couldn’t be sure. The storefronts in this part of the city were bunched tightly together, which had served him well when needing to run along the rooftops, though a few had too much space between them. The streetlight barely reflected off the glass. As he went farther, the shops began to change over to houses. None of these places was his target, anyway.
“What do you see?” Wrenlow asked, his voice coming through the enchantment Gavin wore in his ear.
He moved carefully, turning from side to side and looking for any sign of movement. He held the El’aras dagger in one hand, which was less obtrusive than the magical sword he also carried. At least with the dagger, he wouldn’t draw nearly as much attention from the constables.
“There’s a row of houses here,” Gavin said. He described to Wrenlow where he’d followed the man.
“There shouldn’t be anything out there. Not that I’ve learned.”
“Other than his hideout?”
“That might be true. I wonder what kind of place—”
“Still need to be quiet,” he whispered.
Gavin smiled, though he did need for Wrenlow to ease back on the constant chatter in his ear. The enchantment allowed only him to hear anything from that side, though he wasn’t sure whether anyone else could overhear their conversation. Certainly, someone might hear his whispering. More than that, Wrenlow continually talking in his ear made it so Gavin couldn’t hear what was taking place around him.
The Chain Breaker: Books 1-3 Page 60