Ilsie left the Heldest temple in the early morning, hurrying back to the Im temple. She hoped Uvin would be there. She hadn't seen him for hours, but since the hunters hadn't mentioned him, she assumed he was fine. Tired beyond belief, she blinked and yawned as she hurried through the wet streets. Early workers already crowded the streets. It was a dismal morning; cold, windy, foggy, and still raining. She could cast a spell to warm herself but thought better of it. She had used so much energy in the past two days that even a smaller spell might be dangerous. It wasn't unheard of for mages to injure or even kill themselves by casting too powerful spells when they were low on energy. Frowning, she hurried her steps, pulling her purple cloak closer around herself. People swiftly moved out of her way. Nobody wanted to interrupt a magician in a hurry.
Soon the white temple came into view down the wide street in the temple district. A faint smile flickered across her lips. Finally. She flung the main doors open, startling the acolytes in the hall. A young woman and man in grey robes. They were supposed to keep track of who came and went.
´Have you seen Uvin enter recently?` she asked.
The acolytes shook their heads. ´No,` the young woman replied. ´Not since yesterday.`
Ilsie looked at the young man.
´I saw him last evening, leaving with you and the hunters,` he answered, his eyes wide as he stared at Ilsie with her bandaged head. ´What happened?`
´He hasn't returned yet?` Ilsie asked, ignoring the acolyte's question.
They shook their heads in unison. ´Not that we know,` the woman replied.
Ilsie hurried past them. She had to ask someone else. The youngsters might have missed him. She stormed into the main temple, asking the first priest she spotted. A tall woman, old and grey, her hair pulled back into a knot, her green eyes startlingly bright in a thin, drawn face.
´Have you seen Uvin?` She asked, aware of being very impolite and disrespectful.
The priestess' mouth thinned and her eyes narrowed, but she must have realized Ilsie wouldn't be so forward without good reason. ´No. He hasn't returned to the temple yet. Was he supposed to?` she said calmly.
Ilsie cursed, then slapped a hand over her mouth as she remembered where she was. She pivoted on her heels and ran back out, getting stares from several people in the temple. He must be still in Doseix Hall, she thought. If he was still there, maybe he was... she batted the thought aside. No. He was alive, he must be.
She ran, her purple robes flapping around her legs. People hurriedly made way for her. She ran all the way back to Doseix Hall, legs and lungs burning and her head pounding ferociously. When she arrived, she sweated profusely and could barely breathe. Gasping, she leaned against one of the pillars facing the street for a few minutes. Then she hurried into the courtyard, turned left and spotted the open door leading inside.
Black marks from explosions covered the ground. Small glass fragments glittered in the pale light and blood flecked the cobbles, slowly washing away in the rain. Quarrels and a few throwing knives lay here and there and, at the far end of the courtyard, a big desk lay broken in two. She stared at it in confusion. Then she shook her head, she was stalling. Steeling herself, she walked towards the dark doorway and trembling, stepped inside.
She blinked a few times for her eyes to adjust to the gloom. The room was a mess. Most of the furniture lay heaped up against the walls in piles. But her eyes immediately drew to a shape on the floor. A body, blood pooling underneath.
With a cry, she threw herself onto the floor beside Uvin's body. She yelled at him, shook his shoulders, and turned him around. But she knew before she touched him that it was already much too late. He'd been dead for hours. Probably before they fled.
Tears blurring her vision, she sat sobbing on the floor for a long time before she composed herself enough to cast a spell to contact the temple. She needed help to bring him back. Devastated, emptiness and despair grew as she stared at her dead friend. Everything was that vampire's fault! Amid her sorrow, anger festered and called out for revenge.
* * * * *
Some days later, Sern sat in the dining room, miserably poking the food on his plate. Listarl sat opposite him, and Diquarl by his side.
´Are you feeling alright?` Listarl asked needlessly. ´You look like a ghost.`
Sern shook his head and wrinkled his nose. ´Yeah, I'm fine,` he said and poked the food some more.
´You need to eat that.`
´Yeah, I know. But I'm not hungry,` he mumbled. He had fits of dizziness from time to time and felt vaguely ill.
Listarl sighed, looked to the small chemist beside him. Diquarl shrugged apologetically.
´He'll be fine,` Listarl tried carefully.
Sern shot him a dark look, then turned his attention back to pushing the food around on his plate. ´I'm not worried 'bout Ranloo,` he answered after a while, sighing deeply. ´He'll be fine. It just takes a while for him t' heal.` That wasn't entirely true. He was worried, Ranloo hadn't moved from his room since the fight. It was definitely worrisome. But that wasn't the problem.
He had sent her to her death, though he hadn't meant to. He hadn't known there'd be two mages. She'd died because of him. He put the knife down and stood.
´Where are you going?` Diquarl asked, studying him with his blue eyes.
