Nerthus nodded her head slowly, wheels starting to turn.
“Okay,” she said. “Go let Cecil know what you found out, and that we'd like him to join us for a stroll. I have a feeling he will have a more...refined skill set to help us. And let's change into something a little more practical.”
With a mock formal salute Edda pushed past her and hurried up the stairs to Egveny's room. Nerthus herself went back into the room they shared and began changing, with Edda joining her soon after. They chose nothing too flashy or conspicuous, but the new set of breeches and jerkin each woman now wore had strips of boiled leather over them, dark-colored travel hoods, and enough pockets, sheaths, and pouches for a small arsenal. In the darkness of evening, they wouldn't stand out among any group of travelers or locals. The door opened behind them as they changed, and both of them whirled around.
“Aha, um, pardon me ladies,” Egveny stammered, color rising in his cheeks. “I should have knocked. I'll, uh, wait outside.” He made to back out and close the door but Nerthus stopped him.
“No need, we are ready for our walk.” She quickly looked over Egveny's attire. He had at least taken off anything that Cecil of the Consortium would wear, but nothing that remained could have been called functional. He had on his spectacles, low boots, a pair of loose blue trousers and a light grey shirt under a dark blue vest. There was a thin gold chain attached to his belt, with its end in one of his shirt's chest pockets. He also had on a ridiculous looking tri-corner hat.
Edda chuckled at the sight of the Weaver. “You look like an out of work sea captain.”
“What?” he asked, only a touch defensively. “It's all really comfortable, you know. Plus I like the hat.”
“Whatever,” Edda said with a smile.
“So,” Egveny said, “before we depart, could one of you please inform me as to our overall plan for this walk together? Not that I mind the company, of course.”
“Simple plan,” Nerthus said. “Before coming here, both of our agents each took a dose of Trace. These bracelets,” her and Edda held up their wrists, each with an extremely plain looking bronze band on them, “will vibrate when we get in range of them. So we'll be trying to track them down while you take a look at the site of the explosion. Any clues are good clues here.”
“‘Trace’, eh?” Egveny asked. “Never heard of it. What if, erm, will it still work if they are, you know, dead?”
Edda nodded. “When it’s taken, Trace embeds itself in the fibre of the body. It will keep on Tracing even in a corpse for a few weeks. As long as we are within two hundred yards of them, our bracelets will vibrate. The closer we are, the stronger the vibration.”
“Can you get us out of here without anyone noticing?” Nerthus asked the Weaver. “Clyde, Carpey and Sailey are down in the common room, but I'd like it if anyone keeping an eye on the Consortium didn't realize the three of us ducked out for a bit.”
“Oh, of course,” Egveny replied, and gestured for the women to follow him. He brought them into his own room and closed the door behind them. Before they even had a chance to look around he walked past them and threw open the large window. “Here we go, ladies.”
Nerthus and Edda looked at each other for a moment, confused.
“I assume you don't want us going out the front door,” the Weaver said, uncertainty in his voice. “My window looks out on the stables, and there isn't a lot of foot traffic there. Better than the front, right?”
“Uh, Egg, we could have done that in our own room,” Edda said. “Can't you, you know,” she began gesturing awkwardly, “magic us out of here?”
“Oh. Oh! Yes, I should have known that was what you meant,” Egveny replied. “I'd really, uh, rather not at the moment. You see, I'm quite certain that there are wards covering the inn and the area around it. Nothing to worry about, mind you, nothing dangerous. More like extra sets of eyes coupled with some dampening. And somewhat crudely constructed, if I may say. Probably just a few scribbled planar runes, and poorly done at that. They missed-”
“Wards?” Nerthus interrupted, her voice hard. “What are they, and why didn't you tell us sooner?”
Egveny took a deep breath before continuing, but his words still came out in a hasty jumble.
