《Magitech Awakenings》 -3 Reference Chapter 1 - A Brief History of the Terrapian World A Brief Extract from the tomes kept by the Order of the Unseen Eye, starting from their earliest translated tome to the current volume. -Royal Historian Archives of Darish 980 R.D. (Recto Draconis) The four prime races, Humans, Elves, Merfolk, and Dwarves, are adopted and taught wild magic by the dragons to help them survive in the harsh world of Terrapia. They begin to thrive and spread. 10 R.D. Humans, Elves, Merfolk, and Dwarves come together and with guidance from the high council of Dragons and create the Prime Magic Weave, abandoning the wild magic previously taught by the dragons. This leads to a flourishing of magic and civilization amongst the races. 0 A.D. (Alto Draconis) Foundation of the Draconis Empire by Humans, Elves, Merfolk, and Dwarves 10 years after the Prime Magic Weave was created. A long period of peace and prosperity ensues. The four races spread over the land and even venture forth upon the sea. 1219 A.D. Disputes over the control of the weave lead to the First Great war between the four prime races, lasted 21 years until the mythical Dragon council intervened and withdrew both the control and access to the weave, peace was rapidly established once more and access restored but the Dragon Empire fragmented into Elf, Dwarf, Merfolk and Human Empires. 1743 A.D After decades of civil war the Human Empire dissolved into 15 Kingdoms. 3000 A.D. Centuries of relative peace pass, civilization slowly grows, stagnate, regressed, and grows again in a cyclical nature. Metallurgy and Biology knowledge greatly advance in this time. 3371 A.D Magical experiments by Archmagi from the Order of the Open Door led to the birth of the Beastkin, Orcs, Lycans, and Calgaree. Control of the Beastkin was seized by the Hasis Human Kingdom, who bred and used them to conquer their neighboring human nations. After 29 years of war they united the 15 human kingdoms into the Hasis Empire. 3400 A.D Official Establishment of the Hasis Empire. Great war preparations are undertaken. 3405 A.D The Imperial ambitions of the Hasis Empire led to the Second Great War, drawing in not only the four prime races but the three races of beastkin as well. Beastkin races revolted against the Humans and allied with the Dwarves and Elves to gain independence. 3423 A.D. After years of fighting a losing war, the Hasis Empire is exhausted and sues for peace. End of the Second Great War. Beastkin peoples gain independence. 3424 A.D. Establishment of the Beastkin Empire. They claim the entire North as their own 3425 A.D. Hasis Empire, worn out by decades of war, and rife with intrigue, plots and greedy nobles, begins to crumble. 3428 A.D. The lands of the Hasis empire are claimed by 7 powerful nobles who then establish 7 independent Kingdoms. 3500 A.D. A revival of the archmagi takes place, magic knowledge and colleges abound. A new golden age of magic begins. 4421 A.D. While the Golden age of magic may have ended some 400 years ago many cruel and greedy archmagi cling to power and wealth. In many cases running a puppet government to serve them. In reaction to this oppression a populist movement in opposition to the archmagi sprouts. Scholars under a genius scientist establish the movement known as the Sons of Brass, a group of humans and Dwarves who abandoned the magic that they saw as corrupting and unethical, developing instead their science of refined metals and chemistry. They draw many to their ranks as they help the suffering and oppressed people. 4497 A.D. While initially an ideological movement that did much to help and empower the populace, after years of discrimination and oppression the Sons of Brass radicalize and begin plotting the overthrow of the archmagi. 4505 A.D. After a their cue only takes out about half of the archmagi the Sons of Brass are quickly proclaimed heretics and traitorous scum by the Human, Elf and Merfolk countries who were closely tied to the archmagi. This sparks a civil war which quickly developed into something far larger, a world war. 4508 A.D. Third Great War officially opened as the Sons of Brass openly revolt and seize several human and dwarven cities. The war grew rapidly to include all 7 races, each picking a side. Some humans, the beastkin and the dwarves side with the Sons of brass. The Elves and Merfolk join the archmagi, many of whom are prestigious leaders in their races. Tens of millions die in the long, long war. 4657 A.D. Tired of the war that never seemed to end a new faction arose, rather than the Pure Magic Weave, or the clunky mechatronics of the Sons of Brass, they eschewed another path. The greatest minds from all the races, splintered off from both factions, and managed to fuse the best of both into what came to be called Magitech. They rapidly gained popularity and the Calgaree and Lycans broke off from the Sons of Brass to join them. The Magitech Movement sought to use these new friends and powers to end the Third great war. 4665 A.D. Ending of the Third Great War by the Magitech Faction. Magitech abounds across all the lands, Dwarves and Elves, their populations decimated, greatly retreat from the world, holding fast to their traditions and homelands to recover. Lycans choose to retreat into the northern wilds, claiming the forests as their homelands. Orcs are deemed too dangerous, and barring a few that escaped, the entire race was enslaved by the Humans. The Calgaree, who greatly supported the Magitech revolution, are pardoned from past wrongs and integrated into the human Kingdoms. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. The 7 Kingdoms are reformed with new borders and now constitute the majority of the continent. 4993 A.D Present Day. The human nations have greatly recovered and the human, Calgaree, and even enslaved orc populations have experienced a boom due to advanced agricultural technology and over 300 years of relative peace. -1 Reference Chapter 3 - Common Beasts and Races of the Terrapian World Compiled by Magenta Pearl, Lecturer at Anemone College, for the instruction of children Humans: Humans come in all shapes, sizes and colors and can be found most places across the continent. They tend to settle in the fertile plains where they can build their cities they are so proud of. They generally have a lifespan of fifty to seventy years, although some few live considerably longer with the aid of magic. They tend to be arrogant towards the other races and incline towards being greedy and selfish people, this author having found but few redeeming individuals in their travels. They also frequently break out in war over the slightest concern, and the other prime races always try to ensure the war is between human nations, having long since tired of the squabbling children that humans can be at a moments notice. Humans also boast the most numerous population, numbering some two hundred million split between the seven kingdoms, as of the last census five years ago. Dwarves: Dwarves are stout and often smelly folk who hide away underneath the mountains, short of stature and of grim personality they are hard to find and harder to befriend for us merfolk. But they are widely renowned as artists of metal and stone, their fanatical devotion to their crafts and skill therein worthy of respect. While once they were a mighty people whose kingdoms stretched across and under every mountain, now their people are shattered and few. Their lifespan is greater than humans, being some hundred and twenty to a hundred and fifty years in breadth. Their population numbered is unknown but estimated at fifteen thousand odd, based on what the few wandering dwarfs tell. Many fascinating ruins have been left as they have retreated back to their strongholds after the last great war. Elves: Known as woodland people the elves stand with willowy figures near a head taller than the average human. While omnivorous they do not partake of meat save that which is obtained through their hunts that are held sacred. They are strong in magic, more so than any of the other races, yet in return there have always been fewer elves in existence. Elves have always been aloof but never more so than now, perhaps the hardest hit by the last great war their population dove steeply, they now treasure every child born, as rising infertility puts their very culture and race at risk. I have it on good authority that they currently number just one thousand and thirty seven. Indeed each elf is known to carry a carved amulet, which matches another held in their hall of the living in their now singular city, both amulets are rent in twain at the event of their owners death. These deaths are jealousy investigated by Elvish Justicars, an elite group of warriors and hunters, and revenged upon if found to be unnatural. The long lives elves are blessed with are as coveted as their beauty, being some four to five hundred years, this length coupled with their youthful appearance throughout their lives has even lead to myths of elvish immortality in centuries past. While there have been occasions where slavers have attempted to capture elves to sell, their attempts, even if initially successful, all ultimately fail. The Justicars see to that. The descriptions of cruelty of what was done to the slavers once caught shall be omitted from this account. Merfolk: Other races do not have the gills we possess, they cannot breathe on land or under the waters as we can. While humankind look similar to us merfolk we are built more slender and tall. They do not share our sense of humor either, getting easily annoyed with the pranks we pull to show affection. Neither do they have a good picture of our people, they view our magics'' of illusion and weather control as unnatural and distrustful so be careful what you show to them, it could incite fear and hatred in lesser minds. Our lifespans are also well placed, averaging 100-120 years and they know not of our true population of over 10 million, split between the 12 tribes as they are. For we are the free folk, wanderers, explorers, and artists. Foolishly the other races call us tribal and savage, how can their cities and lands possibly compare to the beauty of the ocean deeps and waves that we experience? Or the beauty of the cresting morning light over the horizon after a typhoon? They have not visited our centers of learning and culture, nor communed with the denizens of the seas as have our beast masters. Dragons: These noble beings once thrived on this world, we know this not only from our wisdom mothers, but from the ruins and nests many of our best explorer and archaeologist cadres have discovered. What happened to them? None here know for certain, we have but precious little knowledge that has been passed down. Their lifespan was said to be between 2-3 thousand years each, while their historical population is only guessed at, certainly we have found none alive to converse with, search as our beastmasters may. What stories we have tell us that each dragon would choose one of the twelve aspects of magic upon reaching maturity, and forever after their scales would be tinged with the color of their prismatic magic. The only exception was said to be their Kings, known as albino crystal dragons, only one was born each generation, it''s color decided from birth. The only hint of their culture we have is from crude carvings we have unearthed from millennia ago, which seem to suggest that the old dragons raised the young communally, while all the dragons in their prime disappeared into the astral expanse, returning only to lay their eggs and leave them in the care of their elders before leaving once more. Truly, the dragons culture has been lost in time, and the world is lesser for it. Beastkin: Being the three races created by Galafel the Insane, Mother of Monsters Orcs: These creatures are the most prolific of the three, with a lifespan of a mere 3-4 decades they are the shortest lived of the sentient races. But their reproductive cycle can outstrip any other. As such their population is carefully controlled by the human bureaucracies, enslaved by the human''s fear after the third great war. They are used as heavy labor in the fields and cities of the humans, or as meat-shields in their many skirmishes, and their large dusky bluish grey bodies ripple with muscles as they go about their tasks. They stand as tall or taller than our people. But could snap us in two with naught but their hands, I do not hold with slavery but I am grateful we do not have to deal with the potential threat to our people. They are a testament to how pride can destroy a species, in their wild ambitions during the last great war they gambled for all, and lost, now they barely consider each day as it comes, leaderless and cowed they think of naught but bare survival, reduced to little more than animals. I have watched them go about their labors, eyes dull and filled with a weary pain I could not fathom. I was forced to turn my head else my own heart break for them. Lycans: Not much is known of this reclusive species, we know they live to 120 years like our people, with a population estimated in the tens of thousands they have never been numerous, yet records of their feats and physical prowess are enough to make one never wish to cross one of their kind. They took up residence around a massive tree in the northern parts of the Terrapian continent, existing in small scattered tribes called packs. According to scholarly accounts they look much like human barbarians, large of stature and intensely muscled, but with the ability to transform into massive bipedal creatures of fur, fangs and claws. Unlike populist tales people bitten by them do not turn into a similar being, instead they inflicted with a magical curse that sends them berserk on nights where both moons are full, killing all around them in a mindless rage unless restrained. But I digress They are also said to hold immense regenerative powers and an immunity to most diseases and poisons. As for their sociality, all I have managed to find was that they love their pack members ferociously and can hold a grudge their entire lives, a passionate people if ever there was one Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Calgaree: These beastkin are bipedal with fur, claws and fangs, but are far smaller more graceful than the Lycans. Also, unlike lycans they are permanently furry, unable to shift between a human and beastkin form. Their population numbers approximately 10 million with a lifespan of 4-5 decades. They can be found wherever humans can, living in a form of symbiosis throughout the seven kingdoms. They are also far shrewder than their beastkin relatives and possess great talents in commerce and clerical work. Due to past conflicts with the humans they take a differential role as a species, even going so far as to abstain from meat for a millennium in order to prove they would no longer consume humans, as they did during the many years of the third great war. While they have pawed feet their hands have humanesque fingers, which enables them to use most of the tools and devices that are designed for humans, allowing for greater integration into society. They are ruled in the shadows by a matriarchal council much like our own, a sign of their maturity as a species despite its relative youth. I have even heard whispers of a shadow police comprised of calgaree, police not for external threats, but to keep the calgaree populace in line with the laws set by their council of matriarchs. History has proven them to be effective, almost never is a calgaree convicted of a crime, any guilty parties merely disappear. Halfs While there are some few half breeds amongst the races they are quite rare due to a high chance of stillbirths, and the fact that often the birth will prove fatal for the mother, leaving many unwilling to take the chance. They are also discriminated against, and few welcome their company. Usually they will bear a random mix of traits from both parents but usually predominantly from the mother. Animals: While there are many varieties of monsters on land and in the oceans, these are the most commonly seen and domesticated animals of Terrapia. Chur`ka: An equine animal of which there are many varieties, they are used in many spheres including agriculture and war. Loyal to their owner, they are social animals Suk A canine animal found amongst the human populations. While they are little more than tame worgen, they bear some traits of civilization such as being smaller and friendlier than their wild kin. Worgen A canine beast. Wild packs of worgen roam every forest of the continent. Ferocious and brave, a pack can easily take down the unprepared. Mako: A feline mammal. Extremely rare and honored by the Calgaree and the elves. They come and go as they please and have been known to guide heroes and accompany sages, Seen as the Patron animal of the gods. Boola: A very common bovine animal, bred for its meat, leather, milk, and its long hair, variants of Bola exist across the continent. Zugzug: A very fat, lazy, swine, bread for meat. Orcs and Calgaree refuse to eat it. Balicog: An annoyingly silly hoofed animal that comes to one''s knee, their flocks are bred for their wool, milk and meat. Murgoat: A four legged scourge of an animal that will eat just about anything, including your paint, brush, and tapestry, breed for their pelts, meat and milk. Males have two sets of curved horns while females have one forward facing set. Clukie: Small avian animals that cannot fly, quite stupid and a pain to take care of. Domesticated for their meat, eggs and feathers. Luppie: Small rodents that abound in fields and cities. For in depth discussions on a variety of magical beasts and their histories see my other works, Beasts Magical and Mundane Throughout the Ages, Volume One through Fifteen. 1 Prologue "Tell me the dragon story again mamwe" pleaded a cute little child, as she gripped a thick blanket, pulling it up to her chest. Her large brown eyes pleading with her mother. "It''s time for sleep my little Guppy" teased her mother. "please please please mamwe, I''ll be good and sleep right after!" the little girl entreated. "Very well," Esmeralda could not help but grin at her little energetic child, Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "you take after your father you know, always curious about everything, and in love with a good tale. Now lie still and be quiet, I''m starting." Esmeralda tucked a strand of Guppys hair behind her ear and then sat upright on a nearby stool. She took a moment to gather her thoughts before starting the tale in a sonorous voice. "A long long time ago when this world was still full of Fire and smoke, there were Dragons. They existed in twelve distinct tribes, each were blessed with a unique color of scales, and with magic and authority that matched. Over these twelve tribes ruled a singular Dragon Emperor, possessing all the colors and powers of the collective Dragons. Only one such Dragon was born each generation, their birthright to rule the earth below, and the heavens above in their due time. And so the Dragons roamed this world of Terrapia, shaping the earth and skies to their liking with their powerful magics and desires. Many millennia passed, and the dragons discovered several interesting new species arising on the lands they governed, while these new arrivals were all quite diminutive compared to the dragons, and with no strength to boast of, they were nonetheless endearing and entertaining in the dragon''s sight. And so the Dragons took stewardship over them. Many more years passed, and the dragons'' pets, being educated and raised by the dragons, began to distinguish themselves. Some sought peace, and harmony with nature in the dense woodlands, and called themselves Elves. Some sought the secrets of fire, metal, and stone under the mountains, and called themselves Dwarves. Some sought the freedom in the waves, currents and isles of the sea, and called themselves merfolk. And some, some sought the stability and industry of the fertile plains, and called themselves humans. Each were blessed by the dragons who favored them. To the Elves went Longevity, beauty and grace, along with talent in the magics of nature. The Dwarfs were gifted with courage, dexterity, and sturdiness, to best seek, and bend to their will the forges of metal and stone, their earthy magics only served to enable their obsession. The Merfolk were given bodies that could swim in the sea and traverse its many islands, while their magics of trickery and weather matched their merry and fickle nature. The Humans were blessed not with Longevity, beauty or great inherent power, but with fertility to match the plains on which they dwelt, and diverse potential to match their boundless curiosities. And so the dragons watched, and slumbered, and watched, as millennia passed and their pets grew numerous¡­" Guppy''s mother trailed off, smiling gently at her daughter who lay fast asleep. She tucked her in, kissed her on her forehead, and turned off the magitech lamp, plunging the room into darkness. 2 Memories of Pain From amongst the poor, one day she''ll rise Of fire and fury, she''ll comprise. -prophecy of the duskbringer Guppy awoke with tears in her eyes, the dream of a time before misery struck was a painful reminder of what she had lost. "Two years already that you''ve been gone mamwe, and eight more since father left us. How did you do it?" she softly murmured to herself. Her father Frank Bright had been a charismatic man with blond curly hair and deep brown eyes that always twinkled with mirth, he had been tall and well built from years of hard work in a manufactorium, a non-magical workshop. Such places were quite rare these days, but it was the only decent paying work he as a dull, a person with no magic talent or affinity, could reasonably find. However when Guppy was 7 he died in a steam explosion when the workshop boiler ruptured, killing Frank and three others, and shutting the manufactorium down for good. To make matters worse they were in debt. Frank had been an optimistic man with vision, he had been planning to take over the manufactorium and upgrade it greatly. To make this happen, he borrowed a large sum of gold royals from the only people willing to deal with him, the Grakoan mafia. With his death, this debt fell to Guppy''s mother, Esmeralda Bright. Her mother had grieved and wept the whole night upon hearing of her husband''s death. Then in the morning, with the strength, and decisiveness that was so characteristic of her, Esmeralda sold their home in the respectable craftsman quarter, moved herself and her three children to a residence in the workers quarter, and took a job in one of the magitech core generation plants found there. Officially, working in one of the plants was lucrative and perfectly safe, you just channeled your mana into a preset magic array, which then crystallized it for use as a power source for whatever magitech tool was desired. Your mana regenerated while you slept, and you would repeat this again the next day. These ''artificial'' crystals powered the vast array of magitech devices used in society, replacing the much rarer and expensive core crystals harvested from wild and dangerous magical beasts. Before long crystal production had become a pillar of the economy and civilization. For you see, magitech devices consisted of a magical array inscribed carefully upon a medium, usually brass. When the array was supplied with mana it produced a magical effect as dictated by the magic circuits in the array. From lamps to magic cannons, simple fans to robotic mechs and airships, the spectrum of magic arrays researched and produced were vast. However this magic array always required a power source to activate it, if you had the right affinity you could activate it yourself by channelling your mana, and some poorer people who could not afford the ever expending crystals did just this. However except in some rare cases, most people were only born with one affinity, let alone all twelve. So most devices required an attributed crystal to be socketed as a power source. However, unlike in the days of old, where a mage had to study for years to learn each array off by heart, and then how to draw the array and stabilize it in the air with mana in order for the magical effect to be produced, magitech tools brought versatility and ease of use, allowing anyone with the coin to spend to enjoy the many benefits of magic. Esmeralda, as a rare dual fire and wind affinity, earned quite the premium for her lustrous crystals. For a time their family met the interest on the loan and even paid a good deal of the principal amount back. Life settled back down into a semblance of normalcy for the next 8 years. It killed her. The draining sickness people in the slums call it. As Guppy watched on, over time her mother waned, she thinned to skin and bone, her once beautiful hair drying out and splitting. Daily draining of her magic core took more out of her than simply expending magic, it slowly leached out her vitality as well. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Yet it was the only conceivable way they could pay off the debt, short of selling themselves to the pink district, something Esmeralda adamantly refused to do as a loving widow and mother. One evening, with a dry cracked throat and dull eyes she called her daughter over. "Gupalagia Esme Bright, come talk with me for a moment." Guppy knew it was important as her mother used her full name, she had only ever heard her use it a total of five times. Guppy slowly moved across the single shared bedroom and grasped her mother''s frail hand. She almost flinched when she felt how fragile those once strong hands were, and felt tears creep into her eyes. "Yes, mamwe?", she sniffed "do you think you can manage some food tonight?" Esmeralda smiled at her, and for a moment her previous beauty shone through the wreck of a body she currently held. "Can you do me a favor Esme?" she softly whispered "Of course mamwe, of course. What is it?" Guppy was sniffing more often now. "Look after your sister and brother for me, there is nothing more precious in this world than your family. . ." With that utterance Esmeralda fell asleep. The next morning she never woke up. Guppy slapped her cheeks, shaking off the feelings of pain and loss that buffeted like waves and bringing her mind back to the present, one pain replacing another. ''Focus Guppy'' she thought, ''focus on the living and not the dead'' Taking a deep breath she got up, and started her day. 3 A Normal Day For if the sweets she loves are taken, Her anger you all shall greatly waken. -prophecy of the duskbringer Guppy jumped out of her narrow bed and pounced on Stalia her sister. "Stalia wake up, it''s already well past 5 bells". "Five more minutes" Stalia groaned. Guppy frowned, why did Stalia always make it so hard. Guppy fixed an extra big smile on her face and promptly tipped Stalia''s bed over. Very shortly a furious mess of blankets, hair, and shift erupted up. "I Was Getting Up In A Minute!" Stalia yelled, before deblanketing, throwing on her work dress and starting to run a brush through her hair. Watching her, Guppy sighed, Stalia really had won the gene lottery, Guppy was slender but her muddy brown-blond hair and eyes could not be plainer, even her skin was brown from hours in the sun growing up, her height was also taller than average, ''nothing about me is very appealing to a man'' she thought. ''not that I''m looking for one mind you.'' she told herself. On the other hand, Stalia had inherited their mother''s looks, with smooth skin, sharp cheeks and eyebrows, pitch black smooth hair and bright blue eyes. Dimples appeared when she smiled and her blossoming figure turned many a head as she passed. Even her younger brother Kyle was doing alright, he was a little skinny and tall for a 12-year-old but was already putting some muscle. Unlike Guppy, his hair was a rich curly brown, which just worked for him. ''just like dad,'' Guppy thought. ''no matter how messy it is, it still looks great''. Maybe it was his green-blue eyes, or his sheepish grin he had when he talked, rare as that was. But he already had a few girls flirting with him. ''Not that he would notice'' Guppy mentally snorted as she shook him awake. ''He''s always daydreaming, and never entirely all here.'' some folk called him a fool. But Guppy knew better, Kyle was in fact quite smart, and extraordinarily talented with repairing magitech items. One night when the lamp broke he took it apart, reconfigured the magic circuit and put it back together. At the age of 8, he could do what most 16-year-old apprentices could not. Her mother had taken him to get tested the next day and found that he had not one, or two affinities, but all four primes, fire, water, wind, and earth. Knowing he needed some backing if he was to ever have a future she took him then and there to a master magitech crafter, and after a round of incredulity, an apprentice contract was quickly struck for when he turned 12, now just a few days past. Guppy heard the 6th bell start tolling. "Fudgeknuckles" she swore, "we''re going to be late, Stalia I will take Kyle to work today, there''s some leftover bread on the table under the cloth, we''ll get something on the way. I''ll see you after work." with that she grabbed a sleepy, but dressed, little brother and charged out the door. She emerged into the noisy streets of Nolusberg, even here in one of the side streets it was crammed with people moving both ways. Street vendors plied their wares, adding to the din by extolling the value and prices of the goods they offered. Guppy wormed her way through the crowd, pulling Kyle behind her. She smacked the hand of a child who went for her coin purse, and after traveling down the street, exited the traffic flow to dart into a bakery located on the corner. Calling out to the proprietor of the establishment she cried "Uncle Bombas how are you this morning?" A rather large, and definitively rotund man in a white apron bounced over. "Ah, if it isn''t my little Guppy. What can I get for you today?" Guppy smiled at Bombas, he was one of the few genuinely good people she knew. When her mother had recently passed, and they were struggling for food, Bombas would always slip a little extra into their purchase. It wasn''t much, but to them, it made all the difference. Guppy had heard that Bombas and his wife had lost a child years ago to the wasting flu, a disease that ate away at the bearer''s muscles until their hearts stopped. Since then Bombas never could stand seeing a malnourished child, and often invented small chores for them to do in exchange for a heel or two of old bread. "Two barley rounds please, and a small wedge of Harry''s cheese to go with" Guppy ordered. "Good, good, we need to fatten you up for your suitors" Bombas chortled, he retreated briefly while Guppy blushed "none of those" she murmured, as Bombas''s mountainous mass glided with a strange grace across the floor to the cooling racks. Shortly he returned with her order wrapped in some brown paper. it felt heavier than it should and Guppy made sure they thanked Bombas properly as she silently called on the 12 divines to bless this gentle man when she handed over a few coppers. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "How''s your sister faring at the Five Legged Goat?" Inquired Bombas, "Quite well thank you" replied Guppy, " They finally promoted her from cleaning girl to a waitress, also they''ve now got a decent bouncer, Rade from the docks got laid off recently and they snapped him right up." "Rade you say" Bombas''s chins and jowls wobbled as he grinned, "Good lad that, he''ll keep those drunken louts off Stalia, she''s too pretty for her own good these days, like a noblewoman she is" "And doesn''t she know it!" Guppy complained, "If I had a silver noble or even a commoners copper for all the boys chasing her, I''d be ordering your jam donuts every day". Just then the half bell sounded. Paling somewhat, Guppy bid farewell to Bombas, grabbed Kyle who was staring at the roof while muttering to himself, and immersed herself back into the busy streets. Having procured their lunch and left, Guppy peeked inside the wrapping and saw a small tub of what couldn''t be anything but Bombas''s homemade jam. She loved her brother Kyle with all her heart, but that jam was coming with her. 4 A Normal Day 2 Her spirit greater than most, that you''ll see, Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. One day by her all peoples will walk free. -prophecy of the duskbringer 11 years ago in the city of Nolusberg... "Mamwe tell me the story of the cat people please" begged Guppy as she squirmed beneath her blanket. "They are not called cat people Guppy, their race''s name is Calgaree, and there''s not going to be a story unless you stop bouncing on your bed like that." An abrupt lack of bouncing suddenly resounded through the previously boisterous room. Esmeralda smiled and began "A long time ago-", "how long ago mamwe?" interrupted Guppy. "Well let''s see, this year you''re 6 and the year is 4982 Alto Draconis, it happened in 3371 A.D. So it would have been 1611 years ago." "What''s Alto Draconis mean?" queried Guppy while tilting her head to the side. "It means after the Great Dragon Empire was founded-" Esmeralda answered "what-" Guppy was silenced by Esmeralda''s finger on her lips. "That''s quite enough questions from you young lady, at this rate we will never be done with them, quiet down and let me tell the story." Guppy nodded silently, not willing to risk her story time any further. Esmeralda''s rich story voice reverberated through the room "1611 years ago there lived a rare half Elf called Galafel, she belonged to the Order of the Open Door, a group of inquisitive misfits that sought to plumb the depths of magic. Galafel was brilliant, but a tragic accident when she was young left her unable to bear children. Some say her obsession with having a child drove her mad, others say she heard voices and at times behaved like a different person. But they all agree on one thing. Galafel did what no other mortal had done before or since. She created new life. Not once, not twice, but thrice. Into the world three new races sprung forth. First were the Calgaree, quick of wit and dexterous of limb, but possessing little physical or magical might. Excelling in clerical, merchant, or accountant matters. They resembled a cat in human shape, standing on their rear paws a full head below humans with 4 double jointed slender fingers on each hand. Their fur came in a variety of shades making them as colorful as their personalities. Second were the Orcs, thick of limb, body and mind, these muscle brains were born as natural soldiers. Their instinct led them to fight and grow strong, their lives were short but in return they bred at a speed like none other. Soon their brawny ash-grey bodies were seen on every battlefield. Last were Galafel''s elite. Wolfmen some called them, Lycans they named themselves. With the ability to shift between human, wolf and warwolf forms they dominated any combat, yet they also boasted intelligence and longevity greater than man. They were envied and feared as Galafel''s abominations. All three races revered Galafel as a mother, and for a time she was content. But the greed of humans knew no bounds, they preasured, tricked, and trapped Galafel''s children and used them as slaves for centuries. Until one day the three beastkin races took a chance and revolted with the Sons of Brass in the Third Great War that encompassed the world. Many died. Then during the Third Great War, the Magitech faction arose from the disgruntled and enlightened members of both the Pure Magic Faction, Socerers of great power, and the Pure Tech Faction, led by the Sons of Brass. They fused the best of both magic and science and called it Magitech. They then sought to use this new found power to end the century and a half long war that had ruined much of the world already. The Calgaree and Lycans joined them early on. Seeing in them neither the oppression of their former human masters, nor the fanaticism and rage of the Sons of Brass. Their choice proved correct as the Magitech faction proved to be overpoweringly strong. After the Third Great War was ended they were rewarded. The new rulers allowed the Lycans to retreat from the world into the frozen northern wastelands as was their wish. The Calgaree choose to serve the new rulers not as slaves, but an equal race. Binding themselves in a symbiotic relationship with mankind. To prove their commitment to this accord and bury previous resentments they vowed to become vegetarians, foregoing their previous consumption of beast and man flesh alike. But the Orcs were seen as dangerous and wild, their feats on the battlefield fresh in everyone''s minds. Too great of a threat to let go or be freed from control, lest their lust for power and dominion would overthrow the nations and peoples made fragile by the protracted war. And so they were, one and all, enslaved. To keep them thus, each Orc was fitted with a magitech collar of insidious design. The collar drew on an Orcs inherent mana as fuel to power its functions. It allowed someone who could control their mana to be registered and locked in as the orc''s master, inflicting pain via nerve stimulation if their orders were disobeyed. And if this collar were ever to be removed without the proper procedures, the Orcs life would be abruptly and painfully ended. By thus doing they forever crippled the Orc threat. Esmeralda paused, looking at her child who was hiding under the blankets and shaking. "What''s wrong my little Guppy?". "Are Orcs really that scary and bad mamwe, they always just looked sad and tired to me." Guppy asked while peeking out from under the blanket. Esmeralda swooped in and cuddled her. "You are right my lovely little girl, you can see the truth so many these days cannot. The Orcs are like us, some bad, but most good. They''ve just had some very bad luck." "Well when I grow up, I''m going to free all of them and make them happy!" shouted Guppy as she rebounded in spirit and body, standing on her bed while posing heroically. .... Present day 4993 A.D. Second week of Spring Guppy shook her head, dispelling the memories that rose from seeing the many races mingling in the past market square. She smiled sadly at her previous foolishness. ''How can I save 30 million slaves when I can barely look after the three of us, and by Tikka''s fiery beard, why am I remembering all these memories today of all days?''. Guppy refocused once more and raced over the bridge she was on while dragging Kyle behind her. She paused briefly at the far end to show their engraved iron work permits to the guards at the district gate. "Mornin Guppy, you best hurry if you aren''t to be late." the gate guard advised as she passed. Guppy nodded in response and took off running again. Her familiarity with the guards stemmed from two things. First, she was one of a small group who worked in a district where they did not live, thus necessitating a special pass issuance. Second, on her first day she had slipped while running over the bridge and fell into the river. Eliciting chortles from the guards as they fished her out. It left a firm impression on them and with little to do but gossip, soon all the regular guards knew her by name or as they sometimes called her, the drowning apprentice. Passing the gate they entered the craftsman district, the sights and smells abruptly changing. Everywhere you looked you could see shops opening. Materials of wood, brass and many others more exotic being shaped with a passion towards the artistry and completeness their makers could envision. The smells wafting over were just as diverse, as they jogged along Guppy smelt the tanneries, as well as the smitheries'' charcoal fires burning to melt copper and tin to brass. She even caught the wiff of powdered gems being added to a mix somewhere. A viable, if expensive way of increasing mana conductivity in an item, a side effect of which made the item glitter in the light. ''Probably something for a noble.'' thought Guppy, ''they do like their products as guady as possible.'' Finally they arrived at their destination, a Magitech workshop run by the pre-eminant crafter of the city, John Mithrilsmith. John had at first refused to believe Esmeralda four years ago, but when shown proof of Kyle''s talent he had gruffly promised to accept him as a core desciple once he turned 12. He had been true to his word, though Esmeralda was no longer there to see it. Feeling a little guilty about the jam Guppy put both cheese wedges into Kyle''s wrapper and shoved it into his hands. She looked him over, dusted some lint off his shoulder, and reminded him to take a break and eat lunch when the first afternoon bell rang. She then pushed him towards the entrance and bowed to Master John who waited there. "You''re late, " he brusquely said "come earlier tomorrow." Guppy sighed, her eyes still facing down. She knew he had a good heart, but wished he could speak a little kinder towards others. Once they both entered she stood back up and took off once more. A few minutes later she arrived at her workplace, panting and out of breath from her exertions. A rickety old workshop lay before her. Everyone walking by gave the shop a wide berth, and rightly so. The whole place looked like it could fall over at any time, so many and varied were the additions to it. Guppy took a moment to catch her breath and straighten her disheveled hair and clothes, a plain sturdy dress though it was. That done, she marched into the shop and immediately ducked. 5 A Dwarfs Dawn Like live moths to a flame, She''ll draw ire and acclaim. - prophecy of the duskbringer 4990 A.D. Three years ago... A short stout male strode down Crafter''s way in Nolusberg, while his height would indicate he was but a lad, his girth and bushy beard told otherwise. For Friedrich was a dwarf in a human city, an oddity these days. While it was true you could find them occasionally amongst the cities of men, as a race most dwarfs secluded themselves in a few ancestral dwarven strongholds scattered about and under the WorldSpine mountains. Especially with the aftermath of the third great war, there just wasn''t many dwarves left anymore, they having suffered perhaps the heaviest casualty rate of any of the races. They had backed the losing side, Their mad king supporting the Pure Tech fanatics who sought dominion over metal and chemical formulae. The stubbornness and nationalism inherent in dwarvenkind ensured that it was only once the Mad King Toreg was slain in the final battle that the few surviving remnants of what was once a proud empire sued for peace. Recovery, after they lost, was difficult at best. They had neither the reproductive capacity of the humans and orcs nor the longevity of the elves. So they had become recluses steeped in pacifist traditions over the ensuing centuries. "Spineless Pootah''s" cursed Friedrich as his memories brought up the dwarvish council of elders. On top of the crippling decrease in population, heavy sanctions and loss of land after the war, and the dwarven population had recovered at a snail''s pace compared to the other races, barring perhaps the elves. to the elves, each child was a treasure beyond measure. "Serves the poor sods right" grumped Friedrich, "Those pointy eared bastards were the first to raze our cities and salt our fields, despite all their nature-loving claims" Friedrich made his way through the busy streets. Steam puffing from his breath in the cold predawn air, most passersbys knew to avoid his stout but diminutive form, but he knew what people whispered behind his back. The kinder folk called him an eccentric, the less kind swore he was a raving loon. He didn''t mind much what others thought of him though, in fact, he often made use of his less than stellar reputation to his advantage. Indeed It was useful when by word of mouth alone you got the kind of privacy and respect most people had to spend significant fortunes to achieve, all he had to do was occasionally play it up a little. Friedrich grinned, scaring a few onlookers with his malevolent looking face. It was true he wasn''t the prettiest, even by dwarf standards. Years of tinkering and a few good steam explosions had left him with burns and scars on his face and much of his body, his grizzled red hair and piercing emerald eyes only adding to his infamy. He would boast that a good glare from him could curdle milk and peel paint from twenty paces away. Everything considered, if it wasn''t for his expertise in metal work, along with the prestige that skill brought him amongst the local craftsmen he figured he would have been run out of the city years ago. Thorum''s beard, even his family name was Brasstuner, none could work the golden metal as deftly and delicately as he could. Friedrich was jostled out of his musing when a man bumped into him, he heard a definite snap and sighed to himself. "I would have thought word got around by now" He addressed the would-be thief who currently sat whimpering on the ground while clutching his bleeding right hand. "No one tries to steal my coin purse and walks away whole." Indeed, the man was now bereft of 3 fingers and trying to staunch the blood with a handkerchief. Friedrich wound up the protection mechanism that enclosed his coin purse and retrieved the lost appendages. "Be glad I''m in a good mood lad" Friedrich tossed the severed digits back to their owner. "If you hurry to the temple of Podos or Selena you can get them reattached and working with the help of a good healer. Now get out of here before I change my mind on how much experimental materials I need this week". Friedrich then gave him a huge grin, to which the man visibly paled and quickly scurried away. "Now that''s just plain rude, not even a thank you" muttered Friedrich. "And here I was on my best behavior, after all it''s not every day a dwarf enters his best age at 70 years old". Friedrich continued to meander his way to his workshop, hands in his pockets and whistling a dwarvish hiking song, but he did so so off tune that the street suks whined and barked at him as he passed. He was closing in on his destination and finishing off a breakfast meat pie while passing through one of the side streets in the Craftsman Quarter, when he felt an anxious tug on his jacket. He turned around to see a human girl, barely taller than him, gripping his jacket with a determined look about her. She had brown hair and eyes, and looked about 12, although Friedrich could never really tell with how varied humans were. The girl was scrawny, but although her clothes had seen far better days she was respectable enough in cloth and flesh to rule out being a beggar or street urchin, neither did she put on a seductive air, so probably not a pink district worker. In summary, Friedrich was stumped as to why she had stopped him. "What is it lass? What business does ye have with me? If you''re looking for a roll in the sheets you''re neither old nor hairy enough for my taste." Friedrich leered slightly at her, attempting to intimidate her into letting go. The girl started blushing profusely when she heard his words. "I''m 14 years old already. and no, I don''t work in the pink district, I''m looking for work and want you to hire me". Friedrich blanked out for a second, before letting out a villainous laugh and slapping his thighs. "YOU. WANT TO WORK. FOR ME???". He roared It took a few minutes before he calmed down and collected himself. His workplace was no safe place for a half-grown slip of a girl, his own body bore testament to that, he decided to just scare her off, it would be for her best after all. "Haven''t ye heard the stories of me lass? About how I kidnap children and boil their livers for dessert, or torture grown men until they cry for their mothers, and beg me to put them out of their misery...What pit of insanity drew you to ask for work from Me?" "I''m a dull," replied the girl "I got tested when I was eight, even after I turned fourteen no one will take me in as an apprentice or for any job. I have no connections nor power to speak of to lean on. But that''s exactly why you''ll take me as an assistant. I have no magic affinity, nothing to throw off your precious sensitive experiments" Friedrich froze, his pretended threatening air turned real in an instant. "Where did you hear of that girlie," he said in a distinctly less friendly tone. He stared her down, putting his aura of intimidation on full display, even bleeding in some mana to make it more potent. Yet despite his efforts to crush her willpower, the girl stood against the buffeting waves of bloodlust. "No-one" she squeaked, her breaking voice betraying the struggle it took her to stay standing. "I watched and figured it out myself, you aren''t insane, or any of the other things they say about you, just a bit angry at the world and grumpy towards others, you hate the magitech system just as much as I do" Friedrich observed that as she spoke her knees were visibly trembling at the effort to stay standing. He sighed and stopped unleashing his bloodlust on the poor girl. She promptly fell to her knees and drew in a few sharp breaths as she recovered from the experience. "What makes you say that lass?". "My mother," she replied "I can feel she''s dying, the draining got her in its grips now". "Ahhh" exhaled Friedrich. "That''ll do it alright." A few moments of loaded silence passed between them before Friedrich turned around, embarrassed by the fierce staring of a lass with tears dripping down her cheeks. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. His back cast a shadow over her in the new dawn''s light. "What''s your name girl? I can''t keep calling you lass now can I?" "Gupalagia Bright," she replied, smiling wide in victory "but most people call me Guppy" 6 Interlude 1 - A Life Sentence From Birth Her soul shall twist the many strands of fate, Bringing to her those who love and hate. -prophecy of the duskbringer 4798 A.D. Spring... Burka never knew his parents. But what he remembered before the ring of pain came was his name, accompanied by a warm embrace that instilled a sense of security. The ring around his neck was cold and made him tired. He tried to take it off while he heard the jingling of small pieces of metal colliding, large beings laughed and shoved him into a small place. He stayed there for a while. Food was a mush slop, it was not tasty but it brought him some strength so he ate it anyway. The small place he was in started moving. He listened while he lay curled up, and watched through gaps of his small space. Slowly he made sense of what was said. Many days passed. Burka tracked the cycles of the sun and the movements of the moons. One large blue moon and a smaller red one chased each other across the sky when it was dark, Burka made little stories to himself as to why they raced across the sky, he grunted in hilarity at his own jokes as he made them, it helped the time pass. One evening he heard a story of the moons not of his making when the large one called Lamki and the fat one called Greelim were eating around the hot hungry thing, the fire they called it. The moons were called the twin sisters, Rai the little red sister, full of life and love and passion. Shar the elder, wise and logical in her movements. The two sisters were once mortals who fell in love with the sun, and abandoning their duties in the realm of mortals chased him into the heavens. Their dereliction of duty brought upon the world catastrophe, and as punishment a boundary was set between them and their goal, forever they raced, trying to catch up and win his affection and notice, but cursed in their arrogance to never reach, only reflecting his light. Burka wondered what this love was, was it yummy? It must have been good if the twins chased it so. His stomach growled at the thought. Over the course of time, Burka learned many things through his senses. He learned that the little pieces of metal that jingled were highly valued by these beings called humans. He further learned the language of humans until he understood most if not all that was said. He learned that the strong ruled and magic equaled strength when the merchant convoy was attacked by bandits, and Greelim blasted them to ash with a magical staff he carried. Burka made sure to always follow Greelims'' instructions carefully after that, being ash didn''t seem much fun. By the time half a year had passed he learned all these things. His master''s arrived at a big place, they waited in front of, then passed very big things called walls, the noise level went up, a lot. Burka held his hands over his ears, they hurt, their sensitivity abused by the din, gradually he adapted and listened once more. The smell didn''t get much better though. He shuffled around attempting to relieve his stiff muscles, already he was cramped inside the cage, his growth outstripping his allotted space. Burka relished his relative freedom when the cage was opened and he was allowed to exit into a large space filled with many humans. There were others of his kind here too, most being led in a line towards the back of a wooden platform that held a yelling man. Burka was shoved into line and forced to slowly shuffle forward. Once he reached the front of the line a man who sat writing there asked his master Greelim "registered name and clan". Burka''s master fumbled with some papers and swore. "Only got a clan name, Burka". The man with a feather in his hand peered at Burka, seeing an orc child, humanoid but with an orc''s typical ash grey skin, wearing but a ragged loincloth. As the feather man examined Burka he noticed an odd permutation, the orc child had thin green colorings that ran along and further defined his musculature. "Call him Jade" He snorted as he scribbled down a note. "NEXT!" Jade was sold that day to the highest bidder, a man with strangely colorful clothes who stood out from the crowd. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Some towering men came and grabbed Jade by the back of his neck. Jade knew not to struggle, it would bring only pain. After master Greelim and the colorful man each did something with his collar Burka was taken and thrown into a large cage on the back of a cart. Stumbling from the force of the throw, he fell against others of his kind, their eyes dull and limbs slack as they lay on the floor and against the sides of the cage. He attempted to question several of them about their destination but received only short, uninterested grunts. Bored, he watched as the six-legged chirika were harnessed to the wagon. Shortly they departed the open square passing slowly through crowds of humans and calgaree going their ways. Boola''s mooed as they were lead into smelly buildings, their long hair touching the ground. Zugzugs squealed and grunted as they searched for scraps, and suks barked behind walls or in alleys. There was so much going on that was interesting for Jade to watch. And the people! There were so many of them, and not one was the same! Burka''s curiosity as to their destination was fulfilled in time as they crossed a bridge, then some more walls, upon which the swarms of people quickly faded away. They slowly approached a large building set on a slight hill before stopping at a set of black gates. A grinding of metal sounded and the gates in front of them slowly swung open. They had passed a much larger set of gates a short time ago that were far more impressive, but they had only opened for a glittering carriage, not for them, Jade was not sure why they had to travel further for these gates, they must be special. The wagon passed through a garden of flowers encircled by a small orchard and arrived at some huts that were hidden from view of the gate. Distracted by the beautiful flowers and plants that he had not seen before Jade was startled when the door slammed open. "On yer feet trash!" yelled a man with a stout belly and yellowed teeth. A sour, pungent odor drifted over and assaulted Jade''s nose. "Haplow, where you at? You had best g-" "I am here, master Creety" replied an aged Orc as he appeared right behind the man called Creety. Burka rubbed his eyes with his little fists, he could have sworn the orc was not there a second ago. "Podos''s teeth, don''t sneak up on me like that you maggot" Creety punctuated his words with a punch, slamming his fist solidly into Haplow''s face and knocking him to the ground. "Take care of the new slaves for me, I''m a going drinking with me mates." With that Creety sauntered off, taking an occasional swig from a battered old flask. Jade jumped down from the carriage and walked up to Haplow. "Why did you let yourself get hit?" he asked, tilting his head in confusion. Haplow grinned while brushing his white hair from his face. "Well aren''t you an observant little runt. I''ll tell you why, that man has a belly full of hate, drawing his ire is never a good idea. If I had blocked, dodged, or firmed my stance he would have hurt himself in one way or another, and in his eyes he would have lost to an orc slave. So instead of a blow he would have sought far meaner and pettier forms for his revenge. Tell me runt, which situation would you prefer?". Jade thought about it for a moment, referencing his slender life experience before replying. "A blade from the front is better than 3 from the shadow". This brought an approving chuckle from the old orc. "I can tell we will get along better than those broken ones" Haplow grimaced as he waved to the other Orcs that had been in the cage with Burka. They were slowly exiting and heading to the huts, their shoulders slumped and footsteps heavy. "An Orc must find honor in living these days, for we have precious little else." Haplow''s eyes clouded over for a moment before he shook his head and ruffled Jades messy hair. "Come, little runt, let''s get some hot food in you." Jade followed the old orc back to the huts, running to keep up with his long strides. "How old are you Haplow?" asked Jade as he stared at the abundance of white in the old orc''s braided beard. "Thirty-four this spring." Haplow looked at Jade and grinned, fully baring his large canines. "I have maybe three or four years left in this world little runt, our kind were not made with time in mind. But I have lived, and loved, and lost in my years. Which is more than most orcs can say. I will not regret my passing when it comes¡­" "All that remains now is passing my wisdom on to the next generation. A job that is not new to me, but one that I think I will relish with you. What are you called young one? for you will not be a runt for long." "Jade, Burka Jade" Jade replied as he followed the elder orc into the welcome light and warmth of the hut. 7 Unlimited Power 1+2 Reborn midst light and fire, And with deep darkness dire. -prophecy of the duskbringer Present day, 4993 A.D. Sixth day of the first week of Fall... Upon hearing a whistling noise as she entered her workplace Guppy had ducked on pure reflex, the preservation instincts developed from years of working for Friedrich as a technomancer apprentice kicking in. While the duo of boss and employee mostly managed the perpetual occupational risks with safety measures and equipment, most of which was designed by Guppy and made or ordered by Friedrich, one still needed a quick wit and reflexes to avoid the odd piece of shrapnel. Guppy found that while not entirely safe, working for Friedrich was certainly fun. There was always an interesting project Friedrich had her working on. First had been training pieces, random joints, bolts, rivets, and metal pieces of all shapes and sizes. Guppy had to spend a great many hours learning how they all went together as well as the common ins and outs of the tools needed to do so Once she had the basics down Guppy was finally allowed to help with some of the simpler public orders and deal with customers that came around, although she suspected this was mainly because her boss really disliked doing so, preferring instead his uninterrupted crafting marathons. Finally, when Friedrich thought she was ready, he started Guppy with a new set of practise puzzles, except these were far tinier and more complex than the first sets. The delicate little mechanisms she assembled were made of strange alloys and metals, and once Friedrich was satisfied he took them down to the basement for his secret project. To be honest Guppy had been flat out bluffing when she first met him, all she had known at the time was gleaned and guessed from what she heard from the other craftsmen gossiping about. The juiciest tid bit being that Friedrich ordered a great many odd bits and bobs, despite their creators warning him he wouldn''t be able to use them personally. His design had been flawed, far too delicate they said, for his own measured ambient mana radiation. Guppy had gambled with her life and future that night she approached Friedrich. And won. Guppy had quickly found that life as an apprentice often resembled that of a nursemaid. The old codger she called boss would sometimes forget to eat for days on end, especially when he got particularly involved in one of his projects. After coming upon a moldering meal one too many times Guppy put her foot down and insisted on forced meal breaks. Initially, Friedrich had been against it, not wanting to interrupt his ''creative processes'' as he put it. But after an extended argument, Guppy convinced him by pointing out how he had an increased margin of error and number of accidents when he was sleepy and hungry. At that point she appealed to Friedrich''s pride as a craftsman, it had been a steamroll from there. Unwilling to produce Inferior products, especially while working on his pet project, Friedrich finally caved and allowed Guppy to ''mother'' him. "Good morning Master Friedrich," Guppy called as she retrieved the catapulted bolt which lay embedded in the doorway above her. "Have you had breakfast yet? Or dinner?" She inquired lightly. Friedrich''s ugly mug popped into view as he ascended from the open trapdoor that led to the basement. "Dash it all Guppy, forget food, have you seen an orichalcum bolt lying around. Guppy shook her head, only her master would use a rare metal that was worth triple its weight in gold as a common bolt. She held up the bolt in question, having retrieved its smoking form from the doorframe on her way in. