Without a pursuer, there was no point in taking the roundabout way back. He ignored his exhaustion as best he could, but his brain and body were steadily shutting down. Distraction-less, there would soon be no barriers stopping it from overwhelming him. Thankfully, home wasn’t too far away.

A handful of minutes later, he spotted the inconspicuous little tree his hideout hid below.

Finally.

He pulled out a palm-sized winter battery and flicked it on as it touched a camouflaged rune at the base of the tree. When he saw the spell activate, he moved the battery to a second camouflaged rune. With both runes activated, in the correct order, the hidden trap door slowly lifted up. It flashed red.

Someone was inside.

Kaiz instantly blinked alertness back into his eyes. If he had the energy, he’d run for backup, but he knew if he even thought of moving at a pace quicker than a leisurely walk he’d collapse. Pits, if he stood there long enough he’d collapse. Leaving wasn’t an option, he’d have to face this threat head on.

He quickly glanced around, re-confirming the lack of an ambush or observer, before draining the rest of the battery to charge his boots. They weren’t designed with batteries in mind so the transfer was woeful, they didn’t fill enough for even a single spell. He just wanted to be able to activate the passive speed boost though. It was enough for maybe a minute of that.

His nostrils flared as fresh night air flowed through them. Once steadied, he tiptoed down into his home. No one waited for him at the entrance, but there stood another door between it and his actual living space.

He snuck up to it while the trap door closed behind him. He paused for a moment and listened. No noise escaped from within. There was a peephole, but it obviously wasn’t designed for use on this side of the door. He couldn’t tell who was inside or how many, but he could tell that candles burned. Visibility wouldn’t be an issue inside.

Kaiz took a final deep breath, activated the speed boost, and burst through the door.

“Finally!”

Both Kaiz’s hands and jaw dropped at the intruder that welcomed him.

“Be like say you crawled here.” The son of a goat mocked.

Stress briefly overtook his exhaustion, but he immediately shook it off. He just wouldn’t acknowledge the man’s existence. Instead, he crashed into his bed. Only his mask and a single glove slipped off, the thought of removing the rest of his multi-layered outfit didn’t even cross his mind. Sleep would find him either way.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. What do you think you’re doing?”

“Leave me alone, I’m tired.” He muttered into his pillow.

There was no immediate response, but he could hear the legs of his chair scraping against the ground. A silent sigh escaped his lips. As far as Kaiz was concerned, he was done for the night. He just successfully outran Nightwatchers. At night. He deserved some rest.

What in the pits is he doing here, anyway. Code gets to drink away after his missions, but I can’t get some sleep?!

Busy lamenting, he failed to notice the open bottle above his head. Before he could, a freezing cold sensation assaulted him. He leapt out of bed, yelping in surprise, but as soon as he got to his feet the sensation disappeared. Rejuvenation replaced it. While it wasn’t perfect, he could still feel the pain in his bones, it did wash away his fatigue. He felt relaxed, hydrated too.

He looked at the man hovering over his bed with an empty bottle in hand, “An oasis potion? That’s a waste.”

“Depends on what you have to tell me.”

Kaiz sighed, “And this couldn’t wait a few hours?”

The man smirked, “It could… that potion wouldn’t count as a job expense and I hear there’s a shortage, but who am I to tell the jackal he no fit catch the chameleon?”

The desire to scream invaded Kaiz’s very soul, but he sedated it. Mostly.

“Fine!” He may or may not have enjoyed the groan he heard as his boot accidentally bumped into a shin on his way to a chair, “I swear I’ve never heard you say that in a context that makes sense.”

The man hopped into another chair while chuckling, “Because you read too many theorems and not enough poems. Metaphor is lost on you.”

“Sure.”

With them both seated, Kaiz began recounting the details of the job. From infiltrating and robbing the store to hiding the goods and being followed, he chronicled the events with an uncanny thoroughness. Once he finished, they discussed all the failures and successes of the job. The jovial atmosphere, present only a few minutes prior, was nowhere to be seen.

----------------------------------------

Three days later, Kaiz once again suspended a tiny winter battery over a transparent chest.

“Configuration 12D, Replica 11, Battery 2A. Attempt 1.”

This time, something did happen. The rune melted a hole into the torso.

Well, that’s the last of the ink.

He sat back in his chair and turned his eyes to the ceiling. Worse than the feeling of failure, not knowing whether he made any real progress suffocated him. He’d been ecstatic when a rune first destroyed a mold, rune 46C. That was almost four hundred runes ago. Since, he's been endlessly oscillating between destruction and nothing.

