A panoply of peoples from numerous races and dominions went about their business. There was even one of Korbash’s colossal gargants and a male yurid with his majestic wings folded behind his back. Her eyebrows rose at the presence of a dryad: a green-skinned delicate flower of a woman about half her height.
Yet, for all the variety, most of them were little more than sceeves. Not one among them had as splendid a set of horns as she, nor wore a gossamer and velvet dress that accentuated their svelte form. I am a goddess among mere mortals. She flicked her hair into the space between her horns.
Head high, chest out, she strode purposefully across the square. People pointed and whispered. Many bowed. A path cleared ahead of her and Ihuet. She basked in the attention.
A sooty-faced little human boy stepped from the crowd, begging as much with his eyes as with his open palms. She grimaced and shot him a glare that could crack rocks. Ihuet had his body and staff between her and the boy before she could utter a word. The boy yelped and scurried away. Ihuet bowed to her in apology. They continued on, Ihuet’s staff tapping the ground with his every step.
Perhaps two hundred feet away, a sign hanging from the front of a four-storied sandstone building depicted a wyvern. The winged two-legged cousin of the dragon was done in black. It had a single fiery eye. Hanging from chains below that sign was another, a board with the words: The Wyvern’s Eye.
Her heart skipped a beat. She was as a child, rapt in dreamy fulfillment. She could picture the Frosts cowering before her, begging for their lives. Which one do I kill first? Drelan or Beketia? The boy or the girl? She licked her lips.
She’d barely had the thought when people fled through the tavern’s front door and into the street. Several windowpanes shattered. People fought to scramble through them, slicing their hands and arms in the process.
Arcane red glowed within the tavern’s black recesses. Cries and screams echoed from inside. As did a pulse of power.
The crowd outside scattered. They scrambled in every direction away from the establishment. By instinct, she summoned an Aether Barrier.
“Khafra!” Ihuet cried. He bounded forward.
The remaining windows on the first floor exploded outwards. A roar followed. Flames burst through every opening. The spell blasted scores of people from their feet. Heat washed over her.
Ihuet stood a few feet ahead of her, staff planted on the ground. His robes billowed. A translucent blue Aether Barrier surrounded him.
The building’s second floor exploded. And the third. And then the last. Flames engulfed the Wyvern’s Eye.
A large figure stumbled through the inferno at the front door. A figure Setnana recognized all too well. Khafra! She hissed.
Ihuet let out a choked cry. He Flickered to his friend.
Khafra’s body deflated, the duration of his Dementia expiring. He was a mass of scorched flesh, black and red and angry. He managed one more step before collapsing toward the flagstones.
Ihuet caught Khafra before Khafra struck the ground. He cradled the dementer in his arms.
Setnana Flickered to them. She swallowed against the lump in her throat when she took in Khafra’s charred body, the wet purple flesh exposed through cracked skin, his blackened horns, the melted clothing and armor sticking to his body. He reeked of cooked meat.
Khafra’s lips moved. The voice that uttered words were a hoarse croak. Nothing resembling its former deep resonance. “Ad… Ad… Adesh… Adesh Ham… Adesh Hamada. The… the Frosts. Greg… Gregis Aviary.” Khafra’s head flopped to one side.
“GET ME A MYSTIC!” screamed Ihuet.
Information bloomed in Setnana’s head.
Locate Adesh Hamada
Objective Complete
Found Adesh Hamada
3000 Experience points
Save Khafra: Failed
Capture the Frosts: Failed
Gained 500 Ignis dominion credits
Setnana snarled. “Stay here with Khafra until the mystic comes.” She signaled to Major Neferna, who had the Battleguards form a defensive perimeter around them. “Bring your men. We’re going to the Gregis Aviary.”
CHAPTER 22
Atop some Azureguard’s smelly female lupine that made her miss Wenet, Nomarch Setnana rode with over a score of her Battleguards, galloping down the Via Arcadius as evening donned night’s cloak. The encroaching darkness made her glad for the white arcane bloomglobes and glimmerstalks illuminating the avenue. Some of her men waved glimmerstalks, the short, illuminated wands intended to give ample warning for people to clear the way.
