It has been a few days, my chest is still a little bit sore from that day. We went to Fallen's clinic immediately after our encounter with that man, Victor. Fallen said we were all sound; magic is amazing, isn't it?
It was a little quieter than usual, maybe that should of been a sign
"C'mon dear, open wide"
"I think I can eat by myself Cass," my father says, trying to grab the sandwich from Mother
Every attempted swipe, he gets close. But right at the last second, Mother would bring it just out of reach. An irritated look forms on my father's face, though with a slight red hue
"But they're sending you off to Sumudra this time, you're going to be away for soooo long! Let me have a little fun while I can!" she says with a pout, "Right Jace?"
"Um, right, gonna miss you dad." I say absentmindedly as I continue to scribble in my little pocket note-book
I have read just about every book in my father's study, so I've been leafing through each one, copying down useful information and incantations that I find. I am almost half way through it!
"I will be back, it is only for a month in the actual city"
"But the travel time is so long and all the bureaucracy included with transporting prisoners down there"
"It will be fine dear, noth-"
"But," Mother cuts him off, "It's also that bastard your moving"
I perk up at this, pausing in my writing. "What are you doing?"
My parents look at me grimly as I ask the question
"Well," my father starts, "we have a, at least that is what they think, a rival company you could say. They're more like a lawless pack of scrappy wolves than people though. The Monarchian crown captured one of their generals, so they have hired me to help oversee their transport to a more secure prison in another kingdom"
"Your mother is just over reacting a bit." he adds, prompting a smack from Mother next to him
"How about you shut your trap, you better come back in one piece." Mother says rather sharply, her smile quickly returning
After a brief moment of silence, my father changes the subject. "So, you have heard about me, how about you Jace? Anything planned for today?"
"I will probably just continue studying your books, unless a certain someone comes bangi-"
Something slams forcefully into our front door with a loud shake, then continues to pound on the door irregularly
"Who in their right mind would be banging on the door like this?-"
"It is alright dad," I push myself off of my seat, "I got this. I have a wild guess who that could be"
My father looks confused between Mother and I, waiting from an answer that never comes
If we are not training for the day, almost like clock work, he comes banging on our door. Though he is a little more forceful than usual today
As I open the door, Rider hurriedly shoulders past me. He jangles as he does as his sword's sheathe clangs with the thin chain-mail he is wearing. I don't think he's ever worn that, at least not in front of me before
"And good afternoon to you too Rider"
"Close the door!" he yells, a worried look on his face
"Ok?"
"They've got them! They're gone! Oh gods. We have to go Jace! Now!"
Rider tries to drag me out of the door
"Wait, wait, wait. Who's gone?" I say, freeing myself from his grip. Though I have a creeping feeling I know the answer already
"Ms. Eve, Kienan, Jael! Jace! Mary is missing! They're just gone! Oh gods, oh great gods. Was it me?! Did I?! Did!-"
"Oi! Shut it! We'll be fine. Let's get our parents and the others of the company to help-"
Rider's eyes dart frantically towards mine. "Were you not listening to me before! They could be anywhere! Anyone! Even our parents could be involved! It has to be us, just us, we're the only ones they can trust!"
"You kids all right there?" my father asks us
"Ya!" I yell back, "everything's just great. Me and Rider are gonna go play, I'll probably be back late"
I start running towards my room to get my grey blade and white cloth mask, quickly buckling it to my belt and wrapping the other around my neck
"Oh, well you be safe you two. I'll make dinner for us once you get back." Mother says with a skeptical smile, getting up from her seat on father's lap
I dart for the door, though making sure to safely tuck my note book into my shirt, it will probably come in handy
We go running into town, booking it towards old-town as fast as we can, darting between people.
My heart thumps faster and faster as we come barreling towards our goal. Each step increasing the mix of adrenaline and fear in my heart
The familiar sights of the run down, tightly knit houses quickly come into view. Until finally, the familiar vine-covered crack of the wall
As we burst through, the carnage is clear. The fire is sputtering embers, sticks and ash spread everywhere. There is cloth and wood shards strewn messily everywhere. There's even few strands of bloody hair and accompanying droplets of blood on the ground
I can practically feel my heart thumping behind my ears in the silence, imagining the contorted faces of the victims of the scene, Mary's crying face. I am only just able to stare
What if it is that fat bastard that did this? What if he…
My mind accelerates with my heart as my chest begins to tighten, imagining one horrible thought after the other
Then it is as if a switch is flipped in my head, drowning most of my un-helpful thoughts out
I have to do better
Swiftly, I take out my book and quickly flip to a page, I flip past it a few times. I drop to the ground in the process
It is an uncharacteristic and strange feeling that courses through me, that pushes my mind in one direction
"Secrets carried on the winds-"
"What are you doing!? We have got no time-"
"Shut it Rider! What the hell do you think I am doing?!" I snap at him, which even surprises myself
"Secrets carried on the winds, find what was lost: Tracker!"