If he at least knew why, that would be something, but he also knew nothing.

Was this series any better than the last? Was 12D even better than 2D? Was he getting closer or further? Was it even possible to get closer? Did anything he did matter? Were tanlars doomed to forever be second class? Was he just wasting his time on a pointless pipedream? All of these questions churned in his mind.

“Ah!”

He planted both of his palms on his face.

…

He was silent for a moment.

...

Then he yelled, “I will do this!”

He kept his face covered for a few extra minutes as he took deep breaths. Eventually, he calmed down. His mind still wasn’t clear, but his conviction was. At least enough to get back to work.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

He raised the tongs and replaced the now empty battery. The rune, more accurately the stripped paper it rested on, laid soaked in the middle of the hole it created. Kaiz sucked his teeth as he removed it. While runes were technically one-use, it was a lot easier to trace over an existing one than to draw a completely new one. This one was ruined beyond use though.

He placed it on a drying rack with other runes that had suffered a similar fate. Even if he couldn’t use it again, he cataloged every rune he made.

Rune out of the way, he returned to his desk and replaced the also ruined chest replica. Thankfully, none of its melted contents reached his desk so as soon he had his fresh replacement, he moved to design a new rune.

Then he remembered the ink issue.

What time is it?

“19?!” He dashed from his desk, grabbing his ‘Kaiz gloves’ and a small pouch, “Where did all the time go?”

Shops closed at 20. He only had an hour to get into the city. That was a race he would most likely lose. The distance itself wasn’t a problem, even without his boots he could cover it fairly quickly. It was the guards at the gate that would slow him down. As soon as the sun started setting, they got very uppity about security.

Just as he opened his inner door, he heard a knock on his tree. After waiting a moment, they knocked again. Kaiz paused, waiting for the final confirmation. The third knock was far fainter than the previous two. They didn’t knock on the wood of the tree, but on a small metal plate embedded into it.

Huh. Who could this be?

He walked back to his desk and took out a bigger winter battery. It was still tiny, about as big as two fingers, but it held substantially more mana. He touched it against a rune on the wall and triggered the mana to flow through. The trap door slowly lifted, allowing the warm glow of twilight to peek through.

The face that followed ruined the view, though.

It belonged to a decrepit old man that looked no older than thirty. If one didn’t know any better, they’d mistake him for a young, handsome bachelor. In his customary fashion, he wore a full set of enchanted apparel. Everything down to his jeweled earrings had a white glow. His now infamous long purple robe seemed to have added even more gold etchings. It covered him from his neck, which was masked by necklaces, to his ankles, which also had some sort of jewelry attached. Even his sandals had diamonds. Gaudy couldn’t begin to describe his appearance.

He looked extra amusing stepping into Kaiz’s simple, earthly home.

“Crypt.”

The old man faked a grin, “Your petty attempts at insulting me will never reap the rewards you wish.”

Kaiz returned it with a real one, “Why would I waste energy insulting a dying man?”

“I assure you, you’ll pass from this world long before I do.”

Crypt, real name Christopher, actual pseudonym Creed, was an insidious old businessman that had close ties to the orphanage Kaiz spent time in. Though also a tanlar, his wealth was immense. So much so he lived in a lavish mansion within the Noble’s district. He paid many bribes for such a luxury years ago, but now he held enough power to solidify his position. It helped that he had dirt and dealings with every noble this side of the Screaming Sands.

Kaiz despised him. Not for his wealth, nor the means by which he amassed it, but for his treatment of other untitleds. He treated his own kind worse than most titleds treated them, below trash and below consideration. Unless, of course, they could make him money.

“Is that a threat?”

Crypt chuckled at him, “No. It’s a prophecy. But enough of your games. You may be a boy, but you have the responsibilities of a man.”

“Rich from a ninty-year-old man pretending to be thirty.”

“I have never claimed an age other than my own.” A sly smile emerged, “You on the other hand..”

Kaiz didn’t have a response for that. He was young, younger than most people knew, younger than anyone would assume, younger than anyone his height, build, and disposition had any right to be. A mere fourteen years had passed since his birth.

He masked it well. Only a small handful of people knew the truth. Even those that knew him as Kaizer and had seen his face could only guess at what his age was. The most assumed number was twenty-two, the same age as Viz, and he ran with it.