´I dunno,` Sern replied honestly. ´See if he's awake.`
´I'd stay out of the basement. Especially if he's awake.` Listarl rumbled, his brows coming together. ´He almost killed you...`
´Wouldn't be the first time,` Sern snapped. Then his tone softened and he added, ´I'm not suicidal. I'll just check. Don't worry.` He left them by the table, looking after him with worried expressions.
He hurried off, stumbling as his head spun. He knew he had to eat to get better. But he couldn't stomach it right now, he felt ill just thinking about it. It had been his fault. He grimaced and flung a small piece of bread into the wall by the door as he left the dining room, drawing a few curious glances. He wished Ranloo would wake up soon, take his mind off the guilt. But maybe he'd make it worse. He'd wonder why she had been there alone. Why she had been there at all. He closed his hand over the Eldon-symbol in his pocket, it's sharp edges stinging his palm. What if Ranloo blamed him for what had happened? He'd be right. But somehow, it'd be much worse to get it confirmed by his best friend.
He ran down the hall and soon stood outside the door in the basement, closing off the corridor to Ranloo's room. It was locked, of course. Nobody was allowed down here right now. Not until they knew Ranloo was back on track again. Sern glanced to the sides, making sure nobody saw, then he produced his lockpicks and inserted them into the lock. Someone placed a hand on his shoulder.
´I thought I saw you sneak down. What do you think you're doing?`
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Sern jumped and spun around, face heating with guilt, almost immediately replaced by annoyance as he saw Gesald's familiar face.
´I'm gonna see if Ranloo's awake,` Sern gruffed and turned back to the door.
´I don't think so,` Gesald said firmly and forced Sern around to face him. ´You'll endanger us all if you do that.`
´I don't care, alright!` Sern shouted and waved a lockpick in Gesald's face.
The young man flinched back, an annoyed look on his face. ´I won't allow you to go there. You know that's crazy!`
Sern glared at him, but Gesald only crossed his arms with an unimpressed expression. Sern simply didn't have the same intimidating air as Ranloo and couldn't make Gesald back down. The fact that Sern was shorter than him didn't work in his favour either. ´Fine!` he yelled and flung out his hands to his sides. ´I'll leave. Just, get outta my way!` Sern pushed past Gesald and stormed off, leaving him by the door with a puzzled look on his face.
Stepping out into the street, Sern pulled up his hood to protect himself from the insistent rain with a sigh. Walking around the guild, he passed the front with the store signs, a blacksmith and tailors. They had to keep up a facade to avoid the city guards' attention. They were functional shops too, of course. But Sern didn't really care. He hurried around the building to one of the back doors. Where the storeroom and Ranloo was.
He checked the door. Locked. Grumbling about the weather, he grabbed the lockpicks and started on the lock. Of course, a thieves guild would have among the better locks you could get, knowing full and well its own members were not the most trustworthy. Still, Sern got it open after a while. Not as fast as Felisei would have managed though, he thought. Batting the thought aside, he grasped the handle. He hoped it wasn't barred as well as locked.
He pulled and sighed in relief as it opened with a slight grating against the gravel underneath. He opened it a crack, just wide enough for him to enter. He hesitated halfway through the door. What was he doing? Was he really not suicidal, checking on a vampire that hadn't eaten for days? He shook his head. He was just gonna check that Ranloo was alright, he told himself, though he realized the stupidity of it. How, you moron? A sleeping vampire is like a dead person, it's not like you can check his pulse! Frowning, he sneaked inside anyway.
The room was dark. Of course. There was no reason for it to be lit. Ranloo would find his way anyway, and they wouldn't waste expensive lantern oil or candles for no reason. The smell of dung, and rushing and thumping told him there were at least two animals in the room. He searched for the lantern that should hang on the wall.
After fumbling along the wall for a moment, he found it and some fire-steel on a shelf. He lit the lantern and eyed the room, squinting against the brightness. He froze, meeting the desperate look of a pair of eyes in a corner.
Sern blinked, looked again. Why was there a man here? He turned his head. Yes, there was a small stall with two goats. His eyes returned to the man in the corner. Stripped of most of his clothes, he only wore a pair of tattered breeches. He was gagged, his hands tied and fastened to the wall. Sern studied him, ignoring the man's muffled attempts at talking. He wasn't going to let him loose. All kinds of punishments might await him if he did such a thing. But it did pique his curiosity. Ranloo had specifically asked for animals, not people. Yet, here he was, a human sacrifice for the vampire. He knew that was what it was and it made him uneasy.
Maybe the man was a spy? From an opposing guild perhaps? Someone they had to get rid of. Or maybe Jackal had realized that if Ranloo had been badly hurt and sleeping for days, a mere goat or two wouldn't cut it. Maybe the man had been kidnapped? Sern frowned, sure Ranloo wouldn't like it.
