The wind rushed past Emily's ears, and a damp mist clung to her body. The rope had remained taunt as they descended, but she could not see where they were going or if the bird was still holding onto the other end.
The interesting part was that as she continued to fall the world turned, and she caught sight of the skies one more. She could easily see back through the mists to the horde the zealots still searching the mists for her.
Emily had experienced something similar going up the first time but now that she had some more breathing room the phenomenon made more sense, it was similar to a one-way mirror spell. Making it hard to enter the gorge from the outside but those coming from the trench would have the upper hand on their attacker.
It made for the perfect defensive ambush and natural advantage.
This then made Emily wonder why the city had not sent more resistance against the scouting party at their front door. They were literally at war.
There was a formal declaration and everything.
Emily wasn’t sure how they did the war in this place because the fact that Sam’eth had even announced their intentions for war was a disadvantage. Most of the countries she knew didn’t even give a hint before striking. If you were going to go to war, why not hit them where they hurt while they weren't expecting it?
At least that was how Emily saw it.
The mists dissipated once Emily reached a certain depth, and the moment she could see her situation became apparent.
She was surrounded on all sides without much choice of retreat.
Of the five ravens she had seen last time, all were here. Two of them had Cupcake in claw. Another two flanked her, and the remaining man Emily assumed was the leader, hung above her.
“Right, now I know this kind looks like I’m at your mercy, but trust me. I could leave any time I wanted.” Emily said, though the fact that she was currently staring up at the man while clinging to a rope dangling below his mount probably didn’t lend much to her argument.
“We saw… I don’t doubt your skill at evading us. But can you evade all of them out there?.”
Emily squinted through the sunshine breaking through the clouds but stubbornly refused to look away from the leader.
“Look I could have taken them, the battlefield is my home.”
Emily couldn’t make out from this distance but the man looked like he probably raised a brow.
“I get that, but things have changed. We’re willing to open a dialogue.”
“Oh yeah?” Emily muttered, not convinced.
“Yes. For starters, you’re a Mage.” This seemed to be a big enough reason that he paused before moving to his next point
“And while you were trying to infiltrate our home, I don’t think even those fanatics would be crazy enough to kill the number of men you just did. So I’ve decided to believe your story.”
Emily made a dry face.
“Hmm, a tad late don’t you think?”
One of the other rides currently flying on her lever made an annoyed grunt.
You can’t blame us for thinking you were the enemy after you triggered a perimeter alarm. We dealt with you the way anyone would handle a threat to the city.
Emily hummed as she glanced over to Cupcake who dangled below the ravens quietly.
“Well, that shows more about you than me. The fact that you couldn’t make a quick judgment call is not my fault.”
The rider nearby spluttered, half drawing his bow, taunt with rage.
“Enough.” The bearded man said staring down at Emily.
She knew she probably shouldn't be antagonizing them if she wanted to get into the city to search for Alex, but they started it.
“Right now, I have decided to take you back to the city, free of restraints, but don’t make me regret it. We’ll take you through the front entrance to be screened and if everything checks out you will be released.”
Emily didn’t try to stop the frown that appeared on her face. This just sounded like their previous plan. Though at least without the possibility of her disappearing in an otherworldly black site.
But even with that reassurance she still had one question.
“I’m not stupid enough to think you didn’t see me fighting out there, I’ll come out and say it, I’m a Blood mage will that be a problem?”
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The men looked amongst one another and Emily could see some discomfort passing between them but the voice of the man above drew her attention.
“Well I wouldn’t go spreading that information around to the public, but the city does not deny entry to Blood mages if they have a permit. Which is what you would need to be screened for.”
Emily was surprised by that. Alex had made it sound like Blood mages were not welcome in any city whatsoever. But she supposed that a city of Mages had different thoughts on this.
“And you can guarantee you won’t try and imprison me if you don’t like the answer? Or my partner?” Emily asked her eyes moving the a very sad Cupcake.
“Assuming you don’t have the title, Killer or something equally dangerous to the city, you will be handed over to the college authorities who will probably try to accommodate you as best they can but as long as you don’t prove a threat you should be left to your own devices ”
Emily pursed her lips. She didn’t like the sound of jumping through hoops, but the itching in her bridges seemed to ignite the moment she thought of leaving
“Fine, as long as you promise me you’ll help me locate the mercenary group I was traveling here with.”
The leader frowned at Emily.
“You are not really in a position to make demands here.”
Emily rolled her eyes.
“Then don’t call it a demand, call it payback for the situation you put me in.”