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "I''ll give you this one if you''ll take a break and come eat some breakfast." She negotiated Guppy picked out Friedrich muttering some choice swear words before he grudgingly wiped his hands on his decidedly grubby trousers and walked over. Grabbing one of the sandwich rolls that Guppy had retrieved from his magitech fridge Friedrich munched uninterestedly on it, occasionally drinking from a flask of pressed fruit juice. While he loved liquor the dwarf never drank on the job. Not once. Once he finished the sandwich and had his mouth clear again Friedrich lapsed into his usual complaint. "What kind of apprentice orders their master around lass? Any other master on this street would have you out on your ear in a heartbeat". "The kind of apprentice who wants to see their master above ground, not permanently below it. Master" Guppy stressed the last bit with a sickeningly sweet grin. "I was born there," muttered Friedrich as he averted his head to prevent Guppy seeing his embarrassed face. They thus concluded one of their many short conversations that had reached an almost scripted level after 3 years of hurling insults and overdone adoration at each other. A comfortable silence followed as they both stretched and put the shop in order. Guppy knew that Friedrich had been hurt badly in the past. Not that he had ever told her what had happened. But it showed in how he interacted with others, he pushed others away instinctively to prevent anyone from getting close enough to hurt him again. Despite this flaw and the dwarf''s general lack of concern over his own wellbeing Friedrich had been a second father to Guppy. Teaching her a great deal about the theory of technomancy, the physical science used by magitech crafters. While Guppy was a dull and might not be able to use magitech tools without an expensive core, she was enlightened in the ''language of metals'' as Friedrich put it as she learnt and plied her new trade. He had even stepped in one night during the first year of her internship when the debt collectors had started to hound them badly again. He quietly made a few promises to them of what he would do if they pissed him off too badly. They had left at practically a run, pale and tripping over each other when Friedrich had released them, and while collectors still came, after that night they were far more polite about it. After Guppy checked that Friedrich had indeed eaten, rehydrated, and tidied himself up she handed over the Orichalcum bolt as promised. "So old man, what were you up to last night that made you slip into bad habits?" Guppy questioned. Friedrich did not immediately answer her, instead he finished cleaning his hands in silence. Startled by the suddenly solemn air that she felt from her boss Guppy waited quietly. Friedrich finally spoke. "Guppy, what is wrong with this world?". The weight of the question settled on Guppy as she pondered it. "A great many things" she slowly replied as she reflected upon her life''s grievances. "Yes, indeed there is." sighed Friedrich. "And yet I believe they are all symptoms of the growing pains a civilization experiences as it explores just what it means to exist. Take for example what happened to your mother. Magitech itself is a great boon to civilization and society, it brings us warmth, light, shelter, safety and comfort. Just an example, should the magitech knowledge and skills be tasked towards food production no doubt it could replace the need for much of our currently used manual labor systems, which would then bring to question the need for the slave labor of the orcs that our current civilization is so dependant on... But Magitech has a fundamental weakness, what do you think it is Guppy?" Guppy thought of all she had learned of Magitech systems, while she could think of many shortcomings she kept thinking of her mother''s situation. "Mana" she finally said. "Yes, Exactly!" replied Friedrich, his excitement growing as he continued to extrapolate. "In order to operate all the magitech items that are demanded by civilization we require vast quantities of stored energy. At first we could hunt magical beasts, their cores were energy-rich and could even be recharged. A good example of such is the city cores that power the defensive shield and beast repulsion emitters in all major cities. But in the end, these beasts were finite in number, and as our predation grew their numbers greatly diminished. The few beasts these days are inferior and limited when compared to the mighty titans of old. So the great minds of magitech invented a magic that allowed people to create magic crystals, opening up a whole new supply to feed the ever growing demand. Yet despite their best efforts and intentions this magic was not perfect. However, the side effects were and are ignored for the convenience of a society that can no longer live without its most crucial energy supply." Friedrich paused his tirade, gathered a deep breath and continued. "However what we are finding now is even that rich energy source is dwindling. A thousand years ago there was no record of dulls existing. The first tested dull was 954 years ago, and since then they have remained present but rare. Or so the general public is told. Census data tells a very different story. In my generation, there were 1.1% of the population tested as dulls. In the latest tests that came out, your generation Guppy, there were 5.9% of the population tested as dulls. The growth over the last 10 generations has been exponential. People don''t talk about it as it is still seen as a deformity in individuals by society. However, it is estimated that in just 4 more generations, magic as we know it will be pushed to the brink of extinction." Friedrich stopped, his arms outstretched as he delivered that bombshell on his young apprentice. Guppy stared slack-jawed at Friedrich as she tried to process the enormity of the reality presented to her by her mentor. Fridrich grinned, throwing off the sombre attitude he had been emitting. "Now what if I told you that there was another way, a way to produce a virtually unlimited energy source that could be changed into whatever form of mana we require? This magitech would be so revolutionary that it would force civilization to change on a fundamental level." Friedrich paused again, a pained look emerged, overtaking his triumphant one and twisting his already ugly features into a frightful mask. "I theorized this idea some forty years ago." "At the time I was the youngest dwarf to ever graduate from the famous Dwarven Deepstone University. I researched this idea fanatically, pouring over ancient tomes without heed for food or rest." "Finally, in triumphant naivety I presented my thesis and plan to the highest elders of the Dwarven race. And I was rejected." " ''Too dangerous'' they said, ''too un-dwarvish they cried, ''an end to the guidance and traditions of our forefathers'' they condemned." "When they found my source material it was the last straw on the Boola''s back and they flew into a rage." "For in my exuberance, I had browsed old and forbidden tomes of knowledge. To them, steeped in tradition as they were, I was a heretic." "I was named Stone-cursed, exiled from the dwarven kingdom and forbidden from association with any dwarf for the rest of my life." Friedrich paused, pulling up his sleeve and revealing a runic glyph engraved into his right forearm. Guppy had caught partial glimpses of it while they had worked together, but she had never seen the whole thing before, it looked horribly painful, the scarring showing that whoever engraved it, had not been gentle. Guppy shuddered as she imagined someone carving it into his flesh with a red hot knife. Friedrich continued, but in a far softer tone, yet his quiet voice was easily heard by Guppy. "I was marked so all dwarves who clasped arms with me in greeting could tell what I was, what they said I was. A heretical traitor to dwarven kind." A long moment of heavy silence ensued as Guppy processed these revelations and Friedrich dwelt in sorrowful recollections of a time long past. While both Guppy and Friedrich were lost in silent contemplation, a small black creature sauntered into the room, behaving for all the world as if it owned it. It arrived before them, before devouring a few meaty scraps that had fallen from Friedrich''s sandwich. Satisfied with it''s pickings it began to clean its front paws with its tongue. The animal was far smaller than a suk but similarly had four limbs on which it walked, a slender black tail and a small head with pointed ears. Finishing with its paws it began to lick its already glossy black fur before stopping and solemnly looking at the pair with its golden eyes. "A Mako!" Friedrich exclaimed in delight. "Today we are truly blessed, even the god''s messenger has come to watch us! Guppy today we make history! After 40 years of wandering, planning, and building, I am ready! Today we unveil a new rich source of energy for the benefit of all civilization! No more will civilization have to oppress the poor and weak to survive! No more will we enslave an entire race out of fear of what may be! Today we bring a new dawn to this world." Guppy felt her heart speed up in excitement as she listened to the energised dwarf. ''so this is what the old bas.. I mean dwarf was doing. Fudgeknucles he''s awesome.'' Her thoughts raced and teamed with the possibilities and import of their goal as she quickly pulled on her leather gear. While finely made the protective clothes were unenchanted, a measure to prevent any possible disruption magical resonance could cause with the extremely sensitive and delicate parts she had been piecing together for Friedrich. Guppy raced down the stairs to the basement, feeling an extra thrill at entering a zone Friedrich had previously never allowed her access to. Freezing in awe she saw it. Gleaming metal lit by the large crystal source igniters that connected to it in a symmetrical fashion, all twelve varieties of mana Guppy noted. The thing was an excessively large sphere, the basement having been dug down not one or two but three entire levels in order to accommodate it like an egg in its nest. The staircase she was on wound its way in a spiral as it descended before stopping at a platform near the bottom. There an array of shiny brass levers and buttons sat patiently waiting for them. "Keep moving lass, and close your mouth, I don''t pay you to catch flies now do I" Friedrich chuckled at her awestruck posture and prodded Guppy to wake her up. Having succeeded they both descended to the control platform. Once they reached it Guppy took her time to further examine it while Fridrich bustled over the control panel. The Machine sat quietly, its many metallic hues spoke not only of its brass construction, but also orichalcum and even, 12 divines! was that adamantite she saw suspended on a crane?! Guppy narrowed her eyes at Friedrich''s back. ''If I knew how stinking rich he was I would have pushed for a higher salary'' she mentally complained. Friedrich feeling her stare, guessed its meaning and coughed awkwardly. "All my savings and earnings for 40 years went straight into this project Guppy, it is indeed my life''s work" Friedrich said as he walked over and lovingly caressed the surface of The Machine. "I call her TiLuNaPoHwSeChNoLuThPrZa." Guppy tripped and grabbed the railing. "Boss that''s an awful name." She swiftly cut off the possibility of a soon to be world famous magitech machine being named so horrendously. Guppy looked at the twelve elemental crystals and made a mental connection. "Boss, did you just use the first two letters of each of the twelve divines names and smash them together?" Friedrich flinched, which was all the answer Guppy needed. "Yeah, that name is definitely rejected." Friedrich made a sour face at her rejection. "Well what do you suggest then madam?". ''Oh boy'' Guppy thought ''he only calls me madam when he''s quite annoyed, he must have spent a long time thinking that name up.'' Guppy put aside Friedrich''s obvious displeasure and thought for a bit. After a minute she looked up and opened her mouth. "what about that mythical white dragon from the old Dlorian folk song, Arkkarnissius?" Friedrich thought about Guppy''s proposition, "True, it does roll off the tongue a tad bit easier, we''ll go with that name then Guppy, now while I paint its new name on would you kindly get up there and insert the adamantite focusing array." Guppy saluted and thought ''crisis averted''. She ran up the stairs, then latched onto a series of bars located on the underside of the crane, swinging herself from one to another until she reached the zenith and let go, dropping a short distance onto Arkkarnissius. Arriving at the open top hatch she guided the crane and lowered the adamantite dodecahedron into the belly of the beast. That done she slipped through the hatch herself. Inside she was met with a technomancer''s paradise, surrounded by highly advanced and intricate magitech devices on all sides. The multitude of contraptions glimmered in the faint light coming through the hatch. Once her eyes adjusted Guppy quickly found the central node and carefully inserted, then secured the focusing array. "Clever old boy" Guppy muttered. Who else but her crazy master would use adamantite, a near legendary metal which reflected magic, to build a focusing array instead of an antimagic armor. "If people ever find out what we used to build this thing I reckon the army will be kicking down our door to tear it apart for scrap" She murmured. Guppy realised that she knew what to do, several of the puzzles Friedrich had previously given her and made her repetitively solve giving her the experience she needed. She carefully hooked in the 12 igniter cables around the core, making sure they were sealed and secured tightly, then opened the primary output valve. This done she retreated the way she came and quickly exited Arkkarnissius. Following that she closed the access hatch and swiveled the clamping wheel to secure the entrance shaft. "All done Master" Guppy reported. "Come over to the control station Guppy. I have set up a tier six mana shield array here for our protection." Friedrich called. Guppy made her way back down to the control platform and arrived to see Friedrich positively vibrating with excitement as he muttered incessantly to himself. When he saw that Guppy had arrived he flipped a lever and a transparent blue membrane shimmered and hummed into existence around the platform. Guppy stood to the left and a little behind Friedrich as the Dwarf started an elaborate startup sequence, running through the checks on the igniters and pressure testing. Once everything checked out he stopped, hovering his finger over the large red button labeled IGNITE. "Master?" Guppy asked quietly. "It''s nothing Guppy." replied Friedrich as he firmly depressed the button. For a second nothing happened, then slowly the mana circuitry on Arkkarnissius lit up, the twelve colors bathing the chamber in their multi hued glow. "what does it use as fuel Master?" Guppy enquired. Friedrich puffed out his chest as he proudly explained "Well I started out with iron but that was far too heavy, just sucked the igniter energy dry before the reaction could get started properly. I tried a bunch of different metals before finding that gases work best, you know the stuff they fill those giant blimps up with? It works wonders as fuel, just a little ignition and boom, it fuses right up and releases all the primordial mana you would ever need. Of course, my test rigs overloaded themselves, the power output was far too much for them to handle. They shorted right out and the lack of regulation made the reaction unstable. But this beauty can take it. I know she can." Guppy coughed. "Master, according to legend Arkkarnissius was a male" Friedrich snorted, "Don''t bother me with trivialities now girl, I have science to perform!" Arkkarnissius hummed as it fully lit up, the very air visibly oscillating. "IGNITERS ARE ENGAGED!" Friedrich shouted, trying to make himself heard over the increasingly loud thrumming Arkkarnissius was emitting. "ANY SECOND NOW SHE''S GOING TO LIGHT UP LIKE SELENA HERSELF." And then it did, an intensely bright light assaulted Guppy''s eyes, blinding her before she pulled down her welding goggles. Blinking to regain her vision Guppy cast her eyes to the output readings. One thousand, two thousand, three and a half thousand mega mana''s. "Merciful Chrolia" Guppy implored, her voice silent, the thrumming now completely drowning out her words. "That''s enough power output in one second to run the needs of the entire empire for a week! He did it. F-Fudgeknukles the old geezer really did it." Guppy grasped Friedrich''s shoulder and squeezed it. This was the dawn of a new age, the world would never, could never be the same after today. She felt an overwhelming pride in her master gush over her. Even the usually stoic dwarf could not hold back his emotions, it looked like he was trying to create a river over there, so great were the tears streaming down his cheeks. Guppy could not hear a word he spoke, but she understood him nonetheless as he mouthed over and over "It works. It works. It works" Guppy looked back at the control panel, and in the very corner saw a lovely little, perfectly innocent, and quite obviously forgotten orichalcum bolt. "There''s no way," she said as a tremor warped the air and everything went white. 8 Unlimited Power 3 Through pain and strife, She''ll win her life. - prophecy of the duskbringer The World blanched white and sound vanished. Guppy felt like she was moving through treacle as she tried to push Friedrich down to safety, her only guide his outline in the blinding light. She tried to sweep his feet and shove him down at the same time, knowing conventional means would fail when attempting to move a dwarf. She succeeded, which spoke volumes on how strong and fast she had gotten over the last three years. Guppy felt a Shockwave hit the shield, which thankfully dispersed it. However enough damage was dealt that the shield hit its threshold and crystallized, shattering and tinkling to the ground in front of her eyes. ''Fudge knuckles this is bad'' Guppy thought, because every technomancer knew, after the boom comes the rip. A second later it came. Guppy was flung against the wall with a sickening crunch, then dangled there, pinned by a jagged piece of metal that had pierced her chest dangerously close to her heart. She saw her shirt blossom red. The pain had not hit her yet but she knew it would soon. "FUUUDGEKNUUUCKLESSSS" she screamed. There it was, trying to force her to black out. Guppy drew in short ragged breaths. Forcing herself to focus and keep her eyes open she looked for her master. Unlike her Friedrich had rebounded off the wall and fallen back to the control panel, or what was left of it. Guppy watched as he got up while shaking his head. A reddish blue glow around him spoke of a personal mana shield, probably the reason he was relatively unharmed by the ordeal. Guppy looked back at where Arkkarssius had lain. The outer shell had well and truly been flung outwards by the explosion but the inner core had stayed put. The adamantine core spun at a ridiculous blur while levitating in the air. What was even stranger was that a fair amount of wreckage hung suspended in the air around the core. Electric arcs jumped between the pieces of airborne debris, providing the lighting for the dim cavern. And then it moved once more. Faster than Guppy could blink the core imploded. A blacker than black circle appeared, no not a circle, a hole, a bottomless ravenous hole. First the suspended debris flew back towards it and was devoured, seeming to curve as it entered the mouth. Then scattered wreckage was dragged towards it before flying up and disappearing. Guppy''s sluggish brain put two and two together. "MASTER FRIEDRICH RUN!!!" she yelled. And Guppy watched, pinned to the wall like a bug on a display board, as her beloved Master was lifted off the ground. His arms flailed as he discovered the danger too late. Trying to find purchase on something solid. Friedrich''s face a mix of panic and sorrow he yelled words that Guppy could not hear. Then he too was gone, sucked in. The mouth closed in on itself, the rip in reality healing. Right as the void closed in on itself a sudden brilliant white flashed out. A massive white dragon appeared amidst the wrecked testing facility, slamming into the far wall and carving a sizable chunk out of it before its momentum was arrested. So large was the dragon that its bulk made the large chamber appear small and cramped. ''I''m in shock'' thought Guppy, ''And surely hallucinating out of grief. Right now, despite knowing there''s no way a dragon just got out of that...thing, I''m seeing a beautiful white dragon, it''s a little different to the storybook illustrations but that''s definitely a dragon¡­ right?'' Guppy had always thought they were just creations of fantasy and myth, after all there had been no reported sightings of dragons for hundreds and hundreds of years. They weren''t supposed to exist anymore. {YOU THINK AWFULLY RUDE THOUGHTS FOR SUCH A PUNY CREATURE} An overpowering loud voice reverberated in Guppy''s head, causing her eyes to blur for a moment in shock and a very unique kind of pain. ''Yep, definitely hallucinating, I''m even hearing voices now'' Guppy giggled a little hysterically before it hurt too much to continue. Once she calmed and gazed upon the dragon again, Guppy realized it was not as perfectly white as it had initially appeared. The creature was battered and bruised from head to toe, great rents were torn in its pearly white scales, the flesh beneath charred black and red. One of the dragon''s wings was all but torn off while the other was tattered and limp. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. On his right side the forelimb was shorn clean off, while the rear limb was bent at an angle that it was clearly not meant to bend. Guppy tried to speak but it seemed her lungs weren''t working anymore, all that came out of her mouth was blood. ''I probably don''t look much better than the dragon'' she thought. {No, neither of us are cutting a very regal figure at the moment} The voice in her head was quieter now, and she could feel it''s sorrow. {But then, we are both of us dying} The dragon was surprisingly forthright with his condition. ''I thought dragons were supposed to be prideful and arrogant'' Guppy wondered. {Yes. That may have once been true, but not after today, not anymore} The dragon shifted around, leaning his head to get a better look at Guppy, a large circular golden eye peered closely at her comparatively diminutive form. In doing so it flinched. Guppy could see pain reflecting in its eye as she heard more than saw its wounds break open. A snarl escaped its maw, which, as it was now rather close to Guppy gave her not only a front row seat to the rows of incredibly sharp looking teeth, but also to the spittle that flew out and slapped solidly into her. ''Great'' She giggled to herself, ''Now if I don''t die of blood loss, infection from dragon germs will surely do me in.'' Guppy could feel herself getting lightheaded and cold. The giggling was also a bad idea. She coughed up more blood from her lungs. Was the light fading? Things looked darker now. The pearly dragon shook, it''s movements bringing down more of the ceiling and scattering random debris around {How can I die now, my duty unfulfilled} {This cannot be the end for me, It is not our way to go quietly into the night} The dragon mentally projected his impotent frustration and rage, the raw edge to the emotions brought Guppy back from the teetering edge, shocking her back to consciousness and letting her heart beat a little longer. {My kind were made to rage and fight tooth and nail for life and love. I for one will not go gently as my foes desire. I refuse to let them have their way and conquer as they please} The dragon''s simmering rage halted, a shadow of a memory of a thought flashing across his mind, after weighing and considering it he then addressed Guppy. {What is your name hatchling?} Feeling the sudden formality in the dragon''s thoughts Guppy replied in kind, even though it was difficult she formed words in her sluggish mind. ''Gupalagia Esme Bright. But most call me Guppy''. {My glorious name, given and earned, is Barthurthalomalew Dresnarian Kratomanger Harrowhew Objuslorow the fifth.} the dragon conveyed Guppy''s mouth cramped just thinking of trying to pronounce that name. ''I''ll just call him Batty'' she thought. Batty''s golden eye twitched a few times before he got ahold of himself. {I have a proposition for you, neither of us seem to be willing to die here and now. There is.. a magic I can use that could save us both, but it has... consequences.} Batty paused, his eyes looking almost bashful somehow. {It would involve merging our souls. I examined your soul just now and it is compatible with mine, you have no elemental affinities to throw off our balance, only a pure chaos affinity that endlessly shifts and adapts. It will match mine perfectly} He paused. {However I will require your willing consent for this to work, the magic cannot be invoked if both parties have any resistance to it} A moment passed as Guppy pondered Batty''s offer. She thought of her younger siblings, Stalia and Kyle, and of her promise to her mother all those years ago. ''I too have a duty to fulfill'' ''I am done with losing family members, even if that member is me'' ''Do it. I Gupalagia Esme Bright give my willing consent'' {I Barthurthalomalew Dresnarian Kratomanger Harrowhew Objuslorow the fifth honor your consent and take you now as my soul''s second half} A huge magic array spun into existence, scrawling itself rapidly over the walls, floor, roof, and debris. Doing so with such an intensity that the symbols and runes etched themselves into the metal and stone, smoking as they did so. Batty lowered his head to gently touch Guppys''. She felt a warmth seep into her cold and nearly lifeless body. The spear of twisted metal pinning her to the wall melted then vapourised, but she did not fall, Instead she was lifted by the golden magic as the process continued. Guppy could feel sleep tugging at her but continued to fight it, trying with all her might to stay awake. She stared at Batty, forcing herself to focus, and she saw it happen, starting from his tail he was slowly disappearing, flesh, scale and bone turning to golden mist. she asked. Then frowned, those words had felt different somehow, like... Guppy''s thoughts disordered {Yes hatchling, before I had to apply effort and could only read the surface thoughts you had of me, but now with our souls joining there is no need for that, we can freely communicate} {As for my body disappearing... I need tremendous amounts of energy to fuel this particular magic. Far more than I currently have in this ravaged and depleted body} {So I am burning my own body at the molecular level and converting it into raw primeval mana in order to provide the fuel} Guppy felt a profound sense of loss at his words and raised her hands to either side of Batty''s muzzle. {Fret not hatchling, this body was already dying, it would not have lasted much longer in any case. I shall spin myself a new one in time. Until then I shall leave my soul with you.} A few more minutes passed and Guppy felt like she was sinking into a warm fuzz, she struggled to keep awake, fighting the oncoming suction of sleep. {Rest now, the process is almost done. Think of your nest, I will send us there.} Now assured, Guppy finally relaxed, thinking of the safest and most desirable place she could be. Her bed. 9 The Tin Cans of Nolusburg Two Tin Cans will a rattle, But ne''re they will a tattle. - prophecy of the duskbringer Present day, 4993 A.D. Sixth day of the first week of Fall¡­ Jacques Woodsinger sat at his desk reading the Nolusburg News, a daily publication on events throughout the city, with national, political and gossip sections included. As Jacques leaned back in his creaky old chair and flicked through the paper looking for interesting tidbits, he heard his partner call out to him. "Jacques you''re sparking again, stop brooding over the news before you wreck my magitech equipment, it''s bloody expensive to replace" "At least put on your grounding strap before you send an arc on over to me, my tongue still feels a little numb from yesterday''s patrol." Jacques looked over at his work partner. Hadoom Ironproc was a stout dwarf that Jacques had known for the last twenty-odd years. The duo were both ''Tin Canners'', slang for the law officers in the capital city of Nolusburg. Called by that colloquialism because of the standard issue breastplate and helmet they wore as part of their uniform. The uniform hadn''t changed in the last thousand years and while it was a little old-fashioned and formal for Jacques taste he had to admit that it had stopped a shank or three in his days. They had first met when Hadoom, down a partner after a particularly brutal riot, had picked up a young Jacques the moment he joined the force fresh out of the academy. Hadoom had trained and protected Jacques in the many streets throughout Nolusberg, teaching him how to do his job without getting knifed in the process. Hadoom Ironproc was getting old though, pushing 79 years and due for retirement next year. Hadoom''s career had been long and mostly uneventful, although you wouldn''t know it from the greatly embellished stories he told. But that was the way old Ironproc liked it, preferring to be a ''street stomper'' rather than be put in charge of a district from behind a desk. Of course his nonchalant disrespect of his superiors didn''t help his case much either. They had promoted him half a dozen times but busted him down just as quickly to a sergeant, Jacques suspected much of it had been intentionally done by Ironproc, although the old codger kept his lips sealed on the matter. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. And to top him off Hadoom''s mud brown hair and eyes were as ordinary as his meager magical talent, which for a dwarf was downright embarrassing. All in all, if he was not a dwarf he would be one of the most ordinary and plain looking commoners one could find. Jacques on the other hand looked like he was 20 despite pushing 65. The vitality of the elf blood that flowed through his veins working its magic in preserving his youth. His tall lean stature, blond hair and steel-grey eyes made him both attractive and noticeable, contrasting greatly with Hadoom''s easily forgettable personage. Jacques himself had been passed over for promotion many a time, partly because of the lack of respect he had for his superiors. But mostly because busting his last captain in a major criminal case did nothing to endear him towards his fellow officers and superiors. Publically he received a medal, privately... the collective hate of an entire city of law officers. Seen by most as a traitor to their kind dwelling in their midst. Being right seemed to hold no water with them. In fact most made it clear that when Hadoom retired next year they would rather have a filthy slave orc as their partner instead of him, the others, well, they bit their nails at him. This blatant ostracism enlightened Jacques on just how far the systemic corruption had rotted the once honorable profession he was a part of. Most officers these days were dirty cans, disgraces to the badge they carried and the oath they swore, taking bribes and doing favors for whoever had the coin, noble and mafia alike. Jacques sighed as he remembered how each new discovery had progressively shattered the youthful enthusiasm he once held for his profession. Jacques''s mother had been an elvish bard, who bitten by wanderlust, left the elvish strongholds in the deep forests and travelled the continent. She had met his human father when she snapped her instrument over the head of an opportunistic bar fighter about to shank him. Needing a new lute she put in a request with an up and coming instrument crafter, his father... One thing led to another, and they were married before the year was out. But the happy newlyweds were broken apart when his mother died giving birth to him 3 years later. Half-elves were rare for a reason, few elvish mothers could survive a birth. Jacques''s father had faithfully raised him for the next twenty years. Instilling in him a strong sense of morals and adherence to law and order as he slowly grew. Woodsinger senior had died while out drinking with an old friend, the man a victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Grakoan mafia had been on the rise back then, rapidly taking over other gang''s territory. Their target that night just happened to be the bar Jacques'' father was in. After a bloodbath of a fight they had found Jacques'' father amongst the bodies, he having refused to leave the barmaid to an otherwise gruesome fate. And while he had succeeded in his goal... he had paid for it with his life. The next day the law officer academy gained a fanatically devoted new recruit, who two years later graduated with the highest score the academy had ever seen. Jacques attached a metal strap and cable to his wrist, his magic affinity was that of lightning, a rare affinity, and often one the military scouted. It was a destructive chaotic force, linked tightly to his emotions, and it was one that could easily damage or destroy magitech items he was around. Indeed he had struggled to learn how to control it growing up, often breaking things accidentally. But with time and practice he had mastered its control... mostly. He still avoided using magitech tools though, preferring a set of modified knuckle dusters made from triple forged steel to the usual officer issued magitech gun and pacifier club. Seeing that Jacques was safely grounded Hadoom finished his donut and queried "What''s got your feathers ruffled pup?". Jacques ignored the intentional jab, instead answering in a tired tone. "Take your pick, grain prices are going up again, there''s a new tax that''s been added on metal trade, rumours of civil unrest in the east and south, there''s naught in here but news to sour one''s mood" Jacques leaned back in his chair, casting his eyes to the growing patch of mould and mushrooms on the ceiling he called Jack. "There''ll be riots again soon, mark my words, the air''s still ugly after the last increases 3 months ago. People are worried and uncertain. Never good news for the likes of us." "Aye, tis bad news" agreed Hadoom "Old Heuwey''s day old bread went from one to two coppers a loaf back then. That riot was an ugly one for sure, still got the scars to prove it" Hadoom lifted his shirt, showing several nasty looking scars on his portly belly. Right then a rumble shook the building. The ground shivering slightly. Jacques and Hadoom looked at each other. "Five coppers say it''s the alchemists blowing up their tower again." grinned Hadoom. "No", replied Jacques as he detached his strap "It came from the craftsman quarter, grab your gear Hadoom, they''ll be issuing a general call soon" Sure enough the precinct bell rang, 2 tolls, summoning all active duty officers to rush to the anomaly. They both finished buckling up their gear and took off running. Once outside they saw a large plume of smoke rising into the sky, the source of the explosion clearly evident. They were only about a mile out from the looks of things. With Hadoom huffing and puffing they dashed through the streets. Another shiver ran through the ground, weaker than the first but still evident to Jacques heightened senses. After a measure of exertion they arrived at the scene. The first responders from the looks of it "It. looks. like. old Friedrich. the dwarf''s. workshop." Hadoom panted. "Did you know him?" Jacques asked. "There being so few dwarf''s in the city and all" "Nah, I left the dwarven kingdom because being underground made me claustrophobic" Hadoom stopped and spat in the wreckages'' direction. "Friedrich however, he was stone cursed. Banished from the fellowship of dwarves. It only happens to the worst of criminals, may haps once every few decades since they abolished the death sentence." Jacques nodded, it made sense why old Ironproc knew of him if he was so infamous. Personally he was an advocate for the death sentence. There were a good many people the world would be better without. The duo moved together, keeping the growing crowd from approaching the potentially dangerous workshop wreckage. When more tin cans showed up and took over they approached the wreckage to further investigate. The old workshop had collapsed in on itself. Taking half of the neighbouring buildings with it. Wooden timbers lay smashed next to mangled machinery and tools. Cracks in the cobblestones reached outwards like a giant spider web and the ground sloped and visibly raised around the explosion site, whatever had done this was no small mishap, to cause this damage would require an enormous force, what had the old fool of a dwarf been mixing in his cellar wondered Jacques. Jacques listened with one ear as a reporter took down an account of what had happened from a local. "We was just firing up the furnaces fer the day. You know, all normal like. When the ground shook like someone was pulling the rug out from under ya. We all fell down of course. A couple lads got some nasty burns too let me tell ya. So we''s all rushed out to see for ourselves what was happening. And it was how you see''s now, all exploded like. I warned Pete and Fred I did, not to buy those workshops next to old Friedrich. He was a loony old dwarf I said. It was... ," Jacques stopped listening as the man continued on with more gossip and rumors about the proprietor of the former workshop, none of it sounded more than superstition and fear mongering. He and Hadoom approached the bomb site and started poking through the wreckage looking for clues. Shifting through the scrapped metal and wood they quickly found a gaping hole in the center. "Cor blimey" Hadoom muttered. "what do you reckon he was building down here Jacques? An unregistered battle mech? An explosives production line? Or a giant hot tub?" "I don''t know" Jacques replied as he unwound a thin steel cable from one of his bracers. He secured it around a sizable fallen beam. "But I intend to find out". He jumped into the hole, the cable going taunt behind him. His descent rapidly slowed by a braking mechanism set in his bracer he landed softly in the bottom of what could only be called a crater. While light came through the hole, the morning sun was not positioned well yet leaving the crater dim and smokey. Jacques detached the steel cord, then pulled out and cracked a glow tube, something an alchemist friend of his had whipped up for him to use as a light source instead of the usual magitech headlamp. He slowly walked around, examining the explosion site, noticing as he did pieces of shrapnel embedded into the walls and ceiling, but strangely the center area was swept clean. The larger debris even left drag marks towards the center instead of away. "It''s almost as if it exploded outwards first, and then inwards" He muttered to himself. "But what on Terrapia would, or even could cause something like that?" It got even stranger, as Jacques peered closely there were strange runes and engravings over every surface he could see, the sheer complexity and scope of it took his breath away and set his jaw rigid. This was far beyond their paygrade. He reached out and touched an engraved rock, only to have the top layer turn to dust at his fingertips, erasing the markings as a gentle air current swept by. A gleam caught his eye as he watched the vanishing glyphs. Stooping down he picked up what seemed to be a scale, except it was far too large, it''s pearly white surface dirtied by blood and mud. "Now where did you come from? You''re too large and hard for a fish, perhaps a trophy kept by some monster hunter?" But what was it doing here? His intuition told him it was important so he wiped it clean and carefully tucked it away for a more in depth investigation later. Behind him a rope ladder descended and shortly Hadoom joined him, switching on his headlamp and starting to examine the metal debris. He shortly swore profusely, burning even Jacques calloused ears. Jacques quickly came over to see what the fuss was about. Hadoom was scrabbling around, collecting multi-hued scraps of metal. When he saw Jacques peering curiously he shoved a bunch of twisted metal at him. "Help me gather these metals real quick-like boyo or it''ll cause a right mess when the others get down here. That mad dwarf was using mithril, orichalcum and even... Thorum''s balmy nose! How in the seven hells did he get ahold of adamantite? It''s a grade one restricted metal for Lupo''s sake!" "And who had enough skill and owed him enough favors to smelt all this orichalcum for him. They''re completely bonkers, if this gets out we''re talking martial law, this entire neighbourhood and everyone connected to this event in any way will disappear ''for questioning'', so grab it quick Jacques, and stuff it in here." Hadoom pulled out an old tattered bag from one of his jacket''s hidden recesses. "This here''s a relic from the old days, a family heirloom it is. Bigger on the inside see, it''ll keep it safe by hiding its magical emissions. And we tell no one what we found, we keep it a secret or we''re all done for." Shaking his head in annoyance at the sudden and unpleasant twist to his day Jacques quickly helped his partner collect the reddish gold colored orichalcum and the few pieces of black adamantite. They shoved some of the mithril in too, diminishing the amount that would be reported, preventing the case from seeming too suspicious. Thankfully they easily found and quickly stored much of the contraband as it glowed dimly in the poor light. They were thankfully finished by the time the precinct captain wobbled down a much sturdier wooden ladder. Jacques could see Captain Sladlow''s eyes light up with greed as he saw the bluish silver mithril scattered around the scene. Jacques had no doubt very little if any would make it to the evidence locker, instead heading to various black market dealers in a lucrative trade to fill the captain''s pockets with gold royals. "You''re dismissed sergeants. Head back up and assist with crowd control" Sladlow sneered. His obvious dislike of the two showing in his face and voice. "And I want a full report of the entire event on my desk before sundown... In triplicate." Jacques stifled a groan. The man was a sadistic poncer. He knew just how to torture a poor soul. They wouldn''t be able to go home before the first morning bell tomorrow, while their next shift started at the fourth. "Yes Sir! Delighted to Sir!" They both saluted with as much dignity and faked respect they could muster... and beat a hasty retreat before their captain could think up any further punishments for them. As they strolled back to the precinct Jacques pulled the scale out from his pocket and admired its pearlescent grandeur. "What beauty dropped you I wonder?" He muttered. As the late morning light caught the scale he froze, on the scale were tiny runes, so small as to be practically invisible without the sunlight making them shimmer. The runes were ordered, fitting into a pattern that Jacques could see would make a greater whole when connected to other scales. The runes and patterns also appeared strange, subsisting below the first layer of enamel instead of on top. "Zarak''s little pinky toe" swore Jacques as he came to a realization. "These weren''t inscribed by any technomancer, they were grown!" 10 Awakening She''ll dream and soon see What she''s come to be - prophecy of the duskbringer Present day, 4993 A.D. An indiscernible time¡­ Guppy was adrift in a lucid dream, She had awoken on a stone bed in a plain grey room with no decorations or windows, only a single plain door. When she arose and exited the room she entered a long, long corridor, it seemed to stretch for miles yet she could clearly make out the end, a huge door lay there with a heavily cloaked figure in black standing before it. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. With nothing else to do Guppy started walking down this long carpeted corridor. She found that the walls had many doors on either side, and each door was different, with a unique color, style and pattern engraved upon it. She opened a few in curiosity, discovering that each seemed to have different scenes from her memories inside, and if she stayed long enough they would begin to loop. She moved on, entering rooms as she was moved by her whims. Each time she would exit she would be closer to the end, and that chilling presence that lay there. A growing sense of dread would strike her each time she viewed that figure standing so eerily still, yet always watching her. She could only dissipate its gaze by entering another room, so she did, again and again. Some contained happy memories of her as a young child, before grief first struck. Playing with her father, his face blurry in her faded memories, tugging on his hand to show him a flower, or people and animals she found interesting, silly little things to an adult, but of vital importance to her childish self. Guppy winced as she watched her younger form serve her father a mud pie and force him to eat it. He did so with a grin She blushed at how she had acted towards her first crush at twelve, sighed at how her first romantic relationship at 14 lasted but a month, and came to realize why she had not courted or been courted since. These last few years she had been so focused on surviving to spare time or thought for frivolity. And the young men of Nolusberg liked to flirt with the giggling pretty girls from good homes, not the grim, plain faced lasses from broken ones. She firmly closed that door and moved on. The years of her mother''s waning were difficult to relive but Guppy forced herself to review them anyway, forcing through the grasping pain. Remembering the responsibility and constant pressure she was under to hold the family together helped to firm her resolve to see this to its end.. She stood for a time at her parents grave, two simple engraved stones marking the flower covered mounds where they rested. She had scrimped together a little coin to lay their mother in a gravesite next to their father. A kind old priest performed the last rights without charging them, merely patting their heads and offering a prayer of guidance both for the deceased and the living, sending her mother''s soul off in peace to the afterlife. Knowing this was but a dream Guppy silently looked on even as tears slid down her cold cheeks, determining to visit their graves after she woke up. After basking in these memories awhile she sadly and softly closed those doors and trod again upon the carpeted corridor. From the end she could feel a biting chill and heard a scraping, rattling sound that made her break out in a cold sweat. She froze into indecision and uncertainty. Unable, or unwilling to proceed further Guppy opened the nearest door and entered. A large circular room lay before her, it contained not a vista but a battered apartment building. Guppy walked to a battered couch that overlooked the tiny apartment she had called home the last few years, the walls and roof turned transparent to her view wherever she looked. So she sat on the creaking couch, watching the comings and goings from the past 3 years pass in speedy succession. The joyous day when she had come home, thin, worn, and a little shell shocked at successfully getting hired by Friedrich. She watched as a small glimmer of hope lit within Stalia and Kyle''s eyes as she told them the news. Time sped up. They gradually ate more and better food, and filled out their plain but soon sturdier clothes. Stalia found a job waitressing, supplementing their income and savings. The night Stalia came home, eyes alight as she sighed about a gorgeous young man who had started courting her. Going on and on about his smile or how his eyes twinkled when he grinned, or how his muscles moved under his tight shirt... Kyle bringing home small injured animals to heal rather than eat. Kyle smiling so broadly when she brought home a few tools and raw materials for him to practice with. He had never been a person of many words but he gave her a big long hug and whispered "thank you sis" in her ear. This was the most emotion she had seen him show since their mother died, he had been too young to really remember their father when he passed. He always kept his eyes down, focused on whatever he was working on. Only lifting them when he stared off into the distant sky, gazing at a vista only he could see. Guppy felt the warmth of that hug anew. As the memories finished and the room faded to grey before starting anew Guppy sat on that moth eaten couch, and pondered over her memories. There were times of tears and sorrow mixed right in with the shrieks of joy and exuberance. The good times highlighted by the bad they had suffered through. Each day they had lived together had been a precious gift to Guppy. Having gained some strength she raised herself and exited the room, making her way to the end of the long corridor. All too soon she arrived. Before her the cloaked figure raised a hand, warning her to halt and turn around, to leave and not venture this way furthermore. She ignored it and kept walking. An oppressive weight seeped out of the figure, trying to force her away, or even just to stop. Guppy continued her approach with slow with heavily measured steps. The lights in the corridor started flickering on and off. Passing the final doors on her left and right she approached the big one. It was large, made of wrought iron with locks, bars and black iron chains on it, decorated with rows and rows of skulls that gazed upon her with hollow eyes as she drew near. Darkness seeped out from under the door, enshrouding her legs in a bone chilling cold. Faint shrieks and cries could be heard from the other side. She reached out with a hand that trembled, seeming to weigh a metric ton. The dark being stretched its arms out to either side, shrieking while it rose off the ground. Guppy''s vision blurred as the hallway seemed to spin and warp. Intense heat and cold assaulted her. Winds drove her back. Rocks obstructed her feet. Time slowed and sped up, the door was near, then far then near again. Blindness of light and shadow fell upon her. Pain visited her in many shapes and forms. But it was not enough to deter her now. She stretched forth her hand and tore the cloak off the figure. It fell to the ground, weakened and crying. "Leave, here lies naught but pain" It wailed Guppy patted the shoulder of her younger self before rising and walking onward. the figure turning to ash behind her back She reached the door and opened it, bursting the chains, locks and bars as though they were made of paper and smoke. Silence settled as she entered Friedrich''s secret workshop. Once inside she saw but one brief scene. She watched, over and over as the explosion and successive implosion happened. Her master, mentor and friend Friedrich died, again and again in excruciating detail, detail she had not registered in the moment, detail that shredded her heart anew with each cycle. She watched him disappear again and again until the pain in her heart fell from torturous levels to a dull steady ache. Guppy sat and leaned against the wall. Once again she had lost someone dear to her. she swore {A worthy sentiment hatchling} A deep voice reverberated. Guppy asked. {Busy} said Batty. {I had to keep both of us alive while waiting for your mind to heal enough to face the world once more} {It was a tattered mess in here let me tell you. I sunk your consciousness down a few levels to dilate your perceived time and accelerate your healing. However there is currently a situation in the waking realm that urgently requires your attention. As I no longer have a body I will have to leave it to you.} {I have overdrawn my reserves far too much in this endeavor, I must. enter a period.. of rest and recovery.. soon... keep us. alive.. little hatchling...} Guppy felt Batty''s consciousness fading, it was still there, at the edge of her consciousness, but she could tell it was dormant, no longer responsive to stimuli, so she left him to recover. With a thought she opened her eyes, and quickly noticed a very sharp blade, a very short distance from her face. 11 Reconciliation Life is precious, life is short, To this, none here can retort. - prophecy of the duskbringer Present day, 4993 A.D. Seventh day of the first week of Fall.... Guppy held her breath and focused really hard on staying absolutely still. "Who in Lupo''s name are you!? And why are you bleeding on our bed!?" A high pitched voice demanded. Guppy''s eyes refocused on the holder of the knife. She relaxed, mostly, there was some rather sharp cutlery very very close to her after all. "Stalia? Why are you threatening me with our carving knife?" she asked. Stalia''s hand started shaking when she heard Guppy''s voice. "G-G-Guppy!?" she cried in astonishment. Guppy carefully inched away from the now dangerously wavering knife. "You''re supposed to be dead! They said old Friedrich''s workshop blew up taking half the street with it. I even went there and everything was gone. They said there weren''t any bodies left, that both of you had been blown to smithereens..." Stalia kept frantically talking so Guppy carefully disarmed her before sitting up and noticing the wretched state she was in. Her clothes were covered in dried blood. ''My blood'' she thought abstractedly. There was also a rather large ragged hole in the middle of her shirt. ''No wonder Stalia didn''t recognize me, I must look like a serial killer dressed in these ripped clothes and covered in blood'' Guppy amusedly thought. Looking up once more she saw her younger brother Kyle standing awkwardly behind Stalia, silent, but Guppy read strength of his emotions within his eyes. Sighing Guppy started to work on calming Stalia down and reassuring her that she was perfectly fine and uninjured. In fact Guppy felt more than fine, she felt great. Whatever the dragon had done worked wonders. She felt... Strong. Healthy. Powerful. As Guppy gazed around colors appeared more vibrant. Sounds were crisper and clearer. She could feel the rough fabric of the blanket down to the individual fibres. She could even, ''Urgggh'' Guppy felt a surge of nausea. The air around here neither smelt, nor tasted great. ''Need to be careful listening to those senses'' she determined warily. But she felt so very Alive. Like she was high on the new drug joombla that the beggars were peddling these days, except it was an all natural effect... Once she had mostly calmed Stalia down Guppy decided that the very next thing that was needed was a bath. "Do you mind heating some water for me Kyle?" Kyle nodded and brought over a basin and a cloth from the corner. Concentrating he channeled his mana into a watercube, a common magitech device for providing water and one of the very few things they owned of any value, as the moisture was wrung from the air the wooden basin gradually started to fill up. Once enough had been collected Kyle stopped the mana flow, cutting off the stream of water. Then he stuck both hands in the basin and released fire mana, this was a simple heating, requiring no spell or array, only a simple injection of his fire attribute energy. Soon a steaming basin of water sat in front of Guppy, it looked heavenly, she all but jumped into it as she rapidly stripped her ruined clothes and started to clean herself, her siblings leaving to the kitchen to give her some privacy as she washed. Having declothed herself Guppy noticed some oddities about herself quite quickly. The most obvious being a large silver tattoo of a dragon coiling itself around her body. It''s tail starting from her right foot and coiled itself around her body with its head nestled over her left shoulder, clawed forelegs on her arms, and she could only assume by it''s positioning that the wings were on her back. The tattoo... pulsed occasionally with mana from her heart, glowing a dim silver that shimmered in waves across each defined curve and scale. ''Well that''s certainly different'' she thought. But the changes did not end there. Her skin, previously roughened by sun, hard labor, and rough clothes had gone from reddish brown to a creamy olive tone, and was... smooth, the many scars earned by years of tough living were gone, disappeared as if they had never been. As she unbound her hair from the braid in which it was confined, she found that it had turned milky, silvery white. Not the dry brittle white of the aged and infirm, but a curly, bouncy, fluffy white that flowed like silk between her fingers, it''s length fully reaching mid hip in length. Fearing the worst she quickly finished cleaning herself and got dressed in her spare set of clothes. Now both apprehensive and a little curious she approached the small mirror they possessed and peered in. She slapped herself, the face in the mirror was slapped. She did it again from the other side, the person in the mirror followed her action. She opened her eyes wide, pinched her nose, pulled on her hair, she made sudden funny faces... and was finally forced to concede that the person in the mirror was actually her. ''Fudgeknucles, how did Stalia recognize me when I don''t even recognize myself'' Guppy wondered. Her hair was long and pure white, at odds with her dark creamy skin. You could barely make out her previous facial features as her eyebrows, cheekbones, jaw and brow, had all shifted subtly, Her ears were slightly pointed now, not as much as an elf but pointed they were, as were her canines, which appeared rather more prominent than before, and sharp. Her eyes had also changed from their usual brown and were now heterochromatic, one a lively sapphire blue while the other was an emerald green. In short, she seemed to be a completely different person. ''Zarak''s teeth, what did that damned dragon do to me'' Guppy mentally complained. Guppy got no response to her mental yelling and let out a sigh. Guppy shifted uncomfortably, she felt like a stranger in her own skin, even her shift felt too tight across the chest. She found her breath coming shorter and shorter as a panic attack set in the longer she gazed into the mirror. Then for the briefest moment her eyes flashed gold, immediately after Guppy felt like someone took a chisel to her head, a splitting headache cutting through her. Taking deep breaths Guppy splashed some water of her face and felt the headache receded as quickly as it came. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. ''I''m going to have some very strong words with Batty when he wakes up'' Guppy decided. She clenched her fists, then opened them hurriedly, an intense heat had emanated from them for a moment. It had not hurt her but the air had rippled and she had definitely felt the wave of heat. Guppy felt her hands, they looked perfectly innocent, slender fingers twirling as she turned them to and fro in her examination. "Fire" she muttered. Nothing happened. "Heat, ignite, flame." Almost mockingly, nothing happened. Guppy gave up and exited the bedroom to join her siblings who were making dinner. They both stopped, staring at her changes that were even more obvious now that she was clean. "You really are Guppy... right?" Stalia asked. Guppy walked over and embraced her, wrapping her up in a big hug. After a second Kyle joined them in a group hug, he never was one to miss out on a good hug. "I know I look a lot different, but I am Guppy. I don''t know entirely what happened today either. There was... an accident at Friedrich''s workshop. Something wonderful went terribly, terribly wrong... Friedrich''s gone. Dead. I was saved by a... passerby. For some strange reason I wound up looking like this. I might not know much of the how, what, and why this happened. But I am here now. Alive and safe with the both of you" Guppy''s poor explanation was met with a confused but accepting silence. They stood there a moment, relishing the feeling of closeness between them, after a few minutes Stalia broke up the huddle. "Alright, let''s eat before the food gets cold. It''s just some porridge I''m afraid. I wasn''t thinking much about what to eat for dinner when I heard you were dead" Stalia lifted a copper pot off their little stove while Kyle brought over their wooden plates and spoons. Guppy sat down on a battered chair at their rickety table, eating a rather grainy mush, and after all she had gone through, it was blissful. 12 Dealings of the Nigh Dark nights to the unwary hold ill will, As predators their stomachs seek to fill. -prophecy of the duskbringer Sixth day of the first week of Autumn. Eleventh bell of the night¡­ In a study lit by a single magitech lamp sat a man working at a desk. The desk was old, ancient even, oiled and polished by the passing of time and use. It''s very presence was subconsciously oppressive on others'' awareness, imposing as it was. Behind the man working at the desk was a singular large bookcase. It was not packed full as one might expect, but each book it held was set in a customized holder on a shelf and neatly labeled with a metal plaque in front. If one was paying particular attention they might even notice the muted glow of a high tier barrier around the bookshelf, or how some books seemed to shift slightly when you observed them from the corner of your eye. There were even a few that were bound by cord or clasp, their contents sealed against the unwary eye. A visitor might observe that there were no windows in this room, instead on all the other walls encircling the desk there were brass filing cabinets. A rare and frivolous use of the metal in many a man''s opinion, yet they were effective in their purpose, firmly securing their contents against damp and easy access. Only a single door was set into the wall, through which a visitor might gain access, it lay directly in front of the desk and opened outwards. The door looked like it belonged in a bank''s vault instead of a study, imposingly built with bars, locks and a very, very thick steel body, and yet it could be swung open by a child, so well built it was. There was no chair in front of the desk, no comfort or rest for a visitor, only the large one currently occupied by the man. Yet that seat could put thrones to shame with its materials, cushioned and bound with leather harvested from different magical beasts. The wood glossy and black as midnight. The Man who sat in this overwhelmingly intimidating room was unassumingly dressed in plain black scholars robes that were untrimmed by any decoration. One might assume them to be misplaced, or uninteresting, or unimportant if he was judged by his clothes or features alone. One would be wrong. A trained eye would see that the clothes were not only well tailored, but the cloth was comprised of Yckbarrow silk. This silk was rare and costly as it''s only source was the cocoons spun by the highly poisonous albino spiders that resided in the southern red desert of the Yckbarrow nation. Only about five bolts of the silk was harvested in any one year, an amount paid with the deaths of many of those who sought it. It''s rarity and luxuriousness, not to mention it''s natural mana conductivity made it highly sought after by any who wielded magic, however it was all but impossible to procure without both connections and great wealth. The Man in Black owned twelve matching sets. Although his very clothes were an indicator of his societal position, his features gave far less of a clue, being bland and forgettable to the point of suspicion, with small scars that could be found behind his ears as the only oddity. The Man in Black sat rigidly at his desk calmly reading a report about the explosion that happened earlier in the day, his narrow and pallid face still and emotionless as he read the full report. He had read a summary of it precisely fifteen minutes after it happened, but only now were his investigators finished with a more thorough review. The Man in Black flicked through the report with his long thin fingers, his memory needing but a moment for each page. He paused at the magicians report, an emission of several mega mana points worth had been registered in the city control core for several seconds, followed by nothing, something had absorbed all of it, sponging up even the inevitable ambient radiation that kind of output would have produced, the previously expanding mana wave disappearing into a magical null zone that gradually filled back in and reverted to normal levels throughout the day. . The Man in Black tapped his finger on the paper, then reached across his table where a clapper less bell lay. It''s sliver blue hue blackened with an image of a raven engraved upon it. The Man in Black shook the bell once. A second later it''s silent call was answered as person wrapped entirely in black appeared on one knee before the desk, the crackling discharge of a teleportation leaving the smell of ozone in the air. The cloth worn by the figure was wrapped tightly enough to reveal feminine curves. Her eyes, the only part visible, were a grey so deep that they were matte, reflecting none of the light from the lamp. "Deal with Mr Woodsinger and Mr Ironproc as we previously discussed. Put a tail on this Gupalagia and Mr Brasstuner if either of them turn up, I want to know who they work for. Report back once completed. Dismissed." The Man in Black ordered in a dry voice Lowering her head the summoned figure blurred and disappeared from the room. The Man in Black leaned back and sighed after he finished the sheaf of papers, none of the reports lately were good. Merchants were disappearing as they traveled through previously safe routes, several years of decreasing crop yields combined with increases in taxes were turning the mood of populace ugly and disgruntled. Sedition from within and without needed to be dealt with¡­ but that was his forte was it not. The Man in Black hoped his opponents at least made it interesting this time, the last few attempts had been so...pedestrian. Gathering the sheafs of paper together and binding them up in a manila file he rose from his seat and took the file to one of the cabinets, depositing it there and locking it securely away. ......¡­. Huckleberry Inn. Eleven miles along the NorthEast highway from Nolusburg. Sixth day of the first week of Autumn. Sixth bell of the evening¡­ Huckleberry Inn had just entered its prime trading time, the sun had just set and many travelers had stopped for the night before the next leg of their journey to or from the capital city of Nolusburg. This well located inn was therefore a popular stop, if a little isolated, surrounded only by isolated farmsteads scattered across the countryside. A minstrel played a merry tune in the corner as a few brave, or drunk souls danced while others looked on and laughed at their inebriated performance. Waitresses weaved their way through the crowd and around wandering hands with practiced ease, setting down plates of food and mugs of ale for those who had ordered. It was a scene of merriment and chaos mixed in one. Only one figure tucked away in a corner held himself aloof, the green hooded man puffed on a pipe as he watched the revelous scene, the flare of the tobacco in his pipe occasionally providing a brief flash of his scarred, dour face. A few minutes of this boisterous gathering continued as the inns residents made merry. Acting at least for the night as if the cares of the world held no sway on them. Outside the inn a clip clopping of hooves announced the arrival of a late traveler, and after a few moments the inn''s door was pushed open and an individual dressed in a deep red robe sauntered into the building. Making their way through the common room to the bar''s counter they removed their hood, revealing the countenance of a heart stoppingly beautiful woman. Yet despite her obvious beauty her appearance was slightly eerie to the eye, for her lips, eyes and hair were all the color of freshly spilt blood on white snow. "What can I git ya missus?" gruffly asked the barkeeper. "A room for the night. I wish for a peaceful sleep before my journey''s end, but I don''t think that''s an option right now is it?" The noise in the inn disappeared. Every person in the building had stopped what they were doing and was now standing and focused on her, drunk revellers suddenly sober. Gazing around the woman in red observed this discordant scene and how every individual had armed themselves with a variety of magitech swords, daggers, blasters, and tools, even the barkeeper and waitresses were packing magical heat. The man in the green hood strode forward, the crowd parting before him until he stood at their forefront. "Braexia the Blood Witch, holder of a class A bounty, butcher of Melville and scourge of the southern domain." Braexia curtseyed. "It looks like I have no need to introduce myself, what can I do for you fine people?" Braexia let loose a smile so potent and laden with charm it made one''s mind blank out for a moment. While there was no shortage of gulps from around him the grim faced green hooded man seemed unaffected by her beauty. "My name is Cobalt, leader of the Cerberus mercenary group. I hereby place you under arrest for your many crimes, surrender and we will escort you to face trial in Nolusburg" Braexia raised one sculpted eyebrow while continuing her smile. "And if I refuse?" "Don''t be stupid witch," Cobalt snarled. "I''ve got you surrounded with over 50 battle tested mercenaries, there''s no way you''re walking out of here alive without mages fetters" Cobalt swept open his robe, revealing an array of inscribed and enchanted chains within. "Don''t make this difficult for us or we''ll make sure to ''properly take care of you'' before we hand you over to the authorities" He warned "You''ve yet to realize sir commander" Braexia calmly stated as she raised her hands to reveal the bar keeper''s beating heart, "That you do not have me surrounded, you have merely placed me in a target rich environment." "TAKE HER DOWN!!!" bellowed Cobalt. "I WANT HER CRIPPLED FOR WHAT SHE DID TO JUSTIN" The band of men and women surged forward, brandishing their magitech weapons and bellowing out their war cries... Thirty minutes later¡­ Plip, plip, plip. The commander hung from the inns wall, his four limbs pierced by red javelins that held him up as his lifeblood slowly drained into a former milk pitcher. He had given up swearing and cursing twenty minutes ago after he watched Braexia begin her grim harvest of each individual''s blood essence, cutting out each heart and milking them, gradually filling a tiny black flask with a distilled drop from each victim. She had massacred them like children, laughing as she danced and dealt death. As his men charged she had flung out a wave of blood daggers, taking five of his foremost through the throat in an initial strike. And then all magical hell ensued. Her cloak initially turned white as the blood she held in it was consumed to form her spells, but it was all too quickly replenished and dyed red once more by his fallen companions. She had formed and wielded a blood scythe against them, mowing them down in great sweeping strikes as she advanced, a disc of blood constantly moving and intercepting incoming ranged and magical attacks. Her large curved blade liquefied and slid around raised weapons and shields, solidifying back into razor sharpness as it touched flesh, reaping their proffered lives left and right. And she laughed, a refreshing joyful laugh, so beautiful, and so at odds with the gruesome scene she painted in red. She laughed at their defiance, she laughed as their spells faltered when their mages bled from all their facial orifices. She laughed, as she killed every last soul of his company. He had fought her with all his spells and blades and skill, their showdown lasting a full three minutes, but in the end it had been a futile resistance, he was no match for her prowess. "Monster, she''s a monster" he muttered to himself over and over, his mind a daze of pain and unbelief The conclusion of their fight had left him here, bleeding into a pail and watching that bi.. "Uuuurrrggg" Cobalt felt the javelins twist in his limbs, she was done with the rest of her harvest. She moved slowly to him, weaving her way through the bodies and smashed furniture with a grace that would make elves weep. Standing before Cobalt she dipped a finger into the pail beneath him and reapplied her lipstick, her lips smoking slightly as the blood darkened on her lips. With a twist of her wrist and a glowing hand his blood flowed out of pail and seeped into her cloak, fully dyeing it once more. "May the 12 divines use my soul as fetters to bind and consign your soul to all the torments of the 9 hells." Cobalt cursed her with the vilest curse he knew. She smiled a brilliant smile and kissed him full on the lips. "Guuaaaaahhhhhh" His scream broke off the contact Pain racked Cobalt as he was impaled by a thousand jagged needles, torturing his flesh and nerves. Her hair, he saw through watery eyes, had morphed, slightly revealing their original brown strands underneath the red that extended into him. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. A thousand spiraling hooks of red had formed on the tips of her hair and pierced his body from all angles, they slowly bored into him, then slowly ripped outwards, tearing him apart piece by piece. The pain was incredibly intense but mercifully brief, a fact Cobalt was grateful for as he fell into blessed oblivion. Braexia extracted his blood essence, then walked upstairs to find a room to sleep in. "Tomorrow I arrive in Nolusburg, wait for me a little longer Simon, I will have your revenge." She hung a do not disturb sign on her door, closed it. And went to sleep in the fluffy down bed. 13 A New Day Money money, such a plight Upon our souls, it''s a blight - prophecy of the duskbringer Seventh day of the first week of Autumn. Morning¡­ Guppy awoke in the early morning as was her habit. She started to gently detach Stalia who was firmly curled around her, anxiously gripping Guppy''s clothes. "I must have worried her more than I thought" Guppy whispered. She stroked Stalia''s hair gently, to which Stalia responded by gripping her even tighter. Using a pillow as a decoy Guppy finally escaped from her captor. She looked around at their tiny bedroom which her snoring siblings filled with their vocal performances and sighed. She needed some fresh air and time to think. Climbing through the window she flipped herself up onto the roof, performing the acrobatic feat with ease. She sat upon the ceramic tiles and stretched while watching the sun slowly rise above the horizon, enjoying the light''s kiss upon her skin. A clatter of shutters and doors heralded the opening of food shops in the nearby market square as the owners prepared for the early morning rush. Scents and sounds gradually started to fill the streets as life flowed through the city''s arteries once more. Calgaree hurried along, using their natural grace to dart and weave through the crowd, orcs grunted as they hoisted burdens or pulled rickshaw carts, humans of all varieties began to throng the streets, and a rare merfolk artist sat in a corner of the square, painting the vibrant scene. Feeling a presence Guppy looked to her right, a mako sat there watching her. She could have sworn it wasn''t there a moment ago, especially with how her heightened senses made her keenly aware of her surroundings, yet there it was, watching her with its pale gold eyes while twitching its tail slowly from side to side. Guppy gulped and asked the first thing that came to her mind. "What are you?" After all the crazy experiences she''d recently been through Guppy was half expecting the mako to answer her, however it remained silently observing her, then with a twist of its neck it looked down towards an alleyway across the square whose entrance lined up with their viewpoint. Guppy curiously followed its gaze. There in the alley way was a mugging about to happen, a drunken man was stumbling into the alley, followed by two hefty men with drawn knives. Guppy looked back at the mako only to find that she was alone once more. Sighing she murmured "Well it will be a good test of my new physical abilities I guess." She stood up and started running across the roof with an agility that defied both the slope and slippery moss growing there. A leap from one roof to another confirmed what she already suspected. She was far stronger and faster than before the soul melding. Coming to the roof''s edge above the desired alley she simply leaped down, landing between the victim and his erstwhile assailants. It had taken Guppy all of six seconds to arrive. "Hand over all yer valua... Huh" exclaimed thug one, his brutish face morphing into a surprised expression. "Who are. Guuuuhhhh." He keeled over after Guppy landed a solid slug into his solar plexus. Thug two took one look at the situation and activated a barrier tool, a thin blue membrane appearing over him that would shield from harm. Guppy frowned, ''what kind of street thug has a magitech barrier tool'' she thought. Thug two lunged forward, aiming for Guppys heart. "Too slow" said Guppy as she grabbed his wrist and twisted it to disarm him, all while picking him up by the throat and bodily smashing him to the ground with all the force she could muster. With the presence of the mana barrier she had not held back, resulting in her shattering the cobblestones along with the shield through the sheer force of impact, the broken barrier scattered crystalized mana shards that quickly evaporated into the air. There were some snaps that broadcasted the same shattered fate for several bones in the man''s body. Guppy blinked in surprise. ''Must have just been a tier one barrier, I guess'' she speculated ''weaker than what I am used to handling'' She was however even stronger than she suspected, her intention had just been to shatter the barrier, she felt a brief flash of guilt at the harm she had caused before remembering who it was she had done it too. Guppy stood and stretched, feeling her muscles loosen up nicely after the brief exercise. Turning around she examined the would be victim. He was standing up, far less drunk than he had appeared to be a moment ago. He was only slightly shorter than the average human, appearing to be about sixteen years of age, his messy black hair and deep black eyes that was at odds with his pale skin evidenced his northern bloodline. Guppy received his incredulous stare and looking down abruptly realized that she was still in her pajamas, a large old shirt and some short trousers, not entirely modest to be out and about in. ''Well'' Guppy determined while blushing slightly, ''I just saved his life, so he can hardly complain about how I was dressed while doing so'' The young man averted his eyes and curtly said "I had it handled." "Which part," teased Guppy "The barrier tool or this spelled knife" She flicked the knife in question into the air with her foot, catching it and allowing the early morning light to reveal the Magitech circuitry engraved upon it. The boy paled as he seemed to recognise the peril he had been in. "No meat hander from around here carries such fancy restricted tools, not with poison and curse effects layered so elegantly..." Guppy turned to thug one, he was now merely pretending to be unconscious but his breathing pattern betrayed him to Guppy''s ears. She made sure he descended back into insensibility with a swift kick to his head. Stooping down she rolled up his sleeves, revealing a black tattoo of a barking suk on his right inner bicep. "Grakoan enforcers" she muttered. Guppy looked back at youth "This could turn ugly, they aren''t your average street thugs, what did they want with you?" she queried the youth. "Don''t meddle with things you know nothing of wench, leave me be." Saying that, the black haired teenager pulled his hood back up and swept by her, exiting the alley. Guppy felt her eyelids twitch in annoyance, but she quickly cooled down as she realized how reckless she had been. "Fudge Knuckles, what''s happening to me, why did I act like a thrice cursed hero? Like a star eyed fool of a country bumpkin!" She knew there would be a price to pay for her actions this morning, no one in these quarters crossed the mafia without paying some kind of price, she could only hope the enforcers didn''t get a good look at her in the shadow filled alley the melee took place in. ''It felt right'' a small voice inside her said. She snorted and quickly quashed that voice, that kind of thinking led to an early grave around here, and then proceeded to divest the enforcers of their valuables. The knives were the most valuable, but far too risky to sell to any fence, she plunged them into a gap in the cobblestones and gave a quick twist, snapping each of them in two before tossing them into a pile of refuse. The remaining barrier charm and their coin purses on the other hand were far more anonymous, she liberated them and quickly left how she came, via the rooftops. Thankfully no one had come and complicated the scene any further, the residents around here knew better than to dash into any alleyway that emitted dubious sounds and cries for help. Guppy made it back to their apartment and snuck back in just as the 6th morning bell rung. She stood for a minute, flushed with excitement over her morning jaunt. Shaking herself out of the strange mood she was in Guppy realised that neither sibling was stirring, this wouldn''t do, she shook Stalia awake and gently kicked Kyle''s feet, one of the few ways that worked to wake him. They both froze upon seeing her, until the memories of yesterday caught up and they recognized her, relaxing once more. Guppy left them to wash and get dressed, instead moving to prepare breakfast. Guppy experimented with her magic output on the Magitech stove in an attempt to cook, although the flame seemed a bit fitful and erratic it seemed to work. At least it did until it started emitting sparks when the inscribed mana grooves burnt out. Guppy frowned, while not extremely expensive stoves weren''t cheap either. Thankfully by the time the stove sputtered out she was finished. Guppy had cooked them more porridge for breakfast, out of a distinct lack of other ingredients, she set a mental reminder to go shopping for ingredients before the evening meal. Her siblings ate quickly before setting off to their respective workplaces. Having seen them off Guppy sat down in the kitchen. "I guess I''m unemployed again now." She groaned. Guppy bounced the two coin purses in her hand, her actions rewarded with the clinking of coppers and a few silver. "This''ll last for a little while but the next loan payment is due soon, payday was... today" Guppys shoulders slumped as she realized the predicament they were in. She searched the storage box and pulled out some metal scraps. ''If I go to the scrapper this brass and copper will bring in something at least'' she thought Pulling out a dented scale and accompanying lead weights from a small storage chest she started to weight the metal. And finishing all too quickly she sighed again, the scraps might bring in ninety-five coppers, a silver if they were lucky. But it was still far from enough, they needed a full gold royal or ten silver nobles to satisfy the mafia. She counted up her current wealth. 5 nobles and 79 commoners. Not enough, not by far. Kyle was still an apprentice and wouldn''t earn anything for the next year or two at least. Stalia earned a little but it varied greatly with how generous the tips were at any one time. Guppy had been the main breadwinner in their little family. Had. And even if she got a job today, a dubious possibility at best, she wouldn''t be paid until the end of the week at the earliest. She sat musing, fiddling with the lead weights in her hand, falling deeper and deeper into a brooding panic. Gold, she needed gold. Suddenly she felt a cool flow of energy leave her. Her vision blurred for an instant as a small wave of sudden weariness hit her. She shook her head, dispelling it. Her stomach started gurgling, causing her to frown. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. ''I ate an hour ago'' she mentally complained. ''Don''t tell me I now have to eat far more with this body than before'' Guppy set the lead weights down on the table and then went very still, what had been grey before was now glimmering and gleaming, reflecting the morning light splendidly. Guppy gingerly picked them up and examined the weights "Fudge Knuckles" She swore "I''m going to be rich" ............. Nolusberg Workers District seventh bell of the morning¡­ A black haired youth wearily stumbled through the door to his home, he was greeted by an expectant father. "Did you get it Rolf? Tell me you did!" Rolf thrust the bag he carried towards his father. "It''s all there father, I almost got knifed for it" he said even as he mumbled, "Not that you''d care" Indeed his father had all but forgotten him, carrying the precious cargo back to his study in the basement and slamming the door. Rolf sighed and ruffled his hair in frustration as he remembered the goddess who saved him, swooping in from the skies and easily dispatching his foes. Why had he been so rude to her? He crouched down and held his head in embarrassment "Stupid, stupid, stupid" he angrily muttered, punctuating each word with a punch to his thigh. He had always been shy around girls but this time he really put his foot in it, panicking when she approached him he had run away, getting neither her name or address, so the chances of meeting her again were slim to none. He blushed as he remembered how...uniquely she had been dressed. Finally he stood up and sighed before heading to his own room and workbench, he had projects of his own to complete, things to build, and maybe, maybe, some bad poetry to write. 14 Great Wealth A dragon''s great greed for gold, Does not tary nor grow old. -Prophecy of the duskbringer Seventh day of the first week in Autumn, Morning¡­. Guppy carefully squirreled away the gold weights in one of her pockets and got to experimenting. She failed over and over, sometimes sending the lead weights flying towards or away from her. Sometimes she froze them, or lit them on fire, they blurred into shadows or emitted a bright lights. When one flat out melted through the table and floor Guppy decided it was time for a break. After such a multitude of mishaps she decided to make a quick trip to Bombas''s bakery for some food to quell the ever increasing hunger that was paining her. Guppy picked clothes that covered as much skin as possible and slipped on a hooded cloak to hide her changed appearance, after she was assured that no glowing tattoos could be seen she exited the apartment. Striding quickly down the streets Guppy made sure to avoid bumping into anyone, deftly weaving her way through the crowd as she traveled to Bombas''s corner bakery. Once inside, she scooped up a few loaves of fresh bread and made her way to the counter to pay. On her way there Guppy passed a display of bottled jams and froze in a sudden realization. ''The jam Bombas gave me yesterday, I never got to eat any!'' Guppy had a moment of despondency when she realized the fate of the jam she had been so excited about only a day ago, she had no doubt that it was thoroughly disintegrated in the blast. ''Wait a moment, I''m going to be rich from now on, one bottle of jam at 10 coppers is a trifling amount'' Guppy may have justified it in her mind, but years of living as frugally as possible still made it a difficult choice. She gritted her teeth and snatched a jar off the display, bringing it to the counter with her selected loaves of bread. "Will that be all missus?" Bombas''s wife Marigold asked. Guppy felt a slight shock and pain that Marigold treated her so unfamiliarity, before remembering that she currently looked like a completely different person. Not wishing to make a scene she quietly paid and left. Deep in her thoughts of what she had lost she walked absentmindedly back to her apartment Out the door, through the market square¡­and successfully ran straight into someone. She rebounded off them and stumbled back, her hood falling off as she fell on her rear. ...... Seventh day of the first week in Autumn. Four hours ago. Law Officer Precinct building... Jacques and Hadoom signed back in by the 4th morning bell. Their drooping eyes and tired movements bore testament to the slim few hours of sleep they managed to snatch last night. They walked over to their desks in the corner, sat down in their chairs, and utilized an extremely important skill they had both cultivated through years of being a tin canner. They fell asleep with their eyes open. Thankfully the other officers weren''t on speaking terms with them and they managed to catch a couple hours of rest before the sixth bell rang and their patrol shift started. They grudgingly geared up and headed out once more to begin their street patrol, walking down their all too familiar route. "Let''s pay a visit to miss Brights'' family first." Jacques suggested. "While there''s a good chance they''ve heard already, someone should make sure they know what happened. The rumor mill will spin a tale a mile long, and it''s never good on the heart to hear that version." "Sure lad, why not, there''s not much else to do this early anyways, unless you feel like helping old Codswallop lay another complaint about his neighbour''s pet Zugzug eating his flowers again?" Hadoom said as he finished off a mystery meat pie he had procured from one of the stalls. Jacques stilled his face to prevent a grimace, the complaint would only be the two hundredth and eleven this year. Hadoom licked the gravy off of his fingers before continuing. "We''ll head down to the workers square then, someone there ought to know where to find them." Jacques nodded and the duo shifted their course. The seventh bell had barely rung when the two Tin Canners found themselves entering the workers square, a well known, affordable and popular market for the locals. Jacques came to a stop by the fountain and looked around for an idle beggar to get directions from. All of a sudden he felt someone collide with him, hard. Jacques was knocked off his feet and fell face first into the fountain, it was not a pleasant experience, while not winter the water had long lost its summer warmth. Sputtering he pulled himself out, dripping wet, cold and tired, ready to give whoever shoved him an earful and a week in jail for assaulting an officer of the law. He heard Hadoom''s hearty laughter focused his eyes on the offender. Kneeling on the ground with her face full of despair was the most beautiful girl Jacques had ever seen. His fiery words caught in his throat as he saw her tears spill, suddenly seeming inappropriate in this moment. On the ground in front of her was a smashed jar, of what appeared to be berry jam. Jacques coughed, a little awkwardly, to draw her attention. "Excuse me miss, might I know your name?" He enquired The girl looked up from her mournful contemplation of the tragic state of the jam. She hiccupped as she abruptly stopped her tears upon seeing exactly who she had bumped into, her face paled and her eyes widened as she realised just how deep in a bubbling pot of I discernable liquid she was. "It''s alright miss, old Jacques and I ain''t going to throw ye in the clinker." Hadoom, quick as ever to read the situation stepped in to console the beautiful girl. ''Wait, she has pointed ears and pronounced canines'' Jacques observed, ''is she a half-elf like me?" These thoughts did nothing for Jacques composure, he had never come across another half elf, or an elf for that matter, he only knew what he had learnt in books. ''Those heterochromatic eyes, is she the child of a high elf, only they are said to have the emerald eyes of the forest in their bloodlines¡­'' While Jacques swirled into a confused contemplation Hadoom covered for him. "Don''t mind Jacques over here, he''s a big softie let me tell ya. Now if ye can lass, would ye mind showing us to the residence of the Bright family?" The girls face that had been calming down suddenly stiffened, her eyes narrowed and she paused before asking, "What do you want with them?" Hadoom, seeing the sudden defensiveness rising, and realizing this girl must be related in some way, perhaps a family friend, answered as carefully and gently as he could "We have bad tidings concerning their eldest, a certain Gupalagia Esme Bright, she''s disappeared, presumed dead, after a dreadful accident at her place of work, and we" Hadoom pointed at Jacques and himself "Have the sorry job to break the news to them" Guppy was taken back but quickly realized how the accident scene must have looked from another''s perspective. It was quite reasonable for them to expect her death, indeed she should have died, and almost had. "I am afraid you have wasted your trip then officers, you see I am Gupalagia Esme Bright, and I am still very much alive" Another silence ensued between them, filled by the clamor of the market around them. Jacques had woken from his musings just in time to be hit by the bombshell statement that she was one of the presumed victims of the incident, this sent him straight back to musing. ''Was she at home when it happened? No, witnesses saw her enter and not exit before the explosion'' Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. ''But Gupalagia is supposed to be a human with brown hair and eyes and¡­ damn, focus'' as Jacques had looked her up and down and compared the disparity in descriptions he quickly lost his train of thought. ''She''s 17 Jacques, quit acting like a pubescent teenager and do your job!'' Jacques shook his head and focused his thoughts while ignoring Hadoom''s snickering. "Perhaps we could go somewhere a little quieter and take down your statement miss Gupalagia?" Hadoom elbowed him in the thigh, Jacques''s ribs being too high for him. "What he means to say miss Bright, is could you come down to the station and spin us the tale of yesterday morning''s events?" Guppy opened her mouth and then closed it again, summoning her manners and curtseying she asked. "Beg your pardon good sirs, but I have an appointment in a bit that I cannot afford to miss, might I be able to come on the morrow before the fifth afternoon bell?." Guppy tried her best to be polite as it seemed the best method to deal with these two tin canners. "Of course miss Bright, we wouldn''t wish to inconvenience you." Jacques said. Guppy looked surprised, she had not expected them to let her go so easily and had prepared several excuses, none of which stemmed to be needed anymore. Nodding goodbye she pulled her hood back up and hurried out of the square on one of its many side streets. Hadoom looked at Jacques "Never thought I would see you acting like a pup again partner" He grinningly teased. Jacques gave him the stink eye. "I admit she caught me off guard in more ways than one, but I am no fool for a pretty face, look at this." Jacques opened his right hand, in it the white scale was glowing slightly and giving off heat, the patterns on it lighting up faintly. "She is connected to whatever happened in that workshop, my gut tells me she has crucial information. I wager her appearance changing so drastically is linked as well, too many coincidences pile up for it to be otherwise." "Well if yer gut says so¡­ " mocked Hadoom, but seeing he wasn''t getting a rise out of Jacques he shrugged and instead strolled over to a nearby one legged beggar. "Oi Old Lefty, where dat lass been coming and going this a day" Jacques winced at the sharp street talk that came out of Hadoom''s mouth, while he could talk it too, it always felt so unpleasant on the ear. "She''s ben dwadling and blooding with da beg ''n ved met hadners, be''in hoity ''n looksie ''n chan''n ''n popin har ''n dar. Mor da sham dat gel. Se te no''in bean don der nobble ston road." Hadoom translated for Jacques who was wearing an unpleasant expression. "She fought with some strange meat handers this morning, she never came home yesterday yet she appeared from the house in the morning. He said it''s just down this way on cobblestone road" Jacques shook his head "You never fail to amaze old partner, let''s set a watch and visit tomorrow evening if she hasn''t come to us by then." "Way ahead of you boyo." chuckled Hadoom before he entered an animated debate with Old Lefty about remuneration for past, present and future employment opportunities. 15 Birds That Come Home to Nes The Grakoan mafia rose like the tide, inevitable and unstoppable as they hungrily swallowed all in the underworld who dared to stand in their path¡­ -Royal Historian Maybet on the Grakoan dilemma Sixth day of the first week of Autumn. Ninth bell of the night¡­ In a room of indeterminate location there was a woman half lying, half sitting on a couch designed expressly for such a purpose. While the lights were dim and the room smoky, it was still apparent that despite her luxurious fur clothes and layers of makeup, she had passed her youth some time ago. A large black tattoo of a snarling suk adorned her open back, letting no one have any doubts as to who she was, none other than the cruel and brutal leader of the Grakoan mafia. Selena Whippersnatch. Though few alive knew her last name, she having cast it aside many years ago. Two orcs stood at her sides, both large and strong even for their kind, stripped to their waist with oiled muscles gleaming a silent promise of pain to any that carelessly drew near. Their vicious gleaming eyes and large jutting fangs reminded one of overly large, rabid suks. They did not wear the common iron necklace, their slavery collars were brass adorned with gold and gems, showcasing how much their owner valued them. They were the third such pair the woman had raised, the first pair died during the expansion wars fought years ago in the shadows. The second set was retired due to old age, orcs aged so much faster than humans after all. Now these two had taken their place at her side, having been trained since birth to serve her fanatically. The double doors at the far end of the chamber opened, revealing a slender tabby calgaree in a scholar''s robe, followed by two cloaked enforcers. they drew near her, passing by scenes of excess and boredom and bowed before their mistress. Unlike the ruffians scattered around the audience chamber the calgaree emanated a learned air. "What brings you here Ignma? It''s not yet time for the monthly counting." Selena questioned, a tone of boredom emanating from words. "Mistress Selena, as I am sure you have heard, an explosion claimed one of our suppliers early this morning. One Friedrich Brasstuner" "While we do have other sources of magitech tools, none of the other crafters have the same level of proficiency as him, their products are clearly inferior" The calgaree paused while he battered away some drifting smoke, his whiskers twitching in clear displeasure. "There is also the matter of the outstanding debt he owed from the last shipment of ores and refined metals we sold him. While he did lay down a deposit," Here Ingma gestured towards the necklace that hung from Selena''s neck. "There is a large amount still outstanding, I have just learned that Friedrich''s apprentice lives, Old Leftie the beggar overheard the family talking in their home not 3 hours past. I propose we collect the outstanding debt from her by setting up a payment plan." Having delivered his proposal Ingma waited patiently with his head down for Selena''s decision. Selena languidly raised herself and walked to where the Calgaree was standing in a half bow, her heels clicking on the stone floor as she walked. Ingma''s ears twitched and the two lackeys behind him rapidly backed away. Ingma stood still, keeping his head slightly lowered and avoiding looking directly at Selena. Whoosh, Thunk, Crack. In one smooth movement Selena lifted her leg up high and axe kicked the diminutive calgaree into the floor. She then bent over and crunched her heel into his back. "Why do you ask for such favorable conditions on her behalf lngma? It makes me both jealous, and think you question how I run things around here. If you weren''t so damn useful I would end your miserable life here and now" Standing up straighter she raised her voice, no longer addressing just the calgaree at her feet. "Large debts must be settled within fourteen days and with a minimum of a ten percent up front deposit. Such are the rules I laid down, they shall be kept" Selena lowered her gaze once more. "Now get out of my sight Ingma, and make sure to take care of business, the way I mandate it." Selena kicked Ingma again, the kick lifting him off the floor and sending him tumbling towards the doors. Once he stopped the calgaree quicky, if gingerly rose and retreated out the doors, limping as he went and accompanied by the jeering calls of his fellow workers. ......¡­ Seventh day of the first week in Autumn. Morning¡­ Guppy walked as swiftly as she could away from the market square while at the same time forcing herself to slow down enough that she did not show her unnatural speed to those around her. Yet for all her care her thoughts kept drifting. ''Fudge Knuckles that officer was too pretty for his own good, I almost said yes without realizing!'' Guppy blushed slightly at the thought. ''I can''t let people know what really happened or everyone and their grandma''s will be trying to get me to divulge the plans and schematics for Arkkarnissius'' She dodged a slickhander''s purse slit, leaving him blinking and wondering if he had gotten too old and slow. ''And of course they won''t believe that I don''t know or have the schematics, I was his apprentice for three years for crying out loud'' Guppy could see she was in a pickle. ''So they''ll definitely torture me and my kin for the information, it''s not my fault my master was so damn secretive'' Despite the speed walk not being tiring to her in the least Guppy was breathing fast and hard. ''Also how am I going to explain away my physical changes? Or that I am alive? What further consequences will follow that thrice cursed experiment of yesterday?'' Guppy realized that she was hyperventilating and paused to breathe and compose herself on her doorstep. Once Guppy had gathered her wits about her she realized she could hear movement through the door, there were people inside. She took a deep breath, firmed her resolve with an indignant snort, and entered. Standing in the kitchen were two meat handers, Jerrybo and Tomsy. They were here early. Too early. Tomsy was the brains of the two, built lean and mean. He could smile to your face while he calmly shanked you for your valuables. Jerrybo on the other hand was your epitome of a meat hander, big, muscular, not too bright, but good at being pointed in the right direction of things to smash. His deceptively fat build belied how fast he could move, and it lent him the weight to crush his opponents with a single blow. Guppy had heard rumors of people who didn''t or couldn''t pay when these two came round, none of them were good. "Top of the mornin'' ter yer young miss" greeted Tomsy with a sleazy grin. "You are miss Bright are you not?" Guppy was tempted to say no, she might even pull it off, but the fact that they were here, in her house, acting as if it was theirs, stirred the anger she usually kept well in check. "Yes that''s me" She stiffly replied. "I see the rumors of yer being a real beaut'' and all fail to do yer justice." Tomsy grinned He lazily dragged his eyes over her while Jerrybo whistled softly. "You''re early" replied Guppy shortly, determined not to give them the satisfaction of an embarrassed or flustered reaction. She folded her arms and scowled at them. Even if she had to tilt her head back to do so. "Why we''s just couldn''t stay away, bizzness pressing and all. We have some news to give yer though." Having said this Tomsy produced a slightly grubby document from his coat pocket. Shaking his hand with a flourish to open it he then proffered it to Guppy who cautiously accepted it. Thankfully her mother had made sure her children all learnt to read and write when they were young and she made quick work of reading through the short document. She dropped it, her hand going slack in shock. "What? How?" Shocked exclamations escaped Guppy. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Tomsy picked up the document and summarized it for her, neatly driving the point home. "It''s simple dearie, old Friedrich owed us quite the sum for the last shipment of adamantium and mithril we sent him, while the deposit he made covers the majority of the principal amount, there is still money owed" Tomsy''s smile widened "In the event of his death, his debts and assets fall to his closest relative. And as his apprentice dearie, that''s you" The foul man continued "The balance owed is 1793 gold royals, adding your previous debts balance of 26 gold royals it comes to 1819 gold royals. And a ten percent payment dearie, is due." Tomsy''s smile shone bright as the many gold teeth in his mouth caught the light. Guppy thought of the vast sum, more than a minor nobles'' estate would produce in a year. She was merely a common worker, she could work for three or four lifetimes and still not earn enough to pay the debt. ''What''s their play here?'' She pondered ''They cannot honestly expect me to be able to pay it all back, do they want to force me into slavery using the debt? Why? How does that benefit them? I don''t know enough about the whole picture, but thankfully now the gold won''t be a probl..'' Guppy broke out of her musings as she sensed Jerrybo reaching for her. She grabbed his descending wrist with her left hand and held it above her head, resisting his attempts to lower it any further. "The gold won''t be problem" she stated out loud. Reaching into her sling bag she touched some of the brass and iron scraps she was weighing earlier. She felt the now more familiar catch and flow of mana within her. Anger and desperation alike drove her as she retraced the pattern she had felt briefly this morning. Her bag grew heavier and her knees almost buckled from the onset of fatigue. She was expecting both though and managed to brace herself to prevent it from showing. Guppy felt Jerrybo apply more pressure as he sensed the moment of weakness, but she held firm. The floorboards however were not as lucky. Several large cracks splintered around Guppy''s feet as the wood below her passed its integrity limits. She smirked as Tomsy''s eyes noticeably widened. Seizing the momentum she clamped down on Jerrybo''s wrist until she heard a crack and a groan escape his lips, Guppy then released her grasp. Letting him retreat and nurse it with a pain filled face. She withdrew her right hand from the sling bag and tossed the now golden pieces of scrap onto the kitchen table, it amounted to several fistfulls. "That should be worth a fair amount. Value it." she demanded Tomsy glanced at Jerrybo before he reluctantly brought out a magitech tool often used by merchants, it looked like one side of a scale, the weight measured using an internal spring scale, and the magitech array evaluating the material composition and lighting up the corresponding metal sphere embedded into the side. The tiny gold marble started glowing, it was the only one. Tomsy gulped, quite audibly amidst the current silence. "24 carat, it''s pure gold" he whispered. Coming back to reality Tomsy weighed each piece, and after doing some calculations on an abacus, which Guppy double checked stringently, he came to a conclusion. "This here is worth about a hundred and ninety-five gold royals on the market, it''s unmarked gold which would normally mean it''s worth less, but the crafter''s will pay extra for the purity, and they never ask too many questions about the source provided there''s not a large heist just been done." "We''ll count it at that as the extra will cover the handlers fee, deal?" Guppy smiled, the deal suited her well, it would get them off her back for now and she could always make more in the future. The debt that would once seem so soul crushingly large now seemed insignificant and small in her eyes. "I''ll see you next week boys, Now Get. Out. Tomsy swept the gold into his satchel, securing it tightly. He gave Guppy a tip of his bowler hat and left through the door with Jerrybo following behind him, still nursing his injured wrist. "That," said Guppy smugly once she was alone, "Was extremely satisfying." 16 A Dragons Greed Gold, gold, gold, a dragon''s glorious delight, If you stand betwixt them, you''ll be in a plight. -prophecy of the duskbringer Seventh day of the first week of Autumn. Evening¡­ "I might have slightly overdone it" muttered Guppy as she lay stomach down on the floor. She was surrounded by dozens of golden objects of various distorted shapes and sizes, and one hundred smooth golden marbles. In the course of her experiments she had found that the heavier and denser the object, the less mana it took to transform it into gold. It was also easier to transform objects metallic in nature as compared to wood or plant matter, those experiments she had to cut off half way when her vision blurred and she felt her knees hitting the floor. So with this knowledge she had quickly settled on lead as the easiest, cheapest and most available material. Grabbing her cloak, sling bag and coin purse she headed out once more, this time to pay a visit to the local weapons merchant. There she ignored the shining arms and armour and used much of her available coinage to buy a hundred smooth bore musket balls. Ignoring the merchant when he tried to sell her a variety of magitech pistols for ladies self defense she left the shop with her sling bag straining at its newfound weight. She also bought more food from Bombas''s bakery on her way back with her last few coins, almost breaking into tears when this time she could only sorrowfully stroke the beautiful jars as she passed, before forcing herself to move on. Being her second visit of the day she drew a raised eyebrow from Bombas''s wife Brenda, but was still greeted with a smile as she paid, no doubt the woman thought her some sort of errand girl. With materials and provisions procured she made her way back, and upon arriving home had set to work in a frenzy. The evidence of her success was lying all around her, in her delirious giggling she had even set up a game of marbles and was playing by herself while she waited for her siblings to get home. She lay listening to the gold orbs as they rolled and collided with each other, producing a musical note that rang so sweetly in her ear. Over time she sobered somewhat, and pondering over her experiments she discovered another oddity about herself. She remembered hearing that normally people would either recover their mana over time as they absorbed and stored it from the atmosphere, alternatively they could accelerate this process with expensive potions and special meditation techniques. However Guppy seemed to be able to do so through ingesting food, her new constitution somehow converting it into mana when her reserves ran low. Her eyes suddenly sparkled as an epiphany struck her ''Does this mean I can eat as much as I want and never get fat?'' It was a new, and somewhat novel concept for her, previously Guppy had always been worried about not getting enough food, she had never before been worried about having so much that she piled on weight. A gluttonous grin spread itself upon her face as she day dreamed of all the food she wanted to devour. ''Mmmmm, Jam donuts will be nice, or custard donuts, o-o-or even those beautiful chocolate eclairs with whipped cream and star-berry flowers on top!'' Guppy wiped the drool from her mouth and sat up, eyes alight and clenched fists raised in her excitement. She was going to make that dream happen, after all, she was rich now wasn''t she? However as she thought about spending her new wealth she came to a realization. ''Even if I despise him, what Tomsy said was true, this gold is unmarked and too pure to be normal'' ''I would only draw the law down on my head if I just flung it around at jewelry shops or local merchants'' ''I first need to find a reliable dealer and convert it to gold royals before I can really spend any of it.'' Guppy sat and thought for a long time, but she struggled to think of a suitable dealer, going to the smith''s was no good, they might buy it off her, but they could easily turn around afterwards and report her, she had no backing to speak of to intimidate them into keeping their mouths shut. And as for fencers working for the Grakoan mafia... well, Guppy wanted as little to do with them as possible. She had no doubt they would be overcome with greed and the whole situation would turn ugly really quickly. ''Yes, best to give them as wide a berth as possible'' she mused. What she really needed was a group that was shady enough not to ask too many questions, but had enough integrity, or at least enough pride and public image to uphold, that would prevent them from stabbing her in the back, figuratively and literally¡­ "Wait, what about Aravice''s Descent?" Guppy burst out loud as an idea sparked in her mind. While she had never entered it personally, she remembered hearing tales and rumors from the local gossips who worked as cleaners or labourers in or around the capital''s premier auction house. Avarice''s Descent was rumored to sometimes shift products whose ownership was questionable at best. However they followed their own rules fastidiously, catering loyally to their patrons and clients. After all, doing so netted them a lucrative percentage of each trade, it would suit her purposes well indeed to use them as her dealer. Determining on a plan of action she gathered the golden articles and stored them in her sling bag. The material stretched and bulged, but kept together for now. ''I''m going to have to get a better bag soon, perhaps a nice sturdy leather satchel'' Guppy smiled at the thought. Just then she heard the voices of her siblings approach. She swiftly cleaned up the scraps of food she had scattered by her sudden onset of hunger pangs while transmuting, not wishing to welcome her siblings back to a mess. Guppy then rushed to the door and opened it for her two siblings, eager to share the good news. Alas, again she saw a wariness and hesitation in their eyes as they saw her, still not used to her new form. It hurt a bit, but Guppy took a deep breath and pretended not to notice, she was stuck like this, at least for the foreseeable future, so they all would just have to get used to it. She brought them in, sat them down on two of the kitchen chairs and excitedly broke the news to them. They were quiet for a moment, until Stalia spoke up "Now Guppy, it''s great and all that you have magic now, however that happened" she began, "But everyone knows that the mages and alchemists have been trying to turn lead into gold for the last thousand years and no one, has ever, once, succeeded." Guppy said nothing further, she knew how stubborn her sister could get, and to be honest, if she had not personally done it she wouldn''t believe such a fantastical story either. It sounded like some made up story from a book, written to delight and entertain but will little influence from reality. A normal girl was suddenly given the power to do what all the powerful and knowledgeable mages for the last millennia could not, and then lived in wealth and happiness forever more. Hah, if someone seriously told her that story last week she would have laughed at them, loudly. So instead of arguing she showed them the contents of her sling bag, then grabbed the buckle on Stalia''s bag strap and turned it to gold before their eyes. Silence descended¡­ "That''s so cool big sis, can you turn it into other metals too?" Guppy and Stalia both blinked at Kyle''s unexpected outburst. He rarely said more than 5 words at a time, this had to be the longest sentence they had heard from him in years. "Unfortunately not" Sighed Guppy "I can''t seem to get the right grasp on it, it just turns into a melted sludge" She pointed to several hideous blobs in one corner that looked like creatures out of a particularly horrible nightmare, they were the results of her experiments to turn metals into mithril, orichalcum and adamantite. "None of my attempts worked, but we have a different problem, this is pure twenty-four carat gold, selling it to just anyone could be troublesome" Stalia nodded as Guppy continued. "So I plan to sell it off at the Aravice''s Descent auction house so it can''t be traced back and bring any misfortune down upon us" More nods, from both siblings this time. "Their auction on the first day of each week is tomorrow, I plan to go then." Guppy concluded. Stalia spoke up while tapping her chin with a finger. "Tomorrow hmm. Not a bad plan, but you are forgetting one thing. I heard from customers at our bar that the only gold they auction is pieces of art" "And that," She gestured to the bags contents, "Looks nothing like art" Guppy furrowed her brow, Stalia had a point, her plan wouldn''t work like this, but then Kyle laid his hand on her shoulder. "May I?" he asked softly. Curious as to his intent, Guppy nodded her ascent. Kyle picked up her sling bag and emptied the gold into their cooking pot, he then started to heat it with his fire mana. Soon the pure, and extremely soft metal liquified, applying an apprentice heat protection spell on his hands Kyle sunk his hands into the molten metal, and pulled. His sister''s gasped in admiration and watched entranced as he molded the liquid metal, pulling and teasing it into shapes and swirls, solidifying it as he went by applying tiny amounts of a cooling water magic. Sweat flowed from his brow both from the heat and his intense concentration as he sculpted with his hands, then fingers, then fingertips, and finally just his nails. Time flowed by swiftly as they watched Kyle gradually shape the gold into a tree, defining it in beautiful detail as he added vines, leaves and even tiny golden fruit. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. They sighed when he stepped away and the spell broke. Kyle, tired but satisfied with his creation, let out a huge grin. "I call it Anuteras" he stated, "After a dream of a great tree I had last night." His creation stood there proudly, looking like it had grown out of the pot rather than been made. Gleaming and twinkling in the candlelight it''s beauty engendered awe within the sisters. "How much do you think it''ll bring?" whispered Guppy. "The raw gold alone was probably worth about a thousand royals!" "I have no idea" Stalia whispered back. "I''m not sure if we can even sell it." The ninth evening bell rang, startling them out of their stupor and bringing their notice to the guttering candle on the table. They quickly ate some food to satisfy their grumbling stomachs and headed to bed, sleep eventually claiming them all as the accumulated tiredness finally overcame their excitement. 17 Avarice Indeed "What is the greatest curse of civilization? Is it Oppression? Disease? War? No, the greatest curse upon civilizations is the birth and growth of bureaucracy." -Philosopher Kyne in his debut treatise. Seventh day of the first week of Autumn. Eleventh bell of the night¡­ The Man in Black was nearing the end of his daily reports. He had been saving the best one for last, intentionally moving it to the bottom. Civil unrest, boring and easily dealt with, a massacre of a mercenary troupe at a travelling inn discovered this morning, noteworthy, he would send an agent to investigate further. Next, boring, next, stupidity packaged, next, too easy. He carefully finished reading the second last report and bound the manila folder back up, it had been on the complaints by the north eastern kingdom of Bailash over the continued increase in the grain prices they imported from Darish, another boring one. The Bailashians were always complaining about something, a good argument was merely natural conversation to them, it was how they kept warm up amongst all the snow and ice up there. The Man in Black opened the last file and the corners of his mouth moved ever so slightly upwards, this case truly did not disappoint. Miss Bright had turned up, looking quite different than a day ago and having a bit of an adventure. ''And my oh my how busy you''ve been'' He observed The Man in Black''s smile grew as he immersed himself in the report. He read it twice, for once in a long time not relying on his photographic memory, finally he closed the folder with a tiny exhalation of breath. "The implications of this when considering the current players are¡­ disturbing." A rare sentence escaped from his lips as his fingers absentmindedly tapped the closed folder. "I shall have to make certain..preparations." ...¡­.. First day of the second week of Autumn. Morning¡­ Guppy awoke with the 5th morning bell, her internal body clock still consistent after years of repetition. Once more she disentangled herself from Stalia, happily noting that Stalia''s expression was far more peaceful this morning. Moving over to the mirror she looked into it once more, pinching her cheek to again make sure that this wasn''t a fanciful dream she had after drinking some murgoat milk before bed. She sat there for a few minutes braiding her silver-white hair back into a loose fishtail braid to keep it out of her face, it was also easier to conceal under a hood this way. She touched her pointed ears, they were more obvious now that her hair was tied back. They seemed as real as yesterday and hurt when she twisted the tips. Her canines were still prominent, and sharp, as the trickle of blood from her lip biting attested, she would have to be careful with that habit from now on, the wounded lip healed quickly though, the small gash disappearing in a merely a minute. Even her regular teeth were slightly pointier and sharper than she could recall, although less so than her canines. She took in her reflection in it''s many new facets, gazing into the mirror for a while. ''I suppose I don''t look all that bad'' She thought, ''I''m not a monster, just a bit different to normal I guess'' The sixth bell snapped her out of her thoughts, reminding her that time waited for no one. Slapping her cheeks she pumped herself up for the day ahead, then turned to her still slumbering siblings. She woke them both up successfully, her techniques honed from years of practise and helped them get ready for the day. "Stalia, please take Kyle to the gate again this morning, I need to go get my description and affairs fixed at the city hall before they will reissue my gate pass, Kyle you remember the way to master Mithrilsmith from the gate right?" Guppy tried unsuccessfully to smooth and neaten Kyle''s curly hair, she failed. "Yes Guppy," Kyle responded before accepting the wrapped up corner of bread that she shoved into his hands. "We''ll have a feast tonight Kyle." Guppy promised. "Just you wait. Stalia how''s your work shift looking?" Stalia''s face distorted briefly. "Double shift I''m afraid, I had another girl cover a shift for me last week and today I have to cover for her, I''ll only be back after the ninth bell in all likelihood. Don''t worry about dinner for me I''ll get some food from the kitchen" "Get Rade from work to walk you home once you''re done, he''ll keep you safe and get you here." Guppy advised. "Mmhmm" Mumbled Stalia noncommittally as she scampered out the door with Kyle in tow. With the apartment to herself Guppy turned to look at the golden tree still sitting in their pot, well she could neither take it with her like that, nor leave it out in the open for any burglar to find. After pondering for a moment she carefully hid the golden tree by popping up a few planks from the floor, digging a hole into the ground, then carefully lowering the tree in before replacing the floor boards once more. With greater peace of mind Guppy finished getting herself presentable and headed out onto the busy streets. Her destination was not the large central city hall that was located near the palace in the nobles district, while it was a grand looking building it catered only to the nobility and wealthy, not a commoner like herself, she had only ever caught glimpses of it before when she was out on deliveries. Her destination instead was a branch office located far closer, in fact after just a quarter bell''s walk she could already see it. The commoners district hall was a far less ostentatious building, laying rather squat and misshapen at the end of a market plaza, and quite predictably it was packed full of yelling, anxious, bored, angry, crying, and rather hopeless looking people. Guppy smiled, the line wasn''t even out the door yet, getting ready and leaving early had been worth it, it should only take about three unpleasant hours to finish her re-registration, leaving plenty of time to head to the auction house afterwards. Guppy hurried onwards to join the line that grew even as she watched. ... Four hours later¡­ Guppy marched out of the city hall triumphantly with a shiny new identity plaque in hand. She had joined and stood in the queue and let her mind slowly numb to the screeching babies, the irate yelling of citizens at counter staff, and the unpleasant odors of those around her. An entrepreneuring peddler entertained her for a time as he tried to sell her a mystery meat pie which she refused as she could neither buy it, nor tolerate the inevitable diarrhea that would follow. Several times she had to slap away wandering or curious hands, all while the stifling heat of too many people in far too close a proximity gradually smothered her. Finally she got to the front of the ticket queue. There Guppy received a paper ticket that had the number six hundred and twenty-two stamped on it, she looked up at the overhead service ticker which read ''Now serving ticket number 94'' Jolly joy on a crumpet. Guppy moved to join the queue for citizen identification and registrations, letting her mind erode in nothing but the occasional shuffle step forward every once in a while when a gap opened between her and the person in front. As time progressed her thoughts drifted freely and in strange directions. ''Maybe the last couple days have just been a dream, maybe I actually died in the blast, and this is the hell those religions always go on about, nothing but a long queue that never ends, teasing you with the possibility of release with a ticket number, only to have you join another queue, then another¡­'' ''Until they send you back to the first queue, then the second, in one eternal hellishly bureaucratic torment.'' Guppy''s existential crisis and sudden onset of religious fervor abruptly came to an end when she heard "Next" and realized it was finally her turn, she slapped her cheeks to wake her brain from its stupor and hurried toward the counter. "Reason for visit" An extremely tired looking Calgaree asked her. "Identity Plaque update" Guppy replied as she handed over her old plaque. The clerk skimmed over the information engraved on the plaque before making rapid eye movements between it and her. "You look nothing like Gupalagia Esme Bright at all, any birthmarks, wounds or hereditary proof?". "No" Guppy quietly answered, any she had disappeared when she was changed by Batty. The clerks'' whiskers twitched in annoyance. "Then the application is rejected, NE.." started the clerk. "Wait!" interrupted Guppy, "I have a letter from my sister to serve as proof." She hastily pulled out a letter that Stalia had written last night and proffered it to the clerk. He skimmed over it reading rapidly with practised ease. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "One moment please, I need to check that this citizen number and signature match our database." Thirty minutes later¡­ The clerk returned with a shiny new copper plaque, engraved with details of Guppy''s new appearance. "It all checks out. What happened to you? If you don''t mind me asking." he asked "Pissed off a wizard, so he changed my entire appearance as payback, it was a painful experience" Guppy smoothly sprouted the explanation she had come up with, just remembering the explosion planted a convincingly harrowed look on her face. The Calgaree''s nose wrinkled. "Yes that would do it. Here you go, make sure to look after it, you only get one free replacement every ten years. Guppy accepted it gratefully, thanked the clerk, and elbowed her way to the exit as fast as could without causing anyone actual bodily harm. Bursting out the entrance doors Guppy took a deep breath, relishing the comparatively fresh and clean air outside, it was still pretty bad if she was honest, but inside the city hall her olfactory organs had full on shut down in protest to the sensory overload. Her auditory senses had almost followed suit. After stretching her muscles to relieve their stiffness she started walking to the commoners shopping district, her destination, the hat shop. Once there she ignored the fancy hats on display and instead approached the service counter and asked the store keeper for an old hat box. Thankfully the clerk was a nice young man who quickly succumbed when she fluttered her eyelashes and asked really~ nicely, he even included some Balicog wool to help pack ''her fragile heirloom vase''. Guppy supposed her new looks did come with some perks after all. With her current tasks completed she made her way home, her footsteps swift in excitement. Approaching her door she looked around before entering, she had felt eyes on her as she strode down the street and wanted to know who held such an interest in her. She spotted a couple of beggars at either end of the street, lazily observing her, when her gaze met theirs they blatantly kept staring for a while longer before looking away in boredom. ''Stop being paranoid Guppy'' she remonstrated. ''They''re watching the street, you just happen to be the most interesting thing currently on it ''. Nonetheless once inside she latched the door and quickly popped up the covering floorboards, confirming with a relieved sigh that the tree was still there She retrieved the golden tree and carefully placed it into the hat box, then used the Balicog wool to pack it securely around the sides. She stuck the lid back on and re-tied the brown string around the box before standing back to observe her handiwork. Guppy nodded in satisfaction, although she would have to hold the base carefully to support the weight, with her strength and its outward appearance she would look just like an eager young lady after the purchase of a new hat. "Next up Aravice''s Descent!" Guppy cheered, her face breaking into a grin in excitement. 18 Avarice Indeed 2 "Who are the real one percenters? Those who merely skim the top of the vat instead of milking the cow. It is far easier to concentrate wealth from the many than the one." Head Bean Counter of the Royal Accountants Guppy carefully made her way through the streets to the north end of the district. Several times she had to deflect people with her left hand, all the while holding the hatbox cradled under her right arm like the ball in a Jukaloo game. Travelling under such tension burdened her senses even as she rode a high of adrenaline, her eyes darting to and fro and she struggled not to listen to her instincts and break into a run. Every loud noise, sudden movement, gust of wind or odd smell caused her to twitch as she frantically tried to process all the information currently flooding her senses Was walking slowly ever this hard before? She couldn''t remember a single time when it was. One positive side to being so high strung was that she foresaw and dodged several collisions by slick handers who were curious about her cargo, slipping away before they realised they had missed. But was she being targeted? Every slick hander she crossed seemed to be targeting her, did they know? How could they know? Guppy stopped walking as a flash of insight hit her. ''What a fool I am, I must look really shady to all the slick handers, nervous and twitchy as I am'' Guppy realised. This epiphany helped her to calm herself somewhat, and she waited until her nerves calmed and trembling muscles stopped before she headed onwards once more. Her steady and brisk walk lasted for a while, until she entered slavers square. People thronged here, the flesh market as popular as always. In the center of the square stood a woodern platform where hundreds of slaves were auctioned off everyday. While the slaves mainly consisted of orcs the occasional debt slave of human or merfolk origin could be seen as well, their eyes dull and broken. "Forty-nine royals for the orc mother and her rare green limbed twins, who''ll give me fifty? Fifty from Duke Darringtons butler, Who''ll give me Fifty-one? No one? Going once, going twice, sold to the fine duke''s butler" Guppy shivered and hunched her shoulders, she never liked coming through here, this place stood for much of what she hated with the current system, greed, excess, and the grinding down of the poor. Guppy hated the slavery system, always had. Hwamu''s teeth, she had been close enough to becoming one herself on several occasions, what with her inherited debts hanging over her the last few years. Guppy pulled her hood down further over her face, skirting the square quickly and hopefully unnoticed. She was close to her objective now, the pleasure district lay all around her, down that street lay the pink district, drawing lonely men and women alike. Down another lay the gambling dens, legal and illegal with their fighting pits and divers animal races. Cloudy alleys spoke of Joombla pits, the residents drugged into oblivion with artificial highs. Bars stood open to the public at every convenient juncture, selling their cheap booze to all comers, some of which was likely to blind you if you drank enough. Her destination however lay straight ahead at the end of the street, Avarice''s Descent. The building positively screamed wealth with it''s gilded wood and fancy multi-tiered architecture, not to mention how clean it seemed while all else in its surroundings was grimy and tarnished. However just looking at the heavily armed guards with their advanced magitech armaments and the high tier mana barrier that surrounded the place quickly dampened the enthusiasm of any would be wandering plunderer. Guppy headed not for the massive front entrance, for only wealthy patrons were allowed through there. Instead she angled for one of the smaller side entrances, there, a muscular man with a great sword strapped to his back held out his hand to stop her. "What''s your business little miss?" he asked, his sharp eyebrows fiercely in contrast to his gentle smile. "I have a piece of art that I believe your masters would be interested in selling." answered Guppy. She gestured to the old hatbox under her arm, and held it up for the guard to see. While it drew a raised eyebrow from the guard he nevertheless opened the door behind him and bid her to enter. "First door on the right, you''ll find old Pete, he''ll appraise it for you" Guppy bowed her head slightly in thanks and passed through the entryway, the cool interior air washing over her as she crossed the threshold. She walked for twenty odd paces on a carpeted interior down a curved corridor before coming to a door on her right, knocking loudly she called out. "Piece of art for Appraiser Pete to evaluate" Guppy announced. "Come in come in. Don''t spend all day about it" a raspy voice cried out. Opening the door Guppy entered to find an old Merfolk male seated at a worn wooden table. She was not shocked at the translucent scales or gills that weren''t covered by his toga for she had seen the occasional merfolk while wandering around the city, they weren''t a common sight, but neither were they incredibly rare. Guppy took in his scrawny build, shriveled muscles and bland features before loosing interest, instead looking around at the workshop she had entered. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. The room was full of odd bits and bob''s, tools and parts lying in a spread of organized chaos, Guppy could recognize many that she knew but some were new to her eyes. In one corner a magitech device drew liquid from a tank and spewed a mist of water vapour into the air at regular intervals. "I''m old" growled Pete as he noticed her inquisitive gaze. "the humidifier helps keep my skin and gills from drying and cracking. Nothing more painful than cracked gills let me tell you. But that''s not why you are here is it young lady? Are you waiting for me to die of old age? Show me what you have before I keel on over!" Guppy was torn between frowning and laughing, the seemingly grouchy old man behaved more like a child wanting candy than the image she had of a dignified appraiser. She set the hatbox on the table, undid the knotted strings, removed the lid, and carefully lifted the golden tree out onto the table, before stepping back to wait for Pete to perform the examination. When she turned to look at him she saw his mouth gaping open, the sight causing her lips to twitch upwards. Feeling her gaze he snapped it shut and coughed to cover his embarrassment. "Yes, yes, very pretty, good artistic touches, the artist is talented no doubt. Now let''s see what the composition is shall we?" Pete shuffled over to a shelf and pulled out a small magitech tool, similar to the one that Guppy had seen Tomsy use, but instead of a scale the end held only a mithril touch point He brought it over and gently touched it to the base of the golden tree. Only the gold marble lit up, and fully at that. Pete paused, shook his head and sighed, then smacked the tool on the table a couple of times. He turned and dug through a pile of stuff, retrieving a layered block of metal from amidst the jumble. "This is used for testing the tester" he explained upon seeing Guppy''s inquisitive gaze. Pete brought his tool to the block and activated it once more. All thirty of the marbles lit up very slightly. Assured that the tool was now working correctly Pete then again held it to the golden tree once more and activated it. The gold marble lit up fully again. A pindrop could be heard at that moment. Eventually Pete broke the silence Guppy was beginning to find awkward "A true artiste," Pete sighed, "Not deigning to work with less than perfection" "How they got a smith to smelt a metal so pure is beyond me, it would take a master smith with spelled equipment at the very least, but this artist must have had both wealth and connections for the evidence is plainly before us" Guppy kept quiet, not trusting herself to open her mouth without laughing at the old merfolk''s monolog. Pete''s eyes snapped back into focus. "Yes, this piece will do nicely, very nicely indeed. What was your name again young miss?" "Gupalagia Esme Bright" she answered as she pulled out her ID plaque. "But everyone calls me Guppy." ....... Six hours later. Avarice''s Descent¡­ After the appraisal Guppy was still left with some time before the auction, she had no money to go shopping, neither did she fancy going all the way back home only to journey here again a couple hours later. So instead she took Pete up on an offer and was guided to a waiting room which contained a couch and accompanying side table, which held several books, and a fresh newspaper. A few minutes later a maid had entered and delivered a tray occupied with a fresh pot of mint tea and some scones. Neither lasted long. Guppy had also received a receipt for the custody of the golden statue, along with the receipt they had also given her a patron card, which the maid explained had spending limit of five thousand gold royals, which she could use to spectate and participate in tonight''s auction. So Guppy thoroughly enjoyed the next few hours reading a rather trashy romance novel involving knights and forbidden romances. The book was apparently quite popular amongst young nobles according to the maid, and there were many unrealistic parts that made Guppy cringe, yet it proved to be an effective way to swallow up the hours. When the maid came and informed her that the auction would be starting shortly Guppy stood and left the room, making her way down the corridor and into the auction hall. There a raised stone platform sat against the center of one wall, faced by terraced seats in a one hundred degree spectrum. There were different tiers of seats as well, while most were on the ground level there were several luxurious balconies on the second and third floors that overlooked the hall and stage. A thick veil and curtains combined with clever viewing angles made it impossible for Guppy to get a look at any of the occupants, but she had no doubt they could view the hall as they pleased. Guppy made her way to a seat in the middle of the hall whose number corresponded to her ticket and sat with crossed legs. The people sitting around her took one look at her worn and threadbare clothing and sniffed, turning their heads away in disdain and excluding her from their conversational circles. Guppy didn''t mind much, she wanted to avoid attention and dialogue in any case, so she kept her hood pulled down and her mouth shut. Peering around she noticed that she was not the only one to do so, evidently a few others here valued their privacy as well. Before long the lights overhead dimmed and the chatter quieted. Everyone''s eyes focused on the gentleman who stepped out from the parting curtains, he was tall, easily topping six foot. The gentleman wore a magnificently tailored suit and waistcoat that screamed money with its fine cut and mithril thread stitching. Yet the way he wore it caused it to appear elegant rather than gaudy or flamboyant, the beautiful clothes only accentuating his rugged good looks and trim muscled figure. His white gloves and neatly trimmed blonde hair spoke further to his charm, belieing his age the crinkles around his eyes revealed. He carried himself like a mountain, utterly sure of his place and purpose, his very presence demanding respect and deference. And yet, it was not a forceful, arrogant demand, instead engendering it naturally. The gentleman tapped his cane on the floor once, and there was silence. He opened his mouth, revealing two rows of pearly white teeth. "I bid you welcome ladies, and gentlemen, to the second auction of Autumn, I am your host and auctioneer tonight, Lyle Larrow Luther the third. I wish everyone a wonderful evening with us, may you find, and win, your heart''s desire." A beautiful smooth voice sounded throughout the hall, Lyle did not yell, or even raise his voice, yet it sounded clearly in everyone''s ear as if he stood before them. "Keeping with the theme of Autumn we have decided to keep tonight''s focus on none other than items with a gold motif." He then paused as a woman in a shimmering gold dress with pinned up and cascading blonde hair pushed out a table on wheels. She stopped when it reached the center of the stage, and Lyle removed the cloth covering it with a practiced flick of his wrist. "The first bid tonight will be on a one hundred and seventy-two piece cutlery set made by the Hammarsdale Brothers. Bidding starts at one thousand gold royals¡­" Guppy watched wide eyed as one piece after another was wheeled out, displayed, and auctioned off for seemingly ridiculous prices. Jewelry, cutlery, gold sheaf chairs, even the title deed to a small gold mine. The sheer wealth that moved this night alone flabbergasted her, and yet through it all Lyle calmly conducted the evening as if he was auctioning off items from a yard sale. ''And they get a ten percent cut of every sale'' thought Guppy as she helped herself to some fruit juice and cream puffs from a traveling refreshment station. ''No wonder these snacks and drinks are free, despite their obvious quality and expense, they''re a pittance to what is being earned'', Guppy stuffed one of the cream puffs into her mouth, then paused as her tongue melted and her brain stopped for a second¡­ ''fudge knuckles these puffs are good!'' "Serving Lady, back here please!!" she shamelessly called The sight of Guppy greedily stuffing her face with cream puffs further lowered her impression with the surrounding people. Not that she cared at all right now, with her cheeks bulging and a silly grin on her face she was in paradise. When Guppy finally came back to her senses some time later, her attention was captured by the next item. "Here we have an egg found in the wilds by some explorers who brought it to us to sell, the species is unknown, but it''s golden color and beautiful striations on the shell make it quite the collectors item" "Bidding starts at five hundred royals, do I hear six hundred?" Guppy''s hand shot up holding a little bidding board that contained her seat number. "Six hundred from number two-six-two. Do I hear¡­" The bidding mounted higher, it approached one thousand royals, but the enthusiasm started waning before it could. "One thousand royals" called out Guppy as she tried to suppress the quavering in her voice. ''did I get too caught up in the atmosphere?'' she questioned, ''since when did I spend money so easily?'' Guppy''s heart was thumping in excitement as she heard Lyle call, "Going once, going twice, sold to number two-six-two." Guppy sat back in her chair and tried to calm her breathing, cream puffs helped. Oh the delicious fluffy sweetness was soooo good. ''Where have you been all my life'' she sighed in pure enjoyment. Guppy missed the next few items, barely registering them with her banquet of sampling underway, but Guppy perked up when she heard the final item call. "And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you''ve all been waiting for, the cream of the crop, tonight''s finale auction piece. "It is a work by an unknown but fanatically devout artist who pushes the boundaries of common sense in their artistic persuit, demanding perfection from even the materials" "Made from twenty-four carat, one hundred percent pure gold it is without a doubt unique amongst its peers" "Without further ado, I give you.. Anuteras." With a flourish Lyle whipped the cloth off the table, revealing a glittering tree of exquisite grace. Guppy admired it''s presentation and the showmanship of Lyle, not only did its introduction hype it up, but they had made full effect of its reflective properties with lights shining from underneath the statue as well as the sides, giving the tree a halo of light. The audience was quiet as a still moment passed through the hall. "Bidding begins at five thousand royals" Lyle nonchalantly stated into the lull. For another second there was continued silence, then the crowd erupted into noise. "One hundred percent pure he said? Nonsense, there are always impurities unless you have a master smith smelt it over a hundred times! Who would go so far for a mere piece of art!?" called out one incensed man Guppy tried really hard to stifle the giggling that threatened to erupt from her, she failed, but her snorting was thankfully lost in the clamor. Booomm! Lyle''s cane slammed down on the stone stage. Quiet descended once more. "Bidding is now open." He proclaimed, his tone carrying an underlying warning. This time the crowd settled down, the high opening price meant most could not even participate, they could only watch on as the truly wealthy participated. "Six thousand" came a cold voice from a balcony alcove. "Seven" came a cheerful voice from another. Guppy''s head stopped working once the amount went past ten thousand. ''How can anyone have so much money and be able to spend it so frivolously?'' she wondered, perhaps forgetting that she herself had spent a thousand on an item that resembled an oversized clukie egg. "Sold for thirty-seven thousand royals to bidder number five" Well that sentence from Lyle woke her up alright, then knocked her straight back into dreamland as she processed it. It was only after everyone else had left and an attendant shook her gently that she awoke from her stupor and grinned broadly. "This way miss Bright" beckoned an calgaree dressed in the auction house''s subtly lavish attire "My master wishes to see you". 