Crypt was there when Kaiz first showed up at the orphanage, however. An ignorant eight-year-old, he saw no reason to lie. It seemed good to be so advanced for his age.

He had been bigger and more talented than his peers then, but nothing as drastic as what he was today. If he revealed his true age now, and it reached the wrong ears, he’d have every house in Waldaun looking to recruit him. They’d upend everything he was working towards, just to find out he was untitled.

Crypt sauntered across the room and sat in Kaiz’s chair while Kaiz glared at him. He looked towards his desk with mild contempt, “Still fascinated with runes, are you? Anyway, I’m not here to quip with you, I’m here to discuss your recent activities and what they represent to my interests.”

Hm? He can’t possibly know about the run, right? Right?

Kaiz quickly calmed his face, before his shock reached it. They ran a lot of jobs simultaneously, maybe he was just being paranoid.

“I couldn’t care less how anything we do affects you.”

Crypt rolled his eyes, “I’m painfully aware. Your partner would think otherwise. “He leaned back in Kaiz’s seat, “Where you hurt me, you hurt others who are far less opposed to squashing a tiny little bug scowling under a tree.”

That turned Kaiz’s glare murderous, “Another prophecy?”

“A warning. You’re all very talented, for tanlars.” The last bit was said with notable disdain, “Don’t let that lull you into believing that makes you kingpins.”

Kaiz didn’t like his tone, “What, like you? The council’s errand boy?” He mocked, “We’ve always been meticulous in our work. We don’t need reminders.”

“But apparently you do. As the council’s errand boy.” He seemed to find the title amusing, “It came to my attention that Conan just lost most of his enforcers. Not usually a tidbit of any importance to me, but it's widely believed that you’re the cause.”

What? Idiot! We should have seen that coming. Did Viz? We’re the only other crew up in the North West. If Conan keeps his mouth shut about the Nightwatchers, that implicates us. He could then run with that narrative and tell Snake we double crossed him. Snake wouldn’t buy that though? Would he? Would leaking a bit of the truth help? Shit.

Crypt took Kaiz’s silence as confirmation, “Now, as you know, the noble council likes a bit of violence between the gangs. Keeps you all in check and quietly under their thumb. They don’t like unknown entities, however. A previously negligible group of children suddenly taking a bite out of a known operation raises flags. Problematic flags. They want a closer look at who and what you are. Which means, a closer look into who’s backing you. I’m sure you can understand the inconvenience of that.”

Kaiz raised an eyebrow, “I can, but you haven’t ‘backed’ us since I joined. From what I know, not since our founding. What threat is there to you?”

“I may not back you directly, but who was it that helped you forge the ties you now hold? Who supplied you with all of your contacts? If an inquisition occurred, you put all of them at risk. Which means you put my network at risk.”

Kaiz smirked, “No loyalty among your friends Crypt? Though I understand, you’re one foot into the beyond, anyway.”

Crypt’s eye twitched, turning the smirk into a smile. “It seems they do 'bear fruit'." He chuckled a bit to really rub it in, "You can relax. I understand what you’re getting at. You want us to lie low, hide our tracks, evade hard inspections, bubaye, bubaye, bubaye. I get it. But now I’m confused why you came here? If that was all, this was a very unnecessary trip.”

“I was in the area.”

“Am I supposed to believe that?”

Crypt looked at his watch and frowned, “Believe what you wish. As long as you understand the situation, that’s enough.”

He swiftly stood up and left. Suddenly in a hurry. Kaiz briefly entertained the idea of following him, but decided against it. While he was quite skilled at speed and silence, he wasn’t truly adept at stealth, and the chances of Crypt moving around the slums without serious protection were slim to none. He may have business partners in Waldaun, but he certainly had no friends.

I wonder what slimy shit he’s getting up to.

Kaiz felt like there were ulterior motives to his visit, and the way he left was suspicious, but he couldn't put the pieces together. There was almost certainly a coded message for Viz somewhere in his words too, but going through him to send it made zero sense. Kaiz was likely the farthest person away from Waldaun that still called themselves a resident.

He looked at his desk.

Definitely too late now.

He didn’t necessarily need the ink to start theorizing and designing, but the knowledge that he wouldn't be able to immediately put his ideas to practice sapped most of his remaining productivity. The part of his brain still processing Crypts' visit sapped the rest. His shoulders sagged.

Then he corrected them.

‘If your mind is clouded, blow them away’.

Moments later he had switched clothes, slipped on his mask, and stepped outside. He had no destination in mind, he’d simply follow the wind.