In one hand, I quickly, but gingerly, grasp some of the golden strands of hair on the ground. In the other hand, a small ball of condensed, swirling winds form, a trio of triangular white "shells" slowly rotating around it, letting out a soft crackling gurgle. It grows bigger and bigger as I pour my mana into it
Rider grabs my shoulder and shakes me. "C'mon! Hurry up!"
His hand is warm and sweaty, even shaking a little
"How big is town? three hundred square meters?" I ask out loud out loud to myself
At this size it should go in a four hundred-No, three hundred-fifty square meter area. God, I hope this works
The text books had some of this world's measurements, but they were all muddled and irregular, similar to feet and inches in a way. I will probably get used to them eventually
I drop the strands of hair into the churning wind, now about the size of a softball
Right when I drop them, my body freezes. How the hell is this gonna work? They have no magic, how is it gonna…
The shells spin rapidly, propelling it off my hand and circles in a rather wide circle, surprising me
We are only able to stare at it, silently waiting for an impossibly long second, then it hits me, a grim smile jumping on my face
"It isn't all theirs," I mumble triumphantly
Finally, it turns on a dime and quickly makes for the entrance, only stopping a few meters away from me, bouncing like coming to the end of a cord strung taught
Wordlessly, we both make for the entrance. We quickly break into a run back into town following our only lead
----------------------------------------------------------
It twists and turns through the maze like buildings of old-town, the stone walls seeming to tower over us intimidatingly
I cannot believe that even worked! I didn't fully register the thought in my mind, I just sort of went on autopilot.
My mind is strangely racing, reaching to every possible conclusion It can grab while my body just continues to chase after the ball of wind
I can't let my mind catch up with the rest of me.
The stone slowly grows from the dingy grey into the smooth white bricks of the church district, a forest of small bell towers growing in the distance
The tracker zig-zags as it follows the invisible track
It's invisible pull leads my body forward as my mind continues to race ahead, scanning each and every doorway for some kind of sign
There is nobody walking the dirt roads this far back, those who do quickly tug their heads out of sight at the sound of our running
"There it is," Rider gasps abruptly
I trace his frozen gaze towards an especially rundown chapel
There, above the doorway is a toothy grin and a pair of piercing yellow eyes. Just the sight is shuttering
But my body drives forward all the same
I have not been to church since coming here, my parents seem not too religious, if something like church service exists in this world.
Though I do not see any markings to distinguish the faith, the layout is very familiar. I have peered into one of the chapels of Luminescence before, though this one is run down and dusty from age
The front part is very short, more like a waiting room. There is a sort of check-in desk on the right, with old bolts studded into the wall next to it. It would hold a crystalline tank. The sunlight would shine in through the glass roof and reflect shimmering ethereal spears in the case. It would do the same at night with moonlight, though they would shift into a strange mix of a trident and a crescent halberd. I believe this place is the house of worship for the god of light Lumin and his younger sister Kirin, goddess of the moon.
In short, a place of healing
But now everything is strewn and messy
Old parchments of paper flutter around, brown from the sun. Graffiti cover the walls, hiding holy scripture written in an unrecognizable writing
That atmosphere is heavy. Despite the shining sun, this place almost feels gloomy and dark
We carefully tread through
I will the tracker closer, drawing the imaginary string short. It is most likely not their blood it is following
Depending on how big this place is, we might have to split up; though that will probably be worst case scenario
"Rider, Rider! Come here!" I sort of whisper-yell at him, motioning him towards me
"What!? You lose the track?!" He whispers back. I can practically feel the stress in his voice
"I don't suppose you have chalk or something?"
"What does tha-"
"Right, stupid question. Give me your arm."
"What? Why?"
I grab his arm forcefully, cutting him off
His arm is sweaty and worryingly hot, is he sick or something?
No, not now. I push those worries to the back of my head
I reach into my shirt and produce my note-book once more, flipping through to a new spell.
"Hold this open and grab my arm like I am. How are you with pain?"
"I'm fine, why are you stalling? We're almost there right? Isn't that what your thingy is for?!"
"No, it's not tracking them, it's presumably tracking one of the kidnappers. We don't know how big this place is."
I grab a wooden rod form the floor and bight down tightly onto it
Flicking out my grey blade, I begin to lightly cut into our arms. I almost let out a shriek of pain as I pierce the tip into my arm
Small red trails of blood trickle off our arms as I draw the crooked mouth of the circuit
I spit out the wood and begin to chant
"Words carried on the wind, compressed and ready," I sheathe my blade and place my palm on our wound, "the invisible connection of the brand: Speech wire."