The leader narrowed his gaze on Emily who dangled in the breeze of the gorge.
“I’ll see what I can do, but only if the college is interested in taking you.”
Emily shrugged.
“Well then, looks like we have a deal. Take me home, Jeeves”
The leader looked amongst his men and made a sharp whistle containing four distinct notes.
The group seemed to come to life as they began moving in the direction of the city. Worry had been bleeding through her connection with Cupcake the entire time and Emily had to continue to calm the beast down so that she wouldn’t start wriggling while in midair.
All the while the city got closer, and as they approached Emily could make out more of the details.
What she had originally thought of as a stake driven into the side of the ravine was more like a metal rod with countless metal walls and compartments jutting out of it.
Homes, stores, factories, and industrial zones littered the surface of the structure, but most interestingly the upper peaks of the city did not seem to be dedicated to anything other than large buildings with spires scattered about. The likes of which looked like lecture halls and libraries, small eateries, and book shops. From here, it looked like the entire bulbous top of the city was entirely devoted to study, like one huge university campus.
The spires littered around were odd in that no singular one looked even remotely the same. From building materials to the engineering style used, every single one carried a unique charm. Some were rounded with leaning tops, while others held sharp angles and rigidly square corners. Some of the more fantastical ones looked like Jenga towers, slowly rearranging themselves under the sun.
The whole scene took Emily's breath away, but it was too short-lived because seconds later they were descending to what looked like docks protruding out of the side of the city. There were dozens of such locations, but this one in particular looked closer to a modern police station than a dingy prison.
People walled on the edge of the walkways, completely disregarding the open ledges at just about every turn. Emily did notice nets set up at certain intervals but that didn’t explain why cart drivers seemed to take the corners at such speeds.
Emily's view of the area was disrupted when the leader spoke again.
“I’ll take you in for processing. We will contact the college but please understand they will decide how quickly they want to act. They will more than likely be interested in you, but just keep in mind some people have waited days to meet with a representative.”
Emily had been staring above them at five large bridges that crossed this ravine. She’d just noted that they were currently retracted about halfway making it impossible to cross, when his words sunk in.
“Well, then I need you to keep in mind that I have vanishingly little patience, this is not a threat, more a warning.” her speech absent-minded as she took in the sights of the city around her.
Hundreds of ravens seemed to be flitting from place to place, doing all manner of tasks. From deliveries, to transport, to guarding. The whole scene reminded Emily of a massive open-air Aviary.
When they touched down on the dock, Cupcake landed, immediately shook her coat, and crouched lower to the ground with her ears pressed back.
The leader beside her drew Emily's attention back to a building in front of them.
It was a simple affair, looking like a heavy steel box set into the wall of the main structure. People flowed in and out of it freely and when a portion of the group dismounted and broke off Emily and Cupcake began to walk toward the building.
Now that they were on the walkway the steel clanged out with every step below them but this was not what monopolized Emily's attention.
That was almost entirely taken up by the citizens flooding around them. Humans walked around them in crowds but they made up only half of the races she was seeing here. Dozens of entities that Emily had never even seen walked through the streets on their business. A yellow bi-pedal lizard slinked past pulling a wooden cart laden with barrels. A red-skinned woman standing eight feet tall, easily dwarfing anything else around weaved through the crowd. The edges of her head were framed by a delicate crown of natural horns and a smaller creature like that of a bulldog followed after her.
Smaller races move past at the same time, ones similar to children in height while others hunched over because of their nature. Emily even saw a tree folk moving amongst the crowds. She’d only seen a couple of other races since coming to this world but this scene was right out of a storybook, with weird and wonderful races moving about their business.
Emily must have been staring a bit too long because she began to get a few annoyed looks, but she just continued to take in the sights and head towards the dull-looking building.
The leader of the little team that had collected her had not stopped watching her out of the corner of his eye, but then, he wouldn’t be very good at his job if he didn’t.
They walked up a small flight of stairs and the first thing Emily saw on entering the large public building was the strangest creature yet.
There, standing near the entrance was a large bear creature. It was standing on two legs with features far thinner than the average bear but it was wearing a red robe. The creature held a certain dignity that Emily didn’t know was possible for her chocolate-colored fur, but when the leader spotted her he cursed.
“They’re here already?”
As they spotted the bear, the bear saw them and made a graceful beeline for their team.
When it arrived its eyes locked onto Emily and a huge toothy maw smiled at her.
“Gooday, my little friend. You may call me Milly. Am I correct in assuming you are the... red Mage?” a distinctly feminine voice asked.
Blood points: 297