“To answer your second question first, I didn't tell you sooner because they aren't dangerous to you ladies or to the others we brought at all. I detected them almost as soon as we passed through the walls of Bellkeep. To your first question, these particular wards like little alarms made with magic. They have two purposes, as far as I can tell. One is to see if anyone else uses the Art in a rather concentrated way. If I were to cast a rather serious spell the wards would send a signal to whoever created them. However they don’t seem too sensitive though, which they really can’t be. Not in a city this large.”
“Why not?” Nerthus asked, intrigued.
Egveny shrugged. “There are so many things utilizing magic in a city at any given moment that large-scale wards are almost useless. From latent mages, to specialized tools, to machinery. Even lucky charms and trinkets can have some Power in them, and usually the owners aren’t aware of it. We tried something similar in Tethis awhile back, but the wards were tripped nonstop, which rather defeated their purpose. But the ones here are set to a higher threshold, if you catch my meaning. Really simple spells, people with the Talent, or enchanted tools or clothing won’t set them off, but if I, as you put it, magic'ed us out of here, someone would probably know it. Not what was done or who did it, I don't believe, merely that someone here can use magic in a serious way, and I'd like to keep that under wraps for now. Besides, you kept me busy dealing with locals all day, I barely had a moment to sip some wine and grab a bite let alone discuss the finer points of arcane applications with you both.”
“If you can shut them down, why didn’t you once you saw them?” Edda asked.
Egveny chuckled. “A number of reasons. Mainly because I didn’t want to just stick my arm in a trap until I know exactly what it does and how. Give me a few hours to play and poke at the wards, however, and I'll be able to give you more information. And there’s the professional courtesy of it all.”
“Oh?” Edda asked, one eyebrow cocked in mock interest.
“Well you don’t just go to a coworker’s house and start taking apart her furniture without asking, do you? Of course not. There is a good chance that these wards are in place by the local mages circle. It would be rather bad form of me to show up and start, erm, pissing on their lawn as it were. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Edda chortled despite herself as Nerthus raised her hands soothingly. “Sorry. Sorry you're right. We trust you can handle any magical situations that come up. We'd just like to have a heads up when those situations occur. Is that okay?”
“Oh, sure,” Egveny said. “I'm sorry as well. As you no doubt are aware, I'm rarely a field agent, and usually don't work in tandem with anyone when I am. Yes, from now on I'll keep you ladies tuned in to my frequency.” He smiled broadly, as if he made a joke. The blank stares from Edda and Nerthus quickly evaporated his smile. “I'll let you know what happens,” he added, a little glumly.
“Okay then folks,” Nerthus announced, “we are burning darkness here. Edda, you lead the way. Think you can find the street we are looking for?”
“Yeah,” she said with a small grin. “From what I was told, it won't be too difficult.”
“Good. And Eg, you'll let us know if there's anything out of the ordinary that we plain old ladies won't see?”
“I just said I would,” he said with a smile.
“Excellent. Out the window with you.”
No one saw the three of them hop off the roof of the in, and no one gave them a second glance once they hit the main thoroughfare. The roads were comfortably lit in Bellkeep, with alternating lamp posts and globes lit with some sort of alchemy solution. The globes were a little gaudy, and Egveny seemed to think them a silly show of skill, but their light mixed well with the regular lamps. Edda d
id her best to look casual, which still wasn't very easy for her. She looked over at Nerthus. That girl was cold as ice, she thought. She felt a mix of awe and respect whenever she watched Nerthus in action. Looking over at the chubby Weaver with them, Edda felt a little uneasy, but that wasn't directed at him personally. She actually kind of liked the bashful guy. But Weavers, magicians, wizards, anything or anyone that used magic (or any of the other countless terms for it) rubbed her the wrong way. The unknowable chasm that was her memory was one cause for that distrust. Muscles like iron and skills related to the taking of life were others. She may not know much about her past, but she knew with certainty that she had none of these things a year before.