Despite the Battleguards’ efforts, Setnana and the others still had to weave their way past occasional wagons and coaches. People scrambled from their path. Some swore at her. She growled under her breath, ready to ride over anyone if necessary.
She had the Battleguards cast aside all pretenses of the district’s sceeves. They had their full erada regalia on display, complete with Khertahka’s Dual Katars on their sleeves. Major Neferna had tried to argue her out of this action, claiming the political ramifications would be massive.
Setnana cared for none of that. She would deal with any repercussions later, pay the necessary reparations, but she could picture nothing worse than bruised egos over her infraction. A pittance when placed beside her goal.
All that mattered in this very moment was Adesh Hamada and the Frosts. Getting to them before they took flight. In her mind’s eye, she saw Khafra’s scorched body. She recalled the gashes and burns on Papa’s corpse.
She kicked her bolsters harder, driving the lupine forward. Her quarry had to be close.
An offering of a thousand credits had brought forward a few sceeves who’d survived the beginning of the fight inside the tavern. Adesh Hamada, the Frosts, and four people, a gurash, another erada, a dresdor, and a goblin, had fled upstairs. Further inquiry while waiting for mounts had revealed the fugitives escaped across the roof of an adjoining building. Most likely to mounts waiting somewhere, but they would have to navigate around the throngs.
As if on cue, Major Neferna was galloping back toward her. One reason alone would warrant such an action. Neferna had spotted the targets.
Major Neferna fell in beside Setnana and yelled, “Nomarch, seven people on crevids two intersections ahead. I’ve sent my fastest men forward.”
Setnana fought against the sense of triumph. “How far until the Aviary?”
“Six, perhaps seven more intersections.”
“Then we have them!” Setnana could not help her grin.
“I believe we do. The Battleguards I sent ahead should catch up and prevent them from taking to the air.”
“Good. Now, let’s get these sceeves. Yah!” Setnana yanked on the braided grips woven into the lupine’s hackles and dug her heels into the bolsters.
Soon, she picked out the lead Battleguards and the fleeing mounts, the closing space between them. Vengeance was almost hers. For Papa. And for Khafra. And then she could see to Perihy and return to her path to rule.
This success and the impending one at Imanok Sanctum meant Exarch Assam would have to acknowledge her prowess. She pictured it. Heard his compliments. Tasted his regret. His humiliation.
Three more intersecting streets before the fugitives reached the square that held the Gregis Aviary. The Battleguards were less than two hundred feet behind them. She leaned forward, focused like an arrow.
The fleeing crevids bounded across the second to last street before the Aviary. Her lead Battleguards followed moments later. The fugitives were all but captured.
A horn’s bray cut through the night, long and loud and lingering, above galloping hooves and lupine howls. An animal’s scream echoed and sent a chill down her spine. People scattered. The streets emptied. Not just around her on the Via Arcadius, but also all the way to the
Aviary. They ran inside any open building.
“No. Not now.” Desperate, she squeezed the grips, kicked the bolsters. The lupine growled beneath her, but she could coax no more speed from the beast.
Lance-wielding human warriors jogged out into the intersection at the cross street where the Aviary began far ahead of the fleeing mounts. Bloodguards, clad in their infamous knee-high soft-skinned boots and red uniforms trimmed with black. They blocked off the Via Arcadius, their forms casting long shadows. As one, they slammed the butts of their lances into the ground. The sound reverberated.
The fugitives kept riding toward the humans. But her Battleguards had pulled up sharply. She wanted to shout at them to continue forward but knew such a command was pointless and would only worsen the situation.
When the fugitives got to within a few feet of the Bloodguards, they drew to a halt. They dismounted and got down on their knees with their hands raised. Several Bloodguards took them into custody, pushing and shoving them back through the formation. The ranks closed.