The cut out circuit burns with a blue light
"Alright, if we get separated, just put your little finger to your mouth and your thumb to your ear like this and-"
Rider brushes my arm away from his, cutting me off. "C'mon, let's go!" He shoves my notebook into my chest as he shoulders past me, leading the way deeper into the chapel
The wood flooring begins to splinter more and more as loose dirt and stones litter the ground, crunching with each step
We make it to a large room full of cots. In the far corner is a makeshift cellar door, made of dark, crude wood. It is a stark contrast to the white, black, and gold of the room
Shovels and picks line the walls near it, old bottles strewn over the floor
The small sphere of wind tugs towards it, but I freeze in my tracks. It seems my mind has finally caught up with my body
My hands are clammy
I am never as good as I think I am, so why the hell am I doing this? Getting killed for some little girl that-
"Fuck me"
"What?"
"Sorry. We don't know what'll be down there. You ready?"
Rider marches towards the cellar hatch and swings it open in response
———————————————————————————————————
It is a long dirt tunnel, about two people wide
I have no idea how long we have walking the uniform and monotonous tunnel, but finally, it widens up to the flickering lights of torches
I quench the trio of flame light motes I had summoned to light our way
We drop into a crouch, each step full of anticipation fear as we quietly walk into the room
It is an empty dirt room, with wooden pillars around to support the walls and roof from collapsing in. The path leads off in three different directions opposite from the way we came
There are voices and loud laughter coming from the right most tunnel, while my tracker tries to tug me through the center tunnel
Rider starts to march towards the voices on the right, a grim look on his face
I grab his shoulder to stop him
"Where are you going? That sounds like a whole bunch of them. I doubt we could take them all on if it's the same bastards as the one that attacked me"
"So what in the hells do want me to do then? Sit around and twiddle my fingers while Ms. Eve gets killed? Are you going to sit around and just let Mary-"
"Hear me out. There doesn't seem to be a lot of people in the center or left. I'll follow my tracker and go center, you go left and see what's over there. If they're not there, we regroup here and set up a trap for those in the right"
I am surprised by my own voice, it feels almost calm
His nostrils flare before he starts shuffling over to the left most tunnel
He could be a little more grateful
I grimace at the thought
I... just feel so conflicted and terrified here
No, this is not the time
Rider disappears, so I let the tracker pull me down the center tunnel
The wooden support beams seem to grow older as I walk, covered in more and more mold and rot as I walk
My heart, I can't help but count each and every resounding beat to calm my nerves
Eventually, the tunnel widens out to a large room lined with shelves filled with glowing vials and specimen jars. They almost fill the room with tight turns like a maze
They are cramped full of organs and appendages of various creatures
I gingerly run my hand against the glasses
I closely inspect them, my curiosity dangerously taking over, but I flinch once I take a closer look
Each one is bleeding and mutated, shuttering horribly like they're still alive
And the smell! I am surprised that this whole place doesn't stink of this sulfur and rot
"What the hell is all this?" I whisper under my breath as I begin to round the corner of a shelf
"Can't you do something about that damned smell?"
Quickly, I scramble behind the shelf, my body freezing
"You wouldn't need to be here if you could take care of those filthy hollows your self"
My mind goes silent, leaving the counting of my heart the only thing filling it
One, two
"Do you need to use this necrotic shite? You're blessed with healing magics!"
Three, four
My eyes wildly scramble around the room for an escape
"I reserve the lord's communion for those who are worthy. You, my dear, should of done better"
Five, six
I peak from behind the shelf at the voices hesitantly
Laying on a table in the corner, is a burley man with patches of grew-white skin. A... rather average looking woman stands over her, I would have imagined someone harsher looking, maybe some kind of heretical trinkets or something.
She stitches a patch of skin onto a large gash on the man's arm, muttering an incantation under her breath between words. The shining blue mana stitches in and out of his skin and the patch
Seven, eight
"You, are only good for live stock now, which kind is up to you," she says with a smile
There is an uncomfortably long silence. Here conversation style feels a little too casual
"Well, I wouldn't need ya to turn me into a pin cushion if I could kill those brats-"
Nine, te-
"Jace? Jace?! You there?" I jump, darting my head safely behind the shelf. My arm sears as Rider's voice pierces through my ears.
"What?!" I say trying to do my quietest yell
"I found them, gods, get over here now!"
My body jolts forward at this, slowly, but it feels like light speed
"See, all better now?" the woman says, "How about you be a good boy and clean up the armory, would you?"
The man slowly gets off the table. "Yes captain." He slowly marches towards a near by passage, the woman watching him leave
In this moment, I jolt back the way I came
Every fiber of being wants me to just run out and away, but I will myself to creep back down