Now that the Justice Ceremony was still on-going the number of guards patrolling the city had increased. Lyam and Aveline encountered at least three on every bend in the road and every corner of the street. She told him it was because the Count (or in the current case, the Viscount) was out of his castle, so all the guardsmen were on duty to protect him and watching over the ceremony.

The evening was growing darker as well. It would only help them further to break into the castle. The portcullis at the main gate was still down. And there were still two guards at the gate. Four more around the ramparts.

Aveline pulled the crimson ruby out of her amulet and handed it to Lyam. “Toss it over the top of the wall,” she said, “But make sure it doesn't fall too far beyond the wall.”

The boy nodded and looked up at the rampart. He drew a mental trajectory in his head and after taking a few practice swings he threw the stone into the air. It soared over the wall and fell a couple of feet away onto the other side.

Aveline cracked her knuckles and offered him her hand. Lyam took it and she made a fist with her other one. Her tattoos glowed and a red mist engulfed them both. By the next breath, the rampart was behind them and a pine tree was in front of them. They stood on the edge of a vast garden and on the opposite side was a tall stone facade covered with an intricate mural.

They were on the castle ground. Lyam had a look of amazement on his face. “Don't look so fascinated,” Aveline said, putting the ruby back in her amulet. “I can only pull that trick once a day. The location of the castle wasn't embedded in the ruby so I had to use a lot of verta to teleport both of us past the wall.” She turned to him, there was a hint of worry on her features. “We'll have to make this quick. Or if the guards ambush us, then–”

“Then I'll make sure we make it out safely,” Lyam said sincerely.

The worry was still there on Aveline's face but her eyes looked calm. She nodded and pulled out two scarves from her satchel. She handed him one and said, “Cover your face. For the obvious reason.”

With the cloth hiding everything except for their eyes, they began moving, quiet as a snake in shadows, sticking close to the rampart beyond the edge of the garden. They kept their footsteps light and their paces steady, making sure the guards in the tower didn't catch any movements they made.

They passed by another watchtower by the western wall. Four guardsmen were patrolling in the vicinity. Lyam and Aveline slunk deeper into the shadow and slowed down their movements. The scryer's compass had said the field was under the castle keep. The ramparts were fairly thick and there were watch towers on each corner with smaller guard towers around the inner perimeter. So their rough guess was that the keep was at the centre of the castle, surrounded by all the surveillance. That also meant they had to escape the shadows for now.

Aveline gave him a nod. Lyam was the first to get out of the dark and expose himself to the patrolling guards. But before any of the men could react, Lyam used [stun flash].

The guardsmen collapsed, disoriented. Lyam and Aveline made their way up the yard and into the first castle building in their way. Aveline picked her pace. “Move faster,” she whispered as they ran. “Once those guards collect themselves after fifteen seconds, they are going to notice something wierd that happened.”

“And they'll alert others, I know.” The boy nodded and took longer strides. They made their way down the hallway, lit by torches on either side. De Croy Ancestors glared down at them from their portraits on the wall.

This might've been the royal banquet hall. Because Lyam caught a glimpse of a large chamber through a cracked open door. Maybe the Count hosted other nobles here. It was almost surprising that it was so empty on Triumphant Day.

“Probably because of the recent attacks,” Aveline said as they ran. “Why else do you think the Count is not home?”

“Because he is out somewhere discussing the matter with other nobles?” Lyam raised an eyebrow.

Aveline nodded. “Maybe with the emperor himself. But as far as I know, the Castle wouldn't have been as empty if things were still normal.”

“Should we try digging around some more then?” the boy said. “We might find some information about the crafters. Maybe some documents? Some letters?”

Judging by Aveline's expression, it was obvious that she was tempted to explore further. But she shook her head. “We are running on a tight schedule. We could've done that if we didn't have the Eisdel problem to worry about.”

“We are headed into the Castle keep, though,” Lyam said. “The Count's personal chambers are in there. We can just take a small peek–”

“Lyam focus!” Aveline snapped. “Time is a luxury right now. And we aren't going to waste it. We go to the keep, we take the flowers and then we leave. Understood?”

The boy groaned. “Understood.”

“And we leave no traces behind. Understood?” she said as they climbed out of a low window and into a well trimmed lawn.

The boy groaned again. “Understood.” They kept running.

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There was another building in front of them. This one much taller than the banquet hall and decorated with flying buttresses and stained glass windows. There were also a lot more guards surrounding the building.

The two of them ran up the lawn much faster now and made their way up to a small window to climb in. Lyam was the first to go in. While he was still helping Aveline get inside, a deep, gravelly voice spoke up, “Were you summoned by the count?”

The woman and the boy froze in place. The man standing behind them in full plate armor and longsword on his back was the same knight who had sent Mamie Alda rolling with a casual shove.