The animal scream echoed again. She glanced up. A zephyr was silhouetted against the moon, diaphanous wings spread wide. This one matched a drake in size. A human rode atop its back. The wings beat once and then the creature glided down to land in front of the Bloodguards.
The man dismounted and took a moment to stroke the zephyr’s owlish face. The creature shook its muscular body and settled down on all fours. Setnana sighed. Although halfway down the avenue, she still recognized Nomarch Demipho Pansa.
Setnana and Neferna reined in their mounts upon reaching the Battleguards. Still eying Demipho Pansa, she said, “Major Neferna, come with me. The rest of you stay here.” She nudged the lupine into a walk with a tap of the bolsters against its flanks.
Shoulders back, head high, she approached Nomarch Demipho Pansa. When she was perhaps twenty feet from him, she dismounted. Major Neferna did the same.
Setnana strode forward with all the grace she could muster and stopped in front of the scrawny human whose robes looked as if they would swallow him. His mount snorted and shook itself, its reins jangling.
“Nomarch Setnana Botros,” Nomarch Pansa began, his high-pitched lilt almost condescending. “Military action by any outside force is expressly forbidden anywhere in Ignis. Even more so in Kituan. Not only have you broken the law, you’ve insulted Kalarch Voculo. I should have you arrested where you stand.” The beady-eyed little man spoke as if he did not recognize his betters.
Setnana smiled but did not let it touch her eyes. “We both know that is an empty threat.” She flicked her hair behind her horns. “Besides, this was not a military action. My men and I were chasing after Blue Sky operatives who stole credits from me, blew up a tavern, and severely injured one of my personal guard.”
Demipho gazed past Setnana. “My men are investigating that very incident as we speak.”
“This crime to my person cannot go unpunished. I demand the thieves be handed over to me.”
“They will be punished. That, I can promise you.”
Setnana arched her brow. “You’re denying me my rightful justice?”
“I wouldn’t dare.” The look in Nomarch Pansa’s eyes said otherwise.
“Then–”
“Here’s what I’ll do,” Demipho Pansa said. “You can show me which one of them was the thief. I’ll hand that one to you to do with as you will. The others belong to us.”
“Eradae belong to no one,” she said flatly.
“Be that as it may, not all of them are eradae. Also, their crimes were committed here, in the Ignis dominion.” He wore a smug look. “Human law takes precedence in the matter. And I will file a formal complaint with the Coalition about your action.”
“Then you leave me no choice but to call an assembly.” Setnana spoke in the same controlled tone from earlier but underneath she seethed. “Where I will make it clear that stealing from a noble was overlooked by you. That despite appearances, Kituan is not safe. It’s infested with Blue Sky operatives. Convincing the assembly would be easy once I present my personal guard burned beyond recognition.” She surmised that such a hit to Kalarch Voculo’s reputation would certainly dent his influence with the Coalition.
“Fine,” Nomarch Pansa grumbled. “No formal complaint.”
“And I get two of the thieves if I let you have the main culprit, Adesh Hamada.” She knew he would not have given up Adesh anyway, but she had to make him feel as if he had won.
“Agreed.” Nomarch Pansa nodded and puffed out his chest, looking for all world as if he had just received a gift.
Her quest completed.
The Kituan Debacle
Objective Complete
Fugitives captured
1000 Experience points
Win negotiation with Nomarch Demipho Pansa
1500 Experience points
Avoid conflict with Ignis dominion
1000 Experience points
Gained 1000 Ignis dominion credits
“Take me to the captives so I can choose my two,” she said. Nomarch Pansa did not move. Setnana frowned. “Well?”
“You didn’t say please.”
Scowling, she said, “Please.” In her mind, she added, you son of a motherless sceeve.
Demipho smiled and turned away. The Bloodguard formation parted before him. He strode between them. Setnana and Major Neferna followed, Setnana not so much as sparing a glance for the humans. The seven prisoners were on their knees, hoods covering their bowed heads. Several Bloodguards stood at their backs.