19 An Entrepreneuring Individual An Entrepreneuring Individual There are many forms of power, and without their balancing constraints of duty and responsibility, they inevitably corrupt the heart of the holder. Be careful then of how you hold the power given you. Except from the address of Philosopher Kyne to the young monarch of Tabolt First day of the second week of Autumn. Seventh bell of the evening... A young man strode down the busy street, full of vim and vigor, acting as if he owned it. Which, from his perspective, he basically did. His name, one he took himself from an old hero''s tale, was Seymour. His smooth black hair, cheeky green eyes and chiseled features drew the looks of the fairer sex wherever he passed. His gleaming smile a weapon that could melt their spines and send them twittering like a flock of birds, and oh did he know it. While a hint of youthfulness in his face spoke true to his sixteen years on this planet, he could easily pass for a man of nineteen with his v shaped muscular body and above average height. His tailored clothing accentuated his assets marvelously, drawing the eye with its colors and tailoring. Of course, he had not always enjoyed his current status, he had been discarded in the slum gutters of Nolusburg at the age of two, an unwanted child of a financially struggling household. Far too common a story in these days. He could have, and should have, perished there like so many others, but a tenacious spark flared to life in him that refused to go out. Money, Power, Influence,he would gather it all. It was a visceral hunger that kept him going through all those long lean winters as a child, while fighting over scraps with other gutter brats, stealing food, or scamming people who wandered into the wrong part of the city. Indeed Seymour was a conniving fellow of great disrepute, both served him well in the dark streets and alleys of the slums, keeping him both alive and thriving. Yet the inner hunger ever lifted Seymour''s gaze upwards, it was never satiated and ever demanded more and more of him. He secured a place in the Grakoan mafia at the age of ten when he outshone his competitors during a bloody recruitment drive, many of whom were four to six years older than he. But at the end none but he was left. After that he had experienced a meteoric rising through the normally stagnant ranks of the mafia, his position continually improving from his many plans and plots. Now at the tender age of sixteen he was one of the godmother''s lieutenants, running a fifth of the mafia''s operation''s in this city. The beggars and thieves all belonged to him, and he used them well, he even boosted revenue by over forty percent after he opened a training school for each group to help them train and perfect their art. And that was a year ago, his old hunger was rising once more, no longer sated with what it was fed. ''Should I push to take the liqueur district next?'' Seymour pondered as he strolled down the street, ''Or maybe the pink district? But how would I wrangle it? The other lieutenants have all been on guard against me since I usurped control of the slick handers and disposed of old Nodhorn'' Seymour sighed, his footsteps led him to where he always went to relax and unwind, The Five Legged Murgoat. He had found this gem of a tavern two years ago, when he was drawn in by a party his enforcers threw to celebrate his rise to lieutenant of beggars. He had started partying at the inn as was his norm, until a beautiful young waitress had waltzed up and started scolding him and his mates. Without even fully realizing what he did he apologized and took his drinking partners to a different establishment, they had mocked him for it, but he made sure they got properly sloshed that night. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. By morning they had blinding hangovers and no memory of the celebratory affair other than it had happened. Seymour though, had drunk far more circumspectly, choosing to remember the bar and waitress both. He soon started visiting there more regularly, consuming his meals and drink alone. Before long he was well recognized there as a regular and he had learnt a great deal about her. Her name was Stalia, Stalia Bright. She seemed as interested in him as he was with her, and it was not long before they were *walking out together* Nonetheless he kept things slow and easy between them, unwilling to drag her innocence and spirit into the shadowy mire in which he lived. He did however place a few of his men to prevent another from approaching her, a task that resulted in no few broken bones of potential suitors as time passed. The girl was his refuge from the backstabbing and political games that were constant company to one in the mafia, she had an innocent purity that cleansed his spirit just with her proximity. Stalia was a hardworking lass in a hard part of the city, but she had somehow remained largely untainted by it, she was not an airhead, no that would be unattractive to one such as he, but she still shone amidst the muck of this world. Talking with her soothed the hunger within Seymour, quieting it down to a whispering rumble, an unexpected yet strangely welcome feeling. It was¡­ nice And so at times like these when the hunger growled loud and fierce, making Seymour restless and impatient, his feet unerringly traced the path back to her. Seymour passed the inns sign of a mutated murgoat eating some curtains, he pushed open the well used door and made his way to his usual spot, a quiet booth in the far corner. Seymour let his eyes roam as he walked through the common room, scoping out the current residents of the bar. He nodded politely to many of the regulars that he was familiar with, and briefly noted two canners attempting to drown their sorrows in booze. ''Nothing new there'' he dismissedly thought. Seymour moved on, there were a few unknown faces seated, he would have to ask his informants about those later. Especially the lady sitting a few booths over from his spot, while her red hood hid most of her face, her fair skin and luscious red lips spoke to the possibility of great beauty. He hated beauties. Beauties always spelt trouble, a lesson he had learnt from watching a multitude of tragedies unfold. Indeed they attracted trouble like mangy suks to a carcass ''Stalia being the exception of course'' he quickly corrected in his mind. Seymour resolved himself to not get involved with the red hooded lady unless she intruded on one of his interests, no doubt she would come to a bad end round these parts. And if she survived? Well the pink district was ever hungry for fresh flesh. Seymour put her out of his mind, and focused on Stalia as the girl wove her way towards him. She smiling charmingly, and Seymour felt his cares drift away like a summer''s breeze, he loosed a genuine smile in return. Seymour had been worried when he heard of the accident involving Friedrich and Guppy a few days past, he knew what it meant for the family under Gakroan law. So he had called in a favor with Ingma, and got him to propose more generous terms for them to Selena. The ploy had been shut down quickly though, forcing him to retreat back into the shadows and burning some bridges that had been difficult and costly to build. ''Did Selena grow too wary of me too?'' Seymour wondered, ''I''m going to have to tread carefully for the next few weeks and play extra nice'' And yet, somehow Guppy had come up with the money, an obscene amount by any non-noble''s standard. ''Perhaps she''d been stealing from Friedrich for the last few years? It''s the only explanation that makes any sense, only Friedrich could have been handling gold of such purity'' Seymour pondered over the probabilities. He had heard from his sources that the dwarf had been fanatical about his metals, demanding none but the purest for his experiments and creations. But for even his scrap to be pure gold, it blew Seymour''s mind and stimulated his hunger once more¡­ But he would figure that out later, for now, there were more pressing issues. "Hi yo Stalia, how long you got left on your shift?" Seymour asked. He could spot her tiredness underneath her excited expression, she must have worked a double today. "Not even a bell left Seymour, I''ll finish up soon, can I get you something to eat in the meantime?" Stalia replied as she grinned and lightly blushed. "A bowl of the Murgoat''s best stew then, to keep me warm without you" he replied, noting with satisfaction the rather deeper blush that crept up Stalia''s face straight to the tips of her ears. She hit him, a playful thwack to remind him they were in public. He didn''t care, it was all the more fun to tease her, he could feel his hunger settling down already. He ate his bowl of stew as he waited, resolving a more mundane hunger, it was a decent meal, and easily worth the coin paid for it. The proprietor was an honest sort, rare in this part of town, the honest ones usually didn''t last very long. But Seymour knew the truth, having taken care to look into his background, the proprietor was a retired knight who had always dreamed of owning an inn while he was enlisted. When his tour of duty ended he had turned that dream into reality with his savings, though heaven knows where he found that wretched murgoat the inn was named after. Even now the beast made its rounds, and any individual or group that refused it an offering would quickly find the murgoat eating something else of theirs instead, often something far more valuable than a morsel of food. Putting aside his strange taste in pets the Innkeepers'' fighting prowess and a no nonsense attitude had stood him in good stead in this rough section of town, intimidating or dealing with the riff raff that sometimes wandered in kept this place clean and opium free. Of course it helped that Seymour had made sure the Inn was marked as his turf from as far back as two years ago, he had no wish for any of the other lieutenants to set up shop here. So those who caused trouble were individuals rather than any one group. Furthermore he had made the inn his unofficial headquarters, even as he ate a few nondescript individuals passed his booth and slipped him notes, written in a code Seymour had devised and taught in the schools he founded. Finishing his bowl, Seymour leant back and picked a scrap of meat from between his teeth with a sliver of bone. Unfurling the many small scripts he began reading them, decrypting them in his head as his eyes flitted across the papers. Joombla usage was on the rise, the new opium proving more popular and addictive than its traditional competitors, his counterpart there was proving too successful as of late. He''d have to do something about that soon, perhaps a lovely warm bonfire in their central cache. The pink district was performing well as always, their income largely stable. The whole affair was decently well run by Margery, Selena''s number two. The woman was a dried up bitter old hag, but she kept everything running like the clockwork found in her watch. Efficiently. The gambling dens are raking in more and more as people continued to sink into desperation, but they hit their peak a couple months back, it''ll be downhill for a while he predicted. ''Good, their influence will lessen and provide me with some room to maneuver.'' The liquor sales were barely staying stable, which was saying something in the current economic downturn. He glanced over at the two Canners, empty tankards littering their table, bearing testament to both their support of the industry, and determined progression towards drunken oblivion. ''Perhaps George''s alcohol district should be my new target, they''ve been showing division in their ranks of late, it wouldn''t take much to make them fall apart and need some¡­ guidance.'' Seymour grinned as he plotted his rivals'' demise, it always put him in a jolly mood to do so. ''I would need a pretext of course, and the necessary support from the majority of the group. I should break out one of my coin stashes and be rather liberal in the coming weeks, all in a quite innocent way of course.'' Seymour made notes and plans in an encrypted shorthand that only he knew, gradually spinning a plan for his next grand step. Soon the eighth bell rung and Seymour had to tuck his notebook away as Stalia swept over and threw herself into his arms. The booth was not a private room, but it afforded some privacy from the common room, tucked away in a corner and angled as it was. Seymour took this opportunity to sweep her off her feet and share a long kiss with the girl. She melted into his arms as the kiss extended. He could feel her tiredness though, seeping through her every movement, It had been a rough week for her no doubt. ''Well, let''s see what I can do to improve it'' Seymour thought, a broad smile spreading upon his face. 20 A Suks Reward Loyalty betrayed, Injustice portrayed. -Prophecy of the duskbringer First day of the second week of Autumn. Noon¡­ Jacques and Hadoom wound their way along their patrol route back to the precinct office, stopping but briefly to procure some lunch at a local food stall. They made brief work of the hefty wraps they bought, the delicious food disappearing down their gullets in record time to sate their hunger. "This southern food from Imperyn hits the spot for sure lad, I never used to hold much with spicy foreign food, must be getting soft in me old age." Hadoom commented as he licked the juices off his fingers. Jacques shrugged, "It''s tasty and convenient to eat while walking, what''s not to like? And you started slipping years ago old man, bringing it up now will¡­ " Jacques paused as they came into view of the precinct, Lazy Joe and Fat Fendon were standing outside. They were the shameless lackeys of Captain Sladlow and were never up to any good. "Brace yourself lad, I smell trouble" Hadoom warned. Jacques nodded in response, his face settling into an indifferent cold mask, together they approached the precinct entrance. Fat Fendon was the first to see them as they marched up to the door, he elbowed his dozing partner, bringing him to attention before calling out. "Hadoom, Jacques, captain wants to see you, come with us." "Yes ''officer'' Fendon. Please lead the way." Jacques focused on formality, implicitly criticizing Fendon for his lack thereof. Fat Fendon grunted before turning around and heading through the doors, Lazy Joe waited until they entered before he stuck his hands into his greasy wool waistcoat and followed, rolling his steps as he sauntered into the offices. Jacques and Hadoom passed the entry hall and reception counter, ignoring the noise and hubbub of civilians laying complaints or reporting a crime, it was sometimes difficult to tell which was worse to them, a thief in the night or their neighbour''s pets eating their flowers. Continueing on they passed the suk dens where the trained canines lay curled up or pacing in their cages, bored and whining. Jacques had to steel his features further, the suks were not fed enough or brushed to Jacques''s liking, a dishonorable lack of care by their handlers. Walking up a flight of stairs they entered what had come to be called ''The Workroom'', here, pairs of desks were scattered about with no order to speak of. And they were just about all occupied, some few officers were filling in paperwork, but the majority lazed about napping or eating, a few were even openly drinking on duty. Jacques felt his stomach sour, most of the district was here. ''Why aren''t they out patrolling and upholding the law, or at least pretending to.'' Jacques was under no illusions about how many of the current officers used keeping the law as an excuse to seek bribes and kickbacks. ''This feels far too much like a setup'' his gut told him. By now they had traveled through the workroom, all the officers surreptitiously glancing at them as they passed. The duo came to the captain''s office and led by Fat Fendon promptly entered, coming to a stop before the desk at which Captain Sladlow sat. The desk was a mess of papers and unread documents, meant to convey that he was extraordinarily busy, but in reality conveying naught but his own incompetence. The stench of liquor dominated the room and even a whiff of¡­ ''Is that Joombla?'' Jacques thought, as he fought to keep a surge of rage from showing his face "Officers Ironproc and Woodsinger reporting Sir Captain." Hadoom rattled off, formality dripping off his stiff tone. ''Of course he knows something is very wrong as well'' Jacques observed. ''We''d have to be fools not to, but what is it?'' Lazy Joe shut the door behind them, then went to stand behind Captain Sladlow with Fat Fendon. A slimy smile adorned the Captain''s face as he looked upon them, made all the worse by his slightly unfocused pupils. ''He''s bloody high as a kite, damn fool of an officer'' thought Jacques "Officers Ironproc and Woodsinger," Captain Sladlow gloatingly sneered "It has come to my attention that the two of you have broken your oaths as law officers. You have stolen evidence from the scene of a crime, specifically from the remains of Friedrich''s workshop when you were there poking around on the morning of the incident." Jacques glanced at Hadoom from the corner of his eye, seeing the very slight shrug he gave, conveying the dwarfs own puzzlement to him. They had hidden the pouch with the restricted metals the entire time on their person''s, not letting it out of their sight. The plan was to dump it this evening in the sewers, how had they been found out? Jacques felt cold sweat dripping down his back, but he and Hadoom managed to keep their faces blank and spines ramrod straight, years of practise and experience paying off in this moment. "Officer Fendon, would you kindly bring me the evidence." Sladlow requested The captain''s grin was wide and full, not even bothering to hide his delight at their predicament. Fat Fendon walked over to a metal evidence cabinet that was bolted to the wall. Using the key tossed to him by the captain he opened it and removed two twisted pieces of silver blue metal about the length of his forearm, he brought them over and laid them on the table. "These were found in your lockers during a spot inspection at the ninth bell this morning. What do you have to say for yourselves?" Demanded Sladlow Jacques and Hadoom relaxed. They had not been discovered, their lives were not forfeit, this was merely a petty setup. If a surprise inspection had really happened then every officer but them would likely be due for the slave pits, in fact this was the first time a surprise inspection had happened in the last twenty years. The irony was not lost on them that they were being accused of something they actually did, but with falsified evidence and motive. They both cracked a smile but kept silent, nothing they could say would change the outcome at this point. When they remained mute Sladlow sniffed, and deprived of the entertainment of seeing them break down that he had been anticipating, he continued. "It is with great pleasure that I hereby expel you both from the association of Law Officers of the Kingdom of Darish without recourse or pension. Hand over your badges and equipment. Now" Jacques mechanically unpinned his badge, and tossed it onto the table, feeling a sense of relief and disappointment as it bounced and spun upon the desk. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. His eyes drawn to it''s movements he saw a fresh looking letter lying folded on the table between two piles of reports. When Hadoom threw his badge, blaster and pacifier baton on the table and followed it with a glob of spit Jacques moved forward, pretending to hold Hadoom back, and using the moment of distraction he swiped the letter and slid it into his sleeve. After the duo had both been properly divested they turned and marched out of the office. They made their way through the workroom with every eye on them, mutterings of "Half blood bastard", "Midget trash" and "Good riddance to the snoots" were snarked as they passed. "Leave it Jacques" growled Hadoom just loud enough for him to hear. Jacques clenched his fists until they whitened, but he held his tongue. They continued walking as the jeers rained down from all sides. Just as they reached the door a bulky Sergeant called Horless stepped in front of them. "Yer still wearing the uniform, yer damn traitors, leave it here ''fore yer go." He demanded Without breaking step Hadoom stomped down with his left foot and threw out a uppercut. It was a practiced uppercut, smooth and clean with no wasted movements, the very air whistled as all of Hadoom''s hundred and fifteen kilograms of pure dwarvish fury was put behind it. The haymaker connected right between Horless''s thick thighs, a crisp crack sounding as Horless was lifted a full foot off the ground. When he landed Horless was out cold, his jaw hung slack and foaming, with his eyes rolled back, only the whites showing. "ANY OF YOU OTHER GUTTER BRAT''S WANT SOME!? I JUST LOST SIXTY YEARS OF MY PENSION. I FEEL AN URGE TO DO SOME BLOODY DISMEMBERING. ANYONE HERE WANT TO VOLUNTEER?!!" Hadoom roared. The workroom fell silent, officers averted their eyes as Hadoom swung his glare around the room. Snorting in disdain Hadoom spat in their direction. "May the twelve divines curse everyone of you honorless gusha''s to the depths of torment and misery." having said his piece the dwarf stomped out the door into the stairwell with Jacques following close behind. They walked down the stairs and out of the precinct building in silence. Then kept walking. "Leave it be huh" smirked Jacques after they had covered a good distance. "Aye, but Horless had it coming, never liked the brat once since he joined. Always pretended to be upright when he was one of the worst of them." Hadoom responded The duo walked in silence for another few minutes, each lost in their thoughts. "What''s a gusha?" Jacques finally asked. Hadoom wrinkled his nose, "Nasty little bug found in the mines is what it is, sprays it''s gunk all over you as soon as you so much as look at it. Takes weeks before you stop smelling like you took a dip in a cesspool." They kept walking, their unguided footsteps leading them on their usual patrol route out of pure muscle memory. "Thanks." murmured Jacques as they passed over a small bridge. "You''re welcome lad, I know you were one second from frying him to a crisp, and that would have been murder and a rope necklace for you. Couldn''t let you do it lad, not after all we''ve been through." Hadoom replied Jacques clasped the old dwarf on the shoulder, expressing his gratitude. The action brought a rustling of paper and reminded him of the letter he had stuffed up his sleeve earlier, he pulled it out and skimmed over it before letting out a low whistle. "What you got there lad?" Hadoom asked, his curiosity spiking. Jacques said nothing, merely handing over the sheet of paper. Hadoom read it once, then twice before letting out some juicy curses, causing a passing sailor to blush and hurry on. "Well this explains some things," The dwarf grumbled, "A letter instructing the captain to find any excuse to fire us, signed with naught but the image of a raven. This whole affair smells like whole nest of gusha''s, we''d do well to steer clear of the whole stinkin'' lot of it" They kept walking in silence, each wondering which noble they had pissed off enough to bring down such a punishment. "Well there''s not much point in stewing ourselves over it, what''s done is done." Hadoom declared with finality, "Now Lad, what say we go and get properly smashed down at the Five Legged Murgoat. Maybe this time you''ll let me drink you under the table. Narla''s belly button, we both need to forget today ever happened." Jacques smiled sadly "Sounds like a plan my old friend, sounds like a plan." The two walked side by side, on a newfound quest to slay their sobriety. ................... Same day, Fifth bell of the afternoon... Bombas closed his shop on time as he always did, bidding farewell to his last few customers and locking the front door. Moving with his rolling, gliding gait he swept up the two day old bread and took the few surviving loaves out to the alleyway at the back of his shop. There waiting for him stood several scrawny children in ragged clothes. Bombas gradually broke the bread and handed out chunks to each child, giving them a smile as he did so, asking questions about how they were doing and giving encouragement and advice to problems they told him of. Once done he called out to one in particular. "Little Tim, where are Lucy and Vera?" he asked "The Groaks got em" Little Tim replied, "Came with papers sayin they owed em some coins and took em away last night" Bombas sighed, the two girls had wanted to start a Jammery, and had been making the plans and contacts they would need once they turned fourteen and were legally allowed to open a business. A foolish waste, another drain on society''s potential from it''s ever cancerous affliction, It made him feel old some nights, but his good wife encouraged and comforted him, helping him to focus each day on doing some good, any good, and leaving the world a little better for it. Bombas bid the little street urchins good night and entered his shop once more. He stopped at the sight of a small card that lay ever so innocently on the counter top, propped up against the jam stand. His face turned grim as he took in the image of a black raven stamped upon it. No rest tonight then for old Bombas. 21 An Entrepreneuring Individual 2 When blades do flicker and gleam, A young girl does greedily dream. -Prophecy of the duskbringer Seymour sat Stalia down by his side and poured her some wine. "Here Stalia, enjoy a glass of this with me, no doubt you need a little rest and relaxation after a double shift." Stalia accepted the glass and drank it down. "Mmmm so that''s what a Galagan ice wine tastes like, it''s got such a fruity aftertaste!" a warm flush started to shine on her cheeks. Seymour laughed, "Tikka''s breath girl, you really can''t hold your liquor now can you? Tipsy already after just a half glass?" Stalia pouted at his teasing, which shut him up as he got momentarily mesmerized by her appearance. He coughed, breaking his eyes away from her face. ''That was dangerous'' His instincts told him, ''I almost pushed her down, why does she have to be so fetching beautiful¡­'' Once he had himself under control again he took a swig of liquid courage, and looked back at Stalia. There she sat, elbows on the table cupping her chin in her hands, a finger absentmindedly curling a lock of her luscious raven hair round and round. Her eyes, though slightly hazy with intoxication were large and innocent, boring straight into his. They locked him down where he sat and it was a long moment before his thoughts broke free once more. He silently poured them both another glass, forcibly controlling his hand to prevent it from shaking, this girl did things to him like none other had before. They both drank slowly, enjoying the comfortable silence that enveloped them as they both relaxed from the tensions of the day. All the background noises seeming to slide away in their shared gaze. Seymour remained silent, waiting for Stalia to open up and start chatting, as she was inclined to when she got drunk. He disliked this method, but it was the only way he could get first hand information on the depths of her life, and using that info preemptively eliminate the troubles that her family seemed to attract at every turn. At least, without her finding out that is. How many times had he thought of coming clean about his real career to her? Too often to count. But each time he was tempted he pictured the swift and sure rejection, disgust and rage in her eyes as she found out he was a part of the machine that had ground her family down. That he was a part of the group that indirectly killed her mother and almost starved her and her siblings to death. The mere thought of that look sliced at his heart and inspired a shuddering terror like none other. ''No, I can never let her find out, this protection and friendship is all I can give her.'' ''We can never be more than that...unless I one day buy a title of nobility and some land, and run away from it all, then, there can be a possibility of more.'' Seymour snapped himself out of his self absorbed ruminating just in time to hear Stalia say, "Life is going to be grand now Seymour, we''re rich!" "Really? How so?" He foolishly asked, still bringing his slightly inebriated and distracted faculties to bear. "My sister Guppy figured out how to turn LEAD, into GOLD!!" Stalia announced triumphantly. Whether by fate or coincidence the bard had just finished a stirring number, the brief lull that followed was perfectly filled with Stalia''s tipsy and joyously loud exclamation that otherwise would have easily gone unnoticed in the normal clamour. However instead it entered perfectly into the ears of every ne''er do gooder that occupied the tavern, instilling a silence as all eyes and ears focused on their booth. "She turned a whole buncha lead into gold today she did, and was off to the fancy auctioneer''s place to get it sold! We''re rich now Seymour, so you and I can¡­" The rooms populace never heard what Stalia''s future romantic plans were, for Seymour had rapidly sobered along with the inns occupants as the import of Stalia''s words settled in. Moving swiftly but all too late he had knocked her out with a calculated blow to the back of her head with a lead weighted leather bound cush. She would sleep soundly until the morning light, now he just had to make sure she lived to see it. Nevermind if it was true or not, and he was inclined to believe her honest nature, factional tensions had been especially strained of late, with every party looking for an edge, or to deny it of their rivals. This would be investigated, by everyone as soon as word got out, and the gutters would choke with corpses as the behemoths clashed. Seymour stood, and his demeanor changed from a common genial youth to that of his other persona, the bloody black suk of Hamover Street bared his teeth at the attentive room. Making a signal with his left hand half the rooms occupants stood and drew an assortment of gleaming blades before moving to his side. Seymour then addressed the remainder of the rooms occupants. "I trust you know what''s best for your continued health. We will be leaving now." He then lifted Stalia and walked with his escort of meat handers to the door in the ensuing silence. There he stopped before Rade the bouncer. "Take fifteen men and bring her to safehouse four, keep her safe while I deal with this mess." Rade nodded silently and gently took Stalia from his arms. The man had been one of Seymour''s men for years now, a close aide who rose through the ranks with his boss, and he had never failed a task yet. Seymour fully understood how this steaming pile of Boola droppings would go down, before the night was out every power in Nolusburg would know and desire control of this variable called Guppy Bright, and any related parties were a bonus. The family would like as not be ripped in twain by those who''d come. It fell to him to somehow keep them safe until things simmered down. That meant he had to involve and gently guide the only powerhouse he could to the most desirable outcome. It would be a walk along the razor''s edge, but it must be done, and for there to be any chance of success he had to move quickly. Now. Turning to a heavily scarred man on his left he commanded him. "Brad, take five men and escort her brother to safehouse six, the boy should be home at this time, I trust you know the way?" Brad nodded silently and quickly left after Rade. The remaining two men followed him as he plunged into the shadows of the night, their breath steaming at the pace he set. ...............¡­.. Soon after Seymour had left a voice piped up, "You think the lass was telling the truth?" "What do you care Barney? We all know our patrons will pay for the news, and that''s our booze money for next week covered. I''ll cover your deliveries if you want." Came a response from his drinking buddy. Barney snorted contemptuously and hucked a loogie to the floor. The Black Suk believed his companion, to act so decisively, that lent credence to the affair but it still felt awfully convenient. It didn''t matter he supposed, greater minds than his would tease out the truth of the matter, likely with heated knives and pliers. He almost pitied the girl, but money was money and he rose with nine other occupants of the bar as they all swiftly left. Silence descended over the now relatively empty bar and it''s few remaining occupants. At a table overflowing with empty mugs Jacques stared across at Hadoom, who returned his level stare with one of his own. Their drinking contest had been quite thoroughly interrupted and their sobriety sharply returned with the shock of what had just happened, their adrenaline burning through the buzz. "Not our fight lad," Hadoom murmured sadly, "Not anymore." Jacques said nothing, merely keeping eye contact with his partner. "It''s suicide to plunge into that heap of fiery excrement, forget it!" Hadoom angrily stated. "We''ll be naught but volunteering to paint the cobblestones with our innards!" Jacques kept staring, his eyes like awls, slowly boring into Hadoom, who resisted stubbornly for a short while before finally letting out a big sigh. "The Olde one take me! what have I got to live for anyway!? May as well have a good scuffle on my way out" Jacques smiled broadly, matching the grin that now split Hadooms beard. A mad light shone in both their eyes. "Where to first my loony lad?" Queried the dwarf. "To where we are needed most." Jacques softly spoke as he stood and doned his hat and long coat. "Aye the pretty not-elf lass then, I had a feeling it might be her." muttered Hadoom to his back as they swiftly exited the establishment. Unseen and unnoticed by them a red snowflake had landed on the back of Jacques collar as he passed the doorway, quickly seeping in, and marking the collar. At a table in the furthermost corner a gleaming white smile could be seen below a dark red hood. ''Now this seems interesting.'' Braxia thought to herself as she elegantly raised her body and leisurely started to follow the tracer spell she had planted on the handsome young half-elf. But on her way to the door she halted, a murgoat lay in her path, and while it''s five legs betrayed its uniqueness from its four legged kin it was the strikingly violet eyes that held her. Braxia went very still as she felt the chill of death creep over her. She stood frozen in mid stride, never had her finely tuned instincts screamed so loudly at her to run, to escape, to flee from the presence before her; And yet, she could not seem to twitch so much as a finger as those horrible eyes seemed to weigh her very existence. Then the moment passed, the murgoat turned its head and quite anticlimactically started eating a hooded cloak that lay forgotten on a nearby chair. Braxia felt her tension drain, and as her logic kicked in it suddenly seemed like a silly dream. "Me, afraid of a mere murgoat? That wine must have been stronger than I thought for me to imagine such a thing." Braxia murmured to herself, dismissing her earlier fear as inconsequential. Nonetheless, she still made a wide berth around the chomping animal and swiftly exited the inn. An old bald woman with deeply dark skin finished eating her bowl of stew in the now empty common room. She slurped the final mouthful, burped, and rubbed her belly in satisfaction before tossing a few coins onto the table in payment and rising. The bald woman grasped a gnarled staff, it''s only decoration a rough owl carved at the top, that was worn and smoothed by many years of use, gained a persistent gleam that tricked the eyes and made the owl seem like it was moving ever so slightly in the flickering candle light. Looking around she spoke to the empty room. "And so the players are assembled, let the dice roll as they may." None were present to hear her, save for an old five legged murgoat happily slurping some spilled food off the floor, leaving it clean and oddly worn. The woman smiled and patted the murgoat''s bobbing head on her way out, quickly disappearing into the evening mists of Nolusberg. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. ......¡­.. All around the city, the leaders of each faction heard the news of a girl with a golden touch, and they were all unanimous in their decision. "Bring her to me, or don''t bother coming back." They commanded their varied underlings. The careful balance between them had been kept for far too long, and each now sensed the winds of fate blow. Change was coming, they could feel it in their bones, and they would either stand above their rival''s shattered corpses or be the footstool to another. Shadows swarmed in the night as blades flashed and magic flared in the dim alleyways of Nolusburg. Citizens, sensitive to the bloodthirsty air that hung over the city, had long barred their doors and shutters, wanting no part of the madness that consumed the streets. Only one girl skipped and danced through the barren roads, oblivious to her surroundings in the wonder that surrounded her and ecstatic daydreams of a better life to be. Her heterochromatic eyes reflected the two sister moons that hung pregnant and heavy in the night sky, and changed. They glowed even as her silver hair flowed behind her like a molten river of mithril in the starlight, as she danced, and danced, and danced... End of Act 1 22 Interlude 2 - Guppy鈥檚 Story time A.D. 4881, A townhouse in Nolusberg Guppy sat curled up in bed, positively vibrating in excitement, she was five and it was her story time. She watched as her mother walked over to the bookshelf and teased her by running her hands over them in seeming indecision. The soft pattering of rain sounded against the window as Guppy waited. "Anyone is good mamwe, just pick one please!" implored Guppy, unable to contain herself any longer. Her mother let out a rich throaty chuckle and finally pulled a slender volume from the shelf, it was a picture book that Guppy knew well, ''The Twelve Divines'' proclaimed the fancy curly writing of the title. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Guppy wriggled over to make room for her mamwe to sit on the side of the bed, which she graciously did. Esmeralda opened the book and set it on her lap, tilting it so Guppy could see the pictures without having to crane her neck. "First of the twelve and god of fire, Tikka the terrible who''s play is dire." Guppy clapped her little hands and giggled at the funny looking illustration of a man with clothes of fire. Esmeralda smiled down at her and turned the page. "Second is Lula, goddess of wind, her nature is fickle and she loves to tickle." A picture of a pretty lady flying freely in the sky made Guppy sigh in wistfulness. The story was briefly interrupted as a tickling war broke out between the two ladies, only after a couple minutes of gasping for air and squirming did Guppy settled down enough to continue. "Third is Narla, goddess of earth, only her heart is greater than her girth." Guppy traced the rotund outline of the brown goddess''s image on the page before turning the page herself, her impatience kicking in. "Fourth is Podos, water is his game, always travelling, yet without an aim" Guppy stared for a while at the handsome man illustrated on the page, Esmeralda had to admit the artist had done quite a decent job, perhaps he was a devotee. She turned the page once more. "Fifth is Hwamu, god of the dark, when the light fades, he makes his mark." Guppy quickly turned the page this time, the creepy dark figure with its wide grin and empty eyes was never a favourite of little children. "Sixth is-" "Selena, goddess of light, there to comfort you, no matter the plight!" interrupted Guppy, clapping her hands in glee at the gorgeous woman on the page. "Now Guppy, all the gods have their roles and responsibilities and are equally important." Esmeralda remonstrated. "I know mamwe. But Selena is the prettiest!" Guppy protested "Hmmm" was all Esmeralda said as she turned the page and continued. "Seventh is Chrolia, goddess of time, robber of those who''re in their prime" Guppy pointed to the magitech clock on the wall and Esmeralda patted her head in acknowledgement, feeling Guppy sit up straighter as she did so, further thrusting her little head into Esmeralda''s palm. "Eighth is Novis, god of space, all of us, live in his place." Esmeralda held back a snort at the lame rhyme, but for a small child it seemed to be entertaining as Guppy nodded her head sagely. "Ninth is Lupo, goddess of weather, no mortal can, attach a tether" Guppy cocked an ear, listening to the rain as it began to fall heavier on their roof. Esmeralda tucked Guppy''s soft hair behind her little ear and stroked her back as they both sat listening to the soothing rain for a few minutes. A sharp crack of lightning sounded, prompting Guppy to jump into Esmeralda''s lap, and to turn to the page. "Tenth is Zarak, lover of Lupo and god of lightning, he''s not found solo" Guppy made a "catuusssshh" sound, her childish imitation of the lightning as Esmeralda turned the page. "Eleventh is Priri, goddess of nature, her growth as inevitable as a glacier Guppy twirled her fingers around the illustrated flowers and plants, enjoying the vibrancy of the colors set in the image and gleefully pointing out the half hidden goddess amongst all the plants. "Twelfth and final is Thorum of Magma, son of Tikka and Narla-" "Mr angry face" interrupted Guppy, caught up in the picture of Thorum bellowing in rage as the earth cracked and burning liquid flew forth. Esmeralda chuckled at the girls interpretation and closed the book. She ignored the little girl''s cries of one more story, tucked her in, gave her a kiss and turned off the magitech light. Waiting outside the door she soon heard the light snoring as Guppy swiftly fell asleep. She walked over and joined her beloved in their bedroom, snuggling up to him in bed and enjoying the sound of the rain pitter pattering down. "How did the story go honey?" he asked "As well as when I read to you dear, always curious and wanting the story to keep going, she''s got so much of you in her you know." She got a grin in return and their embrace deepened... 23 A Moonlight Stroll Act 2 Chapter 21 A Moonlight Stroll "Any fool can sell merchandise on the buyers terms, but the best merchants know how to bring the customers to them on theirs¡­" -Advice given by Zerenoch the Leader of the Frimbly Merchant Guild to her apprentice. 4993 A.D. First Day of the Second week of Autumn. A Half Bell before the Ninth Evening Bell... "SELENA! I have a proposition for you!" Seymour cried out. He had burst into the Grakoan court, cutting off and shoving aside the current petitioner, Seymour made a quick perfunctory bow to the godmother and residential ruler. He was still out of breath from his run here, his face flushed and sweat dripping off his face from his exertions. Seymour looked up in time to see a brief scowl vanish from Selena''s usually placid visage. "To what do I owe the... pleasure of this interruption, I do hope you have a good explanation...Seymour." Selena inquired, her tone frigid in obvious displeasure. "Of course Mistress Selena, but time is off the essence, I need to speak to Him." Seymour used just the right cadence in his tone, one that conveyed layers of meaning to the understanding ear. It was successfully received. Selena''s eyes widened before they narrowed to slits, oh she was not happy, not at all, but if Seymour was going to have any shot at this he had no choice but to go over her head and talk to someone who had the power and resources he required. He would have to pay the piper later, and burn many of his carefully amassed cards to succeed in his ploy, but what choice did he have? Seymour thrust those thoughts away and continued his pitch. It was time to sweeten the deal for her, he knew for sure she wanted him out now, her current reactions and the Grakoan political stirrings over the last month all clicked into place. She must see him as a threat to her control, an unstable element that required purging, yet she could not simply remove him, such an action without due cause would undermine her rule and sow displeasure among the ranks, Seymour was popular after all, he had made sure to be so. ''Too late now mistress, I shall profit yet with this trade.'' Seymour thought. "I freely surrender my standing as lieutenant over the beggar and slick hander factions to show my sincerity in this proposal." He proclaimed. Seymour stood upright, both hearing and feeling his statement cause ripples of unease and uncertainty all around him, yet he kept his eyes locked on Selena, his head half bowed, for only her reaction mattered in this moment. Oh she was taking him seriously now, she wanted to snap at the juicy bait he had thrown out, yet her instincts warned her that it was a trap. Her body language spoke to just how much she wanted to rip the smile right off his pretty little, oh so smug face. It was a trap, but one she could not help but throw herself into. She couldn''t kill him, not without knowing why he was so adamant and how he was connected to Him. Good, at this point she was already dancing in the palm of his hand. "It concerns moving His plans to the next phase." There, now see how she squirmed in her seat, she hadn''t been expecting that. She had no choice now, her prime directive was being challenged. Standing from her lounging sofa Selena rapidly strode towards Seymour, her heels clacking loudly on the cold stone floor. She grasped the front of his tunic and pulled him close, the cloying smell of a powerful perfume assaulted his senses. "How much do you know gutter brat?" she snarled into his ear. Seymour felt the cold prick of a blade against his throat and chose his next words carefully. "Enough to know what He wants, and.. how to get it for him." The blade tensed for a moment, drawing a red line across his throat, before it was withdrawn. "Follow me" Selena said, her face now drawn into an impassive mask. Seymour rubbed his throat, wiping away the streak of blood and followed her past her two hulking brutes to a back room, Selena''s office. There, behind a slightly mildewed tapestry they entered a long dark tunnel, guided only by a small magitech lamp that Selena had snagged from a receptacle and held aloft as they hurried along. They hurried through the tunnel, with Seymour''s impatience rising every minute. Were they going to be too late? How much longer before others started hunting down Guppy? Without her as the core the plan to keep Stalia safe would go up in smoke. Finally, after traveling for what seemed an age they exited through a hatch into a shadowy garden. The pools of darkness that spread everywhere were bred between the twin moons and an assortment of large hedges and trees, each cut into figures of beasts that leaned uncomfortably over any bystander. Seymour did not have time to admire the scene though as Selena urged him onwards with a swift cuff to the head. Crossing the dark expanse of a garden they soon came to a wall covered in long tendrils of ivy, brushing some aside with a gloved hand Selena fumbled for a few seconds before finding a stone that she grasped and twisted. A quiet "poof" sounded as the air between the two atmosphere''s stabilized, then the concealed door silently swung inwards on well-oiled hinges. Selena silently led the way up a narrow stairwell that wound upwards in a tight spiral. Before long they came to another door that Seymour judged must be the fourth and highest level of the towering manor they had entered so surreptitiously. There Selena knocked gently in a rhythmic pattern and waited, shortly a click sounded and she pushed the door forwards and entered the room that lay beyond. Seymour cautiously followed, he was in the belly of the beast now. Elegant carved wooden bookshelves lined the walls of the room, stuffed full of thick volumes of divers titles and topics. Beautiful paintings, and elaborate magitech tools hung in the spaces between the massive shelves, or sat in gilded display cases at points around the room. A massive beast skin rug, hunted no doubt from the northern climbs of Bailash, lay over a luxurious Tabolt carpet before a large dark wood desk, whose surface was altogether clear apart from some neatly laid writing apparatus and an open ledger. Seated behind the desk was a middle aged man, yet he looked in the prime of his life, no grey touched his hair and his well-defined features were handsome and elegant. Muscled, broad shoulders spoke of steady training and discipline, despite what the lavish clothes he wore tried to conceal, he was someone Seymour would clearly classify as a predator. Observing the environment and man Seymour smirked briefly and made minor alterations to his pitch and plan. ''Good, his all round overcompensation screams his greed for what he yet lacks, I got this.'' ...............¡­. Avarice''s Descent, Inner Sanctum¡­ Guppy was escorted by the attendant into a luxurious office filled with creature comforts such as a crackling fireplace, and comfortable chairs before it. At a small but elaborately carved desk sat the auctioneer Lyle writing a letter on a piece of parchment. As Guppy entered, he looked up and gestured to a seat in front of his table. "Please sit miss Bright." His smooth and reassuring tone had her seated before she was aware of moving. The doors gently closed behind her as the attendant left. "Please help yourself miss Bright, sweet things are good for the nerves are they not?" Lyle gestured towards a tray of goodies that lay upon his desk. Guppy snagged a couple of small custard pastries with cute little animal icing decorations on top and delightfully devoured them, her actions drawing a bemused smile from the elderly man. She was about to reach for some more when she realised just who she was in front of. Guppy resisted the urge to sink into the chair''s plush cushioning as she blushed and instead sat upright, trying to remember the manners her mother had taught her all those years ago. "You wished to see me Sir Luther?" She enquired curiously. "Yes, indeed I did, I wished to recommend a couple of our services to you. First, I advise you open a bank account with us, into which we can deposit your money, thirty-three thousand odd gold royals is not easily nor safely carried around after all." Guppy nodded her consent, at which Lyle opened a drawer and pulled out a black crystalline card that had hundreds of tiny silver circuits engraved upon it. "Please drip a drop of your blood here." requested Lyle as he indicated a circular groove in the center and held out a pin in his other hand. Guppy accepted the card but not the pin, she already knew that the steel pin would snap if she tried to poke herself, at least the one this morning had, and she would rather avoid having to explain that. Instead she bit her thumb to draw a drop of blood, this action drew a raised brow but thankfully no comment from the gentleman in front of her. When her deep red blood hit the card it was quickly absorbed. "Splendid, now please hand it to me for a moment." Lyle asked as he extended a white gloved hand. Guppy obediently handed the simmering card back. Lyle then proceeded to insert the card into a largish black box that sat to the side of his table, he adjusted the dial on top until it read thirty-two thousand two hundred and held a green knob on the left while channeling his mana through it into the box. The card flashed for a moment then dimmed again. Lyle retrieved the card and handed it back to Guppy along with a small, but weighty velvet pouch. "This card has been linked to both you and a private bank account, I have deposited the amount owing for your lots'' sale into it, less the one hundred gold royals in the pouch, the auction houses handling fee and the cost of your winning bid." "You may visit any Avarice or affiliated bank in the seven Kingdoms and withdraw money within the account as you see fit." "Furthermore, the card is useless to anyone but yourself and your unique magic wavelength. Only you can withdraw from the account by channeling your mana into it. Do you have any questions miss Bright?" Guppy shook her head to show she understood and had none. "The second order of business is to offer you a room here for the night." Lyle glanced at the clock which showed just a few minutes to the tenth night bell. "The auction by necessity does drag on quite late, although the excitement and bright lights we employ do not make it seem so. It is nonetheless rather late for a young lady such as yourself to be out on the streets in safety." Guppy saw the time shown by the wall-clock and jumped right out of her chair in fright, quickly realizing her reaction could come off as rude she curtseyed and said. "Begging your pardon good sir but my family was expecting me back a while ago, I''d not worry them any further and must be on my way home." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. When Lyle heard this he sighed and pulled a velvet rope, the double doors opened and his calgaree secretary came in, her liviered butler outfit bespoke that of a seasoned servant, neatly pressed and worn. "Please show Miss Bright to the door Anastasia, and make sure she receives her bidded item. That will be all." Anastasia performed a half bow and silently motioned for Guppy to follow her. Guppy curtseyed once more before following Anastasia. She turned as she reached the doors, catching one final glimpse of Lyle as he pulled out a new piece of parchment and began writing upon it. Guppy then quickened her steps to keep up with Anastasia, the calgaree lady was middle aged, her whiskers and muzzle trimmed with white, yet her steps were full of purpose and confidence and she moved with a deceptively fast pace. It was not long before Guppy had received a sealed box and was ushered to the exit, the door closing firmly behind her. Once more she trod upon the cobblestones of the road. "Well that went better than I thought." Guppy remarked to herself. Hanging the bank card on a leather cord around her neck she tucked it into her bosom and out of sight. "I''m really rich now aren''t I?" She kicked herself, once more making sure that she wasn''t dreaming, the last few hours had been so magical she struggled to tell whether it had been a dream or reality. Guppy raised the box containing the golden egg she had purchased, wanting to once more admire her purchase. She pried open the lid, easily pulling the nails from the wood in her eagerness. There, nestled in straw and balicog wool sat the beautiful egg she had successfully bidded for. Guppy picked it up and held it to the light of the twin moons, their bright beams caressed the egg, causing the multicoloured striations of the shell to catch and reflect as she moved it around. It was not a large egg, measuring just slightly bigger than her fist, and it felt cool, yet slightly metallic in its smooth hardness. "Ouch!" Guppy almost dropped the egg. ''Did it just prick me?'' she thought incredulously. Yet there was blood welling briefly from her palm from three narrow slices, smearing onto the base of the egg she held. Guppy blinked, the blood was gone, as was her wounds, no trace of either except a momentary image in her mind. She chalked it up to another little piece of weirdness that happened around her that defied explanation, she was getting awfully comfortable with them she noticed, accepting in stride things that before would have previously freaked her out. Guppy tucked the egg into her bosom as well before gazing upwards. The sister moons shone down around her as she stood alone in the middle of the plaza, their rays felt invigorating, giddy even. She felt, relaxed, and excited both, her blood fizzing in her veins. Guppy giggled and began to skip and dance her way down the moon lit street, enjoying for once the prospect of tomorrow. Who would think it would be a concept she looked forward to after so many years of toil and trouble. Her hair flowed as she bounced and twirled, its own silver gaining subtle magenta highlights from the twin sister moon''s pale red and blue rays that were reflected and melded together therein. .........¡­. Avarice''s Descent, Inner Sanctum¡­ Anastasia entered her master''s inner sanctum once more, coming to a stop behind a large chair that was drawn up close to the fireplace. "You did not warn her?" She queried. She was answered by a tired voice tinged with sadness. "No, it''s not our place to dictate what happens, you know that. We all have our orders from the Master, and at the moment they are to not interfere." A silence settled for a few minutes before the next utterance sprung from his mouth, "She looks so different now does she not? A great pity..." His words trailed off, devoured by the crackling of the flames. A hand was then raised, appearing to the side of the chair, holding a sealed letter. "See to its delivery, the usual place." Anastasia accepted the letter and glided on soft paws to the door. "Good night Master Luther." She uttered, before softly closing the doors. The light in that room stayed on late that night, as an old man mused of possibilities and things past, present, and yet to come. 24 A Moonlight Stroll 2 A Moonlight Stroll 2 Where blade meets flesh, and blood does flow With senseless greed, they''ll death bestow -prophecy of the duskbringer 4993 A.D. First Day of the Second week of Autumn. A Half Bell after the Ninth Evening Bell... Selena bowed to the seated man, "Milord, pardon me for interrupting, this one claims to have knowledge of your plans and how he can greatly assist you in them, he has served me to date as one of my lieutenants." Hearing this the man closed the ledger and pushed it to one side, he must have activated some kind of magitech device below the table for Seymour heard a click and all sound from outside the room, faint as it already was, abruptly cut off. The man then turned to Seymour and in a beautifully cultured voice uttered, "You have my attention, do tell me what causes you to have such...confidence." To be honest, Seymour didn''t know many concrete details of this man''s plans, but he had tracked Selena''s movements, actions and orders over the past few years, then matched it with what he heard of events in the noble circle. It had taken a few months to gather the hints and years to confirm but he noticed a startling correlation. Every time Selena made a move one noble house benefited, not always obviously or even directly, indeed often one of their subordinate households would be the primary beneficiary, but Seymour was well aware that there were many more types of currency than mere coinage. With each maneuver this noble glutted himself with influence, wealth and power, each success a step that brought the man to further heights. In many ways he was Seymour''s role model, and while he was currently one of the most prominent individuals in the kingdom, he too had started as an unwanted child, a bastard son. So while Seymour had to be careful, he was sure his plan would be successful, all his previous intelligence gathering and planning was not for naught, his bluff game was strong and based on truth. Emboldened by this knowledge he bowed deeply and opened his mouth. "Milord, thank you for taking the time to speak with this lowly one, I have only heard rumours of your power and wealth, yet even they fall far short of your magnificence." Seymour observed the noble carefully to see the effect of his words. ''Good, his ego is now stoked, nobles always love to be flattered, inflating their sense of self worth never fails, all that practice is paying off.'' Seymour continued his address, pressing his advantage. "I know from your personal background and mistress Selena''s dealings that you seek even greater wealth, and need it urgently to continue expanding your power and prestige. I have news that can help you with this, a young lady by the name of Gupalagia Bright has discovered the alchemic formula to transform lead into gold. In her and her sisters foolishness this fact has become widely known barely one bell ago, I have intel that she attended the weekly auction held by Avarice''s Descent tonight and should be preparing to make her way back home as we speak. I propose to you that we abduct her and control this lucrative new source of income, I have already secured the siblings of miss Bright so we may use them for leverage, all I ask for in return is to be given the honor of becoming your direct subordinate and be placed in charge of this operation." Seymour stopped, his pitch done, now the usual short wait while the noble calculated potential profits, it shouldn''t take long. He cautiously peered up at the noble from the corner of his eye while keeping his head low in deference. The handsome noble was smiling, a bright greedy smile, Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. ''Success'' thought Seymour as he relaxed slightly, ''Now I just need to¡­'' He caught a flicker of the man''s eyes and felt the air move behind him, he twisted his body to the side out of reflex. "Guuuhh" Seymore groaned as he felt a blade pierce him from behind, it''s cold sharpness spreading burning pain throughout him. He had avoided being stabbed in the heart, but it was still a ruinous injury, and no doubt by a poisoned blade. "Why?" he asked the noble, his plan should have been reasonable, any greedy noble would have snatched it up. Seymour looked at the noble directly, the previous greedy look had disappeared and had been replaced by a cold calculating gaze, the depths of the man''s eyes swirled with a mad hunger previously disguised. Seymour recognised that look, he had seen it in the mirror on some of his worst days. ''Ahhhh'' he realized as his vision dimmed ''I never had a chance.'' "Selena, please move this young man before he bleeds all over my carpet" The noble requested, his entire demeanour had changed, no longer seeming like a cliche greedy noble. No he sought far more than just wealth, and for far different reasons than most, those factors had carved and shaped him, stripping away any mercy or pity for those he saw as obstacles. The noble waited and watched as the light of this realization arose in the young man''s eyes, and he drew pleasure from once again having removed a potential rival. Selena sheathed her dagger and shoved Seymour to the side, a bit too enthusiastically it seemed, the boy had tried to escape in that direction at the same time and the extra momentum propelled him into one of the nearby display cases, breaking the glass before he slumped over it. This elicited a sigh from the noble as he held a hand to his face. "That was a priceless artifact recovered from a ruin of the first age Selena, do try to be more careful won''t you." The noble rose and walked over to the body as Selena knelt and hastily spouted her apologies, he flipped it off the stand with ease, letting it slump to the ground. Examining the case the noble noted that there was blood smeared all over it, yet the doll of a furry beast with long ears was unblemished, he removed it to prevent any of the dripping blood from potentially marring it and brought it over to his desk where he placed it in the bottom most drawer. "Milord, why did you have me kill him?" Selena asked curiously The noble paused, perhaps considering whether he would even answer, before finally opening his mouth. "Why? It was a simple enough reason, he was motivated not by greed or a desire for prominence, the hunger was strong in him, I could see it. Yet if that were all it would be simple to control and use him, but no, he was motivated by love, the poor fool. Far too unstable a thing for us to reliably hold over him, so I had you remove him before it became a problem, as it inevitably would my dear." The noble smiled an icey smile as he spoke. "Now is what he said true?" Selena replied hastily "I believe it is milord, we received a payment yesterday from this same lady, pure gold in the form of odd scraps of metal. It drew my attention, but I was more focused on.." "Enough," The noble cut Selena''s excuses off. "This fool''s proposition had some worth, we will use her siblings to encourage this girl..miss Bright, to work for us, I can use the gold she produces in a number of ways for my plans. See to it we recover her first and store her in the prison under warehouse eleven for now, until we can arrange a more permanent location for her work, now leave me, I have much to arrange." Selena bowed before hoisting Seymour''s lifeless body over a shoulder and retreating out the secret door, closing it softly behind her. The nobleman briefly admired that she could perform all that in a dress and heels before he sat back down and started plotting. ....... Jacques and Hadoom hurried down the main street, they had stopped briefly to purge their bodies somewhat of the voluminous amounts of liquor they had ingested over the last few hours. Their footsteps now faster and firmer they made their way through the twisting roads towards the famous golden auction house. While their passage was uninterrupted on their way there, they knew the same could not be said of their journey back. "Where''re we going to take her lad?" Hadoom puffed. Jacques pondered and spoke as they ran. "I doubt either of our houses will be safe, as much as I hate to say it, I think it might be best to take her to Sladlow. The man''s a snake, but he is also very aware of any political repercussions for his actions. This will quickly become a high profile case, he won''t be able to afford to do anything less that what his duty dictates with all eyes on him. A one-way ticket for miss Bright to the royal guards will be his greatest desire as soon as we deliver her to him." "Sounds good pointy ears, now let''s make it happen!" Hadoom said as they rounded the corner and came into sight of their destination. At the end of the street lay Avarice''s Descent, lit up by hundreds of magitech lights. Its extravagance rivaled even the palaces'', and a crowd of merrymakers was slowly leaving, the nightly auction must have barely finished. "Hadoom, you take the left side of the street, I''ll cover the right, lets see if we can pick her out as she leaves!" Jacques cried out as he bolted up some steps, picking an elevated vantage point. Hadoom grunted his assent and gruffly shoved people aside as he moved, earning many a look of ire in his wake. Between them they combed the leaving crowd, peering at faces and ''accidentally'' pulling off hoods as they bumped into people. And yet they couldn''t find their quarry, no sign of Guppy could be seen even as the crowd gradually thinned. "Hwamu''s shadow, where is the lass?" Hadoom cried in frustration, the ninth bell had come and gone a while ago. Barring themselves the plaza was now desolate. "Hadoom, do you hear that?" asked Jacques. "No boy, I don''t, the whole street''s a blasted graveyard!" Hadoom retorted "Exactly, it''s far too quiet for this time of night in the pleasure district." Jacques observed, even as he pulled out his steel knuckle dusters and looked around. They stood in the centre of the auction house''s front porch, a cobbled plaza made popular by its many branching connections to the neighbouring roads. The sister moons were still rising as the ninth half bell rung, the light they cast beamed down in the open round, but cast all else in shadow. And out of those shadows slowly appeared figures and groups. Jacques spotted meat handers from the Grakoan mafia on his right, pulling out a wicked assortment of blades. In front black-robed figures pulled up their sleeves, tattooed hands aglow with mana of spells half cast, the runed circles springing into existence at their fingertips. To his left hulking figures clanked and hissed as they moved, the sounds betraying the mechanical augmentations they hid under their massive trench coats. On the rooftops stealthy figures popped up, wielding an assortment of crossbows, long and short bows and throwing knives, all engraved with magitech circuits. And yet this was not all, many other small groups were watching from even further away, watching, and waiting in shadowy alcoves Jacques processed this all in mere seconds, his heart ramped up its pace as he did so, feeling like it would burst from his chest as it beat, he depressed catches on his knuckle-dusters, allowing a narrow five-inch blade to slide out the bottom of each. He heard Hadoom retrieve two magitech pistols and flick the charge switch, arming them for use with a small hum. They stood guarding each other''s backs, frozen in the tension that enveloped all parties. In the silence that ensued no one moved. Each party eyed the others, probing for weaknesses, only the hiss and hum of tools and weapons at the ready populated their ears. "Good to have known ye lad." Hadoom whispered, "It''s been a heck of a ride." "Don''t go killing us off already you old codger, I mean us to see tomorrow." Jacques replied grimly as he tightened his grip on his weapons. 