Shrugging, he pretended to ignore the desperate stares and treaded past the man and the animals to the door leading in. There he hesitated, looking back again. Could he really leave him here? He would die, there was no question about it. He pressed his mouth into a thin line, feeling terrible. It wasn't his business, and he would be punished if he let the man go. It was bad enough that he'd broken in. He opened the door and strode directly to Ranloo's room. The door was locked, of course, but locks rarely stopped him.
Sern entered Ranloo's room, holding the lantern up. The elf lay on the bed, still and quiet. Rooted to the ground for a long while, Sern studied Ranloo closely, worried that he was dead, that he hadn't recovered. Why was he still in such bad shape? Still burned, still in his torn and bloody clothes. A quarrel lay on the floor by the bed. Maybe he had pulled it out?
When he was certain Ranloo wouldn't wake up, he dared sneak closer. Ranloo lay motionless, not reacting to Sern's presence at all. But there was no smell like from a corpse that had lain around for days. Carefully, he leaned in over Ranloo and reached out a hand. At first, he barely dared touch him with his fingertips, afraid to wake him.
He'd truly be just a monster now. He'd kill him for sure, Sern thought and swallowed hard, snatching his hand back. What was he doing here? It was stupid. He glanced towards the door as if expecting someone to come and see him. Stupid. Nobody who knew dared come here now. He rubbed his neck and turned back to the elf. Curiosity took over again and he reached out, brushing his trembling fingers over Ranloo's rent tunic. Slowly lifting the torn corners, stiff with dried blood, Sern tried to see if he had healed.
To his relief, the gaping hole after the hunter's sword had healed. But the new skin seemed thin and raw, red like a burn. He let the tunic go and studied Ranloo's face, wrinkling his nose slightly. His's skin was still horribly blackened and burned on the right side. Sern wondered if he had been permanently damaged by the light. He hoped not. He liked how Ranloo looked. When he wasn't burned to a crisp and blinded. His hearth stung with guilt. The sun-symbol Jackal had forced Ranloo to hold had burned him too, but that had healed. It had taken a few days though, he remembered. And these burns were much more severe. But hopefully, he'd heal from these too, he thought as he watched his sleeping friend.
´Get well soon,` he whispered and slowly backed out of the room, not daring to stay any longer. If he woke up... he didn't dare think about it. Sern hurried back out, locking the door behind him. The tied man called out to him again, muffled by the gag. Sern gave him an awkward look, made an apologetic face and shrugged. Then he blew out the light and left. At least he knew the guild took care of its vampire, even if it wasn't right. He sighed and went out into the city. He had to keep himself busy, to keep his thoughts and guilt at bay. Why had he told her to go alone?
* * * * *
´HOW?`
Glass splintered against the wall and flew around Glissai's head as she ducked. Pieces fell tinkling to the floor and sparkled in the light of the fire. She kept her eyes on the floor. ´I don't know,` she said fearfully. ´He got help.`
´He was up against two hunters and two mages! It's impossible!` Ulcaras Thilden yelled.
Glissai nodded, fully agreeing, but didn't dare say anything.
´You wouldn't get out of that!` he yelled again.
She nodded.
´Have you found out anything more about his friends?` he asked in a more composed voice, stroking his well-cropped red beard.
She straightened, brushed a glass piece off her shoulder, and dared meet his angry blue eyes again. ´They never go out alone. They are always at least two. Apart from him. He doesn't seem to care too much. I know where they like to go and for how long. I know when they usually leave.`
´Does he know something we don't?` Ulcaras wondered aloud, turning his scowling face towards the window, gazing out into the rain and tapping a ringed finger on the windowsill.
´I don't know. I think...` she hesitated.
Her master spun around and fixed her with a glare, his red hair swirling around his face like wild flames. ´You think what?` he growled and she flinched back.
´I... nothing, master. It was dumb,` she mumbled.
´Say it,` he said slowly, his voice a low hum.
´I think... I think he's just lucky,` she said and immediately regretted it as his eyes widened. It was a stupid thing to say, but then again, it was the only explanation. Unless he was protected in some other, unknown way. ´I'm sorry!` she yelped and took a step back.
Thilden snorted and turned back to the window. ´Take Aslef and Hana with you. When the next chance arises, get back at him,` he said, his voice calm again. ´His master appears to have left.`
Glissai breathed a sigh of relief, bowed and backed out of the room. ´Yes, master.` A smile found it's way onto her lips. Finally. She wanted to get back at him for what had happened to Brandal. But she hadn't been allowed, not until now. Nevial's clan had kept them too busy, and the rogue's master had been a too big threat. As soon as she got out into the corridor, she ran, hitching her dress up with her hands. She had to speak with Aslef and Hana. This was important.