Her heart fluttered with anticipation. It was amazing how a person could expect the worst but receive Nif’s blessing instead. Moments like this were to be savored.
Nomarch Pansa strode in front of the prisoners and made to speak. He paused, mouth agape. Consternation bunched his features. “I thought you said one of them was Adesh Hamada?”
Setnana’s stomach clenched. It could not be. She quickened her pace and reached Nomarch Pansa. The prisoners stared up at her.
None of them was Adesh Hamada. And not only did none of them fit the descriptions of Beketia and Drelan Frost, but none were erada. She cursed herself for not realizing the ploy. The lack of a dresdor should have alerted her.
Setnana balled her hand into a fist until it hurt. She stifled both the need to scream and the arcane energy coursing through her. “They must know something,” she growled. “Put them to the question.”
CHAPTER 23
Frost and the group disembarked from the gondola amid the canal’s briny stench, night’s murmur, and the gentle lap of water against a bridge. A zephyr’s beastly scream pierced the relative stillness. Adesh Hamada held up his hand. They froze. He peered at the sky. After a moment, he signaled for them to move on.
Cloaked in darkness, they hurried up a set of stairs and kept to the lanes off the Via Iridius. Frost was glad Adesh’s ruse had worked, but at the same time he hoped the people the sorcerer had paid would not be punished too severely. If at all. They knew nothing other than a stranger hired them to ride hard toward the Gregis Aviary and surrender to the Bloodguards.
Stroking his aether ring, he reminded himself that he was in the game. But worrying came so naturally. Those feelings extended to the patrons of the Wyvern’s Eye. He could only imagine the numerous dead or injured by the explosion triggered when Adesh Hamada cast Inferno. At first, he’d been horrified, until Gilda told him most of them were likely to be NPCs. Thinking of them that way helped.
But what about players like me? Players under Total Immersion? Their deaths. The effects of it IRL. He cringed to think of his heart or brain functions stopping even for a second.
Recognizing his concerns would change nothing, he forced them to the back of his mind. Of more importance was completing the current quest to see Tia to safety. Once t
hey reached Adesh’s secret Aviary, all would be well.
Frost stopped in his tracks, struck by a sudden realization. The others bypassed him before coming to a halt also.
“What’s wrong,” Gilda asked.
“We gotta get Meritus at the Cobalt Talisman,” Frost said.
Adesh Hamada shook his head, eyes reflecting a nearby bloomglobe’s light. “Our decoys have been caught by now. Setnana most likely has the Coalition completely on her side after what happened at the Wyvern’s Eye. The Bloodguards will lock down the city soon enough. Deathguards will be dispatched, if they have not been already. Our window of opportunity is small. We must go to my Aviary now. Staying isn’t only risking yourself, but also your sister and everyone else.”
“He’s right,” Saba said. “This is our best chance to escape.”
Frost glanced from one to the other. His gaze lingered on Tia and Gilda. As much as he wanted to go to Adesh’s private Aviary and take the simurgh to Korbash with Tia and the others, grind out some levels, and return stronger, he also knew he had to help his friend.
“I understand, but I gotta help Meritus. Like Ryne said, whoever followed us musta been Concealed from the start. A Concealment spell not even Ryne’s summoned defiler saw through. Which means they saw us with Meritus. I won’t leave him to die or be tortured. You can go on without me.” He’d take his chances solo on the island.
“That isn’t happening.” Gilda stepped over to him.
Tia smiled at him, but her eyes shone with fear. She followed suit. Saba’s tail swished once before she did the same.
“Gnome and I are under contract.” Dante strode over. “Besides, Meritus was always a cool dude.”
“Ryne. My bloody name is Ryne. Call me gnome one more time.” The goblin shook his fist and stalked across the threshold. He stood, fists bunched, neck craned to stare up at Dante.
“Don’t do it,” Frost warned as a smiling Dante opened his mouth. “We don’t have time for this nonsense now.”
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