25 A Moonlight Stroll 3 A whirr of gears, a raucous bellow, Run quickly now, they''re sure to follow. -prophecy of the duskbringer Creeaak, tensioned bows sounded. Shhiiiinng, blades were drawn. Brum-brum-brum-riiippppppp, tech priests shredded their trench cloaks as their exoskeleton machines unfolded and expanded, transforming them into hulking brutes that gleamed in the moonlight. Vrrrrrssshhhh, mana flowed through the circuits on mages arm''s and tools, charging their magic for its imminent release. Hundreds of individuals prepared to deal death to any that opposed them. The tension in the plaza was palpable, Jacques could feel sweat trickling down his arms and legs as his heart thumped in his ears and his muscles strained for release, for movement, for his inevitable death. Yet it was postponed. A figure appeared before them all in the center of the gathered parties, it''s glow betraying its origin as a mere projection, yet even then it gave off an air so intimidating that one would be hard pressed to ignore it''s presence. The figure looked around, calmly viewing the gathered groups in the plaza. It was none other than the master of the golden auction hall, Lyle Larrow Luther. "I see I have some uninvited guests have gathered here this fine evening, allow me to reaffirm my position on any who act impolitely on my front porch." the projection warned, its voice cold as winter ice. The figure of Lyle twisted his cane and thumped it on the ground. For a second nothing happened, then a whirring of gears and slamming of hatches and clamps resounded as five magitech cannons appeared on the high walls of Avarice''s Descent and aimed down at the occupants of the plaza. A deep grrrrroooaammm sounded as each was charged up, the mana circuits within them glowing brightly vermillion in the night air. The collective parties froze, if those fired then none of them would make it out alive. Hastily reevaluating their options and priorities each party retreated into the shadows, their struggle would have to continue elsewhere it seems. When Jacques and Hadoom were the last remaining occupants of the plaza the cannons had aimed in their direction, causing them to swiftly dart into one of the many adjoining alleys, yet they were grateful for the interruption, at least with each group scattered and the fights moving to the tight alleys their duo stood more of a chance of making it out of this alive. The fighting broke out almost immediately within the shadows all across the district, grunts, groans and clangs competing with flares of magic for a listener''s ear. Jacques slammed a left jab into the face of a Grakoan meat hander, smashing his nose and knocking him back. Lunging forward he slit his throat with his right blade before slamming both blades into the man''s shoulders and shifting the body to his right. Thunk, Thump, Thunk. Three arrows sunk into Jacques''s improvised shield. "Hadoom, take out the archers before we both become leaky buckets!" Jacques cried. "On it boyo." Hadoom answered as he blasted another meat hander in the kneecap, disabling him and making it easy for Jacques to finish him off. He then turned his sights to the rooftop archers and began picking them off one by one in blasts of surprising accuracy. After a few got taken down the others grew wise and dropped down to find cover from the barrage of bullets. "Auto loading clips" Hadoom smirked as he replaced the clip in each pistol, "Best damn investment I ever made." "Keep up Hadoom, with some luck we might make it out of this yet." Jacques encouraged. Crrrunnncchhssshhh. A bloody splatter sounded ahead of them. Then with a hissing of steam and whirring of gears a hulking figure rounded the corner. It shook off the limp body that was impaled on its brass arm as it turned and acknowledged the presence of the duo. "I don''t suppose you have a bigger gun in that bag of yours?" Jacques queried anxiously. "Thought you''d never ask!" Hadoom replied with a wicked grin on his face. He pulled out a magitech shoulder cannon from his bag, briefly aimed, and depressed the firing switch. With a wooommmppph and a boooooghrrrm the charging metallic giant ate an explosive shell and was lifted up and thrown backwards through the wall by the explosion. "Why didn''t you use that earlier?" Jacques asked curiously. "Only got one shot in it, the crystals to charge this baby cost a small fortune lad. And just buying it cost me three years of saving, I call it ''The Litigator''." informed Hadoom Jacques frowned as they kept moving, "That''s not a very scary name old man, were you drunk when you named it?" Jacques dodged a thrown knife and feinted with a slash to the face of his assailant with his right arm, when the black robed attacker raised their buckler to defend he spun left and slid a smooth stab into their exposed armpit with his left blade before slipping it out and moving on. The man dropped to the ground like a sack of discarded vegetables Hadoom snorted "If you knew any dwarf lawyers then the very mention of the name would send the gibblies down yer spine, they''re a nasty lot on a good day and far worse on one that''s less so." Hadoom made sure to plant a bullet between the eyes of the downed assailant on his way past. "And quit leaving them half alive, I ain''t got unlimited bullets or crystals you know." He complained. After a few more similarly short and sharp encounters the duo finally exited the maze of alleys and entered a large square. ...¡­ Plaza outside Avarice''s Descent, Night¡­ Guppy twirled and danced, she flung off her shoes and long socks, the cool cobblestones feeling wonderful on her bare feet, her silver dragon tattoo thrummed with every step, matching beat with the movement of her feet. It glowed, brightly enough to show even through the thick clothes she had worn to conceal it. It seemed to writhe and dance with her as she moved, curling and twisting through the night air. Eventually Guppy slowed to a stop, and let out a steam filled breath into the chilly air. Two vertically slitted golden orbs gleamed as she opened her eyes, illuminated in the night with an unreal glow. When Guppy opened her eyes the world looked different to her, flows of multi colored light glowed and danced in the night air, bright concentrations shone even through walls, even colors of things were¡­ different, not quite normal, and distances were sharper and more defined. Guppy felt a gaze upon her, disturbing her entrancement with the flows of light, she turned her gaze to find the watcher. Before her eyes, calmly sitting in front of her in the exact centre of the plaza sat a mako. But what drew her attention was an ethereal image shining behind said mako. "Mamwe!?" Guppy cried out in a broken voice as she stretched forth her hand. A blink, and the image disappeared as if it was never there. The world returned to its normal nightly hues once more, no longer displaying it''s symphony of lights. The mako rose and turned while flicking its tail to and fro, walking into a nearby alley it too flickered and disappeared. Guppy stood there frozen in shock, her hand outstretched for another moment before her senses returned, and oh did they have a story to tell. A strong iron smell reached her, cloying in its intensity. The ring of metal and cries of the dying sounded from the alleyways all around her, bearing witness to the intensity of the fighting therein. Guppy then did what any sensible person would do, she ignored the dying groans and suspicious blasts and booms and hightailed it down the main street on the shortest route home. Yet Guppy had only taken a score of paces before she perceived an individual strolling in her direction, there strode a woman in a red cloak, making her way unhurriedly towards her. ''Run, Escape now, RUN!'' screamed Guppy''s senses when she saw and smelled the red clad figure. The blood of countless souls hung upon her, old and new alike in a haze of stomach curdling mist. ''Nope, nope, nope, fudge knuckles that. woman. is. insane.'' Without further hesitation Guppy darted to her left and plunged into the nearest alleyway. She immediately tripped over a body concealed in the shadows, Guppy snapped out a hand, pushing off the wall and flipping with a mid air twist. She landed on her feet in a puddle and looked down. There lay a man clad in dark robes in a large pool of his own blood, one she was standing in. A dagger sunk in his chest and tattooed mana circuits on his hands still glowed faintly with trace mana from a spell cast not long ago. Not three paces away stood a meat hander, at least what once was one, a charcoaled figure pasted on the wall was all that remained. Guppy threw up both noisily and messily. The clicking of heels on cobblestones abruptly brought her senses back to her immediate plight, that thing was coming, it was close, toying with her, slowly walking closer when a run would have caught her. Guppy rose and ran deeper into the alley. More bodies lay along the alleyway but Guppy refused to notice, forcing the strong smells out of her mind and just kept running, barely registering the mocking laughter that followed her as she fled. She slipped a few times as she ran, staining her clothes in pools of blood and things best left unmentioned, but she didn''t care enough to notice, every effort focussed on putting as much distance between herself and that terrible female. So why? Why was she moving so slowly and clumsily? She was far faster than this. Guppy''s limbs seemed to betray her commands, their strength failing as if, Guppy stopped, although not of her own will. Casting her senses inwards she felt her own blood pulling at her, throwing off her movements and leadening her limbs. Guppy clumsily pulled out the tier one barrier pendant she carried and hastily activated it. It helped, while not nullifying it entirely the pull was lessened significantly, the shield interfering with whatever magic that witch was casting on her. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Guppy started running again. As Guppy ran she could hear the clash of metal clearly now, accompanied with the wooosh of arrows and vrooom and dom dom brrooom of magical explosions. Ordinarily she would be hightailing it in the opposite direction, now Guppy could only hope that whatever melee was going on would be enough to shake that monstrosity off her trail. So against her better judgement she ran towards the noises that promised quick and casual death to any within range. After a few twists and turns and avoiding of bodies large and small Guppy exited the alley way into slavers square, right in time to catch a flying body to the face. She dodged it, her back and legs bending backwards to lower her upper body, followed by a backflip on her hands, allowing her to land back into the alley''s shadow and avoid the meaty missile. Guppy then peered out, rather more cautiously this time. A small war was going on in the open square, flashes of lightning and magical fire and ice briefly illuminated the night, revealing the scene of chaotic carnage as dozens of individuals attempted to reap the lives of their foes. Guppy bent low and attempted to scurry around the melee while keeping to the shadows of buildings that lay on the edge of the square. Unfortunately stealth was not her strong suit, in the light of a giant flare she was spotted and a voice cried out. "It''s her! over by the stocks! Grab her quickly!" Guppy froze like a balicog hit by a bright light, not understanding why all of a sudden, several groups of rather scary looking individuals all charged at her while continuing their private little war as they approached. After a second her instincts kicked back in and she fled into the closest alleyway, colliding right into someone as she entered, knocking them to the ground in the collision and spinning her left until she hit a wall with her back. Guppy felt a buzz of magic as she saw an earthen wall covered the entry she had passed but a moment ago. "That won''t hold them for long lass, we need to leave before they get through." Guppy heard a familiar voice from the shadows as she turned and made out a very tired looking and bloodied dwarf. Guppy blinked in recognition before reaching out her hand. "Sergeant Hadoom are you alright?" Hadoom slapped it away irritably. "I''m fine lass, don''t be fussin now, just a wee bit weary." "I''m also fine by the way, thanks for asking." Guppy made out Sergeant Woodsinger getting up from the ground where she had ricocheted him a moment ago. "We really need to stop meeting like this miss Bright." He wryly added. A loud thuuumpp hit the wall and several large cracks spread out. "Enough dawdling! Run you fools!" shouted Hadoom as he motored past them. Guppy and Jacques glanced at each other and rapidly followed the fleeing dwarf, the sound of the wall collapsing behind them only spurred them to run faster. 26 A Moonlight Stroll 4 Men''s hot iron shall be squandered, While through dark alleys they''ve a wandered. -Prophecy of the duskbringer Onwards the trio of human, dwarf and half-elf ran, randomly twisting and turning through the narrow streets and alleys until the sounds of pursuit behind them faded away. Finally as the first morning bell began to ring they stopped. Hadoom collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion, his limbs splayed out in all directions. "Need, to take, a breather, to let, the young lass, catch, her breath." Hadoom panted as his chest heaved in its desperate struggle to draw in oxygen. Jacques, tired and sweaty himself, compared their appearances with that of Guppy''s, she was in far better condition than they, while she looked a bit tired, with a glimpse of sweat on her brow and her hair a little frazzled and windswept, she hardly looked as if she had been running for her life for the last few hours. ''Never thought I would be outpaced by a civilian, there''s a first time for everything I guess.'' Jacques wryly thought. Jacques shook the encroaching sleep from his head and structured his priorities. Giving himself a once over he quickly pulled out some bandages and ointment from a waist pouch and tended to some nasty looking cuts he had received, thankfully the cuts had clotted quickly and he had not lost too much blood. While his constitution was rather good thanks to his mixed heritage, taking chances by not disinfecting and wrapping them was never a wise option. Some of his opponents had been rather skilled it appears, it had been a long time since he was injured this badly. Once his wounds were bound he checked on the young lady. "Are you hurt miss Bright? I have some small skill as a field medic if you are." He inquired. "No, I am quite alright Sergeant Woodsinger, none of this blood is mine." replied Guppy even as she thought, ''Almost wish I was¡­focus Guppy, now is not the time nor the place for frivolity.'' Jacques nodded politely as he received her all clear and went to check on Hadoom, who grudgingly rose and allowed Jacques to assist with binding up his wounds. "Gonna get some lovely scars from these." The dwarf chuckled darkly. Once Jacques finished with Hadoom he ran over priorities once more and decided on the next course of action, having done this he turned back to Gupalagia. "We need to get you to safety miss Bright, half the city seems to be looking for you after hearing about your golden touch." He watched her back up, suddenly cautious about their possibly less than altruistic motives. "H-H-How do you know about that?" She stuttered. Jacques thought about how he should get her to trust him, probably not the best time to mention that neither he nor his partner were actually law officers anymore, yet he hated to pretend to be someone he was not¡­ Guppy swallowed and lightly blushed, she was successfully distracted as she stared at the handsome brooding face of the elvish officer illuminated in the moonlight, she read no malice in his eyes, only concern as he gazed at her, this among other things, helped to lower her guard towards them, as she completely misinterpreted his current dilemma. "Yer sister got herself drunk as a sailor and blabbed all about how you could turn lead into gold at the Five Legged Murgoat." Hadoom informed her bluntly. "And you better either trust us, or try your luck on the streets by yerself. I''m to old for this s¡­" Jacques clapped a hand over the dwarf''s mouth to shut him up before he made the situation any worse, what they needed now was for her to trust in their professionalism after all. "What my partner means to say is that we heard your life was in peril and felt compelled to uphold the King''s peace." Hadoom knocked Jacques hand away. "That''s right lass, that''s what we''ve been doin'' all evening, keeping the peace." He sniggered with a wicked looking grin, but it turned into a grimace as his recently acquired injuries flared with pain. "Accch moon that stings just a wee bit" He exclaimed through gritted teeth. Guppy relaxed, they had saved her after all, and her gut feeling was telling her they meant well, even if they were a really weird couple of Canners. All of a sudden her arms broke out in goosebumps, looking at them she saw all of her arm hairs rising as one. Then she felt the hairs on the back of her neck following suit. Her instincts prompted her to look up. She did. About thirty meters away, floating in the air on a roiling disc of what appeared to be a dark liquid was the red clad woman, except now her cloak was half white. "Found ~ you ~" she laughed, her musical voice mellow and rich. Yet that beautiful tone sounded worse than a demons cackle to the trio. Hadoom whipped out his pistols and opened fire on the woman, but she ignored the bullets as they pinged and zinged off her glowing mana shield, the impacts glowing blue for a brief moment before fading. The red clad woman choose to descend contemptuously slowly into the alleyway in front of them, mocking their efforts at subduing her. But unlike her Jacques wasted no time and began muttering an aria under his breath even as he raised his twin bladed knuckle dusters flat bladed to thir foe. "Oh great lightning that lays waste to all before it, become my weapon and pierce mine enemies." He let the mana flow into the constructed magic circle hidden from their enemy on the backs of his hands, and as the magic activated it produced a spear shaped cracking length of lightning above his head. "Sunder thy target, lightning spear!" The beam shot forward even as the woman muttered herself and threw up a shield of crystallized blood, not trusting her magitech mana shield to withstand the brunt of the attack. Boooooomm! Fissssssccch! Piiiiiiiiiiiiiii... The impact rocked everyone''s eardrums and left them ringing. When Guppy''s ears recovered a couple seconds later she made out what the half-elf officer was yelling at her. "Run Gupalagia! We will ¡­. get to the precinct and the ¡­..ep you safe!" Guppy nodded in acknowledgement, she might be able to beat the stuffing out of a couple meat handers, but a magic battle was something she wanted no part of, nor had any place in. Guppy twisted around and took off as fast as her legs could take her. She almost made it to the next alleyway, almost. Instead she got precisely thirty paces and was about to duck into the side street before she heard the shattering of her magitech barrier and was lifted off the ground, losing both traction and motion. Her blood was doing funny things inside her, and boy did it hurt. She was agonisingly slowly turned around midair, and a beautiful figure gradually entering her vision, the woman''s dress was a bit scorched at the front and sported a few tears here and there, revealing in part the numerous red magic circuits tattooed on her body, glowing in the dark with the vermillion mana that flowed through the inscribed conduits. Behind the woman lay two crumpled heaps, lying motionless face down on the ground. Guppy struggled in mid air, but whatever the witch in front of her was doing, it all but paralysed her as she drifted towards that broad, oh so scary smile. "Don''t fight it little girl, doing so will only make this even more painful for you." Guppy came to a stop pressed against the wall, a few inches off the ground, the woman approached and carefully examined her. "You''re a looker, that''s good, I had a feeling you might be when I saw your sister, although your looks are a tad more...exotic, perhaps you had different parents? Regardless, hold still and stop twitching, I am going to release you now, but if you squirm at all for this next part the backlash will kill you in an instant." Guppy saw no lie in the woman''s eyes, only a sharp, calculating emptiness that belied the wide grin planted on her face. Guppy stopped fighting, it hadn''t been succeeding anyway, best to wait for a better opportunity. The woman reached out with a red crystal dagger and vertically slit the front of Guppy''s clothes. She then reached to her waist and removed a small spherical vial. Unstopping it she dipped a slender finger in and began to draw a magic circle over Guppy''s heart. The early morning air was frigid but the witches finger burned on Guppy''s skin wherever it passed, gradually forming a complicated magic array with the dark liquid she was using as paint, each line thinning and staining Guppy''s skin as it was applied. "What are you doing to me?" Guppy asked, straining to speak as she wrestled for air without moving. "Something fun," the beautiful woman replied. "You see, I dearly wish the royal family dead, they owe me a blood debt I mean to collect. Except, I have many obstacles to my wish, they have all those many many knights and mages protecting them. Which makes the whole affair of slitting their lovely little necks rather troublesome, even for someone as talented as I." The woman''s fingers moved slower now, with smaller and smaller motions as she began the detailed runic inscriptions within the magic seal. "That''s where you come in little girl, this big ruckus will see you before them sooner or later, and when they see you, well, I doubt they''ll kill such a beautiful, innocent maiden. So they will keep you around, one way or another, because letting you go unmonitored will be ~far~ too great a risk to take. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. So you will be in a unique position to have ample opportunities to aid me in my desire." She paused for a moment and looked at Guppy directly, the madness burning in her eyes sent shivers down Guppy''s spine and limbs. They were a mire of rage and hatred that sucked Guppy in and threatened to drown her in their depths. Guppy turned her head away, breaking their eye contact. The witch smiled at this, leaning closer and bringing her lips to Guppy''s ear. In a whisper she continued. "And you, you will help me kill them. Do this and I will free you of this curse. Fail, and this curse I am leaving you will rupture your heart and drain every drop of blood in your body, and you will shriek through every. agonising. moment. of it." Guppy felt her body go cold, her breath catching without any effort on her part as the sheer bloodlust in the womans'' voice deadened her limbs. The woman leaned back and continued drawing in silence until she finished and once more spoke to Guppy. "Now unless you wish to become a corpse, I suggest you hold very, very still for this next part." Guppy needed no further encouragement, she kept as stiff as possible. The witch placed both her hands over the magic circle and began pouring her mana in. The array began glowing a brilliant vermillion and gradually shrunk until it disappeared from Guppy''s chest. However Guppy knew it was still there for she felt a burning heat enter her chest and encircle her heart, branding it. Her heart stopped¡­ Seconds or minutes later she drew a shuddering breath as it thudded into motion again "Whoops almost lost you there, still need to refine the application process a little I guess." The witch commented casually, as if she was merely discussing the passing weather, not Guppy''s death and resuscitation. Guppy regained her vision after a moment and sat up while coughing and continuing to suck in lungfuls of the cold morning air. The witch patted her cheek in a familiar manner and stood back up. "Some of my best work if I say so myself, now let''s start off simple. My first command is that you have one year to kill an individual of royal blood, aren''t I generous? I don''t really care how you do it, poison, blades, magic, anything goes, but you get bonus points for making it as gruesome and painful as possible. Who knows, if you do a good job I might even help you escape the aftermath." The mad female pursed her lips and tapped them with a slender finger after her monologue, seemingly trying to remember something. Guppy could hear hurried footsteps gradually approaching, the slapping of shoes on cobblestones growing louder quickly. A group of disreputable looking meat handers rounded the corner, when they saw Guppy their eyes gleamed. "Here she is, the girl''s still breathing, Boss Selena will be pleased. Oi Kip, grab hgggggghhh." Whatever else the leader was going to say was cut off as a whip curled around his neck and tightened. "Hi boys, I think you are overlooking that she currently belongs to me." the red witch called out. "Of course I don''t mind handing her over, but your boss will owe me a favor in return." "How about we just take her and leave your pretty little corpse in the gutter." propositioned a man who seemed to be the vice leader of the ten man squad. The red witch stretched a smile so feral it would send the mangiest suk scampering for cover. Her gleaming teeth created a stark contrast to the shadows of her hood. "You are most welcome to try." She challenged With a pulse of mana thin spears shot up from the ground, stopping just centimeters from each of their throats. A round of swearing erupted from the group as they all discovered their close encounter with increased ventilation, the only exception was the leader who was gasping for breath after being released. "Deal." he gasped, realizing they had little choice but to agree with this insane magic caster. The red witch smiled before turning back to a slumped Guppy who still lay against the wall. "Bye sweetie, as much as I enjoyed our time together I must be off, all this work has made me rather peckish, take care now, I''ll see you around!" The witch waved elegantly and turned to leave. Guppy wearily watched the demon in human skin form another of those roiling platforms, bleeding her cloak of the last of its color to do so. She then hopped on and disappeared over a rooftop into the night. Guppy didn''t care much at this point, her heart felt like it was on fire, and her vision kept blurring as she lay against the alleyway wall. The last thing she heard before she fell off the precipice of consciousness was: "Bloody mages, wish I could shiv them all. Let''s get this brat back to Selena, she doesn''t like to be kept waiting¡­" And then she fell into blessed, utter darkness. 27 A Rude Awakening "Down in the gutter taverns of Nolusburg it''s rather healthier to drink the liquor than the water, ''course you might wind up blind or married to a local the next morning, I''m still not sure which is worse. So this vacation let''s try to avoid any fatalities boys, I hate having to train fresh blood." -Cautionary words from army Sergeant Peter Davies to his squad Second Day of the Second Week of Autumn, Morning... On a broad cobbled street in the crafters district lay a prominent smithery, it''s storefront may be small but it''s forges within burned hot and large, filling up the sizable area in the rear with steaming air that denied the early cold snap one could feel in the streets. The many smiths within worked with vigor and energy, each passionately shaping the glowing metal before their eyes into its desired form. From the entryway hung a prestigious sign, ''Mithrilsmith'' it read, and that was all that was needed to proclaim its dominance in the local trade and crafting of brass, steel, and rarer metals. Here was where raw ingots were turned into items of purpose, be it the smallest cog or the grandest blade. Everyone knew the best parts and materials were made here before they went to the technomancers on Capitol Hill. There they would be engraved and finished into whatever magitech article was desired. This industry was lucrative, and politically dangerous, yet the generations of owners had survived by subscribing to a firm stance on both product quality and a firm loyalty to the crown. Neither had let them down yet. John laid down his hammer, the tenth morning bell had come and gone and young apprentice Bright had yet to show up to work. The first time this had happened since he took the boy on. John was worried, it was not in the boys nature to shirk work, indeed he was one of his most eager pupils, diving headfirst into learning the trade, and spending hours of intense focus as he hammered away and learnt the basics of metallic manipulation. John had even caught him applying magic to his work recently, Tikka''s teeth, the boy was nothing short of a prodigy, it usually took smiths years to learn what seemed to come naturally to him in weeks and months. The very metal sang as he worked it, there was no other way to describe the phenomenon. Only John could hear the song it sang, he had initially heard it when the boy first came to his shop several years past and started stroking some metal scraps while his mother tried to thrust him into an apprenticeship under his care. Truth be told John would have fought to take him, and having done so was determined to make him an heir to his techniques if he could stay the course. Yet that boy, who caressed his tools so longingly at the end of each day, was absent. This wouldn''t do, John hung his hammer and tongs in the loops made for them at his waist and bellowed out to one of his journeyman smith''s. "Marek, young Kyle is absent, go see if he ran into any trouble will you." Marek, whose large frame was currently bent over an anvil, finished a few last bows of his hammer and quenched the sword he was working on in a water trough beside him. He then laid it on a nearby table and turned around. Pulling off his gloves and goggles, his broad, good natured face broke into a grin. "Sure thing master, he probably just woke up late. I''ll be back in a jiffy" saying this Marek strode out the door, turning sidwarys and ducking to fit his massive frame through, despite the larger than normal door frame. ''That boy''s got muscles for brains'' thought John as he saw him off. ''But only a fool would pick a fight with him.'' Indeed, as Marek''s massive figure blithely walked down the street the crowd parted for him part in respect and partly in imminent fear of being squished. While Marek had always been big boned, years at the forge had crafted a body with bulging muscles akin to wrought steel. Yet somehow despite his bulk and having enough strength to twist iron bars or crumple a helmet in one hand, Marek was capable of some of the finest detail work out of all of his apprentices. One time, while Marek was deep in thought over how to best temper a breastplate he was working on, John had watched him walk through a wall without ever noticing it was there, continuing on to a nearby forge and pulling out his hammer as he decided the direction to take in the crafting process. The wall had been wood, they rebuilt with brick and steel. ''Well, that''s that'' John decided. ''Marek will bring young Kyle back. Now I wonder how much fine steel ingots I have left, still got that order of swords from Lord Randolph to fill by the end of the week'' John Mithrilsmith turned back to his forge in silence and hefted his tools once more. The ever ringing sound of hammers continued to reverberate from within the smithy. The steady sound others on the street had long grown accustomed to. ............... Jacques woke up in near darkness, he spotted a dim magitech globe suspended from the otherwise bland roof. Jacques started trying to move his fingers, hands and then his arms, gradually testing all his limbs and muscles, they were all badly bruised and complained at the movement but most surprisingly, they were all working. He winced in pain and gingerly felt his left side, one, no two ribs broken, a few more than that were cracked no doubt, not giving way but definitely painful to his probing. Moving would definitely be a joy for awhile, he would have to be careful until he saw a competent healer. Finished with a cursory self examination he allowed himself to review his memories. They were a bit hazy from the knock he had taken to his skull but they were there. He had been escorting someone to the precinct, who was it again? Galay, Gupala¡­ a face drifted into his mind''s eye. He sat up abruptly as his memories expanded ''That''s right it was Gupalagia! Hadoom and I were bringing her in for safekeeping, we escaped the faction war, and then¡­'' "Guuuuhhh" he let a groan leak out between clenched teeth, moving definitely hurt. "Aye lad, we lost her." Jacques turned to see Hadoom lying prone in a bed next to his. "Don''t move too much, that bloody witch did a real number on us both, I''d heard rumors of her, whispers from the gutterfolk, but I nae did think she would be a mage of such power" "Last thing I remember is being tossed around like a wee rag doll¡­." Hadoom lapsed into a prolonged silence that Jacques shared as they both pieced together their memories and recollected recent events. "Any idea where we are or who pulled us from the streets?" Jacques asked his partner. "Nay lad, I woke but a few minutes before ye. I suppose we owe someone our thanks, although I do seem to be missing my gear, I half pity the fool that opened me bag, had a rather nasty protective enchantment put on it I did." Hadoom chuckled before stiffening in pain, "Urrrrgg, I haven''t felt like this since the time I had to jump into the thick of that food riot fifteen years ago to save yer sorry neck." "I hope whoever dumped us here left to procure the services of a good healer, it looks like we both need a good going over." Jacques half smiled, his partner always got chatty when he was angry or frustrated, it was comforting to know that he was not alone in his emotions. He hoped Gupalagia had escaped, but the chances of that happening were slim to none with such a powerful mage on her heels. Rather, he would be more surprised to hear she had, however much he wished it was so. Their quiet and companionable sulking was rudely interrupted when the door swung open and a man in white healer''s robes entered. A viel obscured the healers face, showing naught but a vague outline through the cloth. He was closely followed by a figure wrapped head to toe in tight fitting black garments, a woman judging by her figure. Without a word the healer approached and raised an emblem of the goddess Selena in his left hand, and charging the engraved array with mana he raised his right hand to Hadoom''s head and began to heal him. "Where are we? Who are you? Why have you brought us here? Where are our belongings? " Jacques fired off the pertinent questions first. Yet his questions went unanswered by either of their guests, the healer shaking his head and maintained his silence while the woman flat out ignoring him. After a few minutes of casting his healing spells the healer finished with Hadoom and made his way to Jacques to repeat the process. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Jacques felt a warmth seep into his body as he did so, targeting his injuries and soothing them quickly. Whoever this healer was he was a master of his trade, the pain receded and Jacques felt far more clear headed. With his faculties about him he realized why Hadoom was keeping so still, he was staring at the black clad woman. To a casual onlooker she might just appear secretive, but to the trained eye she radiated a danger and professionalism so absolute that it was disturbing to his senses, it felt like staring down a magical beast that was busy deciding if it felt hungry enough to bother turning you into a snack. Jacques had no doubt that if they had threatened the healer or tried to escape she could take them both down with her hands tied behind her back, that was what his instincts told him, this woman was more than just merely dangerous, she was the razor edge to your throat. No, she was not the kind of danger you messed with to prove your bravery. Crossing her was like slathering yourself in zugzug blood and throwing yourself naked into a pit of starving worgen, pure idiocy. Even her identity was a mystery. The only characteristics he could see were the faintest ends of two black lines that reached the bottom of her grey eyes, and even those were confusing. He could have sworn she was an elf from her lithe figure and grace of movement, yet everyone knew that elves had a range of brown, blue and green eyes, never grey. His own light grey eyes came solidly from his father''s bloodline, his mother''s being sapphiric blue. She turned to meet his gaze, her chilly gaze positively arctic in its warmth, the depths of her eyes betraying not the slightest hint of friendliness as they gleamed darkly in the dim light. ''I wonder what we did to annoy her?'' thought Jacques. Finally the healer finished and Jacques stretched his muscles, enjoying the pain free movements even as he watched the white clad man exit. "What now lass? Are we prisoners or are we free to go?" questioned Hadoom. The woman did not reply immediately, merely turning to exit the room, as she passed the door they heard a hoarse whisper. "Follow me, my master awaits you." they looked at each other and Hadoom shrugged. "We''ll, what are we waiting for? It''s high time we got some answers don''t ye think?" Jacques smiled, a dwarfs curiosity even in the craziest of circumstances never failed to amaze him. They rose as one and followed their guide out the room. .................... Guppy had brief flashes of consciousness, from them she knew she was being moved, first she woke in a wagon under a layer of hay, then in a wooden crate. Yet she could not maintain her lucidity, despite her struggles to do so her consciousness kept fading out. Her body wracked with pain even as it struggled to adapt to the curse imprinted upon it, woven as it was around her heart and seeping its effects throughout her blood. It hurt. So very, very much. The pain washed over Guppy in waves as her very blood burned with foreign and natural mana alike. Both caused her to wake and release silent screams as her limbs strained and thrashed, before overwhelming her senses and ferrying her once more down the river of unconsciousness. She measured time when she could by the beat of her heart. Each beat was so pitifully slow and pain inducing, but still they were treasured, for each painful thump and throb reminded her that she yet lived. She still had a purpose and refused to go out like this, not to some malformed curse of an insane witch. Guppy clung to these thoughts, keeping her sanity by nursing a grudge deep within her, promising that one day, there would be a reckoning¡­. Eventually the pain receded and she relaxed at long last, crashing into blessed oblivion¡­. Guppy awoke, not unsure as to how much time had passed. The pain was thankfully gone, and her heart was still beating so that was at least a relief, yet her surroundings were dark, there was no window, nor light to be seen. A coldness around her neck confused her, she had never worn jewelry around her neck before, especially a piece as large and clunky as this. In the darkness she ran her hands over it, trying to figure out what it was, ''No'' she thought, not daring to believe what it was. ''No! No! NO!'' she cried in her mind, growing increasingly frantic as her scrabbling intensified. "NOOO!!" she cried out, finally acknowledging the reality of the situation. Around her neck, attached quite firmly, was none other than a magitech slave collar. 28 A Rude Awakening 2 While the knowledge of slavery magic has existed in one form or another for millennia, it was always shunned by the civilizations of Terrapia until devastated and teetering, they faced the looming orc threat after the Third Great War. Their solution was both crude from a societal perspective, yet elegantly simple in it''s execution. The slave collar, as it came to be called, is the dark legacy of the desperation of a past age, one debates have raged over for centuries. Yet each generation to date has failed to dispose of them, so dependant have we humans become on the orcs for cheap labour, in an odd twist the humans are enslaved to the enslavement of the orcs, and thus the generational cycle continues. -Historical analysis by Lecturer Hammond Fustus Guppy felt the engravings on the inside of the collar, it was definitely a magitech slave collar, not a common restraining collar, and worse, it had already been ''keyed''. She was enslaved. Panic arose. Her chest constricted and breath came short and fast, she clawed at the cold hateful band, frantically, desperately trying to take it off. Her response was pain, it arched through every fibre of her, thwarting her efforts as her body spasmed and thrashed about on the cold stone floor, she tried to scream but even that was denied her. Her mind went white as the pure agony and shock overrode her other senses. After what seemed ages the pain receded and Guppy lay on the ground amid the scattered straw, curled up in a ball, and gradually coming to grips with her new reality. For all intents and purposes she now legally belonged to someone until she could prove her innocence in a court of law. But what slave owner would be so foolish as to let her reach there, all it would take was a keyed command from her ''owner'' and she would collapse in pain once more. Guppy lay clutching her knees and quietly sobbed for awhile, bemoaning a fate she had always feared but which had never seemed completely real, the threat consigned to a fear that had faded over the years. Awhile later when the tears dried up and her determination rallied Guppy took stock of her situation. Her clothes were intact, so she was obviously more valuable to them intact and functioning than otherwise. Her belongings however were missing, all she had were the clothes she currently wore. They must then know either of Arkannissius or of her new found powers, nothing else made sense in this situation, she would have to wait and see what they demanded of her. "I wonder what the time and date is?" wondered Guppy aloud. The dark prison without windows gave no indication of time or day. "Third day of the second week of Autumn." A deep voice rumbled from her left. Guppy jumped in fright, and forgetting her own strength she flew two meters straight up and bonked her head on the roof. It rejected the passionate embrace of her skull so she came crashing down once more, the floor was more accepting to her plastering.. Bright spots appeared before her eyes that were otherwise filled with darkness. Rubbing her head and wincing in pain Guppy rose and called out, "Who''s there? Show yourself!" A clinking of chains sounded as the shadowy outline of a scarily large orc made itself known. "Peace little human, we are both prisoners here" It said. ................... Braexia smiled contentedly as she sat on a bench in the corner of a lively market square eating a fruit crepe. So far her plan was going swimmingly. Infiltrate city, check. Get the underground leader to owe her a favor, check. In a few days she''d be ready to move onto the next part of her plan, even the curse she had laid on that girl was also an unexpected bonus, things were looking promising. She licked a smear of cream off her lips, enjoying the sweet fluffy taste. It had been Braexia''s first time trying that complex a magic upon a living subject, and as a result she had messed up a rune activation and included too much force in the array, yet somehow the girl had miraculously survived something that would have killed a blooded orc warrior. Well Braexia couldn''t complain, it was one more tool to use in her quest for vengeance. She stroked her hair, caressing it as it playfully curled around her fingers. "Soon Simon, soon." she whispered. With her stomach and taste buds satisfied she stood and moved on to her next objective. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. ...............¡­. Jacques and Hadoom followed their guide down a series of corridors. Occasionally she would pause to warn them of a particular trap, or temporarily deactivate it until they had passed. The sheer number of particularly nasty traps caused the duo to behave uncharacteristically meek as their imaginations illustrated in graphic detail how a normal stroll down this corridor would have played out. Eventually they got to an intimidatingly well protected set of steel doors, which were quite paranoidly spelled with enough magic to hold back an army. It took their guide a couple of minutes to pass several verification tests including a mana wavelength test, blood test and the insertion of a magitech device that looked like a coin into a small slot. Then they waited. A rumbling and a hissing came from the other side, a whir of gears and clanking of bars and chains followed as they were retracted and removed, after a full minute of this the doors slowly, and silently swung open. "A wee bit melodramatic." Hadoom muttered, rolling his shoulders to try relieve his built up tension. Their guide glided into the room and after a short glance at each other the duo followed. There they found an odd room indeed, it looked like a mash of a library and a clerk''s office merged with a bank vault, not that they had frequented many bank vaults mind you. In this windowless room their eyes quickly skimmed over the rows of filing cabinets and settled on the figure seated behind an expansive desk, even now he disdained their entrance, instead reading from two thick files. "One moment." He softly said without even looking up. Jacques read the situation, evidently whoever this was possessed at least a measure of power, by his bearing he was a civil servant, yet he radiated a quiet authority, clearly not some middle management then. Rather he would have been impressed if a middle manager kept staff like their guide on the payroll. The two files The Man in Black, and that was a descriptive term that demanded capitals, had open were clearly on himself and his partner, he could tell that much even from several meters away. The Man in Black''s slender frame appeared leanly muscled and dexterous under his obviously luxurious albeit plain coloured clothing, his long tapered fingers likely suited knives rather than swords or heavier armaments, but they bore the calluses from years of training, he was no mere paper pusher then. Jacques had a guess as to who this man was, a guess that was all but confirmed when he observed a ring on the man''s finger that bore an emblem of a black raven. "So who am I then Mr Woodsinger?" a faintly amused voice called out, shaking Jacques from his investigative revalrie. "The Black Raven Milord, keeper of secrets and the shadowed blade of the Darish kingdom." Jacques announced his answer calmly, confident in his analysis of their host. The Man in Black nodded once to acknowledge the statement. "Do you know why you are here?" He asked. Jacques ran through several possibilities in his head, if it was just for a debriefing there was no need to bring them all the way here, likewise if they were to be disposed of there was no need to either heal them or bring them here, the alley they were retrieved from would have easily made an unobtrusive and convenient grave. Lining up all the information he had at his disposal he could make only one conclusion. "You wish to offer us a job." Jacques stated. His response elicited a small smile from The Man in Black. "I had high hopes for your intelligence. It seems they are met. Indeed I wish to offer you both a place amongst my ravens, normally we wait a week after a potential recruit is cut loose from their standard affairs to extend an offer, however certain events have¡­ expedited the process. While you both have technically failed your entry test, namely escorting miss Bright to safety, I cannot deny that certain chaotic elements interfered in the process. Thus the offer of recruitment still stands." The Man in Black fell silent, smiling just slightly with his fingers interlaced in front of him. Hadoom broke the silence. "And I suppose if we reject the kind offer there''s tea and jam crumpets on the way out.. milord." The sarcasm in his tone spoke to his dissatisfaction with what they had unknowingly been made a part of. Jacques dearly wished to kick his partner, for all his wisdom Hadoom had never liked other''s hands forcing his choices, but this was not the sort of individual you were curt with. Instead Jacques settled for laying his hand on the dwarfs shoulder to calm him before speaking up to diffuse the budding tension. "Forgive my hot blooded partner Milord, he must have been knocked too hard on his head in the alleyway. We gladly accept the chance to serve Darish." Jacques knew that while this was a golden opportunity, in truth they had little choice. All four of the rooms occupants knew that there were only two ways out of this room for the duo, as subordinates, or as corpses. Personably Jacques was quite fond of his blood staying inside his body for the foreseeable future, he still had several goals to accomplish before he travelled the nether world. The Man in Black looked behind them as he addressed their guide, "Emily, see to their induction and training for the next couple weeks," He then turned his sight back to his two new employees, "Your first job after Emily approves your readiness will be to track down miss Bright and retrieve her, a job I have no doubt you will personally enjoy this task Mr Woodsinger, seeing as she is currently held by the Grakoan mafia." Jacques let a malicious grin spread upon his face, life as a raven might not be so bad after all if his first job allowed him to go after his most hated enemies, something that could never happen while he was a part of the corrupt law officers. "My thanks Milord, we won''t let you down." Jacques said with genuine emotion. The Man in Black nodded before turning his attention back to the open folders and starting to make some notes. "You may leave, shut the door on your way out won''t you, it lets in an awful draft" His words were soft, but delivered with an iron undertone that brooked no contention. Jacques bowed and followed Emily out with Hadoom in tow, he could feel the waves of rebelliousness radiating off the dwarf and prayed they could at least make it out the door before his partner erupted in some poorly worded sentence. To his surprise the dwarf did, the huge doors clicking, clanking and whirring as they went through the locking process, yet that seemed to be the trigger, the poor dwarf couldn''t keep it in anymore. "What kind of a name is ''Emily''? Right terrifying it is." He sniggered Emily blurred before either of them could react, Hadoom was caught with a leg hook and thrown to the ground as a curved blade appeared at his throat and in his mouth. "That will be ''Mistress Fae'' to you dwarf, learn to use your tongue properly or I''ll lighten you of it." She threatened. Hadoom went perhaps the stillest Jacques had ever seen him. Emily gracefully straightened and ignored Jacques who had a half formed magic circle in each hand, instead turning and once more walking ahead. Her voice floated back to them as she walked. "Letting two Ka`dwah in was not my choice, so have no illusions that I will take it easy on you." Jacques pulled Hadoom to his feet and they both followed their new instructor. "What did she call us lad?" The dwarf asked, his tone airy in a way Jacques had never heard it before. "Ka`dwah," Jacques replied, "Little tree slugs that parasite a tree, stunting it''s growth by consuming its resources. I had suspicions of her origin, but this confirms it, only elves use that insult" "I think I''m in love" muttered Hadoom. Jacques shook his head and clapped his friend on the shoulder, "Good Luck." 29 Friends in all the Wrong Places A wise man chooses his friends with care, for they will either drag you down to, or buoy you up from the depths of calamity. Pick carefully then, you seldom get anything other than regret if you fail to do so. -Sage Orion of the Eastern Hills 4993 A.D. Third day of the Second week of Autumn, Somewhere under Nolusberg¡­ Guppy scuttled back until her back hit the bars of her, no their cell. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. It was not that she was particularly afraid of orcs, but this one''s sudden appearance from the shadows, coupled with his sheer enormity and Guppy''s current state of mind led to an instinctive response. The large figure approached slowly, hunched over to avoid hitting his head. There was no direct light, but a torch set into the wall around the corner gave enough ambient light to make out some details as Guppy stared wide eyed. The orc was large, even for his kind, with a broad frame and what must have once been incredible muscles, but their current state was far from glorious, instead the orc''s muscles clung to his bones. Shriveled and lean they spoke of a long period of neglect and malnourishment. Half healed scars criss crossed his chest and arms, evoking a sinister appearance in the dim light, an appearance his jutting fangs did nothing to dispel. But Guppy was not thrown by his looks, no, it was his eyes that called to her, the pain held within them far greater than any he showed physically. The orc reached over and gently tapped her iron necklace. "Do not fight it girl, it will only bring you agony." the orc softly stated. Guppy blinked, this was probably the most she had ever heard an orc speak before, usually all you heard were grunts of effort and pain, with the occasional ''yes master'', or ''no master'' thrown in. It was enough to invoke her curiosity. "Who are you?" she inquired "A fool." He replyed. It was all the answer she got as the orc retreated into his shadowy corner once more. She was about to press him further when her ears caught the creak of a door and the slap of footsteps on stone, someone was coming. Guppy turned and grasped the bars of her cell, only to realize that her hearing was deceivingly good, it took the visitors another four minutes to walk down several flights of stairs and unlock another couple doors before they rounded the corner and came into sight. The flare of their torches blinded her for a second but as her eyes adjusted she made out her jailors, three scruffy looking men who emanated a sour smell and wore unshaven beards, their half visible tattoos all pointed towards her captor''s identities, the Grakoan mafia. "Stand back." one commanded. Guppy felt a flick of pain surge, it arrived and left quickly, but it let her know who was in charge, not her. She retreated from the cell door and one of the men came forward and unlocked the door, and then her chains before he and another each grabbed one of her arms and proceeded to hoist Guppy out. Guppy hastily found her feet and matched their pace, she had no wish to be dragged along the filthy floor. They took her up the stairs a couple turns, before leaving the stairwell and entering a relatively large room full of alchemedial tools and chemicals, before which stood a slender man in grubby whitish coat. "Here she is Eumber." said her keyed master as Guppy was shoved forward. "Put her to use, We''ll be back at the end of the day to collect her." Guppy rubbed her arms, pretending to be sore and weaker than she truly was, it never hurt to be underestimated until you were ready to act. ''At least I now have a time frame.'' she thought as the three Grakoan''s retreated Guppy peered at her new acquaintance, who stood looking rather nervously at her through some cracked and tilted glasses, he was dressed untidy, and slouched over as he stood nervously watching her back. He stunk too, although it was mostly covered by various chemical smells that clung to him. All in all this man called Eumber looked quite unreliable as a person. ''To be fair I probably smell even worse than he does.'' thought Guppy. Last night''s events had left her rather scruffy and smelly, unfortunate then that underground cells did not come with bath''s and fresh clothes. "Guuhhmmm." Eumber cleared his throat, interrupting Guppy''s thoughts "Well then, you know my name, what is yours?" he asked Guppy silently stared at him, she felt an anger starting to rise up within her, and it must have reflected in her eyes because Eumber took a couple steps back and retrieved something hastily from his desk. "Now none of that, I mean you no harm but I was told to show you these if you failed to co-operate." He warned. He held out two small cloth packets in his hand, Guppy did not even need to see them to tell that they smelled of her siblings, she dashed forward and snatched them from his hand, opening them to find a single lock of hair in each. It was a clear warning to her, do what we tell you, we have your siblings. Guppy''s shoulders slumped as the fight went out of her. "What do you want?" she asked, her voice now weary. "The alchemedial formulae to turn lead into gold." informed Eumber. "That was what I was informed you would supply, I have been..employed, to make use of it." "Huh, I don''t ha.." Guppy stopped her sentence. ''Wait, they thought she turned lead into gold through alchemy? Everyone knew the alchemists in the mages tower had been trying for hundreds of years to do so but had never succeeded. But that at least explains why they kidnapped me, at least they don''t know about Arkanissius.'' Guppy''s thought''s tossed and turned but she came to one conclusion, ''They don''t know that I can just do it with magic, I can use this to my advantage.'' "Turning lead into gold with alchemy is impossible." she calmly stated. This utterance flustered Eumber greatly, clearly not what he wished to hear from her. "Come now girl don''t be a fool, in truth the alchemists figured out a way to transmute lead into gold centuries ago, the problem is that their method wasn''t economically viable, to transform one kilogram took an archmagi two days and consumed a small fortune in mana crystals and other materials. Quite simply put it costs several times more to produce the gold alchemically than it does through more mundane methods such as mining." Eumber paused his rant, taking a breath before giving Guppy a smile he no doubt thought was a reassuring one. It wasn''t. "But I am told you produced several kilograms of pure gold by yourself with obviously lacking resources, don''t you see, this changes everything if you have found a way to perform the conversion with far greater efficiency." Guppy let the man finished his rant, she gained some good information through it. She and her skills were valuable, and she had to preserve that value to maintain the health of herself and her siblings. Thankfully the transmutation process was not something they could extract from her, it was unique. It did not bode well for Eumber though, Guppy knew through plentiful gossip how the Grakoan mafia operated, they did not tolerate useless things. Guppy walked over to a stack of small lead ingots that were about the length and width of a man''s finger and picked one up, hefting it in one palm before pulling on her magic and feeling it flow into the bar. "Sorry Eumber, but I don''t use a speck of alchemy, just magic." she said as the ingot turned from grey to gold. Guppy watched the blood drain from Eumber''s face as he realized the implications of her words, backed by the solid proof in her hands. A cracked grin broke upon his face. "You''re lying, you have to be, that''s just an illusion to fool me isn''t it, give it to me, Give IT Here GIRL!" Guppy shrugged and tossed the ingot over, not caring if the man believed her. Eumber hurriedly walked to his beakers and used a small knife to gouge out several slivers of the gold bar, which he then dropped in a test tube, taking two beakers from his table in his other hand he began to carefully pour the liquids into the test tube as he angrily explained to Guppy. "Look here girl, this will shatter your lies soon enough, this liquid I am diluting and adding is called is called nitric acid, when added to real gold there will be no apparent change, whereas lead will slowly dissolve and turn the liquid into a cloudy affair." They waited a minute. "Any second now!" said Eumber, his voice rising a few octaves Guppy merely watched as over the next few minutes the man''s face turned paler and paler until he slumped to the floor and stayed there for what must have been a half bell. "You''ve killed me girl." he finally spoke in a soft and all too calm voice. He rose and headed to his alchemy station. "No I have not." Retorted Guppy, "Don''t blame me for the vagaries of luck and your own situation." Eumber was silent as he mixed several compounds together and heated, then distilled them, eventually concocting an amber liquid that smelled faintly of winterberries. He stood there staring at the liquid for awhile before quickly downing it. Two minutes later he slid to the floor, and lay still. Guppy almost envied him, almost. So instead she sat on the pile of lead ingots and waited, thinking and thinking about what she was to do next¡­ ..................¡­.. Han` Nah sighed, she had just finished a dance and her partner lay still, but that was not what she was upset about, it had been a good dance, yes, what she was upset about was that her favourite rapier was done for, the dance proving too much for it''s slender blade to endure after weeks of challenges. She stroked it in goodbye and uttered a prayer to the sword spirit within, wishing it safe passage to the next life, then Nah swiftly snapped the already cracked blade over her knee. A quick clean end. She rose and approached her last dancing partner, examining his blade, good Taboltian steel, the patterning of the steel told her it was forged by a master smith. This man must have been quite wealthy, yet Nah did not strip him of coin purse and jewels, for that would be dishonorable for a blade dancer, however poor they might currently be. His blade however was hers now, the victor''s prize of any dance should they choose to claim it. Nah whispered her pledge to the new sword spirit that joined her this day, caressing the blade that had drawn her blood thrice as she cleaned it on a scrap of cloth and slid it into an empty sheath that hung her waist. It joined the three other companions she had strapped to her back in her journey to greatness, and a worthy addition she was sure it was. Nah paid no heed to the onlookers who cried in woe at their lost bets, the man must have been quite well known for his skill, for none had bet on her, but then she was a new face in town, an unknown. She had been long training in the mountains with her master. A small smile graced her face, revealing for a moment a beauty that sweat and blood could not hide, before her face reclaimed it''s stoic neutralness once more. Nah yawned, she was tired from the exercise, not to mention sweaty, a good hot bath would do her wonders right now. Her course of action decided she headed straight to one of the bath houses of Slareer, a feature the capital of Tabolt was quite famous for, it was one of the few luxuries she had discovered and allowed herself in the couple of weeks since her arrival. She entered one of the many bath houses and dropped a three coppers into the hands of an attendant, who then gave her a towel to use. The towel could be returned later for a copper''s refund. A system she found both novel and amusing. Nah would not pilfer wet smelly towels, but she supposed not all were like her and moved on. Nah found an empty room and pulled the hanging chain to fill the wooden barrel tub with hot water from the bath house''s reservoirs before declothing her muscled and scarred body to enter the bath, which she did slowly, enjoying the feeling of soaking her sore muscles in blissful heat. As Nah sat submerged in the steaming tub she planned out her next few weeks and goals, first the private street fights until she built up enough reputation to be scouted for the arena, she also needed to continue her daily sword training, ''Practice builds Perfection.'' her old master always used to say. Nah fully submerged in the steaming water and watched her air bubbles float upwards, for now those plans were concerns of tomorrow, now there was only beautiful cleanliness. 30 Friends in all the Wrong Places 2 With a spine, she will dine, And a sign will make her fine. -Prophecy of the duskbringer 4993 A.D. Third day of the second week of Autumn, sometime in the afternoon¡­ Guppy''s Grakoan captors returned after what must have been several hours. Her keyed master''s face turned quite unpleasant as he saw the alchemists body and Guppy took some small joy in his displeasure. He motioned towards Eumber and one of his enforcers walked over to check his vitals. "Dead as a doornail boss." He reported. Guppy''s master turned to her, frustration evident in his face. "How and why?" he demanded from Guppy, sending little spikes of pain through the collar to let her know her answer had best be a good one. Guppy stood and lifted a lead ingot before their eyes. "He learned the truth and despaired." She answered. Guppy could see the confusion on her masters face, but she had found it was easier to show proof then explain. So Guppy pulled on her mana and shaped it into patterns that by now were growing familiar and easier to use, then she let the magic flow through her palms into the ingot. The men were silent as they witnessed the ingot turn golden. "What I do is not alchemy but pure magic." Stated Guppy. "I do not know what you held over Eumber, nor why he worked for you, but when he learned the truth of this he took his own life, I can only imagine it was better than what his future otherwise held." A few moments passed as her master absorbed these facts and adjusted his plans. "Very well, then you shall do it all, get to work, I expect that pile you are sitting on to be golden by the days end" He turned to leave, his enforcers collecting Uember''s body and dragging it out. "No." came Guppy''s response Well that caused her master to freeze in a half turn. He unfroze and faced her once more, a disbelieving look on his face. "No? I think you misunderstand our relationship. Slave." He pulsed waves of pain through the necklace, far stronger than any he had hitherto sent, and it took all of Guppy''s will to keep standing amidst the fog of agony that threatened to cloud her mind, but she did. She had prepared herself for his reaction and stubbornly refused to fall, trying as hard as she could to not show the gut twisting pain she was experiencing on her face. Her master raised an eyebrow and momentarily relented, allowing Guppy to draw a breath and continue, the man no doubt had limits on the mana he could wield and was unwilling to spend it needlessly once he saw she was unrelenting. Guppy spoke with slightly ragged breath, outlining her proposition to her master. "I can make gold for you, a lot more of it if I do so willingly rather than unwillingly, and that will help you look good to your bosses will it not?." Her master raised an eyebrow but Guppy ignored it, the man reeked of middle management, which to Guppy meant he had the power to decide her living conditions, but not enough power to truly do anything to harm her. In other words, the perfect target to bully a little to get what she needed. For she was sure like any other middle manager, he had quotas to fulfill, and a great desire to impress his boss and move up in the ranks. Well, Guppy could use that bargaining chip. Anything could be a commodity if you viewed it as such, and Guppy had precious few to trade with. "But I have conditions." Guppy continued, "I need proof that my siblings have not, and will not be harmed if I cooperate, I also need food, a lot of it, my magic consumes my energy at a staggering pace, I would also work better with clean warm clothing to keep me from sickening." She gestured to her blood stained and torn attire, far too lacking for a girl heading into the depths of winter. There was an incredulous silence after she finished, obviously these men weren''t used to their prey doing anything more than crying, begging, and pleading for mercy. Too bad for them, Guppy was no victim, she was a survivor, and she would keep her family safe. "What kind of slave demands working conditions?" exclaimed her master as he almost absentmindedly sent another pulse of pain into Guppy, torturing her already frayed nerves. She endured, barely, her legs already felt like jelly and the foul taste of bile graced her throat. She forced it down. "The kind that is unique, irreplaceable, and about to make you very, very rich." Guppy retorted through clenched teeth. "Be smart master, what I ask is insignificant compared to what I give in return." Her master thought it over, evidently displeased at the presence of a deal, despite how beneficial it was for him, while he pondered and calculated he kept the pain layered over Guppy, a steady burn that raced throughout her body. Guppy''s stomach curdled and her jaw clenched so hard she feared her teeth would crack, but she kept standing somehow, she would not fall, not when she was so close. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. The agony sought to rob her of reason and will, her body trembled and called for merciful respite, but Guppy held on through sheer force of will. The consequences of her failure here were too dreadful to bear. She had to succeed. "Very well" Her master eventually agreed, logic eventually overcoming his displeasure. "But you had best work hard, and just because I agreed this time do not think I will pander to your future whims." He then sent a crashing wave of pain down upon her, shutting down her remaining mental defenses and collapsing her to the floor and into sweet, sweet unconsciousness. As her mind faded to black Guppy took pleasure that she had succeeded without a single whimper, the pain was worth it. ................. Same day Second bell of the afternoon¡­ John Mithrilsmith sat in his small office, deep in thought. His Journeyman Marek had returned without the Kyle boy, something he had not expected. Despite Marek searching high and low the boy seemed to have vanished, no sign nor hair of him even after long hours of futile frustration. In fact his whole family had disappeared, the only hint being something about Kyle''s sister being a genius alchemist who figured out how to turn lead into gold, at least that was the rumor being whispered on the street. John questioned it''s veracity, Guppy had been diligent, but he knew the lass had been working for Friedrich, she was a technomancer, not some brain addled alchemist concocting vile or explosive brews. ''What to do? What to do?''. John''s finger tap-a-rapped upon the smooth grain of his desk as he thought, an old habit of his. An open letter he had penned lay open at his writing table, unsealed and waiting. He could send it, but he was unsure how much it would help. Still, some people owed him favors, his word was not to be taken lightly, and the boy must be recovered. He would become a national treasure with but a little time and shaping, John was sure of it, and that was not something their nation could afford to squander, not in these days. John hesitated no longer, pulling out a black wax coin and heated it with magic until it softened over the closed letter. He then pulled out his signet ring and twisted it, revealing an altogether different insignia which he used to press down the wax and seal the letter. A black raven now stood sentry over the letters contents, none but the intended recipient would now open it. For none but the foolish and suicidal would unworthily dare to open a letter sealed thusly. Still, procedures had to be followed, so John took a short stroll behind his shop, removed a wall brick and placing the letter in a small revealed cavity before replacing the brick once more. On his way back into his shop he placed a steel rose into a plain white vase that sat on a windowsill. The letter would be gone before long, though he never saw who took it. Not that he wished to know, each did their part and that was enough. And now he had done his, the rest was up to his master''s will and the roll of the dice. ................ Seymour awoke in darkness. He felt groggy and dizzy, as if he had binged on ale for three straight days. He had been doing something...somewhere...someone was waiting for him¡­ Why was it so hard to think¡­ Seymour mind slowly, ever so slowly cleared. He had been in a rush to save someone¡­ Stalia. The memories started flooding back, causing Seymour to sit up rapidly and hit his head. "Ou¡­" Seymour stopped mid sentence, hitting his head on a hardwood plank should have hurt, but it didn''t, he only felt a rebound from the collision, and a momentary pressure as his head flattened slightly, and then reformed. Seymour remembered getting stabbed and felt his back, no wound, no sticky blood, had a healer got to him? And why was he feeling fur with his fingers, had the healer dressed him in a tight fur coat? It practically felt like a second skin. It was dark wherever Seymour was being held, and held he was, for he felt wooden walls all around him. Had he been buried alive? No, there was a slight airflow, he was pretty sure you didn''t get those six meters down. Maybe he was stored in a casket and going to be buried soon? But then why bother healing him? Was he being rescued and smuggled out of somewhere? Maybe, but the box was motionless for now. Was th.. Seymour stopped his racing brain, find out more now, question later. He rolled over, and something flopped, Seymour reached up and felt two long fluffy things, what was worse was he felt himself feeling them. Tracing their source back he confirmed that they were attached to his head. He was not amused. ................ Same day, Grakoan Mafia headquarters, Fifth bell of the afternoon... Braexia sat before Selena in a small private room sipping a cup of rather good tea, the mellow flavour tied with a sweet spicy aftertaste went oh so well with the ginger biscuits that were laid out. Braxia had zero reluctance in availing herself of her host''s hospitality and the biscuits disappeared rapidly as the two sat and sipped their beverages. Selena''s eyelids twitched briefly as she sipped her own tea, a fact Braexia observed but made no mention of. Eventually Selena could stand the silence no longer and spoke up. "What brings you to me today miss Braxia?" "A favor I wish to have fulfilled, one I am calling in." Braxia explained. "Oh? What favor might this be that you wish to call in?" Asked Selena innocently, a faint smile on her lips. The tiniest frown, a brief twitch of the lips appeared on Braexis''s smooth face. "Please, don''t be coy Selena, I know your man reported that I let them have miss Bright after I had captured her, and~ that I would be around to collect on the favor, in fact I heard the whole conversation, how did it end again?... Oh right, in your anger you poked a hole through his larynx with a heel, lovely form by the way, then you had him butchered and fed to your little pets." Braxia gave Selena a brilliant smile before taking another delightful sip of the tea and swiping yet another biscuit. To Selena''s credit her smile cracked only slightly. "Very well, what do you want? I retain the option to refuse if I deem it too great a request." Selena stated. "Oh nothing much, just an invitation to the royal summer ball." Braexia requested, appearing as if she was asking for a trifling thing. She took the third last gingersnap and gave it a delightful little chomp as Selena spluttered into her tea. "You think those grow on trees? I think not miss Braexia, each invitation is numbered and vetted by the palace''s chief of ceremonies, He also takes care to know the face of every individual who is invited, even if you killed someone, stole their invitation and had a glamour cast over your face you would still fail, they know to look for illusions after someone tried the same thing three years back." Braexia made no mention that the attempted entry three years ago had been her, her master had been furious with her for a long time afterwards. True, she had jumped the gun somewhat, and despite coming close her plan had failed, but now she had both her masters blessing and another plan. Braexia lent forward slightly, her eyes catching the candle light and reflecting the flames within. "Let me be more specific Selena, I want a list of who will be attending, names and brief backgrounds, but most importantly, their marital status. That is the favor I am calling in, and it will be my ticket." Selena''s eyes narrowed, "That''s a dangerous game you''re playing Braexia, but I don''t think I''ll give it to you what you seek, no point in gifting pearls to a corpse after all." Selena gestured and the wall panel behind her swung open, revealing her orc bodyguards. "Snap her neck boys, I don''t want any blood on my carpet" She instructed coldly. Braexia sighed, so very very predictable. She raised both hands and charged her magic, the red mana lighting her arms with a fiercely sharp emission of light. Both orcs let out grunting noises as they were lifted into the air, their grunts quickly turned to gurgles as the blood in their bodies ruptured it''s vessels and flooded their lungs. It was more difficult than usual, the slight magic resistance inherent in an orc''s skin stifling the magic somewhat, but Braexia was in her element and oh so proficient in this spell, she had originally trained it on orcs after all. Braexia powered through the resistance, ripping every last drop from their bodies and suspending the stolen blood in two dark revolving balls over her shoulders. "How?" gasped Selena, "That tea held magebane, you shouldn''t be able to coordinate a drop of mana right now!" Braexia rose and walked around the table before bending over and patting the stunned Selena on the cheek. "You poor fool, I knew the taste of magebane since I was twelve, no matter how you tried to hide it with spices it was obvious with the very first sip, and I developed an immunity to it years ago." Braexia paused and tilted her head to one side in consideration. "Although I must say, It does make a lovely tea." "And now." continued Braexia, "You owe me two favors, I feel a little light on coin, I don''t suppose you''d be a dear and lend me some would you?" Selena rose stiffly, fear deadening her limbs under Braexis''s gaze, she moved aside an expensive looking artwork to reveal a black combination safe that drew a whistle of admiration from Braexia. "An adamantium sheathed safe, well that''s one way to hide and protect one''s valuables against magic, though it must have cost you a pretty copper to have the dwarfs make it for you." Selena''s reply was merely a sniff as she twirled the dial several times before opening the door, she was pushed aside by Braexia who then eagerly examined the safe''s contents before withdrawing several small bags and a crystal card. She handed the card over to Selena, "A drop of blood please." Selena looked up incredulously, "You cannot seriously be trying to break the binding, that''s impossible!" "Oh Honey" Braxia said with a beautiful sunny smile, "I happen to be unique in the field of blood magic, and I do believe I can." Selena sighed, giving up as she pricked a finger with a pin and dripped a drop of blood on the cards central groove. Braexia concentrated and carefully unravelled the droplet, analysing, rewriting, copying, and then she was done. Tucking the card away into her cleavage she looked up at Selena, "Now as we both know your word has little worth I will require some additional..insurance." Braexia moved swiftly and tore the front of Selena''s dress with some small red claws she conjured on her nails. Braexia then removed the delicate necklace that hung there and examined it. "What is this?" she asked. Selena shut her mouth, but opened it quickly when she felt blades stabbing into her thigh. "It''s a magitech pulse bomb, it does not harm creatures but will destroy all magitech devices in a five block radius." She blurted out, feeling relief as the blades retracted and her blood clotted over. Braexia smiled, a rare genuine one, this would help her plans tremendously. The necklace followed the card as Braexia appropriated it. Ignoring the angry look she received Braexia manipulated one of the blood spheres and crushed it into Selena''s chest, shoving the woman down onto the couch and causing her to twitch and groan in pain. "Now while I did some marvelous work on a young lass the other night I think I''ll keep it simple this time." Braexia prattled on. She always got chatty when she was experimenting with magic, a bad habit her master had tried, and failed to wean her off. Braexia muttered an aria for a few seconds and the blood sphere on Selena''s chest contracted rapidly and then.. diffused into Selena, pigmenting her skin and forming a crude magic array. A moment longer in examination and casting, then Braexia stepped back and addressed her spasming victim. "There, I''ve placed a lovely little bomb in you, if you try to double cross me again, all I have to do is will you dead and boom! There goes your heart! And probably the rest of your organs as well! Isn''t it exciting!" Ignoring Selena''s very obvious distress Braexia then turned and cast her gaze over the room, she picked up the final remaining gingersnap with one hand and took a nibble, with the other hand she moved the last orb of blood and very deliberately let it drop, coloring the carpet, chairs and Selena a crimson hue. Not a drop landed on Braexia, for she needed none. "Have a lovely day now darling." Braexia said as she sauntered away, waving a hand in goodbye over her shoulder. Her hair opened the door for her and she left the room very different from when she had entered. It took Selena a few minutes to overcome the pain and fear of imminent death and emotionally process recent developments before she erupted in fury. Needless to say everyone in the Grakoan mafia had a bad day after that, Selena made sure of it. 31 Friends in all the Wrong Places 3 Are dreams as phantasmal as so many believe them to be? What if your dreams breathe, think and hurt you? What if your dreams were more real than your waking hours? Would you confuse the two? In which would you choose to live, assuming you are given the choice? Sometimes we make our choices, and sometimes they make us¡­ -Philosopher Kyne on Planar twinning. 4993 A.D. Third day of the Second week of Autumn, A secret prison under Nolusberg¡­ Jade lay in the furthest corner of his cell, drawing one slow breath after another. In... Out. In... Out. In... Out. His mind adrift on a sea of nothingness, not even memories intruded here. But what was this? Someone was approaching, the clank of a turned key, then the scrape of rusty hinges sounded as the stairway door was pulled open and men entered. Two of the men dragged a smaller man in between them, no, not a small man, a female of their kind, why? Jade''s head hurt as he tried to think and shake off the hunger fog that clouded his mind. Were they feeding her to him? No, he must not think such thoughts, he had vowed had he not? Had he? Yes, He Had! For a second he almost forgot himself, but his ego held firm. The cell door creaked open before the men''s torches revealed his emancipated husk of a body to them, sitting against the farthest wall. The men cursed, evidently they had forgotten about him, no surprise there, Jade had not seen light in over a month, and he was deep in mother earth here. Truth be told he had only survived this period of neglect by licking the walls, absorbing the small amount of water that seeped through tiny cracks in the cells shoddily laid rock walls. Yet he had measured time as he lay, the faint vibrations in the wall told of people moving far above, normally one would be hard pressed to hear them however good their hearing was, but it was all to quiet down here, and Jade had the time and little else to occupy his other than the counting of the days. He refused to think why he was here, madness lay down that path. As the men briefly left, lighting a light sconce on their way out Jade counted the grooves he had scratched into the stone since day since he was thrown into this pit. Autumn, second week, second day, Forty-nine days total. He counted through touch alone, his eyes closed for fear of blinding them in the newly obtained abundance of light. Jade''s nose twitched as the men brought down some slop, placing the bowl on the ground and shoving it towards the orc. They feared him eating the human girl then if he was being fed, she must be valuable. Jade did not complain at the treatment or the sour taste of the soup, to him the bowl of slop was life. But he drank it slowly, he had seen feeding pains before when other orcs had come out of solitary confinement and eaten too much too fast, and he still wished to live yes? Yes. It still hurt as his belly swelled and bloated, but his natural gift of a robust metabolism quickly stripped nourishment from the meager meal, and Jade felt life returning to his enfeebled limbs. Jade watched the men chain up the unconscious girl, she mumbled and cried in her sleep, occasionally thrashing about, but Jade could not discern any meaning to her groans other than pain. The men left, off to their own meal, and with nothing better to do Jade sat back against the wall and waited as the hours slowly passed. His mind was clearer than it had been the last week or two, this cursed state locked the empty sea of his mind and made him recall his loss. His FaILuRe. He hastily turned his thoughts from it, that pit was a deeper and blacker one than the one in which he currently lay. To distract himself, he watched the human female. She was strange looking for a human, her hair looked like flowing mithril, Haplow had pointed the metal out to him once, and Jade had been enamoured with its beauty at the time. And that was not all, her whimpering and thrashing revealed sharp teeth and pointed ears, was she an elf? Jade had only heard tales of them, he had never seen one in person. No, she was human, had not the one male said so? Yes, he had. So he sat and relished in the fact that he was alone no longer. But with time came anger, and as Jade gazed upon the girl''s face her all too human features lit something within him once more. Here was a human, one of¡­ them. Alone, powerless, so... weak. All he had to do was reach out his hand and snap her neck, it would be easy even in his enfeebled state, one little wring, a swift twist, and she would be out of the pain she was obviously in, and he, he would have¡­ Jade retracted his outstretched hand and let out a short gruttal laugh, what would his wife and sons think of him if they saw him now. A single tear dropped from his squeezed brows, splashing down upon his open palm. He stared at it; the light reflecting off the wet patch of his palm before he clenched it. Leaning back against the wall Jade closed his eyes once more, seeking the black expanse within his mind. Sometime in the night when the walls were still, a pure silver light glowed around the female as she twitched and drooled onto some dirty hay. It slowly grew stronger until it woke Jade, who had to shield his eyes with one massive hand as the intensity grew too much. Yet Jade watched as light rose from the girl, gradually coalescing into a fuzzy form above her. Curious, he used one of the few tricks old Haplow had taught him, gathering what scraps of mana he could muster, weaving like an orc maiden did a basket and forcing the resultant form to his eyes. [Ancestor''s Eyes] Jade uttered. The form sharpened, it was still blurry, but now Jade could make out it''s figure. It was a scaly creature with wings, four limbs, and it was clearly upset with the girl, no, for the girl as it hovered over her. Then it noticed Jade watching. {You there, Orc, What have they done to her!? Who has dared to harm her so!?} Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Jade shivered, the words were not heard, they were felt, and they reverberated through his very bones. "I know not honored spirit, she was brought here but three hours past." Jade answered deferentially. The apparition flew round in circles for a bit, muttering things such as {How did she land herself in this predicament!}, {What sorcery is this? A blood magic so vile and crude! It''s a miracle she''s not dead already}, {Why can''t I remember? Removing this should be easy for me!}, {What happened to all my power?} The poor spirit seemed to be quite distressed but Jade struggled to keep up with it''s distressed thoughts that bled over to him, his body still weakened by his starvation was not faring well. The use of magic hadn''t been particularly wise either, but he had been bored and curious enough to cast it, already it was failing and the figure blurred once more. Once more he was addressed directly, which helped him to refocus. {Orc, I am going to have to heal her. In my current state it is far from ideal but not doing so bears too great a risk. I will have to slumber once more for awhile, I charge you to take care of her or face a dragon''s wrath when I awaken once more.} Jade had heard but one story of dragons before, a campfire tale told by Haplow one evening, it seemed this spirit claimed to be one. Jade shrugged, it made little difference to him; they were both slaves. "I will do what I can o'' spirit, little as it may be." Replied Jade. This answer was clearly not good enough for the spirit, the dragon? but turned away as the human girl started thrashing about once more. It glowed brightly for an instant, words were uttered, none that Jade could understand, but the very rocks trembled as it pronounced them. Jade thrust his hands over his ears as a keening screech shot straight through his range of hearing, his eyes blurred and his body fell to the side against the cold stone. A moment passed, and there was silence. Jade sat up, the dragon was gone, and the silver markings on the girls body were fading rapidly. She no longer thrashed or whimpered, no cries of pain escaped her lips, only a soft even breathing as her chest rose and fell. Time passed, and Jade drank from the wall where his early days of effort had hollowed out a tiny basin that collected water for him to drink. Sound, movement, Jade watched as the girl awoke and took stock, feeling the cold collar around her neck, and then broke into hysterics. ''Hysterics, a good word.'' Jade thought, ''But not a pleasant one.'' He watched as she calmed and enquired of herself the time and date, he answered, surprising himself, but he guessed they would have to talk sometime. Jade watched in amusement as the girl leapt and came crashing down after colliding with the ceiling. He rose and moved slowly towards her, trying not to scare her. She scuttled back in fear anyway as she saw him, gulping at his stature, enfeebled though it was. But her eyes held something else as she looked in his, pity? shame? a hint of empathy perhaps? Perhaps that is what prompted him to reach out and give her some advice, he had seen orcs, even been one, who, maddened by grief and anger, fought the magics of the iron vice, it was not a pretty spectacle. All broke before it, or died. And he was charged to protect this little silver and pink thing. She asked Jade a question, and he deflected, who he was did not matter, that person was dead, he was unworthy to bear the name. He shuffled backwards and sat back in his corner, watching as the girl cocked her ear, hearing something coming. A moment longer and Jade heard it too, the men were coming. They took the girl and left Jade in silence once more. Time passed, and Jade scratched another narrow groove in a softer stone he had found, adding to his count. He would be patient, he had few other choices, and none he would choose. Today he had come close to losing the dregs of his honor, but they were not lost yet, he sat and entered the black sea of his mind once more. ......... 4993 A.D. Third day of the Second week of Autumn, Royal Palace Gardens¡­ Duncan paused his sword swings and lowered his practice blade. Sheathing it he grabbed a towel that was handed to him by a waiting attendant and wiped the sweat from his glistening muscled torso and neck, at eighteen years of age he had filled out well, but still lacked the bulkier muscles that time and continued training would bring. After splashing his face with scented oil and drying that too he motioned for the attendant to depart and threw on his shirt and jacket, but refrained from buttoning it all up, he was still too hot for that. The servant bowed and left the small clearing found in the center of the hedge maze that some long-dead king had decided to grow. Duncan''s attendant would not go far, but it at least gave a little privacy, or at least the illusion of it to the prince. Duncan knew the man was a spy for one of his elder siblings or their mother, probably the latter, being the fifth prince and the eldest son of the second queen won neither him nor his younger sister much political sway, especially now that she had lost the favor of the king. Speaking of his younger sibling Duncan called out. "I know you are hiding behind the Petunalia bush Odessa, come on out." A pouting child appeared as she rounded the bush on one side of the clearing, she bore the same reddish gold hair as her elder brother, a trademark of the Goldthone family, but her eyes were a gentle blue instead of the soothing green that Duncan bore. She was young, merely twelve years of age, but was already showing hints of the beauty she would grow to be. He knelt on one knee as Odessa drew near and ruffled her hair, grinning and listening to her infuriated complaints to him doing so as he warded off her fists by keeping her at a distance with his hand firmly upon her head. It was a precious moment where neither had to pretend to be perfect, but could express themselves to each other. All too soon Odessa stilled and Duncan could feel her shaking. "What''s wrong Nerys?" Duncan asked, using her middle name, something few were allowed. But he already knew the answer, his sister had finally heard. "Must you go?" Odessa asked, her tone tearful. Duncan swept her up in his arms and hugged her tightly, soothing her trembling as he spoke gently to her. "I must attend the Royal Academy, just as you must be a good girl and go with mother to the winter holdings for a time, it is no longer safe for us here, as much as I wish it were otherwise. Our father..our king, has commanded it, so it must be so, we have few allies left in court and even they are swiftly abandoning us. This is the only avenue left for us, and I will not see any of us harmed." "Can I not go with you?" Asked Odessa wistfully, "My magic is already better than most your age." Duncan laughed at that and drew away slightly so he could see his sister''s tear-streaked face. "I do not doubt it Nerys, The Mighty Mage! None there would stand before your wrath!" chortled Duncan as he retrieved a handkerchief and cleaned his sister''s face. He got a fist to his solar plexus and lightly grunted at the surprise blow before continuing. "But you must be eighteen years of age to be accepted to the Royal Academy, something you are far short of. And besides, if we both go who will look after mother in her illness?" Duncan felt as much as saw his sister slump, she was torn by the choice, he knew he was. He gave her another long hug before sweeping her up off the ground, something that elicited a surprised giggle from her. He needed to distract her from her sorrow, and he knew just the thing. "Come sister dear, I requested the royal chef to make some starberry custard tarts for an afternoon snack, shall we go and sample them?" Duncan asked Odessa as he held her aloft. Odessa paused, obviously tempted by one of her favorite treats. "With whipped cream on top?" She inquired. "Yes, all the whipped cream you desire." Assured Duncan as he gently returned her to the ground, and entered the maze with her hand held tightly in his. 32 Friends in all the Wrong Places 4 A pit full of gold, poured in a mould, Will quite overtake, all here that is fake. -prophecy of the duskbringer Sixth day of the Third Week of Autumn. A cell somewhere under Nolusburg¡­ Guppy awoke in flickering torchlight, back in her cell. The orc was still there, a silent sentinel to her presence in this quiet place. She tried to fill the silence several times with questions but the orc spoke no more after those couple short sentences when she first met him, instead he just watched, and it creeped Guppy out. Well, at least it did when she let her imagination get the better of her, there were only the two of them after all, and he kept on watching her. Thankfully Guppy''s master came with food, a bowl of slop for the orc, a loaf and a bowl of soup for her. When the two she called left thug and right thug departed she tore her loaf in half and offered a piece to the orc, a peace offering of sorts. Strangely he refused, merely gesturing to his emaciated state when Guppy questioned his refusal. Wasn''t his sorry state the whole reason he needed to eat more? She couldn''t understand the creature but decided not to push him, she was quite hungry herself after all. Curling up after her meal Guppy tried to sleep, while also trying not to think about the orc getting hungry in the night and thinking she would be a tasty snack. It took her a bit of effort but her mind finally calmed enough to drift off. ....... Jade softly sighed as he watched the young human girl called Gupalagia fall asleep, she had tried to pull him into conversation several times after she woke, but he had kept mute, nostrils only flaring slightly when she asked why he was here. At least he got to eat again, and the girl had even offered him some of her meal, Jade had refused of course, his body still needed time to recover. Jade started to stretch, slowly and painfully working atrophied muscles, warming them, and gradually increasing their faded dexterity. He had to stop after far too short a session, but it was still progress. Jade laid his head down and went to sleep, ignoring the girls twitching and mutterings of how she was too stringy and hardly a mouthful, humans were weird. .............. Sixth day of the Fourth Week of Autumn. A cell somewhere under Nolusburg¡­ The days passed for Guppy as she grew used to her new routine. Each morning, at least she called it her morning, her master would come with his lackeys thug left and right, who she swore must be inbreds that had lost the power of speech, to retrieve her from her holding cell and escort her up to her workroom. There a bowl of cooling porridge was inevitably waiting for her, it wasn''t much of a meal, but she would need the calories for her days work. After her employer left and she ate Guppy would work until lunch, slowly converting lead bars into gold. Her master would arrive with lunch, and she would eat while Lefty and Righty packed the gold into small and well reinforced boxes, before taking it out the door to who knows where, she never really cared, she was getting her side of the bargain fulfilled, and that was enough; for now. Once they were gone Guppy continued converting gold, although less than her true limit, for she used her magic reservoir in other ways, or at least tried to, unsuccessfully. At least the locks of fresh hair they delivered on the fourth day reassured her that her siblings were alright, because her attempts to transmute the stone wall behind the desk only melted it a little before hardening, great, now she had even less of a chance to escape. Flying magic, useless in an underground prison even if she somehow managed it. Tunneling magic then, well, her hardened walls were not helping her to get out exactly, but the possibility was still promising. Attack magic? The most success she had was to light her hand on fire briefly, which was decidedly not a pleasant experience to undergo, for all the fact that she was not badly burnt and had healed quickly. She even wished that infuriating dragon was around, but Guppy had not seen neither hide nor whisker of the blasted beast. At least the orc had started to accept her peace offerings after the third day, which alleviated her anxiety and twitchiness to no small degree, she ate slightly less to be sure, but she had over exaggerated her need for sustenance the first couple days, and coupled with an increased production once she got her way Guppy''s master had seen to it that she received plenty of sustenance. It was still mostly bland though, Guppy had to force herself not to think of the delicacies she had enjoyed mere hours before her capture. Convinced of silent truce with her roommate, no longer did Guppy dream of orc chefs explaining their choice way to cook human body parts to delectable perfection as they filleted her. Something she was most glad her subconscious finally dropped. And speaking of the orc his recovery was nothing short of incredible, while he still looked like he needed a few stout meals Guppy visibly tracked his recovery each day as flesh grew to cover his ribs and swell his limbs once more. He had a weird but practical exercise routine that Guppy joined in on after watching the orc a couple times, it was push-ups, lots of push-ups, but also a whole bunch of strange slow movements that proved far more difficult than they looked, even with Guppy''s improved body she would wind up out of breath. Once she had even heard a low chuckle after trying a particularly limb twisting maneuver and face planting as she over balanced. They did help though, she could feel herself growing stronger and more flexible as the days turned into weeks. And then one day it happened, she received her weekly parcel with two grease paper wrapped locks of hair. Something was different, and it didn''t take her long to spot what. Stalia''s hair was normal, but Kyle''s, Kyle''s was stale. ......... Sixth day of the Fourth Week of Autumn. A secret training facility under Nolusburg¡­. Jacques was tired, tired but eager. The last week and a half had Hadoom and him going through what he could only describe as a personalized hell with barely an hours sleep each night. Miss Fae had personally seen to their training, a fact Hadoom celebrated and Jacques dismayed over as the elf seemed to find glee in their suffering, especially when Hadoom made one of his many subtle-less attempts at flirting with their instructor. Jacques was about to beat his partner at times from all the extra laps through mud riddled with physical and magical traps and attacks pouring down upon them. The fact that the white clothed mute of a healer stood on standby did nothing to improve the matter, the bastard never fully healed them or removed the pain, only healing enough to keep them going through another painful round or exercise. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. But Jacques could not argue with the results, Hadoom looked and walked a decade or two younger, although that could also be the fool''s romantic delusions. As for Jacques, he had never been faster or stronger than he was currently. Jacques had no doubt that the potions they were made to drink with every meal helped no small amount with their reconstruction, allowing them to benefit greatly from the training that had stripped away fat and hesitation both. And now they had a mission. Agents undisclosed had provided a target to rescue from the Grakoan mafia, not Guppy, their co-workers had yet to uncover her location, but her brother had been found and given a high enough importance that the mission was quickly approved. It was a step in the right direction as far as Jacques was concerned, and it would get them out of this underground training facility he was increasingly tired of. As Hadoom tried to finagle a date out of their instructor, Jacques hadn''t the heart to tell him she was likely thrice his age and far from what he had heard was normal for an elf. His partner dug his own grave and would have to lie in it, Jacques''s warnings so far had fallen on deaf ears. Jacques poured over the map and notes written in a cipher he had learned three days hence, the boy was being kept in one of the Grakoan Mafia''s many safe-houses, this one being under a gambling den in the pleasure district. This mission was as much of a test as anything else Jacques had been informed, there was a backup team in case they stuffed up, but he and Hadoom were assigned as first entry, and he meant to succeed. Jacques tucked his blade dusters into a pouch where they could be easily retrieved and fetched his astray companion, the weapons had been upgraded not with enchantments but with channels and a preset array that allowed him to cast his lightning spear spell far quicker than usual, his partner two had received upgraded pistols that fired near silently, some kind of muffling enchantment muting the sound and glow normally inherent in others of their kind. They had also both received tier three barrier pendants for protection, pricey artifacts that Jacques hadn''t believed real until demonstrated, he had never seen an artifact worth so much handed out so casually. The duo left clad in tight black wool garments emblazoned with a small raven over their hearts as the bell struck ten¡­ .........¡­.. Sixth day of the Fourth Week of Autumn. A secret holding cell under The Rabid Suk Entertainment Center in Nolusburg¡­. Kyle sat still and listened. What must have been at least a week had passed since Kyle had arrived home and waited for his sisters to get back, he knew Stalia would be late, he was sure she had said something to that effect, but Gupalagia was missing too, along with the feast she had promised him. He tried not to be too disappointed, ''She must be out gathering it.'' he had thought, turning to greet her as the front door opened behind him. It was not his elder sister it had turned out, but a man with a sweet smelling cloth that swiftly robbed him of his consciousness. He had awoken in a lightless room, and tried to escape. That attempt, like the three following had resulted in beatings, none that spared his young frame, and the last of which resulted in his jailer breaking both his legs to stop him from escaping. It had not. Kyle very carefully kept his hands pressed to the wall behind him, carefully compacting the soil step by step and digging an escape tunnel through the thin cover of rock he left to conceal it. The progress was slow, but steady work that filled the time. He paused only when his mana ran out and he had to beg his friends for more, they gave it willingly, but hovered around him. Kyle could not see them exactly, only slight blurs at the corner of his vision, but he could hear their childish voices, excitable and curious. He knew others couldn''t hear or see them, indeed he was often bullied when he was younger and tried to tell others his age of them. After a while he stopped trying to explain them, they were his friends, and he listened to them. They whispered to him secrets of things he wished to know, of fire, wind, earth and water, dancing in a balance lost to others but obvious to him alone. And so he listened and learned. One he had named Jack, Jack had been with him the longest, most of the others coming and going as he moved around, distractible and divers, but Jack always stayed with him, a bastion of comfort. Jack seemed older than the others, and was the sole one who radiated concern towards Kyle''s damaged legs. Kyle whispered reassurances to Jack, he would crawl down the tunnel anyway, no point in wasting effort making it big enough to run in. Kyle stopped his earthen casting, footsteps approached, quieter than the usual stomping but they heralded his meager meal and potential discovery. Kyle smelt rust, tangy and fishy as it was. It came from the blades the man held at his side. The man stared at Kyle a moment, before a crackle of electricity lit up the darkness. "Thats him." Kyle heard the man say, "Get the door open partner." Kyle watched as another short man clad in black rounded the bend and raised a pistol to the lock. A low thunk later and Kyle blinked as the cell''s door creaked open, he very much wanted to examine that magitech pistol right now but instead answered the tall one''s question about whether he could walk or not. "No, broke legs." He eloquently replied. The tall one approached and Kyle found himself thrown over a shoulder as the two swiftly left his prison. They passed several guards that Kyle recognized, including the one who broke his legs, they all lay silently on the floor. Jack paused to briefly spike the leg breaker between his legs as they passed but otherwise ignored the others. On they ascended up the steps, and the noise grew with their ascent until they emerged from the back of a building and darted into the shadows. Kyle wondered if he was truly rescued or had just traded one set of captors for another. The thought passed, these two seemed alright, and Jack seemed to like the short one, Kyle relaxed and let his weariness overtake him as he bounced on the tall one''s shoulder. 33 Wealth Redistribution We are all born with a fate Which we''ll come to love or hate -prophecy of the duskbringer Third day of the Fifth week of Autumn, First bell of the morning¡­ Sylvia was awesome, she knew this of herself, it was an indisputable fact. These were her thoughts as she carefully lifted the jeweled necklace from the display stand while hanging upside down with her leg curled around a rope. Sylvia secured the loot in a special pouch that hung at her side before flipping upright and ascending the rope rapidly, her calgaree heritage turning the climb into an easy one. Indeed, she felt that she was born for this job, her five foot four inch lean and sinewy stature made it rather easy to slip into places others would desire to keep her out of. Her glossy black fur made nighttime concealment a natural affair, one would think those defining silver streaks and contouring in her fur made it easier to spot her, but she kept well wrapped in dark cloth whenever she went on a nightly stroll to prevent them betraying her identity. Sylvia only had to be careful of her large luminous green eyes, however she hid those by wrapping a thin gauze over them, she was still able to see fairly well but they were far less obvious than before in the dark. While many professionals in her line of work were in their twenties or thirties, Sylvia was merely fourteen years old last month, eighteen in human years if you were counting. She was fully grown despite her diminutive frame and near impossible to stop with any lock, mundane or magical, they all fell before her alike. Indeed she had broken no less than three to gain entry here, and then another two securing the display cases themselves. Sylvia reached the roof and flipped herself onto it, landing silently thanks to both the pads on her feet and a sound dampening field she had cast with the aid of her wind magic. She gave her rope a tug with her mana and waited a moment as it wrapped itself quickly around her waist, the enchanted cord thin and light, then she disappeared from her location, only a blurry figure traveling silently over the rooftops at night. Sylvia was a dual affinity mage, wind and fire, a prodigy for a Calgaree, but it was a special magic she had developed and experimented with that truly set her a cut above the rest and paved her larcenous path. One evening when she was twelve Sylvia had been trying to meld her attributes to create lightning magic just like her childhood storybook hero Flanagan Rodgers. She had been at it for months and was close to succeeding, yet that night something went very wrong, or depending on your perspective, very right¡­ The mana Sylvia had been struggling to compress and mix finally did, although the effect was not what she had anticipated. The hair on Sylvia''s right arm had all poofed, standing on end as she felt the mana flow and convert into a current through the magic circle she created at the tips of her fingers. What happened next was a brilliant arc of¡­ nothing? Sylvia had felt like she had succeeded, yet there was no electricity appearing, nothing appeared to have changed. Sylvia frowned, her ears flattening to her head in frustration, the magic had to have done something. She had felt no mana rebound, neither had the magic circle collapsed. Everything indicated that a magical effect had occurred. "Did I just create invisible lightning!" Sylvia gleefully exclaimed. So her curiosity and pride stoked Sylvia naturally started experimenting. Starting with ordinary mundane objects scattered around her room she started poofing, with no apparent results. There did not seem to be any discernible difference before and after her new magic was applied, no grounding effect, no discernable damage, at least until she pulled one of her favourite rodent snacks from its cage. Sylvia placed the fat juicy luppie into a box and took aim. The fingers of her right arm splayed wide and her left arm supporting it for increased steadiness, she closed her left eye and concentrated. Poof, her arm hairs rose once more, Sylvia stopped and looked at the luppie, examining it for any changes. It squirmed a bit and twitched its whiskers before baring its teeth at Sylvia. Great, even her snack was mocking her now. "Ha defiant little luppie aren''t you." Sylvia norted, "Well lets see how you like being a midnight snack later then. At this point, Sylvia was tired and running low on mana despite having meditated several times to restore it. She pointed her hand once more and constructed the magic circle and blasted the impudent rodent with all she had left. Once done she rubbed her tired eyes, only to hear a soft hissing of sparks. Startled she looked up to see the magitech examination tool her mother had given her for her tenth birthday sparking with its magitech circuits melting. She had been using it to try and discern the effects of her tests and had lain it next to the box, it seemed she had hit it as well in the last blast. Drat, how was she going to explain that to her mom, a swift paddling would be imminent. Picking it up she tried using The tool, only to confirm that it was now no better than an ordinary looking glass. Sweat rolled down her back as she thought of the variety of canes her mother would possibly when she found out it was broken, the tool was not a cheap one and was meant for her training for the next couple years. Sylvia quickly hid it under her mattress for now, she would think of something to tell her mother soon. That done her ears twitched, a sickly coughing had sounded from the luppie. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Sylvia bounded back to the box before recoiling. There the luppie was lying on its side in a pile of its fallen fur, disgusting lumps and bulges were growing on its bare skin as it swelled and bloated, its weak screechings pitiful to the ear. Sylvia watched this in wide eyed horror until the luppie had reached critical and exploded, splattering her face with its remains. Her mother had found Sylvia sobbing and shivering in the bathroom when she came home, smelling of things best left untold. Wrapping the weeping child in her arms she made no mention of the silver streaks that had appeared on Sylvia''s fur, instead focusing on comforting her. It took her hours to do so, until she finally laid a cried out child to bed, having heard the whole story and extracting a promise from Sylvia to never use the magic on another living thing ever again, a promise Sylvia eagerly gave. This had not stopped her using it entirely though, as Sylvia continued to grow she watched as the poor and the hungry grew more numerous on the streets, at first she would sneak some of her own food to give to a beggar boy called Justin, but she had quickly realised how little she affected the overall suffering she saw. At this point most individuals would give up, either rationalizing away the situation, or turning their eyes from it. But not her. When she was thirteen she liberated a sack of grain from a wealthy merchant after watching from the shadows as he feasted on meat and wine while the beggars outside his gate froze and starved. The magitech locks he employed to secure his warehouse fell before her magic with such ease. Sylvia took the grain and made porridge, and with the help of Justin they fed the neighbourhood destitute for three days. There was no stopping her after that, food, valuables, she liberated them all from the uncaring wealthy in order to fund her growing projects. Of course she tried, and failed to hide it from her mother, Anastasia had gotten word of what she was doing, and when she got home sat her down and waited. Sylvia hadn''t lasted five minutes of twitching and sweating before she crumbled to her mother''s stern look and the awful silence. She came clean and confessed what she had been up to. She got an earful that night, but not on the topic she thought, her mother was mad at her for hiding it and stupidly selling goods to whichever slick hander fence would take it, not only would they cheat her of its value but it could be traced back to her. Instead Anastasia proposed that they funnel it through her workplace, Avarice''s Descent, thereby ensuring maximum value and confidentiality. With these plans in place Sylvia started an orphanage and soup kitchen, claiming an anonymous wealthy donor as the funder, she ran them by day with her growing cadre captained by Justin and ran across the rooftops at night, ever seeking wealth to liberate from the callous and uncaring. Back in the present Sylvia reached the roof of Little Paws orphanage, and sliding off the edge and down a narrow pipe she swung into her open office window. Sylvia landed silently on all fours and waited for a moment to ensure the coast was clear before she rose and stretched, enjoying the feel of her tired muscles after a long moonlit run, then made her way to a couch. There she curled up as she sank into its luxurious plush softness. It was one of the few things she legally owned, having saved up from some of her more legal side businesses to purchase it. In truth Sylvia had never touched a cent of what she stole, it was never something she ever considered, the money being destined for needier hands and paws than her own.. The door opened and her ears twitched but she recognised the familiar quiet footsteps, how could she not, having heard them all her life. "How did your weekly stroll go my little mushka?" Anastasia enquired Sylvia answered by lifting an arm over the back of the couch, handing over her swag bag to her mother who hefted it before peering inside. "Good, this should bring in enough for most of this year''s graduating children to get apprentice assignments in the crafter''s quarter. I shall make the necessary arrangements for them tomorrow, now I must be off to the council, the other matriarchs do so hate it when I''m late." Anastasia leant over the couch and kissed Sylvia''s cheek, eliciting a squim from her to which she responded with a gentle smile. "Sleep well now my little mushka, I will see you later." She murmured. Anastasia covered Sylvia with a blanket and left the room, her footsteps firm and sure as ever. ........ Anastasia Rebekah Calgaree stored the bag of valuables in a floor safe, which she locked with both glyph and key. She then raised her hood and left her house through a secret passage that opened from her closet, travelling for a time along secret Calgaree paths under the city. She reached her destination after a time, and showing a particular signet ring to the guards at the door she was granted access, entering a room lit only by small sconces set into the stone walls behind each of the twelve chairs. All the current occupants sat at the round table, ten of them in total excluding Anastasia who swiftly took her seat. "You''re late R" a mellow voice purred, "No trouble I hope?" "None that need concern you V." responded Anastasia. "Enough!" demanded a cracked and dusty, but nonetheless commanding voice, "Save your bickering for later, we have much to discuss. The Matriarch Council of the Calgaree is now in session." A figure, bent with age and infirmity reprimanded the two of them, D had never been a patient one, and age certainly hadn''t mellowed her. "H! What''s on the agenda this evening?" demanded D "Yeees!" squeaked H, as the youngest of them she was tasked with the duties none of the others wanted, and she still struggled to adapt to the presence of all the other matriarchs. Anastasia remembered filling that role not so long ago and felt a drop of pity for her, but at the same time was quite thankful it was no longer her duty. "We have the distribution of Calgaree welfare allotments across the different nations to decide on, and then the new security measures for the banker''s guild to discuss and ratify." H finished reading from her notes and sat down. "And what about R''s spawn?" inquired V, "Her child flouts our rules, stealing as she wishes and riling up the human nobles with her antics. How is she ever supposed to-" Another matriarch lent forward, one of R''s allies on the council and the one who had first invited her here, M. "Peace V, we have already discussed this matter, the child is young and will grow in wisdom as she gains in years, her heart is in the right place." M persuaded, her tone soft but firm. D cut in, her tone rather less amiable. "And last I checked we cared little about the wants of nobles and far more about our own, we are allies with humans V, not their pets, I would hope you know the difference between the two." The air thickened with tension for a moment, before V backed off. "Of course, I was simply worried about how her actions reflect upon our people, and upon R." V snidely replied. "The child does more good than most of your precious nobles combined, and she will continue to do so when she proves herself and her time comes to sit at this very table, whenever that may be." Anastasia bitingly snapped, angry at the continued attacks on her daughter. She hated the politics on the council, but still came each meet nonetheless, someone had to represent her people to make sure it was done right, and it may as well be her. "We are getting sidetracked" spoke P, "Let us refocus and perform our duties ladies, before the males think they can do it better." This brought some chuckles all round, and the mood settled down as the council did what it did best, keeping the peace and looking after their own... 34 Wealth Redistribution 2 One man''s treasure is another man''s treasure, well why not ours? -Slickhander Creed Fourth day of the Fifth week of Autumn, tenth bell of the morning¡­ Sylvia felt rays of sun on her face and twitched her whiskers before burrowing deeper under the blanket. A quiet knock came at the door, then a creak and footsteps as someone entered. Sylvia couldn''t be bothered by the who right now, the seductive calls of sleep were far more enticing then the smell of¡­ Sylvia sat up abruptly, still clad in rumpled clothes from the night before. Her blurry eyes made out the figure of a youth, and more importantly the bowl he was holding. The heavenly smell of deep fried ice cream swimming in a pool of malted milk overpowered Sylvia''s will to sleep as it filled her twitching nose, she unconsciously licked her lips. The youth, Justin smiled as he watched Sylvia positively attack and devour the delectable morsel he had delivered, He knew it was her favorite treat and prepared it the morning after each successful ''liberation hunt''. It was a small thank you that all the children of the orphanage saved up a few coppers for through odd jobs each week. When Sylvia first laid eyes on him years ago Justin had been a scrawny runt, little more than skin and bones with matted brown hair and large sunken eyes devoid of hope. A state he had thankfully recovered from as regular feeding and exercise along with the onset of puberty fleshed out his body. Purpose had filled his black eyes as surely as food his frame. While he was still small for his fifteen years, something that was unlikely to change based on his build, he now wielded a whipcord strength from long hours of work and training alike, few could truly estimate the power held within his narrow build. A fact he had used to his advantage on more than one occasion. Seeing that Sylvia was nearing the end of her meal Justin sat on the floor in front of the couch and began reporting, another routine, albeit a daily one. "We have a few leads for next week''s stroll but are sussing out if they are real or not. As well as what kind of protection they have in place, I''ll update you as we find out more but you have an appointment at the eighth bell this evening down at the Talking Tankard." "Local wise the orphanage is running well, there have been a few attempts to move into our turf but you sure picked a good spot, the tensions between the factions and the recent power struggle in the Grakoan mafia have them all overlooking us for now." "The Grakoans especially are too lazy to interfere considering the soup kitchens help a good number of their beggar division, and the other factions are too scared to make a move on the edge of their turf with how violent and aggressive they have been acting recently." Plus no one wants to wants to piss off that noble person funding us without knowing who it is, and if they can do so safely." Sylvia bared her teeth in a wild grin, pure genius that deception had been. In truth there was no noble behind them, but a few well placed rumors with the help of her mum was enough to engender enough doubt to inspire caution in smaller groups. And that''s all they really needed in the end, enough space and peace to do some good. "Mick, Sue and Heathrow go for their apprentice tests tomorrow, your mum says we''ll have enough for them and the twenty other new graduates to get placed in good crafts, bout time those brats got kicked out." Justin shamelessly continued, completely ignoring how he was older than they yet still hung around. Sylvia was struck by the blatant hypocrisy of his statement and gave him a level stare, which was masterfully deflected by Justin''s unabashed grin. Sylvia sniffed and turned her attention back to the bowl, licking it clean before handing it back and letting out a satisfied burp Justin had attached himself to her years ago, vowing to be the butler to the ''Black Lightning Princess'' as the orphans were wont to call her. The name made her skin crawl in embarrassment, but she tolerated it upon seeing the joy and hope in the children''s eyes as they did so. They had so little to believe in, she couldn''t take away what they had. Sylvia had however objected a while back, when she found a little shrine dedicated to her with Justin leading a dubious ceremony with some of the other older children. She gave them a good clobbering and an earful on respecting the twelve divines. That had thankfully been the last of that, Sylvia had no wish for being the object of a cultist worship. Thankfully they seemed to have grown out of it, a phase no doubt, though she could not comprehend it. She did however make sure they had a rotating minister come in once a week for an hour of religious education for the children. Their eyes tended to glaze over at the sermons but if nothing else it broadened their horizons and helped them to learn how to read and write, some of the children were even planning to join the various faiths in the future as apprentice clergy. Sylvia finished listening to Justin''s report, all in all things were going well, life was good and as it should be. Neatening up her appearance from the disheveled state it was in after her sleep, and getting a few good stretches in, Sylvia prepared to face the days tasks. Now more awake and energized she followed Justin out her office and began her day. .............. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Same day and time, a small inn near the eastern gate¡­. Braexia awoke in a cold sweat and let out a groan while holding her throbbing head. Her red hair danced crazily, agitated by her distress, searching for enemies and slicing a fly in two as it wandered close. Braexia gently stroked it and sung softly until it calmed down and hung smooth and straight once more. Then she rose, and casting off her sweat stained shift, washed herself down before she dried herself and changed into fresh clothes. Braexia moved to the window, and leaning on the windowsill, sightlessly gazed down into the alleyway at a suk scavenging food from some knocked over refuse bins. Braexia allowed the memories instigated by her dreams to wash over her, it was the only way she could find peace, at least for awhile. ..... Some Years ago, outer borders regions of Darish, Sping... Braexia was five years old, and it was her birthday. She had gone out into the meadow that lay close to her little woodcutting village to pick flowers and braid a crown, something her wonderful elder brother had praised her about last year. She was good at making the flower crowns, and this year she would make the bestest, most wonderful one ever. Braexia sat in the field of blooming flowers, putting the final touches and weaving a summers blush here and there, the deep red flower contrasted magnificently with small white maidens hands flowers that served as the base. Braexia nodded to herself seriously, this crown was perfect, none would have such magnificence as she, her brother would no doubt exclaim over it''s loveliness and all the other girls would be jealous. Especially that Rosaline, she didn''t like the way she looked at her brother, or how she tried to get his attention. Braexia placed the crown on her head, tightening it carefully with a slipknot so it sat securely without crushing any of the floral adornments. Looping the end of the stem round the knot several times she fastened it. Braexia spent a few moments more sitting in the bright and peaceful meadow, enjoying the caress of the sun on her skin, the early season sun felt wonderful after the long cold months just past. She waited for more than just the sun though, despite how he tried to hide it from her, Braexia had found out that her brother Simon was fetching a special treat for her birthday. Knowing it was Braexia''s favorite, he had gone to trade for a full comb of honey from old Billy the beekeeper who lived alone in the northern woods. So she had come to the meadow late in the morning and entertained herself until the sun had passed its zenith. Reasoning that enough time had passed Braexia rose and made her way back, practicing a surprised facial look so her awesome brother wouldn''t be disappointed when he handed over her present. Braexia quickly reached the small windy road that ran through the forest and lead to her small village, and began to skip along it as she traveled home. As she made her way village ''wards Braexia licked her lips as she imagined savoring the rich mellow honey, and had to gulp back the saliva that threatened to overflow. It was going to be so yummy. Braexia''s daydreaming was interrupted by a clip-clopping coming from behind, entering her ears and sparking her curiosity. Turning around and moving off the road she watched shyly from behind a tree as around the bend came horses and men, in front of a large and beautiful carriage. The horses they rode weren''t like Henry, the solid old brown horse her neighbor''s used for ploughing, instead they were slim and sleek, full of vim and vigor, no shaggy hair or stout bellies in sight! The leading figures rode horses black as midnight, while the carriage was drawn by two white steeds. The contrast made them all the more striking to the impressionable young Braexia. Braexia watched with shining eyes as the wondrous spectacle passed her by. The handsome men in their shiny armor and gallant bearing was a treat for a little village girl who had never traveled nor seen much grandeur. ''Lots of good stuff happening this birthday'' little Braexia thought as she grinned at the spectacle. The carriage bore a bunch of funny pictures on the side, the same ones she saw on the back of the few copper coins her brother showed her, and the vehicle had plenty of shiny ornaments and decorations all over it that gleamed and strands of filtered sunlight hit them through the tree''s foliage. As the carriage approached and passed her Braexia overheard a brief conversation coming from the open window. "Really Thomas, I know it''s customary for the crown prince to tour the country when he turns fourteen, but must we visit every blasted town? The food is pig swill and accommodations are simply horrendous!" an impetuous voice complained. "Patience my prince, we should be nearing the next town and we can take a brief break there and enjoy some refreshments, now what do you say to..." The carriage moved too far away for Braexia to overhear the conversation any longer, but she didn''t mind, her thoughts and eyes lingered on the beautiful and shiny group until they rounded a bend and moved out of sight. Only once they had done so was the spell broken and Braexia exited the treeline and started following them, moving homewards once more. Braexia kept on the path, skipping and dancing around tufts of flowers and stones as she made her way back, it only took a bell''s worth of time either way and it was not long before she rounded the final bend, her village coming into sight. Braexia stopped, Gop the village guard was not at his post, and there was a lot of smoke rising, were they having a big bonfire party without her? It must be for those fancy men who passed her on the road, Gop must be at the party, and she, she was missing out. Braexia rationalised the strangeness and hastened her footsteps, not wanting to miss out on the merriment, her birthday was going to be the best one ever! But where was the singing and music? Braexia wondered as she reached the gate. A strong smell reached her small nose, which crinkled in revulsion. A strong smell, like a rusty plow but somehow worse overlaid other ones even worse. Braexia''s feet slowed as she saw Gob sitting bent over against a house. Did some long-drop overflow? Why does it smell so bad? And did Gob have too much fire water again and fall asleep? Braexia tilted her head to the side in puzzlement, trying to make sense of the situation. She still couldn''t hear any music, only the sound of a bonfire somewhere. Braexia walked up to Gop and shook him, trying to wake him up and ask what was going on. Gop fell over, still not waking. He was cold, and her hands were red. A panic rose in Braexia''s chest. She fled from good, kind Gop''s cooling corpse. Racing between huts, barely registering their fiery state Braexia reached her house at the village centre. Her parents lay face down in the dirt, motionless, with great red gashes on their backs. Many others lay strewn about, falling to blows as they had fled, but Braexia had no eyes for them. Before Braexia lay her brother, clothes ragged, bruised and torn flesh showing all over his body . Braexia knelt before her brother and hugged him, he was so cold, how could he be happy being so cold? She hugged him tight to try and warm him. The last winter Simon had shared his blanket with her, insisting he did not feel the cold as much. But Braexia still caught him shivering sometimes when he didn''t know she was watching. Braexia wept. The crown she had so carefully constructed fell from her head to her brother''s. Suddenly she felt a slight warmth, fading quickly, and she knew it was her brother, but the tiny spark was fading. Braexia clung to it, pleading for him not to leave her, yet it still slowly flowed away like sand running through her fingers. Braexia screamed and pulled with something deep inside her. She felt her energy quickly draining, but something flowed towards her. Braexia opened her bleary eyes, and witnessed her brothers blood flowing from his wounds, crawling through the air and seeping into her long hair, dyeing it a bright fresh red. Strands of hair then wove themselves together and gently wiped tears from her cheeks. Braexia gently laid her brothers corpse down, then stroked her hair, hiccuping out a lullaby her brother would sing to her every night as their parents would fight in the other room. She felt her brothers presence with her now, he would not leave her now. Footsteps sounded behind her, causing her to quieten and turn around. There stood a man in a heavy black cloak watching her. He was large in stature and had a neatly trimmed black beard flecked throughout with grey. When he threw back his hood it revealed an angular face, it''s harsh lines overshadowed by his deep deep emerald eyes that swirled with power untold. Braexia''s hair lifted itself and waved threateningly at the man in various spiked forms. "Interesting." He murmured. A silence sprung between them as the standoff continued, until the man finally broke the quiet. "Do you know what happened here little girl?" Braexia shook her head, her throat too sore from screaming and crying to speak. "You wield a powerful magic young one." said the man as he gestured to her twisting hair. Braexia saw strange lines and symbols dimly glowing on his hand he did so. "If you follow me I can teach you a great deal more. Come, follow me, I Nocturnus Ullymar will care for you henceforth, and in time I will allow you to hunt the ones responsible for this crime." A fire lit within Braexia then, a purpose, a hatred and desire that would push and drive her through the coming hellish years, even as it drove her still. She bent back down and closed her brothers eyes then placed his hands on his chest, one opened as she did so and revealed a sad looking piece of sticky honeycomb. Braexia crammed it into her mouth as fresh tears flooded her eyes. It was sweet, so very very sweet. She rose and followed the departing figure of her new master. Leaving footsteps painted in blood behind her. ...... Braexia sighed as she leaned against the window pane of her room. The memories came occasionally, flooding out in a tidal wave of crippling emotion and flattening her, requiring time and effort to pack them back up and store them away once more. Yet for all the pain they brought she relished them, for with each wave she was honed and renewed, her direction and conviction confirmed. Braexia gazed up to the magnificent castle on the hill. "I''m coming for all of you, just you wait, soon I''ll dance over your cold corpses." Braexia closed her shutters, the only witness to her declarative vow some uncaring suks. 35 The Job If you walk into the wrong part of Nolusberg you''ll be lucky to walk out with naught but your britches on boys, ''course if you walk into the right part of town, or the really wrong part that''s fortunate instead. I''d tell you to keep your wits about you but knowing you lot that just ain''t gonna happen. -Cautionary words from army Sergeant Peter Davies to his squad Fourth day of the fifth week of Autumn, Eighth Bell of the Evening, The Talking Tankard¡­ Sylvia sat in one corner of her favorite inn, sipping on a glass of warm milk and listening to the locals gossip about events. She was seldom around for the evening rush, usually having other activities planned for this time, and the mornings were inevitably taken up sleeping and assisting the orphanage, while the afternoons were when she sought and scouted her next midnight stroll. Occasionally though, clients would seek her out, and after some checks to confirm that their request was legitimate and not an entrapment Justin would let a child runner lead them here, where Sylvia would meet them and accept requests that often came with lucrative remuneration. Sylvia leaned back in her chair, she was well wrapped up to conceal her identity from the client and any others here, the withered, black flower that lay on her table the only identification she needed. The gossip Sylvia picked up on was as lean as their bearers, the tavern''s patron''s muttering about the current hard times in subdued tones and angry tones. Sylvia only sat up and took her crossed legs off the table when a black hooded individual joined her in the shadowy corner. "I hear you are the one to speak to about procurement''s and deliveries of a complicated nature?" A voice of melted butter questioned. Sylvia shrugged, most of her special requests came from nobles, and the nobility always had weird requests. Deliver this flower to a baron''s bedside while he enjoys his tryst, suspend a sculpted dagger above this lady''s head while she slept, retrieve a seal and stamp a certain letter before replacing it and dropping the letter in a postbox three streets over, abduct a pet magdopine¡­ She had refused that job, cruelty to cute little fluffy animals crossed the line of work she was willing to take, no matter how unsavory their owners might be. Sylvia slid a card across the table, "Request?" It read. She never spoke to her clients, lest her voice betrayed her age or identity, something her requestors seldom thought about. "I wish something retrieved my little rogue, your payment will be in gold, pure gold." The honeyed voice continued, "A person, a girl, lies entrapped within a cage of cold iron and earth, I wish you to bring them out. You, will bring them to me." Sylvia extended another card. ''No Slavery'' it read. "Fear not, I mean to free her, merely bring her out unshackled and your work will be done, I will leave payment in security box six-two-six at the merchant''s bank once I hear of your success, here is your key." As she finished speaking the woman slid a gilded key across the table to Sylvia with a gloved hand. Sylvia tilted her head in confusion, something her potential employer picked up on. "I heard that the Black Shadow could pass through any lock or barrier, was I wrong?" The warm voice asked. Sylvia barely resisted the cringe that arose upon hearing the ghastly name Justin advertised her under, but her professionalism won through and Sylvia instead nodded her head in acknowledgement of the moniker, it was true after all, she had yet to meet any device crafted by locksmith or mage that could keep her out. So Sylvia slid a new card across the table, "Job accepted, details required." it read. A brilliant white smile shone through the unnatural dimness of the Lady''s hood, female for sure, but Sylvia already knew that from her scent. A hint of silver from within the hood showed briefly as the woman stood and placed a rolled and bound sheaf of papers on the table. "One thousand gold royals upon completion." She stated, before turning and leaving the tavern, confidant in the acceptance of her terms. Whomever she was, she walked slowly away, controlling her gait and using the thick cloak to conceal her identity and even gender from any observers. Sylvia gazed at the papers the the woman had left, there was a portrait of a girl, poorly drawn, and a rough map of Nolusberg with a location marked, it was not too far, but it lay solidly within Grakoan territory. Sylvia shrugged to herself as she too rose and tucked the papers away, nobles were weird, and the money was good, very good. Besides, she enjoyed the thrill of the challenge, and her instincts were telling her that this one would be entertaining. .........