Finding her way through Bellkeep was much simpler than she had anticipated. Sure, her and Nerthus had poured over maps before and during their trip there, but she had only half paid attention. She only had to look at something like that before her mind soaked it in completely. Maps, faces, voices, body movements, all of those things she could commit to memory after one or two glances. Yet another reason for her unease with magic. If her mind was so strong, why couldn't she remember anything previous to her time with the Order of the Fang?
Guiding Nerthus and Egveny around a small patrol of guardsmen, her mind went through the same motions. She only did this to herself about a dozen times a day. She'd try to remember as far back as she could, and the first memory she could recall with any clarity was standing in an alley with three other people. But before that...there was nothing. Only shadows. The four of them had a shared purpose, the same mission. Poison the food and water supply of a house, kill anyone who witnessed it. Retreat and attempt later if it wasn't possible. She remembered the four of them finding a cache of equipment and clothing, and them all suiting up. Then just as they succeeded in poisoning the food and well of their target, she remembered, fondly now, watching Aleksander tear through the three others, killing them all and capturing her in less time than it took to wash a shirt. After he had slipped some kind of antidote in her food, she had broken free of the compulsion and could dictate her own actions. The tattoo behind her ear, the one that Alek told her symbolized her “employment” to the Order of the Fang, faded soon after. The one on her left shoulder blade, a phoenix wreathed in flame, had remained. It made her wonder if was a memento from her past life. Nerthus and her fellow Umbra's didn't mention it at all in her initial meetings. It was hers, it had to be. It wasn't from the Order. But it still made her afraid.
Edda checked that tattoo every chance she was able. Her only tenuous link to what came before. She was afraid that one day it too would start to fade. And she was shocked to discover that she was also terrified that if the tattoo faded, her skills and abilities would fade. Without those, she thought bitterly, she had nothing. What would she do? Where would she go? The only other people she knew who weren't spies were soldiers, and Alek. She owed that big idiot all she had, which granted wasn't very much at the moment, and she had to concede he was handsome and kind, but she wasn't about to just go to him simply because she had no place or no one left to go to. She flexed her hands and felt the strength in them. She ran through half a dozen ways to render a man larger than her unconscious. No, she still had some marketable skills. Let the Praetorian Umbra use them.
“Uh, Carthinia? Are you okay?”
Edda's head snapped up and she whirled to Egveny.
“What? What?!”
The Weaver adjusted his spectacles, a little nervous tick she had noticed. “Nothing, it's just that you, ah, looked a little upset. Are you lost?”
Edda deflated a little. She wound herself up so much lately. She forced a grin. And if that grin was copied from Alek when he wasn't feeling as happy as he looked, it was merely coincidence.
“Lost? No sir, captain sir. Just reminding myself how much I dislike this place.” The grin may be something she borrowed from Alek, but she had to admit her terrible humor was all her own. That made her grin a little more genuine.
“Captain? Wha-oh.” Egveny frowned, one hand touching his hat.
“Knock it off,” Nerthus said. “How close are we?”
“Not too far now,” Edda said, her voice and face losing all humor.
“Still nothing from the Trace yet,” Nerthus complained, rubbing the small bracelet she wore. “Let’s hope we have better luck in the crafting quarter.”
Edda nodded in silent agreement. Already she noticed the crowds of people around them were gone. They had been walking alone for some time now. The neighborhood where the fire happened was comprised of workshops, she was told, so there really wouldn't be any reason for people to be in the area at nightfall. No workshops left to do work in, no houses to sleep in. They should have the site all to themselves. But they were still a ways away, and to see the streets so deserted made her wary. Eventually their only light now coming from the alchemical globes along the road that needed to lamplighters. Their soft white glow was weaker than the light cast by regular lanterns, but their eyes adjusted quickly.