Lyam was scared, but a part of him was almost offended that he'd let such mountain of a man sneak up on him. He was even more offended because his so-called reflexes hadn't allowed him to sense anything.

His hand shot up and he used [stun flash] but the man had disappeared again. Next thing he felt was a burning gash running down his back. Lyam cried out in pain, reaching behind him to feel the blood. He winced and glared at the man as he used [blesser's touch] on himself. The cut sealed itself shut. He didn't waste much time and fired [syphon burst] at the knight.

The man appeared next to him and swung his longsword. Lyam leapt back, dodging the blade, having anticipated the surprise. The knight was some kind of wielder. Someone capable of teleportation.

That was the reason why he was able to get the jump on Lyam despite being built like an ox. He slowly stepped sideways, keeping his eyes on the knight.

“Quite the gall you have for stepping foot on the castle ground,” the knight said, moonlight glinting against his armor. “Despite knowing what the law does to the unauthorized wielders.”

Lyam scoffed. “I actually wasn't aware of what it did to those like me. But I saw what the Justice Ceremony is all about. You can rest assured, you won't be chopping my head anytime soon.”

The knight took a step forward. Lyam heard more footsteps clattering up and down the hallway. The next moment both the ends of the corridor blocked more guardsmen. Most of them were regular humans. Others had silver armbands on--chimera wielders. “It's better if you surrender now, boy.” The knight pointed his sword at him. “Otherwise you won't be making it out of this building alive.”

The boy narrowed his eyes in a glare. His heart was racing but he tried to keep his mind calm. Aveline was nowhere to be seen. He remembered what she had told him on their way to the castle.

“Just in case, our cover blows up and we get caught, we'll disperse. I'll head down to harvest the dust blooms, it'll be your job to distract the castle guards.”

“You know how I fight. I won't be very elegant.”

“Elegance doesn't matter much in that case. Just make sure you don't die.”

Lyam felt himself smirk under his scarf. He unleashed a powerful shot of [syphon burst] at the wall on his right, punching a crater through it and running out into the lawn. Some of the guardsmen loosed their crossbow bolts at him. He activated [dust will] and kept running, drawing them further into the lawn and away from the keep.

The bolts clanged into him and fell away, useless. He kept running. But he couldn't get too far. The tall knight appeared in front of him again, swinging his sword once again. Lyam didn't even feign to be afraid this time. He grabbed onto the sword's edge with both hands. The force behind the knight's swing shoved him back a bit. Lyam blasted the metal with [syphon burst]. The force behind his attack was much more fierce. It knocked the hunk of metal right out of the knight's grip. But before Lyam could attack him, the knight teleported again.

This time Lyam was prepared. He waited until the man had teleported by his sword and picking it up. The other guards were converging on him at the same time. Lyam used the strongest burst of [stun flash] he could.

Everyone on the lawn around was caught in a haze of disorientation. Even the knight with the longsword. He could just run back to the keep and join Aveline underground but he knew if he left the guardsmen on the lawn like that, most of them would come back after them. He just had twelve seconds left when he decided to raise his hands and used [syphon burst] on all the guards.

###

Four guards passed out at her feet as the green smoke dissipated slowly. She searched their bodies and found the keys on one of them.

She had used a spirit barrier filled with the tranquilizer gas Lt. Nicolas had lent her. It had been the same gas the old man had mixed with the water that he’d poured them in Eisdel. She knew it would come in handy for their mission. So she borrowed some before they’d left the city.

While she was unlocking the door with the key she had found, there was an echo of footsteps. Without missing a beat, she pushed the door open, stepped inside and locked it shut. She peered through the keyhole.

A shadow appeared out in the chamber where the soldiers lay unconscious. “Aveline?” a familiar voice whispered.

She sighed in relief and let the boy through. The two of them descended down a flight of stairs, going underground. “What's the situation above?” she asked as they walked.

“It's handled,” Lyam said. Because of his scarf she couldn't read his expression but there was a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

“Are you sure?” she said.

The boy sighed. “They won't bother us. For now.”

Aveline pulled out a spirit barrier from her satchel. It was filled with the blue moonlight that illuminated the dark stairway. As they descended further, a gentle buzzing sound made its way to them.

There was another door at the foot of the stairs. Aveline unlocked with one of the keys she had found on the guard.

“There are three hundred dust blooms inside,” Lyam said as she opened the door. The buzzing grew louder.

“We only need a hundred,” Aveline said.

“Its circle of scent would be strong. Can you handle it?”

Aveline nodded. They walked inside.

###

Damien watched as the axe came down and another head tumbled off the outlaw's shoulders. He grimaced at the sight. Felix was about to call out for the next outlaw when a man in the castle guard uniform rushed over to Damien's side. He was out of breath and every word he uttered was laced with desperation.

“Apologies for intervening. But this is important,” the guard said. “Someone has broken into the castle. They destroyed an entire hallway in the keep. And they seemed to be headed for the underground containment field.”