¡­.. Same Time, an Undisclosed Location In the Nobles Quarter... Emily watched as her two wards tousled and sparred with each other and the other training operatives on the practice field. The half elf was all she required in a new recruit, strong, fast, intelligent and talented, he picked up techniques and weapons like he had been training with them for years, which according to his docket, he mostly had. Yet he favored his daggers too much, however good he was with them, his magic was far too lacking to cover the mid to long range, sure it packed a punch, but it was horribly inefficient, two spears and he was reeling from mana loss, three and he was on the floor from overdraft, trust a man to favor a flashy strike over practicality. No blooming stamina to kids these days. Well she would see about that, future training, maybe some gear, along with a decent mage teacher and of course lots of practice might set him straight and allow her to make a special operative of him yet. Yet his partner...gave Emily a headache every time she looked at him. That..dwarf..was insufferable, he was not fast, was terrible with melee weapons despite some proficiency with magitech guns, he looked like a waddling barrel, and had somehow decided that she, of all people! Was a desirable romantic partner. No matter how hard she put him down, or how many laps she made the fool run, the dwarf kept up his antics and made her life miserable, why couldn''t he give up already? Emily stared down some other operatives who had been snickering while watching the dwarf gush over how lovely the moons were tonight in some ill fated attempt at flirting. Thankfully her murderous gaze had been enough to make them stop snickering, straighten up and hastily get back to sparring. She ignored the dwarf and fervently prayed to Lupo for some clouds, maybe a nice thunderstorm would dampen the dwarf''s spirits if she made him run the mud pits a few times in a cold rain. Emily looked upwards, not a cloud to be seen, it was a beautifully clear night. Drat. For a moment the stars reminded her of another time, she had been married once, and had a child hadn''t she? The memories and faces were blurry and indistinct, they hovered at the edge of recollection, and Emily stood with her eyes closed for a moment as she tried to grasp the string of memory. What were their names again? A sharp pain spiked through her head, interrupting her thoughts and causing her to shake her head to dispel it. She focused back on the field, looking for targets to vent her frustration upon. "Alright puppies, who''s ready to see if they can land a hit on me and skip the twenty mile run tomorrow?" Several hands went up, all first years, such eager little things, the second years knew better and had backed right up. Ah well, on to tonight''s victims. Pained cries and solid thumps resounded from the field as Emily exacted a toll on the greenie''s pride. ............... Same Time, Lesser Nobles District of the Nobles Quarter, 2 Viscount Lane... Rolf lent back from his work desk with a satisfied sigh, his project was finished. Before him lay a chest harness attached to a shoulder brace and two support frames for mechanical arms, a normal work for a mechanist one would say, if they discounted Rolf''s sixteen years of age and the fact that these limb enhancers looked rather different than the usual bulky fair. Instead they were half the usual weight and size, being far more streamlined and compact, a necessity for Rolf who despite possessing a wiry strength was nowhere near the mass of rippling muscles most mechanists possessed and designed for. Hoisting the armaments up Rolf shrugged his arms through the gaps and started fastening the array of straps and clasps until the device was firmly secured. Even with it''s slender design it weighed Rolf down quite a bit and hindered his movements, at least until he activated two gravity arrays by inserting jadeite power crystals and connecting a thread of his mana to them. The Jadeite power crystals were a step above jasper crystals in magic retention and efficiency, but still inferior to nephrite or agate ones, nevertheless they would suffice for his intentions, they had cost a month''s worth of allowance and he could currently afford nothing better. With the arms now lightened from Rolf activating the magitech enhancements allowed him to proceed with his primary purpose of the evening. "Test one, ease of movement." Rolf noted softly, his voice quivering slightly from both nervousness and excitement. Slowly he extended his arms and started moving them around, testing the joints and pistons through various postures and flexes. All seemed mostly in order. With the first test complete Rolf grabbed a screwdriver and made some minor tension adjustments before going through the test again. Perfect. "Test two, standard strength enhancement." Rolf said. He then activated the enchantment with a knob, before proceeding to lift his table, and then his bed one at a time. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Test complete, strength enhancement within acceptable parameters, proceeding to final test." Rolf switched the knob to the final setting. "Test three, gravitational enhancement and modification application." Rolf activated the enchantment with his mana, and dropped. The splintering of wood as his brass fists slammed into the floor was both loud, and as splinters embedded themselves in exposed patches of skin, painful. A silent moment occurred as Rolf set a mental reminder to affix a modifier to the enchantment to allow him to control the intensity. Unfortunately for him the noise had not gone unnoticed. As footsteps slapped on the roof, and then the stairwell Rolf struggled to hit the disengage button, eventually resorting to kneeing himself in the chest to hit the catch, once free he swiftly popped the crystals out and as the enchantment faded he shoved the apparatus under his bed and messed up the blanket so it drooped down and concealed it from view. "Rolf! Are you in there? I''m coming in!" His mother called from the hallway. Rolf jumped to the door just as it started opening, holding it shut with his body. "Don''t come in mom, I''m changing, I''ll be up for dinner in a minute!" The door relented and Rolf shut it before sweeping his eyes around the room. He changed clothes at breakneck pace and after a thought placed a brass gear in the impact zone as ''evidence''. Just in time he stepped back. His mother had taken the silence as him being presentable and entered. She was a classically beautiful woman, long straight hair of ebony matched with a pale skin seldom touched by sunlight. Her features could have been beautiful, but instead appeared severe, softening only slightly from their usual stiffness as she gazed upon her son. "What happened Rolfie? Are you alright? You weren''t fiddling around with that awful magic again were you? Or worse, that abominable hybrid of true,pure technology with magic, that.. magitech." Rolf''s mom practically spat the last word out, her tone venomous, Rolf tried to look as innocent as possible as he shook his head. "No mom, I was just thinking of how awful magitech is and so in my rage I threw that gear over there and damaged the floor." Rolf blithely lied, deflecting his mom before she could start ranting again. His mom sniffed, "Well, as commendable as that is always remember, trash the magic not the tech. I know it''s difficult being a teenager Rolfie, but fear not, soon you will have outgrown any unhealthy obsessions with magic and fulfill your true calling of brass." She walked into the room and reached down to collect the gear. Caught in the middle of a suppressed eye roll Rolf''s heart practically exploded as it sped up, if his mom just turned her head slightly she would see his masterpiece hiding under the bed and all hell would break loose, Rolf had only angled the blanket to hide it from the doorway, not the room''s center. Thankfully his mom rose and deposited the gear neatly into a pile of similar items lying on his workbench. "Now come Rolfie, the food will get cold if we take much longer, and you know how that irritates your father. We also need to talk about your desire to attend the royal academy, you know how I''d rather you took a good apprenticeship at your Uncle''s business in Imperyn." "Yes mom." Rolf replied as he carefully shepherded her out of his room, before closing the door firmly behind them. "We''ll talk about it." Rolf firmed his will for the battle ahead. He''d be damned if he was shipped off to his uncle who was a greater magitech hater than even his mother, he needed to escape to the royal academy where he could pursue his passion in peace. Thankfully he had been successful in his last task, he hoped it bought him enough capital to sway his father, because by hook or by crook he was going to the royal academy of Darish. They had the best magitech programs and funding out of any of the national academies and he wouldn''t settle for less. 36 The Job 2 Stories of monsters called vampires who live off of human blood? You really must avoid this trashy pulp fiction your highness, next you will be telling me that werewolves are allergic to silver instead of the well known wolfsbane ivy that has been academically proven. It''s more fun to imagine you say? Well whatever does that have to do with being Royalty? Now sit up straight and read off to me the primary, secondary and tertiary exports of each nation including the yearly average of each. -Chief Royal Governess Tillybrook Maebus 4993 A.D. Sixth day of the fifth week of Autumn, First Bell of the Morning¡­ Sylvia crouched in a shadowed nook on the roof opposite her target, no perching on isolated spires for her, despite the melodramatic allure it held only fools gave away their presence so readily. Sylvia only rarely gave into her melodramatic impulses, and never on the job. Justin and his crew had scoped out the location for the last couple days, supposedly it was a small magitech core facility, owned by some small rural noble that Sylvia bet was not even aware the documents were under his name, Fodlesmarch something or the other. It was not a bad cover, and word on the street was that it served to conceal a Joombla purification lab, the word they paid for had been expensive, mostly to keep it anonymous, and had revealed that three odd weeks ago the Joombla supply lanes had shifted, no more came from this facility, yet it was clearly in use. Unmarked crates still entered and exited, but watching the transporters revealed that these crates were incredibly heavy and lacked the distinctive whiff that clouded so many dens of iniquity these days, they also headed not to the pleasure district but to the crafters. Everything matched, Sylvia had her target. It was quiet now, and it had been for some time, so Sylvia slunk out of her nook and stealthily approached, keeping low and within the depths of shadows, using her wind magic to stifle even the tiniest of sounds she created. Stringing a silken cord across the street two houses down she sprinted across before using an air cushion to slide into the next shadowy overhang underneath a chimney and kill her momentum. Sylvia lay motionless, listening for any indication her movements had garnered attention. After a few minutes and the guards doing nothing but pass wind and small talk Sylvia recovered her cord and once again started moving. Before long Sylvia hung upside down outside the first floor office window, having disabled the magitech sensor with a quick poofing she extended a claw and expertly cut a small hole in the low quality bubbled glass of the window pane, slanting the cut so the section fell outwards into her waiting palm. Sylvia then reached in and undid the latch before carefully opening the window and flipping herself inside. Landing silently Sylvia again paused, waiting and listening, slowly looking around the room she had infiltrated, even twitching her whiskers as she smelt the air for inhalants or other dangers, some people were just flat out paranoid and a couple days of sneezing and wheezing after a face of pepper gas was no joke. The room gave off the atmosphere of a down trodden and out of luck merchant, the rug was frayed, the furniture worn, the safe by the desk rusty. Sylvia doubted there was more than a few pouches of copper in there, accompanied no doubt by a false ledger, just enough to withstand a casual, or surprise inspection. No, if what she knew of this operation was even slightly correct then there had to be another,better hidden stash, now where was it... Sylvia moved, avoiding no less than three pressure pads as she approached a drink cabinet whose bottom half seemed a little too sturdily built to her experienced eyes. Carefully running her claws along one side she felt them catch and using the leverage swung the false side open, revealing a craftily concealed safe. Sylvia poofed it to be safe, she took a moment to silently snicker at her punny thought before retrieving her picks from their thigh holster and inserting a correctly sized hooked one along with the torque bar. She pressed her ear to the safe and listened attentively as she carefully maneuvered her tools within the lock. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Click, click, click, click, clunk. A five pin ''Rodger Unbreakable'', child''s play to her. As the last tumbler fell into place Sylvia withdrew half a pace and cracked the safe open slowly. Nothing wrong with getting a little bonus on the job after all. Sylvia''s grin stretched from ear to ear as she spotted slender bars of gleaming metal, ~Jackpot~. Someone was skimming alright, no middle manager got this wealthy through ordinary means. Sylvia quickly transferred a decent amount to her pouch, sadly she had to leave a good deal of it there, even though her pouch had a weight reduction enchantment cast upon it there simply was not enough room in it''s relatively small interior. It was only when she had emptied half the safe that she heard a small click. Sylvia watched in horror, noticing and moving all too late, as a secondary panel fell open at the back of the safe and a tiny magitech array lit for a second before she poofed it. Damn. Sylvia''s ears flattened, this was not good, she tested the hidden panel, quickly ascertaining it''s composition as a soft sliver was gouged out by her claw, lead, it and the copious amount of gold must have blocked her initial cautionary poofing. Fiddlesticks. Sylvia''s brain whirled as she filtered out options, no doubt that array was some sort of alarm, a personal one no doubt as she could not hear the two guards storming up the stairs. Probably sent to some trinket the owner kept on him, a small comfort. In that case she had ten minutes, maybe less, before he made it here. Sylvia spared a thought in gratitude to Justin''s meticulous planning that even scoped out the target''s living arrangements and travel time. So not enough to rescue and escape together, but maybe enough to pass on a message? Sylvia determined her course of action swiftly, she pulled out a cheating pick and raked the office door, bolting out and down the stairs with as much speed as she could stealthily muster, no need to alert the door guards just yet after all. Down the stairs, through the still stinking work room, down more stairs, rake that lock, then this one, avoid that magic, no poofing allowed now, they could not know she had been down here, and a row of failed magitech arrays would give the game away for sure. So Sylvia ran on the wall to avoid all fifteen spelled steps, sliding down past the first entrance room and landing before the final door. Open! ........ Guppy was woken from a dream of an alcoved inn where she had met someone by the creaking sound of the door opening. Was it already time to work? It did not feel like she had gotten enough sleep yet. A hissing and the words "Wake up princess." bugged her enough to rise and look into the darkness in front of the prison bars, she heard the orc stir behind her and knew he had awoken too. "Who ar-" Guppy barely got out before she was interrupted. "There''s no time missy, listen closely, I was supposed to rescue you but it seems I messed up and set off a silent alarm. There''s no time to make it out with you in tow, know that I will get you out one way or another...I''m sorry, but keep your spirits up and do not tell them of my visit here. I left evidence to make them think it just a burglary." The small hooded being spat out in a hurried and soft voice. The visitor sniffed the air then, their facial cloth moving visibly, then they shuddered for a second before shaking their head. Guppy felt a little insulted, she may not have had much more than a cloth and cold water to wipe herself down for the last few weeks but she was sure she didn''t smell that bad, wait, focus. Guppy quickly grabbed the figure as it turned to leave. "Wait" She desperately called "Does a master rogue such as you have a way of disabling this collar?" "And mine too?" spoke the orc, his gravelly tones causing their lithe visitor to flinch backwards before they caught themselves. They were clearly torn between immediately escaping and..pity? Guppy would take it, pride mattered little to one in her position. "Please." she entreated them, pressing the plea, "Can you?" The figure sighed after a moment and beckoned them forward. "I can try disable them, but I won''t unlock them, you will need to keep them on to fool the key holder, and try not to tempt them to use it or they will quickly discover that it is broken." The rogue reached forward, placing their fingers on the inside of the collar and doing...nothing? Guppy felt nor saw any magic happenstance other than a brief glow of two silver strips from underneath the being''s face wraps. She hoped it had worked. Their visitor then moved on to the orc, who had lain down to get his neck close enough to the bars to be in reach, repeating the same mannerisms before they swiftly turning and rapidly beat a retreat up the stairs, only pausing to close and lock the door behind them. Guppy watched them depart before turning to the orc. "Do you think it worked?" She asked. A shrug was all she received in response, the orc rising and returning to his corner once more. Guppy returned to her pallet and pulled her blankets up, but she couldn''t sleep, and her magic was full. ......¡­... Sylvia ran, cursing herself as she did so for a fool, she had wasted two precious minutes burning out the magic circuits in their collars. Closing and re-locking the last subterranean door she knew she was out of time, she could hear yelling approaching, cussing out the guards, then the slamming of the door as the shop entrance opened. How would she extricate herself from this steaming pile of zugzug droppings? Think, think, think Sylvia watched from behind a plant juicing vat as armed and armored men ran into the main room of the ground floor, the workroom she currently resided within. She pressed herself further into the lee ward shadows of the vat as the beams of their magitech lamps swept pass. There, three of them including the one in charge sped up the stairs to the office, of course, that was where the alarm had come from and the man was probably and quite rightfully worried about the fortune stored within. That left Sylvia with one grunt in the room with her and one standing outside still guarding the front door. This she could work with, but Sylvia knew it wouldn''t be long before the others came down once more to check on their captives. So Sylvia very, very carefully snuck from shadow to shadow between grimy tools and desks until she had bypassed the grunt in the workrooms center and entered the store front. No time left, she heard angry shouts and orders, followed by footsteps treading once more upon stairs. Sylvia ran forward, her soft paws silent against the slate floor, gathering her momentum she bunched up her muscles and lept upwards, twisting in the air to travel feet first, then grasping the inner doorway ledge and using it as a fulcrum as she through the small gap over the back of the door grunt''s head and flipped upwards, at the same time preventing him from noticing her passage by using her wind magic to keep a buffer of still air between them. Sylvia used her momentum to vault upwards, landing on the signage pole and causing the shop sign to swing and creak, but by the time the guard registered the noise and looked upwards she had already reached the roof and was safely out of sight. Taking a breath Sylvia took a small measure of pleasure at the angry shouting she heard from within the building. Time to move, they would be checking the roof soon. Sylvia left as she had come, a shadowy blur over the rooftops in the night, watched only by a circling owl. 37 A Timely Kidnapping How does a mother feel when she learns of her child''s path? Does she weep at the travails that await, despair at the sorrows that await their prodgency? Perhaps she''ll find joy in their successes and who they become? Yet how does she feel to know what will be required of her? Does she doubt her every choice as she makes it, of how her words and actions will affect and shape this little life within her womb? Indeed, how does it feel for a mother to know of her child''s future greatness and not go mad at the cost? I know some days I fear I might¡­ But as I lay my hands upon my swelling belly I cannot feel ought but gratitude, for this child is one of love, and I will ensure they will know of love before the darkness descends upon them... -Author unknown 4993 A.D. Seventh day of the fifth week of Autumn. Eighth Bell of the Evening, The Five Legged Murgoat¡­ Sylvia sat in a dimly lit alcove pondering how things had come to this, and how she was going to talk to her appointment without giving away clues to her identity, the specially made flashcards didn''t cover this kind of situation... ......¡­.. Early this morning¡­.. Sylvia had arrived back at home after her failed excursion, stinking rich and positively hating herself for it. If it weren''t for the good the gold in her pouch could do she would have tossed it all in the stinking river. Why had she diverted from her mission of mercy for naught but her pride, stimulated by a perceived challenge? Not even a real challenge either! Or was it since she had failed? Not important now, Sylvia had neglected her job and failed two people who right now could be free. Should. Be. Free. So when Sylvia got home and handed over the pouch to her waiting mother a terrible feeling of shame and inferiority overtook her. She broke out in tears, thrust herself into her mother''s warm embrace and told her everything that had gone so terribly wrong. Her mother had silently listened while stroking Sylvia''s fur softly, saying not a word in condemnation. Instead, after Sylvia had finished her woeful tale Anastasia had pulled out a handkerchief and wiped away the tears and snot from both her daughters face and her own chest. Once cleanliness was ensured she looked her daughter in the eyes and sternly said. "So you messed up, now what are you going to do to fix it?" Silence descended as Sylvia lowered her heard, running idea''s through her tired brain, and after a while raised her head once more and whispered, "I need to finish the job mum, it''s the right thing to do, I just need to find a way to do it." Anastasia let a warm smile spread across her face, "Correct my little muska, now I might have an ide-" Anastasia cut off her sentence as both calgaree''s heads snapped towards the window, where a brown speckled owl had landed upon the windowsill and stood silently watching them. Around the owl''s neck dangled a card punctured in one corner by a coarse brown string, the cards quality quite at odds with its hanging arrangement. The mother and daughter duo both twitched their tails in mirrored consternation, who had found them and what did they want? Was this a threat, immediate or postponed? Anastasia gently disentangled herself from her daughter and slowly approached the owl. Seeing as it did not fly away or even move its eyes from hers, Anastasia reached down and retrieved the card. The owl, now freed of its cargo, turned and dropped off the window sill, floating silently back into the night. Anastasia flipped the card over and glimpsed at its underside, a moment later her ears flattened and she swiftly closed the window shutters and drew the curtain across them. "Its for you Sylvia." Anastasia said, her tone cold as she handed the card over. Sylvia took the card, it was frayed and dirty, but despite its poor condition was made of velum, something Sylvia had only seen in posh noble books she had flicked through on her strolls. The front was blank apart from some tea stains and an image of a sleeping owl embossed upon it, but flipping it over Sylvia read the fine curly script thereon, "If you need some honest muscle; seek the half elf in the Five Legged Murgoat this evening. Tell him you seek to free miss Gupalagia. He will be both discreet and trustworthy." Sylvia looked up in confusion, not over the cards contents, the offer of assistance was as plain as two teenagers visually crushing on each other across a dance floor. No, her confusion came from the who, not the what. "Mum-" Sylvia began, but cut off as she saw her mother''s clear irritation in the way her tail twitched side to side, her iris''s slitted, fluffled fur, and tense muscles. Anastasia forced herself to relax as she realised she was freaking out her teenage daughter, it was difficult to still herself amidst the unease this unknown player had caused her; but she controlled herself after a few seconds and buried her flaring temper to avoid further upsetting her beautiful daughter. "Yes my mushka," Anastasia finally spoke, "this extends the options available to you, I will first check this insignia with our intelligence network to ensure the source is trustworthy. Now I believe you need some sleep, it will do you good, and you will need the energy for tomorrow. I will see to this." Anastasia firmly ushered her uncertain daughter to bed and tucked her in securely, retrieving the card and tucking it away, then with a final backwards glance she left the room, closed the door behind her and ventured out into the early morning with many tasks to complete. ........ Sylvia sat nervously in the alcove, waiting. Her mother had returned later that morning, far less stressed than she had left, and informed Sylvia that the source of the card was trustworthy. An old friend of the Calgaree had resurfaced; albeit one not seen in the last two decades. Apparently the card itself was one of a pack of twelve that the Calgaree council had given to a certain individual many years ago as a boon, and this was the first one to make it back. Satisfied of it''s reliability, even if she wished her mum would elaborate further Sylvia decided to take the offer and contact the half elf as she could use some good meat hander muscle, which brought to the here and now, idly drawing squiggles on the table with an ale wettened finger from her mug of ale. The mug was just for the look of normality really, she hated the taste, and especially hated the loss of control being tipsy brought. So when a weird murgoat, mutated into a five legged variant from some mages miscast spell wandered over and nudged her, Sylvia had no qualms about lowering the mug and allowing the animal to relieve her of the contents. It was only after another half bell of anxious waiting that Sylvia spotted three figures waltz into the establishment, and only once they pulled down their hoods did she spot the half elf accompanied by a dark skinned human and a... dwarf? She could smell him across the room. Which was saying something considering the room they were in. The dwarf smelt like he had been dunked in the sewers, or perhaps a peat bog, Sylvia switched to breathing through her mouth. While Sylvia was distracted by her olfactory senses, the three sank into their chairs and proceeded to grouse about basic training while ordering drinks, were they soldiers then? But Sylvia could not pick up any specifics about where their posting was, or their division, the human and half elf seemed to be fiercely arguing with the dwarf though, something about a hell spawned demon that the dwarf was in love with tormenting them all when he brought her wrath down? Sylvia could not make out the specifics, or understand what she heard, but her gaze drew the half elf''s attention; good, he was at least observant. Sylvia beckoned him over with a crook of her gloved fingers. The action brought a raised eyebrow but he murmured something to his two companions that caused them to briefly glance at her before ignoring her and leaping back into their debate. The pretty elf man wandered over, stepping gracefully around tables, barmaids and the wandering murgoat as he approached her. Sylvia felt her heart quicken as he did, she needed to get this right; lives were at stake and the facts weighed upon her spirit. The elf drew up the sole unoccupied chair at her table, flipped it around and sat reverse style facing Sylvia, a relaxed look upon his handsome face. "You seem to have some business with me stranger? What can I do for you?" Sylvia spoke, trying to keep her voice low and gravelly, inwardly cursing at it''s still too high pitch. "I have some captives to be freed, specifically a certain miss Gupalagia. I heard you shared a similar goal." Oh that hit a nerve, Sylvia watched surprise then anger, then curiosity flit fleetingly across the half elf''s face, subtle movements, but her mum had taught her how to read one''s expressions and body language over the years of her growing. "Do you now?" The half elf finally said, "And where might she be?" "I can show you," Sylvia responded, allowing some urgency to leak into her tone, "but we must go, now, I learnt not three hours hence that they mean to move her before the eleventh bell tonight." Her voice had squeaked a bit too much it seemed, as the half elf''s eyes narrowed and he asked, "How old are you r-" "Does it matter?" Sylvia asked, cutting him off before any unnecessary questions were asked. "Will you help me or not?" The Half elf sighed and pulled on an earlobe as he thought over his answer, then he extended his hand towards her. "Jacques at your service, lets get her out shall we?" Sylvia gripped his hand in hers, "You may call me ''The Black Shadow'', now come, we don''t have time to lose." "A moment please." Jacques replied, "I will grab my partner and send for support should we need it, worry not, my companions are as trustworthy as I." Sylvia watched as Jacques rose and walked unhurriedly back to his companions, he sat back down and tossed a few coins on the table, whispering a few words to his companions, who to their credit did not glance her way. The trio did not rise immediately but finished their ales before calmly exiting the establishment in a nonchalant manner. Sylvia waited five more minutes before paying and leaving herself, and quickly finding Jacques and the smelly dwarf two alleyways over. She had hoped the dwarf would be the one to go for backup, sadly life was far from fair it seemed. Dropping down from the roof above them Sylvia took pleasure in their surprised reaction before motioning for them to follow her as she slipped from one shadow to the next. They both kept up with her pace, slowed for their benefit as it was, the dwarf surprising her with how light on his feet he was, despite his paunchy girth. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. 38 A Timely Kidnapping 2 What twists of chance do guide our lives? How are we shaped by actions our own and those of others brought to bear? Some call freedom and illusion, but all can agree that illusion or not, freedom perceived is a pivotal shaper of one''s self and society within we dwell. -Scholar Facetious Wimbley 4993 A.D. Seventh day of the fifth week of Autumn. Eighth half Bell of the Evening, District The Poor... Sylvia led the duo onwards until they halted in the shadows a shops recessed entrance, only a hundred meters from their target. The shop Sylvia had raided the previous night was under far heavier guard, four meat handers clustered at the entrance, another two watchers on the roof armed with crude crossbows, and no doubt even more inside the shop. Sylvia poked Jacques, and Hadoom as she had found the dwarf was called, and motioned them to retreat to the alleyway behind them, then she focused and created a bubble of air around them. It was far more strenuous to do so for all three of them than the usual close fitting ones she made for herself but Sylvia persevered against her emptying mana pool and set the construct in place. Good, now they could talk without alerting any others. Sylvia directed their attention to a moonlit patch of dirt where the calgaree started drawing as she spoke, illustrating her words with simple, if effective diagrams. "Here is the shopfront, it''s not too large, little more than a counter with half empty shelves along the walls. Behind the door lies a workroom where they extracted marrow flowers and refined their juices into Joombla, but it''s all abandoned currently. The upward stairs to the right lead to the manager''s office but the door at the back of the sweatshop leads to a downward spiralling staircase. You go down two levels, ignore the first landing and its room, keep going to the bottom, there are alarms all along the way but after the final door there is a dungeon where Gupalagia is being held. There is also an orc held in there with her, he is co-operative so it should all be good." Sylvia paused, her explanation done. "Will you need help with the traps and alarms?" she enquired. "Yes," Jacques said, "While we could handle picking the locks, neither my companion nor I have the necessary tools to dispel magical locks and alarms on hand. Hadoom, have you got anything silent and preferably non-lethal in your bag? We are going to need some captives to question after the rescue." Hadoom grunted before sticking his hand in his bag and fishing around for a few moments before retrieving a large and rather intimidating looking repeating crossbow that featured gears, cogs and a little oil paper sack with a paddle on the side. In return to Jacques and Sylvia''s demeanor of disbelief towards the non lethality of his chosen weapon Hadoom quickly exonerated himself. "See these baby bolts? It be hard to kill a man with them, they''ll give em no more than a good prick, plus its quick fire is useful for multiple targets and the venom sac only contains a muscle paralytic. This beauty will put them down fast and silent with nae a fool the wiser. I had a hard time convincing old iron fingers our quartermaster to lend it out for testing." Sylvia looked at Jacques in askance and got a shrug in return. They let it go. Now mostly convinced, and with the plan fleshed out Sylvia dropped the air barrier and the trio crept back to the alley''s entrance. There they found to their dismay a large carriage pulling up. Out hopped another two men, one being the the boss Sylvia recognised from last night, the other being a short figure dressed in flowing robes. This was not good, they were too late! Gupalagia was getting her transfer right now! Fiddlesticks. Jacques sighed as he pulled out his knuckle knives, "Well there goes plan A, Hadoom plan B, put the boss man and his friend to sleep and lets go free our target." "Plan B?" Sylvia hissed furiously, "We never made a plan B!" "Relax lassie," crooned Hadoom as he popped off a few shots and exchanged his mechanical crossbow for twin pistols, following Jarques''s rapid advance with his eyes, "There''s always a plan B. Besides, look on the bright side, now you don''t need to risk your neck entering, we no longer need to be quiet so Jacques and I can get through the doors and alarms just~ fine." Sylvia paused, watching from the shadows with indecision and morbid fascination as the duo rapidly advanced and began to decimate the assembled meat handers, finishing those outside all too quickly and disappearing into the shop, vanishing from her eyes, but not her ears, as bangs, yells and thumps continued from within the building. Sighing to herself Sylvia straightened and followed them in, avoiding the spreading pools of blood and other mystery squishy things. She hated cleaning her paws and did NOT want them dirtied in here. ......¡­ Jacques dashed into the backroom, running up the wall and jumping, funneling his momentum through his knuckdusted fist and into the face of some poor sod who stood in his way. The bludgeoned man smashed backwards against some machinery and was still. Jacques stood, chest heaving from both adrenaline and his exertions in the short but sharp fight. "Clear." He called, hearing the affirmative response from Hadoom a second later. Quickly they then rushed through to the back of the workroom and with solid kick Jacques smashed the door there open, splintering the frame as the lock ripped free. The duo then descended down the stairwell two and three steps at a time, ignoring the alarms that began to shrilly cry, pausing at a landing to scope out a desolate refinery. The tubes and alchemical contraptions therein were covered with a layer of dust that elicited a sneeze from Hadoom, but the room held no living prisoners, no sign of their goal. Dismissing the room they continued downwards, pausing only briefly as they were halted by another door, this one with an iron reinforced door and frame. Jacques pulled out his lockpicks and fiddled for few seconds, attempting to rake or roll the lock, before giving up. "The lock''s warded, one of the alarms must have triggered a failsafe. Got any shaped mana charges partner?" Jacques asked. "Nay lad, old Ironfingers is real stingy with those, but door makers in Nolusburg always make the same mistake, they never seem to reinforce the hinges." After he spoke Hadoom raised his pistols and unleashed a salvo on the two sets of iron hinges that supported the thick door, leaving them a twisted mess that tore and gave way before some forceful persuasion, their heavy burden crashing down into the room it guarded. The duo entered swiftly, prepared for a final trap or any hidden guards, or even an unwilling captive. People sometimes went funny in the head if they were kept constrained too long "Well?" Asked Sylvia when she came up behind them, "Why are you just standing there-" Sylvia stopped and likewise stared at the empty cell illuminated by a guttering torch Jacques had pulled from the wall. Hadoom grasped the cell door and shook it. "Locked. We must have missed them and they were already transferred earlier." "Impossible." Sylvia replied, "This shop has been watched all of today, besides I hardly think they would have been transferred without those." She pointed at two discarded iron collars that lay in one dirty corner. Jacques pointed to one section of wall at the back, "Look there the colors off, the rest of the wall is black and grey rock packed quite tightly, but there it''s far loosely spaced." A quick pick gained them access to the cell where a few solid kicks caved mismatched wall inwards, revealing a black passageway sloping upwards. "Well that''s hardly proper behaviour for a damsel in distress," Hadoom chortled, "Makes us look like fools for coming to rescue her, I like this lass more and more." Jacques gave his partner a pointed look. "Now lad, you know my stance on small tight spaces, especially underground, I''ll head back up and watch the entrance, you go ahead and chase the lass." Jacques nodded and handed Hadoom the torch he bore before crouching down and entering the tunnel, he swiftly disappeared into the black hole. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. .............. Guppy carefully compacted the last layer of soil and pulled the tangled net of grass aside, slowly raising her head and peering around before pulling herself up out of the tunnel and into someone''s back garden. A low growling sounded as a mean looking suk rose and left a shadowy corner, hackles raised and tail stiff as it considered the foolish intruder. Guppy frowned and kept still, not wanting to antagonise the brute of a canine that so clearly did not appreciate her presence in its domain. Guppy heard a thump and a sigh as Jade pulled himself out of the hole behind her, she had tried to widen the tunnel as much as possible, but pressed for time and limited in mana her excavations had been narrow for the orc, leaving him with little room to pull himself along or even breath. Jade took one look at the snarling mutt and raised himself up, letting out a guttural snarl that sent the suk retreating and whining back into the shadows. Guppy patted the orc on his arm, showing her appreciation for a problem easily resolved. The two quickly made it over the enclosing wall and landed in a curving alleyway, out of sight of the main road. The two of them needed to lay low, at least until they could make it out of the city somehow, the plan they had loosely scraped together was swimming downstream and then Guppy transmuting the iron grill at the wall''s base to open up a hole large enough for the both of them to exit. So a destination in mind Guppy led Jade along from shadow to shadow through a few streets until she was sure enough of her bearings to head towards the worker''s district, before which laid the river that cut the city in twain. The journey was almost laughably easy as Jade''s size and scowl made would be interested parties shy away, allowing them to make good time through the small side roads towards their destination. It was only when a black robed figure dropped from a rooftop in front of them that their progress was halted. The figure raised their hand, palm forward, and blocked their path, before lifting their cloak to reveal a compact crossbow pointed at them. "Only one shot little thing." Jade growled, "best make it count because if you fire on us I''ll rip your limbs off one by one." The figure took a half step back at the orc''s bloodlust, but regaining themselves snorted. However the moment of distraction was enough, Guppy burst into action, leaping on the figure and knocking aside the crossbow, the fired bolt skittering off the cobblestones with a whine as Guppy delivered a feinted punch to their throat which the figure hastily defended against with their free arm, only to crumple the next moment as Guppy''s knee smashed up between the man''s legs. Yes the man, for the whimper he let out as the force slammed through protective padding and into his family jewels was testament enough to his gender. Guppy tossed the man aside and was about to continue when a slow clapping came from overhead. The duo looked upwards, in time to see the air distort and another figure make their entrance, this one however was wrapped not in loose robes but in tight leathers that little doubt as to her gender, for all they otherwise obscured her identity they had been designed for a freedom of movement that Jade and Guppy could hardly appreciate as she landed in front of them and drew a shockstick, motioning the two to come at her. Guppy grimaced as she saw what was colloquially called the puke stick, the pulse baton notorious for it''s stomach upsetting effects. Still, the woman stood between Guppy and their freedom, right now she didn''t really care who she was, she was in the way. So Guppy ran at the wall, jumping off it to increase her speed and attack at an awkward angle for her opponent. The next thing Guppy saw was the sky. A dull roaring entered her ears, causing her to drop her head left and blurrily see Jade be taken apart by the woman in black as she avoided or blocked the orc''s punches and lunges, reacting with quick but brutal attacks of her own as she faded in and out of sight, mirages appearing and disappearing just as quickly in the shadowy night. Soon Jade knelt on one knee and a fist, his one leg broken, his still recuperating body a mess of cuts and bruises. Guppy forced herself up as Jade took a blow to his neck and fell to the earth, another figure appearing swiftly and binding him in black chains. She was not going to go back to that hole. Her teeth bared in a rictus grin and she laughed, surprising herself and her onlookers by the hysterical giggle that cut through the air. They wanted to chain her did they? Well two could play at that game, she pulled on the growing connection with the dirt and stone, feeling the resistance and then the pop as some hurdle was overcome. Earthen hands rose from the ground, grabbing at both the dark figures. One she got, but the blasted woman was too fast, slipping through a flicker of light and shadow. Guppy blocked a thrust of the pukestick with her forearm as it came from the side, seeing the flow of light around the woman now as she slid across distances as if they were meaningless. Guppy grunted as the baton discharged a wave of force into her, but she was expecting it, and it was far less debilitating than she expected, allowing her to stamp on the cobbles, sending a spray of stone shards upwards. Were they fast and sharp, not really, her control was not good enough for that, but they bought her another moment as her opponent retreated, clearly expecting more. Guppy pushed back at the headache that pounded within her skull, pulling more energy and forcing it to her will as she dropped her hands to the ground cobble stones flowed upwards and covered her fists and arms in rock. Elegant? No, but it would protect against the baton, and she could now see through the trickery the woman employed as she successfully countered a few blows, her own were fast, but even able to see the cursed woman did not let her touch her with more than a glancing touch. The black leathered woman stepped back and considered Guppy for a moment before returning the baton to her back and making a throwing motion with both hands. Guppy moved then, but felt pricks along her legs as five of the eight needles slipped past her defenses. They stung for sure, but Guppy was not going to let this¡­ ................. Emily sighed internally as she watched her target stagger and then fall, her stony vambraces crumbling as unconsciousness took the girl. Emily had noted her surprising strength and endurance and hit her with enough soporific laced needles to take down three orcs. The girl would sleep for awhile yet. Emily hummed her displeasure as she slapped her second subordinate awake, the fool had been bested by an untrained girl, even if she had been a tough one, and she had expected more from one trained by her. The man sputtered awake, then wilted under her look, nevermind that Emily''s face was concealed, he knew he was in suk droppings and could expect ''remedial training'' when they got back. Emily stood back and let her other subordinate wrap the girl up in his shadowy chains that he carried and fought with. Good, their goal was completed and now they could return. Emily stopped as Jacques rounded the corner, holding a glowing item which he quickly tucked away upon seeing them. He inclined his head in due deference towards her before speaking up. "Mistress, the girl?" "She is alive and they will be taken into custody as per the orders from the Raven, he will decide their fate, go, retrieve your companion, and head back. You have accomplished your task, finding and tracking the girl even with complications, and if we intervened to make it a surety, I doubt he''ll count it against you." Jacques stood, fighting the conflicted emotions that ran through him, but duty won out, and Gupalagia had been saved, indeed she could be in no safer hands than those in which she currently lay. He turned and left, hoping his partner hadn''t manage to complicate things any further in his absence. 39 Chains We Bear Luck is fickle, luck is Blind Luck is often quite unkind But if you know It''s familiar blow Would you still change your mind? -prophecy of the duskbringer Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Guppy groaned as her eyelids flickered open, her head felt like the one morning after she had drunk some rather ripe juice fruit and gotten roaringly drunk by accident. Yet another reason she chose not to drink, she had zero tolerance to the stuff, and once experience with a hangover had been all the persuasion she had needed to steer clear in the future. Guppy pushed past the pain in her head and tried moving, only to find herself spread out and each limb shackled to the heavy iron bed frame on which she lay. A prisoner again then. As memory returned Guppy felt teary, she had been so close to her freedom, the last days of suppressed horror not knowing if her siblings lived or not had taken their toll, her plans, those she dared to make, lay in ruins. She looked around, no bars, but the solid stone walls around her were as much a prison despite their gleaming whiteness. A solid looking door sealed the only entrance. She was imprisoned once more Guppy did cry then, not even her recent progress with controlling earthen magic comforted her as she quietly sobbed. Alone. After a few minutes of indulgent self pity Guppy took a deep breath and started pulling herself together. She had escaped her last prison, this one would not hold her either. So time to take stock, limbs, check, clothes, some kind of one piece dress, she must have been bathed and clothed while she was out, after that... fiend had taken her down. Guppy allowed herself a brief sudder and a quick prayer to the Goddess of Luck that she would not have to face that opponent to escape from¡­ wherever this was. Moving on, whitewashed walls, smooth stone from the look, very smooth, her eyes could barely make out the cracks, only slight dips in the paint even alluding there were different blocks involved. There were a few small holes though, and she could feel air flow through them, so maybe she could work with that? It bore thinking about. On that note illumination was a singular glow cube inserted into a wall sconce, so her employer was wealthy then, if they could afford the more expensive kind of light source for a mere prisoner. The door was Iron, a solid enough affair that Guppy figured tunneling out again would probably be a safer bet. Listening for a few minutes she could hear no guard posted outside her door, unless he was an extremely stealthy one which considering by whom she was captured was a possibility. It was also possible that the room door was spelled to mute sounds, but why they would go to the bother made that line of thought questionable, this was no torture chamber, the bed was even comfortable, if not her manacles. First test, Guppy strained against her bonds, trying to employ her deceivingly high strength contained in her narrow frame. A few seconds and minutes of twisting and pulling later convinced her that this avenue would bear no fruit, they must have noticed her unnatural strength in the fight, these bands were no novice cast cankered iron full of integral flaws to exploit, no they were triple forged black iron if her examination held any truth. Ok then, time for the methods she employed escaping last time, thankfully enough time had passed that Guppy''s mana was topped off and ready to be used. Guppy drew in a breath and then released it slowly, she would need to focus to use her magic, for all that she had grown better at coaxing it, she had found earthen magic was stubborn. But she was stubborner. Guppy hummed in long low notes, ponderous and slow, until her will was resonating with the mana contained within her. Then she guided the mana to an earthen gateway that orbited her heart, sending the transformed energy out through her hands to push the closest wall on her right with it, it was more difficult since she could not touch it directly, but persevering allowed her to extend her will and push firmly against it in an attempt to loosen the rocks in the wall and transform some to sand. "Erosion." she murmured, letting the image of rocks breaking down to smaller rocks and then sand flow through her mind and into the will of the mana. Some paint chips fell, but the rocks didn''t budge or wear much. "Fudgeknuckles those stones are hard. Why the heck does it feel like the stones refused to break down? It''s as if they like themselves as they are." In fact it had felt like she was trying to shift a mountain as Guppy pressed her mana against the wall, so well laid were the stones, did they even use mortar? None of that had flaked off. The blasted stones fit so smoothly and tightly Guppy had thought the wall had been plastered then painted. Well fat chance she was getting out that way unless she got far stronger than she currently was. Next optio- Guppy felt a stirring within her, a stretching and rising of some part that had been dormant, and a grumpy voice entered her head. {Why is it so cramped in here? I feel all stiff and sore, that rest hardly deserved the name.} Queried Guppy {Yes, yes. It is I, now hatchling, do you mind telling me why we are presently chained up in what seems to be yet another prison? It''s barely an upgrade over the last one, although they do seem rather more concerned with keeping you here than your last jailors.} Guppy quickly caught him up on the events of the last few weeks, eliciting snorts and sighs from her soul twined companion over her misadventures. {How in the Thirteen halls did I have the misfortune to be landed with such an incompetent? And what happened to that big grey fellow?} Bemoaned Batty. {Why did you not just scour the flesh from your assailant''s bones with a fiery whirlwind or five? Or you could have diced them with focus beams from afar if you needed distance? Surely even the weakest Wrath`Ma`kar could have done as such, let alone one bonded with my august personage and gifted my transcendent powers!} Oh that pissed Guppy off, where had he been while she was holding down the fort and facing dangers all around? She felt Batty recoil a bit from her railing, shock and an indignant anger filtered back to her across their bond. {You ungrateful brat, I improved your fragile body and gave you a vessel that could grow and bear my majestic power, transforming you into a Wrath`Ma`kar, and gifted you the seeds of my magic. None Under The Heavens Would Scoff at Such a Mighty Boon. And if I hadn''t had to damage myself so heavily keeping your ungrateful heart beating after what that blood witch did to you I would have recovered weeks ago and we could begin to prepare for¡­} Batty''s words and transmitted impressions that battered Guppy''s consciousness died down, the emotions sent giving way from anger to frustration and no small amount of panic. That more than anything worried her. What could cause a dragon to panic? {I''ve lost...the price was greater than I expec- NO, why can''t I REMEMBER? I SHOULD KNOW-!!} Bellowed Batty Guppy waded through the feelings that were pouring her way across over their bridge, finally managing to send a sliver of thought back to the dragon. {I...I am a broken being, my mind and soul are wounded, and my memories hazy, distorted, many shattered or missing. I know I was fleeing something...something terrible enough to cause even I abject terror. But I had a purpose, a mission, a goal. I was... trapped somehow, my being and power increasingly flayed from me...and then I saw a light, an escape, an opening through which I fled...and then I met you, you with whom I had a chance at... I cannot remember, but I must have taken it, though I remember not the specifics of doing so¡­} The dragon kept rambling, becoming less and less coherent as time passed, eventually passing into brooding silence. A silence that Guppy welcomed, the distressed dragon''s emotions had been, intense to say the least, and Guppy felt like a dust rag battered and wrung out by the experience. A puddle of foul smelling liquid lay on the floor from where it had exited her throat a short time past. Guppy gingerly prodded their shared connection and got a little feedback. While Batty had separated his thoughts somewhat he was still there, sorrow and consternation trickled across to Guppy and soured her stomach. She curled up and after a time somehow found the embrace of sleep, drifting off to dreams of a flickering, laughing hunter that always caught her; before the dream cycled back to the beginning, and she ran once more. 40 Chains We Bear 2 Do not fool yourself, all of us are enslaved to one thing or another, be it people or places; alchemaic chemicals or personal decisions. Freedom as a concept is an illusion, a concept often tied by the masses to one''s personal power or wealth. Yet is the King of a nation free? No, in some ways he is the greatest slave of all. So what then is freedom? Is the only path to it an annihilation of all karmic bands? Perhaps, but such a fate I would not wish on my most fiendish of enemies. For are we not defined by our bonds just as much as our actions and environment? In the end I leave the freedom, the choice of whom you will become and what chains you choose to bear to you and you alone. Use it well. -Philosopher Kyne; last recorded discourse before his disappearance... When Guppy awoke once more Batty was thankfully silent, and while she still felt on edge the raw emotional flip flopping of seething emotions no longer pressed against her. Now what had she been doing? Oh right, planning her escape. Now what was plan C going to be... Just as Guppy was pondering whether she should dislocate her thumbs in a bid to escape her cuffs the door to her cell swung open, causing her to blink at the sudden light that entered in the form of a cold blue magitech lantern shining directly at her face. "Feeling like behaving yourself this time?" Came a challenge from...Her. Guppy got a look at her jailer once the lantern was hung on a hook by the door, and now no longer blinded, she gazed upon her captor, greedily taking in her few defining features. The woman was wrapped just as tightly in black cloth and leather as their last encounter, she balanced lightly on the balls of her feet, moving with a fluid grace that made Guppy irrationally jealous for a brief moment. The woman raised a tiny cube and with a click Guppy felt her chains slacken, allowing her to rise up and sit upon the bed. The manacles and chains were still there to encumber her movements, but they were no longer attached to the bed. Guppy briefly considered the possibilities of plan D: a hastily made affair consisting of strangling the wretch with her chains and retrieving whatever the heck that box was to get rid of the rest of her trappings before escaping once more. Maybe her earthen magic was next to useless here, but the distance between them was short and she knew these chains were strong. Her thoughts must have been to easily read for the leather clad crime against women spoke up once more. "I wouldn''t get any idea''s little girl. I previously took you down in far fairer circumstances than your current allotment. Any further stupidity will be met with exacting and painful punishment. Now follow, my master wishes to gaze upon the source of all these recent disturbances in the city." Guppy took a moment to consider her options and they seemed rather slim, so when her captor turned and walked out the door she shrugged and followed to meet her new ''employer''. They would slip up eventually, and then she would be free, she could feel her magic pulsing in tune to her heartbeat within her, it was just a matter of time. So when Guppy was led down a maze of corridors up to a rather large and intimidating door she wasn''t impressed. It had not been that long since she stood in front of a far more terrifying one, and overcome the trials that lay within. This big hunk of iron and steel did not scare her one bit, not the thuds, clanks or whirs that sounded as it unlocked itself were impressive, she had seen the inside of Arkanissius, this lump of scrap couldn''t compare with the least of her Master''s creations. She wasn''t scared of the one ahead, not one bit. .... Emily stood still as her Boss''s office gradually unlocked, watching the girl for signs of any stupidity she would have to crush with her peripheral vision. The girl put on a brave face at the spectacle, more so than most who came here, but a slight quiver shook her muscles before she could clamp down on them. Spirited then, but ultimately just a scared little girl, but Emily could have known that from their fight, the girl, Gupalagia had put up far more of a fight than expected, or than she had any right to, wasn''t the girl a blasted null? It had been tricky to subdue her without damaging her too badly, and now the mystery surrounding the young woman had intrigued her Boss, and the one he reported to had been similarly interested. Emily did not envy the girls fate, and though her true value remained to be seen she had but three paths left to tread. So Emily tried not to be unkind towards the girl caught between larger forces who with a single misstep on her behalf could and would grind her to dust. The door finally swung open and Emily gave Gupalagia a gentle push before following her in. ...¡­ Guppy felt a gentle shove and stumbled forwards through the large arched doorway, taking in a rather peculiar office filled with filing cabinets, bookshelves, no windows, a massive desk, and one middle-aged Man dressed in a Black robe currently poking and examining a strange doll of a beast Guppy had not seen before. Some long eared plushy thing that seemed strangely...still? It brought a small frown to Guppy''s face but another ornament to the left of the desk caught her eye. There on a pedestal under a glass dome stood the tree she had auctioned off, glittering and gleaming in the steady light that illuminated it. Guppy tried, and failed, to suppress a small gulp. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. she thought. Evidently her gulp was heard because the Man in Black, whom Guppy couldn''t help but feel that even his descriptor deserved capitals, sighed and put the doll away into a drawer in his desk before turning to look at her. A slight smile graced his narrow face as he looked at her, it felt unnatural upon his visage and came off creepy as heck to Guppy, who felt the hairs on her neck rise even as ice pricked her veins. For Guppy knew that gaze, it was not lascivious but The Man in Black looked at her not as a person but a thing, a thing that would be discarded once it''s interest or purpose was fulfilled. She had seen the same cruel smile, the same piercing, flaying eyes two years ago from a serial killer as he was led past where she stood in the crowd to the stocks by the royal guards. His gaze had been terrifying to her, brief though it was, and his grinning face had kept it''s joke in death as he swung and twitched. Guppy pulled herself together just in time to hear The Man in Black speak. "Miss Bright, it has been a pleasure reading my employee''s contrasting and increasingly surprising reports of your adventures, so much so I decided to personally meet and evaluate you." His words were polite, but Guppy could not help but let a slight shudder flow through her at his voice. It was suppressed, buried even, but the psychopathic tinge to his intonation was there, she had heard it from the killers last words, and more recently from the witch in red, though hers had been far less constrained. "So many...surprises you''ve given me; more than what I expected out of your little family from you alone, and with the revelations from your sister and brother included this has been a most profitable week for me indeed. And so against my better judgement I will answer three questions, within reason of course, before you leave me." Guppy stood,unsure of herself all of a sudden, this Man...brought her here to answer Her questions? The arrogance and ridiculousness of it all made her bristle, her fear temporarily forgotten as anger rose. This did nothing but widen The Man in Black''s smile, who silently waited for her to speak. Guppy took a long breath to calm the thudding of her heart, she did have questions that needed answers and despite wanting to know who he was and where they were she had better questions to ask; so she raised her eyes to meet his and spoke. "Where. is. my. family?" "Hmm, a better line than questioning where you are or who I am, but still a predictable question my dear, and one you should have already guessed at. We procured them both earlier this week, though not for the reasons you might expect." Guppy opened her mouth then closed it, eliciting a slightly toothier smile from The Man in Black, she had almost fallen into his trap of asking ''why'' after his leading statement, no, a far more important question was¡­ "What is going to happen to us?" Guppy asked. "Well now that''s the important question now isn''t it? And you even framed it nicely for a maximum of information retrieval, Emily over there just lost a gold royal, she bet you''d ask that last, or more segmented. To answer your astute question your fates will be as thus. Your brother is apparently a smithing prodigy and will be kept occupied with such. Your sister will be released but kept under our purview in sufferance of your brother''s happiness and co-operation and as possible bait. You however, will stand trial, the gold you made was cast into false coinage and already is being distributed, undermining the value of our nation''s currency, the irony is that though slightly diluted in the casting their content is purer than the legitimate coinage." Guppy stood as the words washed over her, her locked knees the only reason she did not stumble. She- she was going to stand trial? "The public verdict will inevitably be death." grinned The Man in Black as he continued to watch her. Guppy could not resist, a part of her warned against it, but she could not help the word that escaped her lips. "Why?" Her answer wiped the smile from The Man in Black''s face, revealing a hint of disdain before the mask descended once more. "Such a boring pedestrian question, but I did promise three answers did I not? I suppose it segways into my plans for you at least, note I said ''Public Verdict''. The girl Gupalagia Esme Bright will be executed, a brown hair, brown eyed body hung and disposed off, your public records have already been reverted to your old appearance. A new employee of ours called Henrietta Cooper is transferring from a district branch to our treasury division, you will report to work tomorrow, Emily here will fill you in on your new identity and any miscellaneous details. But before you leave to take up your new exciting life as a junior auditor I have one more item of business with you." The Man in Black reached into his desk and retrieved a clear crystal carved into a do-decagon. Guppy recognized it, and elemental testing stone. "I am curious how a tested and registered null was able to perform magic without any magitech devices or cores, the initial report was double checked and the examiner questioned under a truth spell, but both came back with no signs of foul play. Now if you would Henrietta." Guppy rankled at her new name, she was conflicted, but a life of drudgery under an assumed name still had hope, death was final and had none. So she bit her thumb with her canines and dripped a drop of blood upon the crystal, She would be lying is she said she wasn''t curious as well. The blood diffused into the crystal, and as the blood faded a point lit up brown, earth affinity, expected and verified, then another lit up, a vermilion red for a fire affinity, then cerulean blue for water, then- All the rooms occupants took a sharp intake of breath as on after another point lit up, until all twelve points were colored and glowing. Silence reigned as The Man in Black lent back in his chair, the most open and honest expression expression of surprise and delight showed briefly before he regained control. He tapped his index finger on the desk as he thought for a full minute before opening his mouth once more. "This...changes things, plans will have to be remade, you really are full of surprises Miss Cooper. Too many secrets and too much potential to just let go. You''ve given me quite a headache I must admit." He rubbed his temples in tired motions before rising from his seat and removing a small flat ovoid stone from some inner pocket, then turning and waving it over a small chest that sat on the bookshelf behind his desk. Both briefly glowed in a violet light before he grasped the chest and placed it gently on his desk, then smoothly opening it with his slender fingers and removing a delicate crown of both stunning beauty and woven complexity that had lain within. "This was once called Queen Neferrishia''s Choker, mithril, gold and orihalcum spun and enchanted for one purpose, to collar a queen. Now Miss Cooper, why don''t you try it on?" Guppy recoiled from the slave band, its beauty sinister and cold in the light of its nature, a slave collar for all it was a crown. She turned to run, but was met and grasped by her captor, by...Emily. And her struggles did nothing as the woman flipped her around and planted her down face first onto the cold, hard floor. Guppy lay partly dazed and could only watch as The Man in Black walked around his desk, he gave a hand gesture and Emily raised her up off the ground to her knees. she mentally promised. The promise of violence in her eyes brought The Man in Black up short. "Now don''t look at me like that Miss Cooper, this is in your own best interest after all, in fact it is the only way you walk out of this room alive at all. But it''s only fair, and necessary I suppose that you understand the outcomes here. This crown must be willingly accepted for it''s magic to work, magic which allows it''s binder may impose three commands upon the bearer, only three, but they will last until your death. Choose carefully now my dear, for your family is only ~so~ indispensable." called Guppy Batty stirred from his melancholic huddle within her mind. {I tried fifteen times already, my magic is gone from me, even my memories of it hazy and dim. We are doomed, doomed, doom-} Guppy stopped listening to the lizard, his whining was an annoying distraction right now. Alright, no magic from the formerly majestic dragon then, and her earthsense found no willing ground she could manipulate. Her limbs were restrained, her face swelling slightly. Dignity, none to be found. But, she would not lose her siblings, and she had no doubts that this terrible fiend in front of her would kill them just because he had threatened he might, should she refuse. Her emotions fought and struggled as Emily and The Man in Black patiently waited, Guppy screamed in rage and fear, stomach felt like someone had scooped her insides out and despair finally took hold as Guppy could find no other answer to her predicament. A piece of her broke then, and her limbs sagged where previously they were taught and struggling. "W-Will you promise that my family will be kept safe?" she finally asked through her trembling lips. "Of course." Came her response, the demon positively purring in his victory. "I-I accept." Guppy said quietly, her head lowered in defeat. She felt a cold band rest upon her, and then there was pain as a thousand needles lanced into her head, the crown dissolving and leaving only a simmering, shifting tattoo upon her forehead. Her chin was raised by one of his hands, and Guppy saw his maniacal grin through watery eyes. "Obey the King of Darish first and foremost." Burnt flesh scented the air and Guppy loosed a scream as agony seared her mind and forehead both. The light dimmed but remained hovering over a glyph now engraved upon her forehead. "Serve the country of Darish and all those within of higher rank, unless an order contradicts the King''s Commands." came the next command. Again agony descended and then was gone as a new glyph settled upon her, Guppy''s limbs trembled and flailed within Emily''s grip, somewhere within her Batty was impotently raging and unable to escape, then once more her law was decreed. "Live." This agony was the lowest, or maybe her nerves were deadened, but the last of the shifting light disappeared and the now three glyphs on her forehead overlaid and merged together, settling down in permanence. The last command was the cruelest of them all, and Guppy felt tears stream down her cheeks as her consciousness faded away. 41 Chains We Bear 3 Chains will shatter, and oaths be broken. When the grim slayer shall be woken. -prophecy of the duskbringer Emily glared at her boss as she gently picked Gupala- no Henrietta up. She had followed orders, but this did not sit well with her, the girl had been a bystander in the noble''s games, a semi pawn at best. The previous plan did restrict her, but still provided a secure, cushy job away from the limelight and any real danger. In time and with good behavior Emily would even petition for family visits. But now, now the poor girl''s fate would be the opposite, Emily understood, at least a dispassionate coldly practical part of her did, why her boss had done what he did. But life would now be difficult at best, and hell at worst for this slender slip of a girl that slumped unconscious within her arms. Henrietta would be thrust headfirst into the games of nobles once more, perhaps she might escape excessive attention at first, but her latent talent would bring about their greed and manipulations. In some ways the chains her boss bound Henrietta with would protect her, but otherwise it was an abuse most foul, a **** of the mind. Emily left her bosses room not bothering to conceal the displeasure in her body language and trudged down the hallways, her footsteps heavy with a burden not all physical. She would have rather killed the girl and be done with it, preventing years of misery with one swift stroke of her dagger. Emily almost did it too, after she carried the girl back to her chamber and laid her down. Her duty screamed at her to follow the code, obey her superior. But it was not enough to stay her hand, pity guided her daggers out their sheaths, sorrow lifted her arms, and conviction brought them down upon the unconscious girl. They did not land for her entire body froze in disbelief at what she saw. A mako stood upon the girl, silently watching Emily with luminous golden orbs in the dim light. Emily leaped back and hurriedly knelt on one knee, sheathing her daggers and lifting her open palms upward. "Honored guide of the last light! What brings you here?" Emily waited, and then started sweating as meaning flowed into her mind. "I understand esteemed one, I shall abide by thy will. Peace be upon us." Emily watched the mako turn and hop off of its perch then disappearing into the floor instead of landing. She waited a full minute longer in case it came back, and when it didn''t she rose once more and approached Henrietta, no Gupalagia, once more. This time her raised hand held no death within, only gently brushing Guppy''s hair from her face. "So much sorrow and strife you shall face little sapling, I cannot take it from you. But I shall do what I can to prevent the winter snows from snapping you with their weight before you grow strong enough to bear them on your own. Sleep now, and grow, you will need the strength in the days to come." Emily removed the manacles and chains from the limbs of her charge and pulled the blanket over Guppy''s unconscious form. The girl would need water and cloth when she awoke, yet another task to perform. She silently stood and watched Guppy''s sleeping figure from the doorway, it stirred something within her, something long forgotten, somethi- Static filled her head, accompanied with a spike of pain that almost sent her to the floor. Emily grabbed at the doorway and slowed her descent to her knees as her chest heaved to draw in great lungfuls of air. Sorrow and rage ripped through her frame as taught muscles spasmed and flailed and her vision clouded over in shadowy red. A few moments passed and Emily''s form stilled and the grey within her head faded away. Slowly she rose, no sign of her earlier struggles, her garments would hide the reddened flesh on her limbs where they had struck the floor. They would hide the bruises that came. Emily retrieved a little box from within her clothes, the smooth black metal warm from her body''s heat. A click and it opened to allow her to retrieve a pill from within that she popped into her mouth, slipping her cloth mask aside in order to do so. The pill was bitter, but it brought relief as her trembling stopped and breathing smoothed. Her fingers came away wet from the liquid on her face, but she cleared the salty liquid and then quietly retreated out the chamber, her footsteps soft once more. As she closed the door Emily heard a certain duo boisterously making their way down an adjacent passage, the dwarf boasting of his exploits in the rescue of the past night and the half-elf humoring him. They would help her in her new found purpose, the two knew Gupalagia, and were sympathetic towards her, she would tell them of the girl''s fate, and therein enlist their support. For if she were to keep her vow then she would need help, and as much as the dwarf grated on her nerves the duo were skilled, and getting better. With a bit of string pulling and some favors called in Emily would see about getting all three of them assigned to monitor and protect the girl wherever the king deigned to dump her. Another idea sparked in her mind. The orc, wasn''t his name not Jade? He had been captured along with Gupalagia and demonstrated protectiveness over her, both in the fight and while being interrogated. Emily would see about legally binding him as the girl''s personal slave, another layer of security never hurt anyone, and an obvious obstacle would help keep the true ones secret. Yes that could work quite nicely indeed. Emily let out an unseen smile behind her mask, how long had it been since she had played the relaxing role of a mere undercover bodyguard? It would practicably be a holiday. A break from... She smoothed her clothes and fully straightened her spine, beginning to walk towards the approaching chatter with a calm, confident pace. One had to keep up with appearances in front of your juniors after all. For the first time in what felt like forever Emily felt a hint of peace in her tasks, a smidgen of¡­ wholeness. ....... Guppy awoke back in her cell, the manacles and chains were gone. She wanted to fade back into sleep but the slickness between her legs and the dull ache disagreed with her. Groaning in disgust at her traitorous body she threw the covers back and located a basin of water on a table, accompanied by a washcloth and some new black clothes that were folded neatly underneath. She stripped and began cleaning herself, dyeing the water as she went. Her flesh flared in a low sullen pain when she touched the puffy brand on her forehead, eliciting an intake of breath as she gingerly traced the glyphs that encircled her head underneath her hair. The metal pan folded from the force of the throw as it crumpled against the wall and the wooden table sent splinters flying as it shattered from her blow, sending the black garments to the floor in disarray. Guppy let her hands fall down to her sides once more, then gently crumpled to the cold stone floor. Not again, not again, not to her. If only she had-.She would rather-. What she would giv-. Gupalagia lay there for a while, ignoring the chill as trails of tears carved their way her visage and plopped onto her thighs. The door sat looming to her side, shut and undoubtedly locked. She could get up and test that theory, or not. Guppy rose, and with glacial slowness drew the black fabrics over her body but did not fasten them. She returned to the bed and curled up under the rough blanket. What was the point anymore, why bother struggling, why fight this, her family was safe. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. For all The Man in Black had been a psychopath and could have lied to her about their circumstances Guppy still trusted his words, trusted that the demon of a man looked down enough on others to not even bother lying to her. Especially there in his office, the center of his sanctum and power. No his words rang true, he hadn''t bothered lying to her once. Guppy turned over on the bed, facing the wall instead of the door. She just wanted to sleep, too much had happened recently and she just felt so very tired, nothing could summon or hold her enthusiasm. She continued ignoring the probes from Batty, talking to him was the last thing Guppy felt like doing right now. She fingered the swollen ridges of puffy flesh on her forehead, and closed her eyes, eventually drifting off into a torpor of pseudo sleep. ......¡­.. 4993 A.D. Third day of the sixth week of Autumn. Fifth Bell of the Afternoon. Tinkertoe Mansion located in the Nobles district. Rolf''s basement room... Rolf carefully disassembled his rig, converting its frame to unrecognizable pieces and carefully wrapping any exposed magitech circuits and runes in cloth before separating the pieces into three different bags. Good, that should prevent its casual discovery. To be careful he placed them at the bottom and then piled in random tools and finally clothes and various paraphernalia he would need for life at the academy. Rolf stood still at his doorway, gazing at the room he had grown up in for the last five years, waves of nostalgia washing over him as his eyes lit upon disassembled clocks and mechanical toys on his bookshelf sitting next to tomes of knowledge he had gathered and read over and over. He stroked the smooth dark-wood of the door frame and took a deep breath of the slightly musty air. His reverie was distracted by calls from his father, asking if he was ready for the carriage stood waiting. Breathing out he grasped one bag and carried it up the steps, handing it over to Eustace, an ageing butler who was more a parent to him than his own. The man raised an eyebrow at the weight but made no comment, simply stoically carrying it outside as Rolf went back down for his second and third case. All loaded up Rolf grasped his jacket and threw it over his lanky frame, treading the creaky floorboards one final time as he exited his hom- his former home. Rolf''s father stood by the carriage, impatiently looking at a stopwatch as he waited, looking up as Rolf''s shoes clicked on the polished stone tiles. "There you are, late as always boy, I''m going to be late to my meeting now, I hope you''re happy!" His father sharply spoke. And Rolf was. He cared not for the games of intrigue his father played with his drinking buddies, especially when one almost got him knifed in an alleyway not too long ago. His father had always been distant, trying too hard to rise in rank and influence from the hole several generations of misfortune and foolish spending had sunk their family into. While ostensibly viscounts their estates were in worse shape than most barons. Not that Rolf cared overmuch for wealth or power, so long as he had enough to fund his hobbies it was all fine with him. "Where is mother father?" Rolf asked. "Crying in her room, you know how much she opposed you going to the academy. In fact I''m not too happy with-" "We agreed and its settled father." Stated Rolf, swiftly cutting his father off before their conversation could devolve into another rehashing of the long argument. "I will seek political allies for our family''s growth in Darish and in return I receive my choice of education and a basic financial support from you so I can maintain my station as a viscount heir to the other student." His father grumbled a bit but said nothing further, allowing Rolf to board the worn looking carriage. Rolf looked at his home as the carriage turned, feeling a twinge of guilt towards his mother as he saw an upstairs curtain twitch, however the feeling was swiftly overwhelmed by the excitement of where he was heading and his foot tapped a swift beat in a nervous tic until he forced it to be still. Appearances would be important, and he was bad enough already that it would take some discipline to even appear civilized enough to mix with the other nobles at the school. But he would. Rolf gazed out the window as they crossed the nobles district and finally arrived at the entry gates of the academy. Massive walls and gates crafted by Earth mages of old towered over them, Eustace stopping only briefly to flourish his acceptance letter before the white liveried guards waved them through. The gates gave way to expansive grounds, the marble laid road bordered by statues of famous mages and scholars, pioneers in their fields who''s carved features loomed imposingly over any entree. Rolf smiled as he picked out and named each one, many of their beginner works he had extensively read, now he would be able to study with abandon no longer in secret or with fear of punishment. As he was dropped off Rolf hugged old Eustace goodbye, eliciting a rare smile from the old man, and he was old noted Rolf. The man was fit and strong but time had withered his broad frame, painting his face with wrinkles and sun spots. Rolf watched for a time as the carriage swept away, feeling the cool late morning breezes brush against his skin. He let out a breath he had been unconsciously holding, and turned to meet his new home, allowing the approaching servants to take his bags he walked one step at a time towards his future. And grinned like a lunatic. 42 The Trial There is a fire that burns within us all, and no matter how dim it flickers it never truly dies while we yet live. It is the gentlest and cruelest thing, it can lead to wealth, happiness, or ruin. What do I speak of? Think for yourself, I no longer wish to simply tell and be heard. -A campfire''s Guest Guppy awoke, not that she had been soundly asleep, but she was jarred out of her pseudo slumber by the clank and creak of her door being opened. She ignored it and lay with her body and head turned away and buried under the covers. "Get up." commanded the voice that had haunted her thoughts, causing both her muscles to stiffen and her heart to throb as a spike of adrenaline raced through her. She kept still, hoping against hope that he would just give up and leave if she ignored him. "I know you''re awake miss Cooper. Yes that means you in bed there, your breathing patterns are not those of one asleep. Emily, would you kindly help our guest out of bed and make sure she is presentable. We have an appointment to keep, and I am never one for being late. Guppy heard footsteps and felt a surprisingly gentle but nonetheless strong grasp that had her out of bed and blinking in the light as she was set on her feet. He was there in the doorway outlined by the light that came from behind him. The Man in Black gave her a curt once over, clapped to turn on the cell''s lights, sniffed disdainfully, and turning around sharply, left the room. In a moment of self pity Guppy thought about just slumping to the floor and letting them drag her wherever they wanted to go, but the wretch, He had named her Emily, who held her upright allowed no such actions, her grip may have been soft, but it was bloody strong. Her voice mirrored her grip and spoke out in a rich low timbre, soft, no longer disguised by her previous rough rasp. "Come Guppy, you have an appointment with the King, and it''s best not to keep such a one waiting lest they decide you are more trouble than you are worth. Best to get used to being called Henrietta Cooper, your new identity will be a shield for you in ways you cannot currently comprehend. Now stop acting like frightened boola and stand up straight." Guppy felt a sharp slap on her back and her muscles tensed in reflex, she straightened and landed solidly on her feet as she was dropped. She felt hands straightening her clothes, smoothing them out and fastening them where she had previously left them hanging loose. Guppy had to admit they were comfortable, and fairly high quality if the smoothness of the cotton was anything to go by. Before long the black robe had been adjusted for modesty and covered her from arm to ankle. A comb was run through her hair and Guppy almost jumped in surprise, before wincing as the comb started tugging out the knots she had accumulated over the last few weeks of captivity. Her silver hair might be lustrous and silky when cleaned but it seemed it was not totally immune to a girl''s daily troubles. Once the knots were out the comb was soothing as it polished her hair. It even turned out to be a magitech tool, as with a flick of Emily''s wrist and a low hum it released a mild heat that slightly curled Guppy''s hair as it ran through it. Guppy blinked, her emotions of being enslaved at odds with the sudden good treatment. All too soon the comb stopped and a clean damp cloth was being used to scrub her face and neck. Two cloth shoes were retrieved from under the broken table and pressed into her hands. Guppy''s groomer then poked her until Guppy put them on. Emily then went on to clean her hands and nails quickly, then satisfied with her work the woman firmly pushed Guppy towards the door. Guppy took a deep breath, and then another, and squaring her shoulders walked out the door of her cell. There the man in Black stood waiting. He cast narrowed eyes over her while clasping his hands behind his back. "It''ll have to do," He remarked, "we must be off or we will be late for your sentencing, and I would hate to miss the look on my rivals faces as they watch Gupalagia Bright, the subject of their covetous plans be sentenced and executed." Guppy kept her tongue, but stiffly followed as The Man in Black strode swiftly down the dimly lit stone corridor. And so the walk began, Guppy followed him down several turns and corridors until the pathway straightened and they walked what must have been several miles. Her footsteps were loud on the stone compared to her light footed companions, the only sound to break the silence between the trio. Eventually the stone changed, becoming darker and grimer as they passed through several locked doors in succession. The passage narrowed then, and they climbed an iron ladder twice, turning round a dizzying array of curves until The Man in Black finally stopped and fumbled with the wall in front of them. A click, and a whir of gears followed by a soft thump sounded, and a section of wall swung outwards, revealing a luxurious study to their view. Guppy followed, and stepped into the room, feeling the warmth from the crackling fire and the soft rug squishing down under her soft shoes. The smell of cheese, fruit, and some kind of wine teased her nose and caused her stomach to gurgle in answer to the tempting smells presented it. Alas they did not linger in the obviously comfortable and inviting room but soon exited it. Not through the large prominent door to one side, but through a smaller one hidden by a bookshelf that slid aside when a red volume on legal dialogues was pulled outwards by Emily. A short walk through another narrow corridor brought them to a shadowed alcove high above a pillared hall filled with people in wealthy clothes and ringed with armed and armoured guards, all watching a trial take place. A soft voice sounded in her ear, startling her from her awe. "Welcome Miss Cooper, to the trial and sentencing of Miss Gupalagia Bright, heinous criminal, rebel, and soon to be deceased." declared The Man in Black with a small mocking bow. Guppy felt a hand on her shoulder but shrugged it off. There was nothing right or comforting about what was happening down there, and Emily''s hypocritical support was unwelcome.. Guppy''s eyes swept across the crowd to the front of the audience chamber where a small figure knelt on a wooden podium. She was clothed in torn finery and had long brown hair covering her face. Her shoulders were slumped while the crowd booed, hissed, and snickered as a member of the King''s guard read off a list of crimes the accused had committed. Guppy almost laughed as she heard the crimes called aloud, she''d not thought half of them even possible. And ''Tax Evasion''? That was just insulting after the charges of rebel, traitor and assassin were thrown out. "Who is she?" Guppy asked. "Who is dying in my place?" "No one," The Man in Black answered, "A convenient body that will soon part with this unkind world, leaving her the better for it. Do not feel bad miss Cooper, for her death buys your life." "But not my freedom." Guppy bitterly remarked. "No, but it was an illusion to begin with miss Cooper. You were never really free, the great philosopher Kyne once stated thus, ''We are all of us enslaved.'' Truer words I have never heard spoken. Your chains are just more obvious than some. You should be grateful for them. Your cage will be gilded, as befits a precious bird. Cry not for illusions lost. Instead sing, serve well and you will have far greater freedoms than you once had. But quiet now, listen as your doom is pronounced. Mine was just as entertaining once." Guppy''s eyes followed his outstretched finger. The King had raised his hands and the noise in the hall died down as he stood and spoke. His voice boomed throughout the hall, the artificial volume no doubt due to some magic or device upon his person, yet still compelling for, or in spite of it. "We have gathered one and all for good reason and grim purpose. Today we bear witness to the capture and punishment of one of the most terrible of criminals of this country. A person who colluded with our enemies and sought to destabilize our economy through terrible drugs, murder and false coinage! As the King of this nation it saddens me that one among us would attempt to ruin us all. It is with a heavy heart that I declare this traitor to be hung until dead, then have her corpse thrown to the beasts as carrion. May the twelve Divines have mercy on her soul." The nobles clapped and smiled with false cheer as the King nodded and waved, before walking off behind the throne and disappearing from view. Guppy felt sick as people exclaimed in disgust and glee, watching as two guardsmen lifted the girl between them and dragged her out through the crowd. She turned and faced The Man in Black. "Why show me this? What was the point?" Guppy whispered as her stomach threatened to empty itself. "The point? The point miss Cooper, is that we own you, and you can either fight it and make things exceedingly difficult on yourself, or, you can choose to be a productive member of society and reap the benefits. The sooner you realise this the better for you, and the less effort I have to expend in order to- Break. You." A gleaming smile plastered itself on The Man in Black''s face as he spoke, and Guppy almost clobbered him then and there, she certainly tried to, but her arm was caught mid air and held there by Emily. "Emily, would you kindly inform miss Cooper on the military ranking within our country" The Man in Black requested, his eyes locked with Guppy''s. Emily spoke softly but swiftly as she held Guppy firmly. "The King is the Grand Marshall, He has final say in all military matters; below him are the three Dukes of Darish who serve as Generals; under them are seven Count''s who serve as Colonel''s; beneath them are nineteen Viscounts who serve as Majors; down from them are Barons who serve as Captains; Baronets who serve as Lieutenants; and finally Commoners who can hold military ranks from Sergeant to Privates. An individual of Baronet class and upwards can be knighted, and knights hold a superior position within any rank they hold. Emily finished and closed her mouth once more just as the Man in Black opened his. "Now my dear, I am known as the Raven of Darish, and hold the position of Duke," stated The Man in Black, "And did you just try hit me a moment ago?" Guppy felt a searing heat on her head flare up and yelped in surprise, even as she backpedaled and landed on her rear. And it was too much, the burning and sudden dizziness followed by a sudden impact pushed Guppy over her tipping point. Her stomach''s contents noisily splattered on the stone tiled floor. The Man in Black, The Duke, looked upon her with mild distaste as he continued. "You see my dear, if you try to rebel against your three commands, all that awaits you is the stick. By serving me you serve our country. Now do stand. We have an appointment to keep. Guppy felt the odd compulsion in his words, it was a whispered persuasion that had her on her feet and following before she could think twice. And somehow that scared her more than the noose her double now walked too. ........................ Guppy was led back to the luxurious sitting room, where they collectively stood and waited. It could not have been but a few minutes, but time stretched as Guppy fought the panic in her chest. She did not know what to think. Were her thoughts still her own? Or was she just a puppet now? Dancing to another tune while thinking the steps were their own. Was she even human anymore? Did she still have a soul? She had never been particularly religious, but even she had heard priests preaching at festivals or on holy days. Was she a beast then? Something to be bought and sold? A pet? Guppys self examination was interrupted as the main door swung open and a large figure swept in, her eyes gravitated to the tall figure clothed in magnificent splendor. He bore the signature golden locks and piercing blue eyes that the royal line was so well known for. his figure was large, but what had once been muscle and strong features were now sculpted by fat, softening his facial features and granting him a protruding belly. The figure, no the King walked to the plush armchair by the crackling fire and plopped himself down, letting out a sigh of relief. "Ahhh, that hall is bloody drafty, and winter''s chills have come early this year. One of these days I''ll have that stupidly uncomfortable iron throne melted down for scap. My Great grandfather must have been out of his mind when he commissioned it!" The King dismissively nodded in their direction and proceeded to demolish the platter of fruits, crackers and assorted cheeses that lay to his left. It was a messy affair, and one which Guppy looked enviously upon, her stomach had settled somewhat from its earlier upset and informed her that it was very, very empty. But the meal ended as it had begun, abruptly. After a few seconds of poking around the King sighed and turned towards the waiting trio. "So this is her then my Raven?" he asked, gesturing to Guppy with a wave of his hand. "She looks like she belongs in a Pink house, is she really ''The'' omni point? Or did you bring her instead to warm my bed?" Guppy bristled at the man''s dismissive words and tone, but was at the same time glad of her currently drab clothing as the man''s eyes dragged across her with a predatory gaze. This man was her King? He was a lecherous slob, for all he dressed in satin and velvet beset with glittering gems. "This is her sire, please observe," The Man in Black ignored his lieges disbelieving gaze and withdrew a testing crystal from his robes, handing it to Guppy. "Miss Cooper, if you would." Guppy was tempted to throw the twelve pointed crystal in his face, or the King''s. Her logical, self preservationist self triumphed over her emotional one. Barely. So instead she let out a little sigh and pushed a thread of her mana through her hand and into the crystal, lighting up each of the twelve points with a different color. The King leant forward, "Zarak''s Teeth! I thought you were pulling my leg when I got the message- this crystal has been checked for accuracy has it not?" "Of course my King. Emily, if you please." replied the Man in Black. Emily took the pointed crystal from Guppy''s open palm, her gloves did not seem to hinder her as two opposing points of the crystal lit up with light and shadow respectively. The King stared in silence at the crystal for a full minute while the trio waited for his words. At last he shakily spoke up once more. "What does this mean my Raven? When was the last omni affinity recorded?" The Man in Black paused and considered his words before he spoke once more. "I have looked through the records, and while they are not complete, there has never been known a case where an individual has all twelve affinities. Grand Archmage Feroaran was known to have six affinities during his reign two millennia ago. While I cannot say that one such as her has never existed, they have never been publicly known. I have already taken precautionary measures and bound her to you, and this kingdom using Queen Neferrishia''s Choker. I believe with the right training and control she will greatly boost this nation''s strength." The King turned and stared into the cracking fire then, conflicting emotions marching across his profiled face. Eventually he turned back towards his audience. "Very well then, I shall not take her as a concubine, yet. Send her to the royal college and make sure she grows her powers. Then when she is ready I shall claim her to serve me personally. You said she has been collared with the Choker correct?" The King received a nod from The Man in Black then turned his focus to Guppy. "Well then first command: You will fall madly in love with me and fulfill my every whim." Guppy shivered as she heard the words, she felt her glyph warm slightly, but no force or compulsion descended so she peered up, curiosity writ upon her face. The Man in Black coughed politely into the awkward silence. "My King, you may compel action, and over time even train someone''s natural reactions with this choker, but the magic does not extend to control one''s heart, that you shall have to earn on your own." Guppy felt a relief of the tension that had gripped her with the king''s words. This choker''s curse had holes then, she would find them, and by the goddess Chrolia''s breath, she would exploit them. The King frowned at her, then after a moment opened his mouth once more. "Here then is my command: You will study hard and learn to control your power at the royal academy of magic. You will graduate in two years time and then serve me at my side as my protector, enforcer, and concubine. You will only obey commands from myself and Raven here until I countermand this instruction." Guppy felt the command descend upon her, her branded glyph heating up as she fought it. It burned into her head until her sight blurred and she fell to her knees. But her struggle was for naught, Guppy''s mind twisted, and she found herself standing and bowing to the king as her will gave in. "Yes, my King." the words left her mouth and it was done. It. Was. Law. Panicking and in a cold sweat Guppy turned inwards. Guppy whispered to the recesses of her mind. {Go away girl} came the sullen response. For a second, for a minute, for an eternity there was silence in her head. Then came a response, quiet at first, but growing in timbre and strength as it went. {I have lost more than I can even remember. There is a gaping loss within me, and I fear I might never be whole again. I am- scared little one. I fear the unknown, I fear I might continue to forget and fade until I am a whisper and a dream. I fear leaving this world with no one to witness that I lived. I fear I have failed my duty, and. I. do. not. know. what or who I have failed¡­ But I will try to help, if nothing else your death would be my oblivion. These last few days I have almost sought such, but a small mote has kept alight and driven me from that path. I can feel it through our link, I taste it in your emotions. I hear it from your thoughts, and I see it through your actions.} As Guppy listened to the dragon''s words she felt a draw. She reached inwards towards it, and her surroundings grew dim. She followed the dragon''s voice as it beckoned deeper and deeper, until she saw and approached a glimmering speck of light. As she drew near, Guppy recognised the light for what it was. An ember that lay smouldering, covered in ash. Blanketed by grey and bound by thin steel wires that dripped with hissing blood. The wires twisted too and fro to wrap the ember in a small spherical cage of rigid inky darkness that rotated slowly slowly around it. The gaps in the ball''s construction gave short glimpses of the treasure within as the sphere moved and light escaped. The light was faint. But it still BURNED. Guppy drew near, then leant forward and blew upon the living cinder. Light flared as ash fluttered away, and a golden fire roared forth through the gaps. Yet the waves of rippling fire did not hurt her, instead it felt warm and as gentle as her mamwe''s embrace even as it surrounded and caressed her. Guppy smiled, and then feeling a presence looked up. A Dragon looked back, it''s head and body illuminated in the flaring light. Guppy asked the beast as she looked past the fiery orb in front of her. {Hope,} answered Batty, {Unreasonable, illogical, and defiant hope. Tempered with a promise of a reckoning. A balancing of the scales to come} Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Guppy gazed upon the massive scaled form in front of her, but felt no terror. Batty looked much the worse for wear even as a spirit. His form was fuzzy, his body other than his head tembled and scattered into mist only to reform slowly, and scatter once more. Guppy said, Batty regarded her silently, his form towering over her in the gloom. He lowered his head until it was but inches from hers, then snorted out a breath that blew Guppy''s hair back before answering her plee. {Perhaps we do. A chance, a gamble of sorts exists. I remember one magic, one final piece of knowledge I have clung to. If you can find a piece of my former body I can create a new vessel for my soul, and with time I should be able to relearn my magics that were forged within. With those I might, might be able to undo what has been done to you. Find something of what I was Gupalagia, that I might be reborn.} Guppy smiled and reached out, cradling the bound ember to her chest with both hands as she rested her head on Batty''s. Guppy left the space within and returned to herself. The conversation in the cozy room had continued without her. Guppy had listened to none of it, but it seemed it was done as she was pulled to her feet and guided back into the passageway once more. As she walked Guppy thought back to the words the crimson witch had whispered to her as the woman had bent over her in the moonlit alleyway. All of a sudden they no longer seemed quite as insane or terrifying as she remembered, if anything they brought a sliver of hope to her. Kill the King and all his line? She might not be able to do it directly, but maybe her commands and restrictions could be bent, or circumvented. With effort, skill and luck she might be able to use this blood curse to her advantage. And the witch could be the blade that brought her freedom. Guppy smiled at the floor as she walked through secret tunnels towards her new identity and life. If she focused on certain perspectives things were looking up. Guppy was to be taught how to use her powers, how to use magic by the best teachers of the realm. Magi was something she had wanted since she watched the royal airships sail across the sky as a child. Magic was something she had craved for years, and been denied by a cruel reality. And now she had magic. Now she would truly learn how to use it as she trained with the elites of the Kingdom. She would find and make allies, crush her oppressors and any obstacles between herself, freedom, and her family. There would be a reckoning for what she had suffered. And when it arrived... She would be ready. End of Act 2 43 Interlude 3 - Seymours Endeavour We seldom get what we want, and when we do it often weakens us. If only the fools could raise their covetous eyes to what they needed¡­ But this is a moot point, one''s nature is not so easily changed, not theirs, and certainly not mine. -Ramblings of the dying Emperor Hasis moments before he ordered the execution of the entire Imperial line. Seymour took a deep breath, at least he tried to, but this new fangled body did not breathe and it was quite a disconcerting experience attempting to do so. Seymour panicked then, and curled up in the fetal position as he tried to reconcile what was happening to him. After a few minutes he stopped, his chest heaving as his mind told him it should be. Except when he looked down it was still¡­ Seymour forced himself to count out the hippolatus sequence. "Zero, one, one, two, three, five, eight, thirteen¡­" By the time he had counted out to seventy-five thousand and twenty-five he had calmed, and realized a few things. Firstly, he could speak, despite seemingly having no lungs. Second, he wasn''t deaf, the noises he heard himself making while moving about proved that. Third, this was very obviously not his body. To be fair he vividly remembered getting stabbed. There was a good chance his normal, human body was feeding the river fish right about now. That was another disturbing thought that threatened to disrupt his calm, he counted out a few more integers of the sequence. Fourth, unless this was an elaborate prank the manilla file beneath him showed just how big he currently was. Really steamin'' small! Stuffed toy size! Yet this was no fluffy toy body he was stuck in, fully articulated metal limbs were not simply made in your local stitch shop, especially in miniature. Fifth, his vision was; different. Despite there being next to no light he could see, although instead of the usual colors everything was in muted grey''s. Finally, as Seymour lay in his rectangular wooden enclosure he realized he very much wanted to escape from wherever he currently was being held, and find Stalia. Yes, he wanted to, if possible, help her avoid death, dismemberment, or any other form of insidious harm. Seymour had no idea how much time had passed since he was shanked, and that worried him more than his immediate indigent circumstances. Yet he would likely only find out after his escape so he focused his thoughts, shuffled around, and examined the keyhole, through which spilled ever brightening light. The keyhole was large to his view, but must have been a small design as it was not even large enough to stick his finger through. A moment''s troubleshooting brought to his remembrance his current bed, and some groping around rewarded him with two paper clips, which he swiftly unbent and thrust into the lock. It took a few minutes of trying to finally pick the lock with his improvised tools, especially as that blasted noble had sprung for a seven tumbler Heckle and Gocker. The high end lock far more secure than the two or three tumbler variant one would usually encounter. Nonetheless Seymours miss spent youth aided in his endeavour and soon the bolt slid free. Seymour threw his weight against the drawer front, earning him a visible gap as it slid outwards. He wedged his fingers into the crack and pulled, leveraging the drawer further open. Freedom. Seymour cautiously raised his head and found himself in the very room in which he was murdered. "Well, time to beat it before anyone comes in," He muttered to himself. His voice was- not his own, it sounded hollow and slightly scratchy to his ears, or was it his ears that were different? Seymour pushed aside the panic that threatened to surface again. He could hear everything else normally, his voice had changed, that was all. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Seymour lifted himself onto the smooth wooden desk and bounced on his feet. The metal it was built with might make this body heavy for its size, but he felt light, he felt like he could- Seymour jumped, and the arch he drew as he flew to the window revealed the gardens outside. Something thumped behind him as he landed on the windowsill, prompting a panicked spin and a new discovery. He had a tail! Braided metal flexed as he twitched it from side to side in silence. The discovery of his new appendage brought on the reality of his situation once more and Seymour had to shove his emotions down again. Right now he dared not even look at his entire body in the reflective surfaces scattered throughout the room. So instead he picked the window''s lock and pulled them open. A stiff morning breeze billowed the curtains around him. When they settled he was gone. Seymour quickly found some advantages of his new body, it was tough, absorbing the impact from the fall easily. Once he stopped tripping over it selfconciously his tail also helped him balance extraordinarily well as he ran. The run through the estate''s gardens gave him time to adapt to this body as he darted between shadows, or over flowerbeds. Gradually growing more and more agile as he explored the limits of his form. From what he could tell so far it did not tire at all. Something that did bother Seymour were his hands, they seemed disproportionately large for his frame. But he had to admit that the blackened limbs had strength and his sharp fingernails were eminently useful for climbing. The metal was hard too, and a particularly hard tumble onto stone a bit earlier hadn''t left even a scratch. Seymour connected the dots. If he had a throat he would have gulped, instead a weird gurgle came out. There was only one metal he could think of with this color and properties. "Tikka''s breath! Who in the blazes made this body with damn Adamantite!" Seymour swore, even as he exited the estate by vaulting over the boundry wall, landing comfortably in some decorative foilage on the other side. It was a small comfort at least, that the body he recklessly tossed around as he got used to it was durable. After making sure the coast was clear Seymour exited the cover of the fancily trimmed bushes and dashed down the still empty street. The morning mist that had yet to burn away proved excellent cover for his tiny form. Of course, the thought of depriving his murderer of such an expensive trinket was a nice perk and brought a grin to Seymour''s face. Seymour paused in the shadow of a thoroughfare''s entrance and raised a hand to his mouth in sudden anxiety as another thought occurred to him. There was no grin upon his sculpted face. He swore again, quietly, then threw himself out into the street in a sideroll, abruptly stopping his momentum under a passing carriage. He quickly reached up and latched onto the carts base from beneath, his fingers and toes sinking into the soft wood with relative ease. Now he had transport to the workers quarter, and a break before he would have to switch carts again. Hanging on with his other three limbs Seymour detached his right hand and tentatively brought it upwards to his face again. His touch revealed features, human only in the broadest sense, he had a nose, mouth, and eyes, but they did not seem to be normally proportioned. "I should have guessed it when I saw my oversized limbs." Seymour muttered to himself, "I had- no, I should be grateful I even have this chance at life again, no matter the form." Seymour lost track of time as he sunk into musings, and only regained his awareness when his ride passed through the central market square and stopped to collect a load of goods. Seymour lowered his head and peered between two wheel spokes. He looked around until he spotted a battered vegetable cart, now empty, and about to head back after delivering its cargo to the market. Seymour quickly dropped down from his hiding spot and blurred through a gap in the sea of legs. These hidden, dashing techniques were old friends to Seymour. Skills polished as a child on the streets of Nolusburg, where too much attention was never a healthy thing. Attention usually heralded beatings, or losing the food you had begged or stolen. Indeed, to the powerless attention brought greater competition and fewer chances of survival. Seymour had in turn adapted to his youthful environment, learning to conceal himself in the slightest shadow or behind the briefest cover. His current body made it all the easier to apply the tricks of the trade he had learnt a lifetime ago. Seymour now applied and polished his skills as he darted through gaps in the crowd that only briefly opened, and into shadows cast by crates, utilizing his size and speed to avoid any curious eyes. He reached his target and quickly latched onto the underside of the departing cart. This ride would take him out the gates if he rode it long enough, but more importantly it would depart through the south gate, and travel through the slums to do so. Seymour waited patiently until he recognized familiar broken down buildings before detaching himself and slipping into a narrow alleyway, still pungent with wafting smoke and smells from the night''s entertainment. He stopped next to some crumbling masonry and admired how surprisingly strong and flexible the body he now possessed was. It was far easier to move in than the scrawny knob kneed one of his youth. And he needed stealth now, more than ever before. ...¡­ Seymour waited in his hiding spot until darkness fell. He then pushed away the stones and assorted refuge he had hid under, no sense of smell meant it had been a far less disgusting affair than expected. A few suks had tried to make a meal out of him, but a few swipes and solid punches to their snouts had driven them off. Only one passing suk had tried to pee on him, that one had fled whimpering after a solid kick in the gonads. But amidst the little battles of the day Seymour had finally learnt the date from passing conversations, it was the second day of the fifth week of Autumn. He had lost over three weeks of time since his murder. Anxiety threatened to cloud his vision but Seymour found his inner void, fed it his emotions and thereby stilled himself. He had forged plans while he lay under the rubble, having deliberately chosen a spot close to a city crier''s platform to catch up on the local news. Some businesses had closed, the price of food was rising, old Yeller, the owner of The Rabid Suk had died in a fire along with twenty of his ''employees''. Seymour crossed the gambling hole off his list of safe houses to check. Someone had evidently raided it before him and likely already taken Kyle. Or Kyle was a crispy corpse buried under tons of rubble, either way he was out of the picture for the immediate future. But he had instructed Stalia to be taken to a different location entirely, a proper safe house, not some prison affair. His destination set Seymour traveled through the streets in the darkening night. The moons were starting to wax but their slivers cast little light tonight. Torches and tin canner patrols were scant in the slums, and paired with the faint natural light this allowed Seymour to travel far faster without fear of discovery. After a couple brief detours he arrived at his destination, and clambered up a nearby gutter pipe for a better view. Before him lay safe house four, otherwise known as T&J''s Fine Lending Establishment. The two loan sharks worked for the Grakoans, and were excellent debt collectors. Their solidly built brick building was a bit at odds here in the slums, but below it lay a hidden safe house, as well as a vault that stored a floating portion of the mafia''s wealth. Seymour noted a number of meat handers who guarded the place both covertly and overtly. The security tonight was excessive, no doubt a consequence of the recent raid on another of their safe houses. It mattered not to Seymour, his plan had accounted for variables such as this. Seymour climbed down and recovered a pouch he had left down below. The small waxed leather pouch was filled with a milky powder. Hestardas dust, known commenly as bowel reaper. In very tiny doses the purgative was mixed with herbs as a remedy for constipation or rotgut. Seymour had stolen enough to dysentery a brigade. He had also procured a wineskin filled with some local moonshine, a very particular fiery moonshine favored by those without the coin for finer stuff. Carefully he poured the powder into the liquid, recorked it and gave it a few swirls to mix. He then snuck closer and round the side of the small loans building with his cargo, if his timing was right then his target would be- There! A meat hander was strolling down the side street towards the office. A full wine skin hooked to his belt was destined to be shared with the guards as a fortifier against the chilly autumn air. Seymour waited until the tipsy individual strolled past his hiding spot. A leap. A lift and twist. A theft. A giving and clipping. Then back down and flat on the ground into shadow and under the night''s gathering knee high mists. The man stopped, having felt something change. Not as drunk as he appeared to be then. But after checking that his coin purse and wineskin were still there and briefly glancing around the man grunted and and continued on his way. Seymour retreated back, further into the alley as the meat hander gave a low whistle and the various guards strolled over with their tin cups for their nightly ''ration''. All Seymour had to do was wait. Ten minutes later the shop was abandoned and none of those men would be back for some time. Seymour hopped up and unlocked the door with a set of keys he had relieved from a very distracted guard. Pushing the door inwards he slipped in and then closed and locked it again, no need to draw any attention with an open or unlocked door just yet. He made his way through the reception room to the back office and spent a minute picking the safe''s lock, Seymour gathered a few stacks of coins of various denominations and stuffed them into one of the collection pouches laying to the side of the bulky metal box. They would need the money to rent a safe room with a rival faction and buy passage out of the city. His pension collected Seymour turned to the desk and moved the chair, then rolled back a rug to reveal a trap door. This too he unlocked with a key from the ring he had nicked, and with a solid heave he flipped the door open, the rolled up rug perfectly positioned to absorb the impact. Metal rungs led downwards but Seymour simply dropped into the hole, landing with a soft thump on the ground below. A figure lay there, wrapped up in blankets and lying on a sleeping pallet. The room was small, but mostly clean, with a small bookshelf in one corner. Seymour quaked as he took her visage in. Pale, even in his grey sight. While always slender she had become oh so thin. Her cheekbones stood out so prominently on her face and her arms were thin from disuse. She started tossing and turning as she weakly flailed about in the grip of a nightmare, calling out for Guppy, for Kyle. For him. He moved unconsciously towards her, hands outstretched to wrap her in his embrace. He saw his hands. Black metal hands, his hands. Not His hands. Seymour let his arms drop uselessly to his sides. What would she think of him if she saw him now. Would she laugh at his claims? Would she cry? Would she rage and scream at him? He had failed her after all. His oh so egotistical self had stepped into the worgens den thinking himself better than them. Would his death be the final straw to her? Would it send her over the edge of dispair, madness or death to see him as he currently stood, to know that the one she loved was now a Monster in both mind and body. He shrank back from her shifting form, his tail unconsciously curling around his waist. A screech startled him out of his spiraling thoughts. He had clenched his fists so hard the metal had shrieked at the friction. Not a scratch to be seen of course, but it startled him nonetheless. Another reminder of the monster he was. Seymour sat down heavily and cradled his head in his hands. He would weep, but he had no tears to shed. "Hello! Who''s there?" came a voice, came Her voice. Seymour froze his rocking. Her voice was hoarse and scratchy from disuse and crying, but he would recognize it amongst any crowd. He slowly lowered his hands and stood as Stalia fumbled for a lamp. It lit, and Seymour''s form was revealed. Stalia scooted back in fright at his sudden and silent appearance. "Who- wh- who are you? What are you? Ar-are you a demon come to kill me?" she stuttered. It broke Seymour''s heart to see her sunken cheeks and puffy eyes, her split ends, and ragged locks where SoMe fool haD cUt bits OfF- Seymour stopped that train of thought, he was scaring Stalia enough as it was. However much he wanted to rip into some of his former employees right now she currently needed reassuring, not some raving fiend. "Relax Stalia, I''m a- a friend, your sister sent me here to help you escape from this place. I''ve already taken care of the guards above, but we need to leave before we are discovered." Seymour said, calmly mixing lies with truth. "Really?" asked Stalia, "Are Guppy and Kyle still alive and well? I''ve been told they are, but no one would let me see them. An-an-and they told me Sey-seym-. My boyfriend was dead." Seymour looked at his beloved, read the excitement, tension, denial and hope in her face. And then let go and did what needed doing. "Seymour is dead. Your siblings live. I am merely a puppet controlled by a mage from afar to aid in your escape." Stalia, slumped back into the pile of blankets, her shoulders trembled and shook. Seymour let out a quiet curse and ran to her, the lept up and slapped Stalia as firmly and gently as he dared. The slap knocked her head to the left, and the shaking thankfully stopped. Seymour took a deep breath, or the mental equivalent of one, and forced himself to be as mean as he could to her. "Focus Stalia, unless we leave right now you won''t live to see your siblings again, do you want to be the one who kills them because you couldn''t get over some dumb boy!?" he snapped, "Now get up, no leave the blanket here, get up that ladder before I rip the flesh from your bones with this puppets claws!" This tirade finally got Stalia moving, and Seymour let out a sigh as she disappeared through the door in the ceiling. He slapped himself, feeling the dull thud as he did so. Seymour sighed again and scrambled after Stalia. The girl was waiting for him and looked inquisitive when he slung the money bag over a shoulder. It was as big as he was, yet barely hindered his movement. "What are you looking at girl!? The exit is that way." Seymour hissed, "Move your skinny butt or I''ll pluck your eyes out!" Stalia huffed, but her irritation at his words and partial fear kept her functioning, and not dwelling on other things. Seymour would take what he could get at this point. He had to pass her the keys for the front door, but the two left as he had come, anonymously disappearing into the misty night. 44 A New Life part 1 When one door closes in your life, others naturally open. Of course those doors might lead to a cliff or a pit of venomous monsters, but that''s why you always pack a featherfall scroll or tool. -A Travellers Wisdom, Vol 2 page 17 4993 A.D. Fourth day of the seventh week of Autumn. Fifth Bell of the evening¡­ Gupalagia Esme Bright, Traitor, Master of Sedition, Tax Evader, and all round enemy of the state, the woman executed a week ago today and reborn as Henrietta Cooper, a minor noble from a distant rural estate, looked upon her wardrobe and despaired. There were bows, and ribbons on her dress, the whole thing looked horribly impractical and uncomfortable, and the heels! She had tried them on and immediately hated whoever had designed these torture devices. So it was that Emily walked in and found Guppy sitting firmly on her cot within her cell with naught but a shift on. Emily had raised an eyebrow at her, yet when Guppy had pointed out how silly the clothing was the elf had looked at it and swept it away without a word, returning with much more acceptable clothing that she swiftly tailored to Guppy''s size. Her new outfit was far more subdued, and traded the satin and velvet for good study cotton. The creamy turquoise blouse and black split leg long skirt were both comfortable and modest. As Guppy turned and stretched she couldn''t help but let out a smile the the range of movement her new attire afforded her. The finely woven cloth whispered quality and understated money to her skin. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. She liked it. "Satisfied?" asked Emily, breaking her former silence. Guppy nodded in reply, and followed the elf as she turned and left. A long walk ensued in silence between them. Guppy honestly didn''t know what to think of the woman. Initially she had hated her, hated that she denied Guppy her freedom, that she was enslaved, that the elf had- Guppy took a settling breath. The woman had been doing her job, a fact Batty had pointed out quite emphatically one night when he had gotten tired of her mental ranting. When Guppy seriously considered the elf- no, Emily''s actions over the last week, she was left confused. Emily had instructed Guppy on her new cover as Henrietta Cooper along with basic noble etiquette, and while many of the rules had seemed downright silly, Guppy found most of the simple rules were the same as those she had learnt from her mother as a child. Upon realizing this she wondered where her mother had learned them, perhaps she served in a noble household when she had been younger? As Guppy paid attention she noticed a thousand little actions from Emily that had spoken of her care. The food Guppy was given had markedly improved, Emily brought her clean cloths for her monthly bleeding along with fresh undergarments. The Elf had taken to braiding her silver hair up in a circlet, and even brought her news of her sibling''s welfare. While her brother and sister had been in mourning over her ''death'', the two were being looked after both overtly and covertly, and had even been moved to a nicer residence in a safer part of the city. So it was with a confusing mixture of anger and gratitude that Guppy regarded the elf as she was shown to a carriage that had its curtains drawn and fastened. As Guppy stepped into the carriage, she could not help but turn and utter a question that came unbidden to her lips. "Will I see you again Emily?" The elf did not answer her, Emily just smiled and shut the door. Guppy threw her hands up and humpfed down on the plush seat. Weirdest boss ever! The elf was as abrupt, annoyingly smug, insensitive, annoying- Guppy gave up and let her hands drop to her sides again, she was being ungrateful to Emily, who had treated her a fair bit better than she had expected. Needing a distraction, and realizing it had been a few days since their last chat, Guppy leaned back into the comfortable seat as the carriage started moving, and focused her mind inwards. A moment of silence, before she felt his presence stir. {Gupalagia, what do you need?} Guppy did her mental equivalent of a shrug and thrummed their connection with her feelings of boredom at the journey yet excitement for their destination. She had been forbidden from practicing any magic while she was held-wherever she was held, but once she arrived at the Royal academy she was allowed to use it, within certain limitations. she asked. Guppy felt minor amusement flow across the bond, along with the dragon''s own boredom. {I sleep most of the time little one, while not as bad as it was, it is a struggle to maintain awareness for long periods of time, your mana output is barely enough to support me so I slumber to save up and conserve what I can.} Guppy slumped guiltily, her mental form displaying her discomfort. She knew she was weak, but hearing that she couldn''t even give the dragon enough energy to maintain his awareness was still a bit of a blow to her self esteem. Batty must have felt her distress and helplessness though, for he spoke up again. {Fret not Gupalagia, you will grow stronger, and I believe we will get through this rough patch, however grey our scales may be.} Guppy sighed but sat up a little straighter at his comforting words. Guppy sent through her hope and optimism to Batty, feeling a pulse of consolation back before the dragon''s consciousness faded back into slumber. Guppy floated upwards, returning her awareness to the outside world. She opened her eyes slowly, feeling the rocking of the carriage as it passed over cobbled streets. Her other senses picking up the familiar sounds and smells of Nolusburg. She settled in patiently, for patience was a familiar friend now, a reliable ally in the uncertain circumstances she found herself within. 45 A New Life - part 2 Guppy was knocked out of her drifting thoughts when the carriage clattered to a halt. She heard the carriage driver hop off the driving bench up front and walk round to the back to retrieve her luggage. Scant though her luggage may seem for a noble with only a single suitcase, it contained several sets of the academy''s uniform, the royal colors of scarlet and gold dominating the tailored outfit''s design. The suitcase was deposited outside the carriage''s door, which was then smoothly opened for her by the silent driver. Guppy ducked through the carriage doorway and got her first view of the academy that she would be attending for the next few years. Even in the dusky twilight air it was impressive, especially so as lights twinkled on from rooms across the buildings in response to the approaching darkness, shedding a halo that pushed against the dying light. Although the encircling walls blocked sight of what must be quite extensive gardens, they could not hide the massive dodecagramal structure from which twelve colored spires rose. Each tower was connected by gossamer walkways that stretched between them in symmetrical bridges. Guppy remembered to breath when she heard the carriage depart behind her. This, this was where the best mages, artificers, and enchanters came to learn their crafts from the ages of eighteen until- well until they left to ply their crafts. Guppy grabbed her bag, took a fortifying breath and marched up to the gates. She was about to pass them when she heard a grinding of metal and parting air, her instincts threw her backwards in a quick bound as two brass spears swung downwards where she had been a moment ago. Guppy straightened, and did not press forwards, the alternative was skewering herself on two pointy bits of metal after all. Two metal men- no golems, wielding archaic arms and armour had emerged from recessed positioned within the gateway''s arch and taken a swing at her! "Wait! Zarak''s Teeth! Stop you stupid golden cans! What''s the command word again- right! Heralds I bid thee Hold!" A flustered and rather rotund man staggered into view as he rounded the corner and exited the gate. He took a moment to rest against one of the mobile statues, catching his breath before he turned to Guppy. "Gatekeeper Klip at your service miss. Don''t you know there''s no entry after dark? Good thing I was awake and ready or these here magic guys would have poked some holes in ya. Now what can I do for ya?" Guppy had to stifle a grin at the blustering man''s words. He looked like he''d almost had a heart attack himself seeing the statues move, which judging by his manner was not an everyday occurrence. "Good master Klip, my name is Henrietta Cooper, I am a new student of this Academy, though I fear I have arrived late due to my long journey. Please get your guards to stand down and allow me entry." The words felt awkward and stiff to Guppy, but Emily and been- intense when tutoring her on her new cover, including basic manners of speech. Thankfully Guppy had always been a quick study and had picked up the basics in a few days. Emily had remarked that she wouldn''t pass for true nobility, but as her cover was a provincial noble not much would be expected of her either. "Right, right. A moment milady." called out Klip, as he then muttered to the statues before pulling out a wand and poking them a few times, the golems responded by moving back into their shadowed alcoves. Klip looked visibly pleased with himself, drawing in his gut before he turned to Guppy once more. "Now then Miss, please present your noble crest for verification!" Guppy retrieved the badge Emily had gotten made for her, the oval plaque bore the Cooper family crest of a pidby bird carrying a stalk of wheat in its beak. The thing was supposed to be enchanted and unduplicatable outside the official noble registrar office. Guppy rather suspected that''s exactly where Emily had gotten it made. Klip accepted it from Guppy and tapped it to a block he had retrieved from his belt, which then hummed and turned red. "Perfect, a genuine crest, welcome to the Academy Miss Cooper! This way please." Klip waved her through the gate with a bow. Guppy complied, accepting her crest back she walked forward and crossed the gate''s threshold, feeling a tingle up her spine as she did so. She began walking down the long paved path to the distant buildings before a horrified Klip rushed over from a flat bed cart to which he had turned. "No no miss, we''d not make you walk all the way there! Take this horseless carriage, it''s got a magitech engine built in and it''s enchanted to take you right to the administration doors." Guppy felt more than ever her poor upbringing as she sat down on velvet cushions and let the nervous gatekeeper switch the device on. He then waved cheerily to her as it smoothly clicked and moved down the stone paved path. Guppy sat back and relaxed, at least this way she got to admire the gardens as she traveled. True she could not see far with dark descending, but lights set in intervals along the path illuminated flowerbeds full of neatly ordered plants. They weren''t in bloom due to the late season, and the encroaching of winter, but the variety displayed and obvious care they received promised a dizzying display come spring. And the flowerbeds were the least of the decorations! Short hedges backed the flowerbeds, framing them and the path both, with gaps for only the occasional statue, who''s clothing grew more and more old fashioned as the trip progressed. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Guppy had to suppress some very unladylike snorts at some of the rediculous outfits the last few mages sported. But, as with all good things, the ride came to an end. All too soon Guppy found herself facing two large dark wood doors that towered over her as she timidly, and then with greater force knocked upon them. She waited a full minute before the doors silently swung open before her, revealing a tired looking Calgaree. Guppy''s sharp ears picked up the beastkin muttering about flaming mid semester transfers before the Cagaree coughed into one grey furred hand and spoke up. "Miss Cooper? We''ve been expecting you. My name is Vicklash Calgaree. I am the matron, and head of housekeeping here at the Royal Academy. Please follow me as I lead you to the boarding house for the fairer sex." Guppy demurely complied, following the elderly Calgaree down several long corridors and then along a covered walkway whose walls lay open to the grounds. "The east dormitories belong to the ladies, while the west are assigned to the young lords, you may mingle freely during class and after they end for the day, however it is frowned upon to be outside your dormitory after dark. Especially after the eight pm curfew. Should you be foolish enough to break curfew, or too many of the other rules we have, we have full permission from all parenting groups to discipline the offending student during their stay here. I advise for your sake you toe the line milady, I do so hate to clean up the mess a girl makes after a public lashing." Guppy''s eyebrows rose as the diminutive Calgaree carried on, she did not laugh at the rules as they were listed, although quite a few seemed rather strange and lacking context. Before long they had entered the second dormitory level and swept past numerous rooms. Then Vicklash stopped, turned towards Guppy, and gestured to a door at the very end of the corridor. "Here is your room Miss Cooper, and here is your key. Good night." The Calgaree left as abruptly as she had stormed in, leaving Guppy clutching a delicate brass key in one hand and her suitcase in the other. As quiet descended Guppy heard a pitter pattering of feet and clicking of keys in locks as other doors were unlocked. She saw a number of heads poke out of doorways and felt a flush of embarrassment at the sudden attention. Guppy whirled to her door, quickly unlocked it, and bolted inside. She''d get to know her neighbour''s tomorrow after all. Tonight at least, she had to herself.