Ten minutes later they reached their destination, and for once rumor was not exaggerating. Where before the three agents had been walking alongside old wooden rowhouses and shops, they now found themselves in front of a crater, littered with blackened timbers, warped metals, and the acrid smell of dozens of different chemicals and materials burned to cinder. Even after so long, thin trails of dark brown smoke slowly wafted from the wreckage. The crater itself was large, and the explosion had taken two or three other buildings on either side of it. It was deep as well, reaching fifteen feet below the surface. Whatever had exploded had done so with enough force to not only wipe out the nearby houses, but their basements and cellars as well. Edda shuddered slightly at the thought of being caught near such a blast. She was also surprised to feel a little heat coming from the crater, and she heard Egveny mumble under his breath as he adjusted his spectacles. Nerthus took it all in, her dispassionate gaze surveying the scorched and destroyed surroundings.
“There's no one here,” Edda whispered softly. “Shouldn't there be people trying to clean this up? Or at least some of the guard here to keep kids and looters away?” She pointed at the hanging lanterns on the streets and buildings around the crater. “Look. None of them are lit. This place has been completely abandoned.”
Nerthus shrugged her shoulders and knelt next to a piece of melted slag and pulled a piece off with her mecharm. Her eyes narrowed in concentration for a moment before she spoke, her hand spinning the piece of metal between her fingers.
“It's still hot. I can't figure out why though. It should have cooled days before we even got here. And still nothing from the gods damned Trace,” she spat. She cast an inquisitive look at Egveny. “What about you? What can you tell us?”
Egveny walked past the two of them and into the center of the crater. The center was deep and uneven, and Egveny almost disappeared a few times from view before reaching his destination. The big man was unfazed by the fumes and heat as he strode through the wreckage. Reaching the center he knelt as well, his gloved hands taking large handfuls of ash and dirt and putting them into pouches under his coat. He spent a few minutes gathering random odds and ends from different spots, but always near the center of the crater. Bits of metal, charred wood, scraps of burnt cloth, he took them all as if by random chance. At last he stood up and glanced over at the two women.
“Be on your guard,” he whispered softly. “The wards here also suppress generation of the Art. It’s possible the explosion here was magical in nature, and the wards are here merely to ensure nothing happens again. Or not. Either way, I’m going to have to do some heavy lifting. I'm probably going to get someone’s attention, so be ready.” Edda and Nerthus started at his whisper. It was barely audible, as if he were right next to them. Edda found herself checking the straps that held her blades. She felt a small sense of relief when Nerthus began doing the same. After a moment, Egveny looked away from the women and up into the air above him. He knelt again, this time with his
knuckles to the dirt. A few seconds passed and nothing happened. Two minutes went by, and Edda still didn't notice anything, not from the Weaver, not from the crater, and not from the surrounding buildings and roads. Part of her was ready to relax her guard a bit, but her back began to itch slightly, just under her left shoulder blade. She readied herself, and she could feel Nerthus stiffen. Good, they were both ready.
A gentle puff of wind coming from the crater hit them both. It had just enough force for Edda to notice it, but it barely disturbed the dirt or the ash around them. A second light breeze, and then a third passed through them, yet still Egveny remained motionless, knelt down in the crater. A slight shimmering had formed around the man now. The light, greenish in color, grew softly around him as he knelt there, with two bright points of the light focusing on his fists. As Edda watched, the shimmer quickly gained in intensity, with luminous streaks spinning around his body as if he were encased in a glowing green aurora. There was a sudden burst of brightness and the curtain of light fell away from Egveny, as if he simply dropped a cloak or bathrobe off of his shoulders. The shimmer then traveled outwards away from him in a brilliant green circle of light, racing along the floor of the crater, past the two women over the edge and into the surrounding city. For a brief moment, the entire crater and the nearby blocks of houses glowed as if sitting upon a disk of softly lit green glass, and then just as quickly it faded away. Edda and Nerthus were left dazzled for a moment, their eyes struggling to adjust to the sudden appearance and vanishing of the light.
Chasing Down Glory: The Outrider Legion: Book Two Page 7