Chapter 24 Love At First Sight.
Lenna sprinted full speed at where she knew Isaac would be. She stepped down on his invisible locked hands and pushed off as he threw her into the air. She felt weightlessness overtake her as she sailed through the air towards the top of the wall. A guard who had been looking over the side watched slack-jawed as she covered ten, fifteen, then twenty, and finally twenty five feet before reaching out towards the wall. Isaac appeared just in time to grab her outstretched hand as she felt the weight of gravity retake its hold on her. Shamesh had cast Levitate on her as Isaac was launching her into the air. Shamesh was soon flying up to meet them and landed on the wall right next to where the pair now stood.
Two guards ran over from different directions. One leveled his spear at them but the other just held his crossbow casually across his chest. “You can’t be up here.” The one with the spear scolded them.
“Relax Kimson, they’re just adventurers going where they aren’t supposed to. Let them go up to the top and then they’ll leave, won’t you.” The crossbowman spoke casually. Apparently adventurers wanting to get a look at the city from the top of the main gate was a regular occurrence.
“That was the plan.” Isaac replied and let his hand, the one with the platinum tags on it, hang limply at his side. The guards’ eyes moved subconsciously to the glinting movement. Immediately after, they looked over Lenna and saw the same thing. Shamesh was still cloaked in Isaac’s shadows so neither of the guards were any wiser of his presence. The reason Isaac was shrouded in his shadows while he had helped Lenna to the top was because he didn’t want his physical enhancement via death flames to cause a panic but now neither were necessary.
“Good enough, follow me. There’s a ladder.” The crossbowman said and waved the pair towards the raised section above the main gate. That part of the wall was another ten feet higher than the rest of it to accommodate the gates below. There was a door to enter the gatehouse but the crossbowman led them to a ladder that was tucked away next to the door in the corner of the gatehouse and the wall. He quickly scaled it and waited for them at the top. Isaac and Lenna didn’t hesitate and followed him up shortly after, along with Shamesh who flew up silently.
Isaac and Lenna walked to the edge of the gatehouse roof and rested their hands on the battlements as they leaned into the view. To Lenna, it was a bright and sparkling city that looked almost like a paradise with glowing rooftops and rivers of people going about their daily lives. The city looked small and huge at the same time from their height above it all. Her lenses let her take in the sight clearly enough, but in the end, she could not experience the joy of color the way the humans around her could. It was still an impressive and spectacular sight in its own way, but for Lenna, the atmosphere of the city was what really touched her heart. It was light and bright, and cheerful in a way that no underground city could be. It was free and open and accepting in a way that the Innerworld was averse to. She took in a deep breath and let the salty ocean air grant her a sense of weightlessness that no spell could mimic.
Isaac was mesmerized by the sapphire ocean that was even more brilliant than the real ocean that was its backdrop. An ocean of glittering sapphire stone gave way to a dock of tans and browns that was then overtaken by a cyan lake. Beyond the lake there was a band of pure gray that was split down the middle by a mountain of glittering sapphire, beyond that was a horizon of turquoise that gave way to indigo. The clear sky that met the sea was just another layer of brilliance that held Isaac’s attention and didn’t let it go for a long few seconds.
Shamesh saw everything from the top of the gatehouse but he was not struck with any of what his master or mistress were feeling. To him, it was a city on the water surrounded by fortifications, nothing more, nothing less. It was a new city but his sight was not up to the task of displaying beauty to his mind, not conventional beauty anyway. Shamesh could see people’s souls though, the brighter they shone the more powerful they were with one exception, Isaac. Isaac was always a clear picture to Shamesh no matter the massive amount of power that was at his fingertips. He saw most people in shades of white inverted silhouettes. He often had to focus quite hard to tell people apart from each other if they were similar in strength and potency. For him, one’s density of white as well as its shade were what stood out the most. That was why Shamesh liked children. Children were easy to see in that they did not glow at all. They were just themselves. There was nothing to distract him from the outlines of their faces. They were the closest thing to a clear picture that he could ever get, aside from when he looked at Isaac.
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After giving the duo a moment to bask in the sight, the crossbowman finally spoke: “Amazing, isn’t it?”
Isaac nodded but it was Lenna who responded. “Yes, it is.” She agreed.
“I was once an adventurer who scaled this very wall to see the same sight that we are looking at now. One look and I knew that I could never leave this city. It was love at first sight.” The crossbowman spoke. “Now, as much as I hate to cut your sightseeing short, Kimson definitely went to get the sergeant. You’d best leave before that stick in the mud gets here.”
Isaac turned to regard the man. “One thing before we go, how do you feel about the bad side of town and the rulership that lets it be that way?” Isaac asked him.
The crossbowman looked at Isaac cautiously. “Who’s askin’?” He questioned defensively.
“We are friends of some of the Sasstons but have never met the ones that live here.” Isaac explained. “I want to know how someone like you sees them and the reason that we are going to meet them.”
“Anonymously?” The crossbowman asked.
“Yes.” Isaac replied honestly.
The crossbowman ran his hand down his face and then brushed his hair back out of his eyes. “Fine.” He conceded. “I think that they could do a lot more to clean up the slums. I know that they are taxed incredibly high compared to other nobles in other cities, because it is a port city, but there must be enough gold going around to do something about the lake of scum that rests under the north-eastern wall. I’ve never met them and I only know one person who has, so I would say that they must be very shy or allergic to the sun. That is all. Now, get out of here before we all get in trouble.”
“Thank you.” Isaac told him. The man nodded in reply and then his eyes went wide as Lenna vaulted the battlement. Isaac vanished in a puff of black steam immediately after.
The crossbowman ran to the edge and looked down but saw nothing but normal traffic under him. “Legends are scary.” He whispered under his breath to himself. He was very well aware of the anti-teleportation and anti-invisibility wards that lined the inside of the wall and the fact that none of them had activated meant that the duo had somehow managed to slip through them. He had no idea how and suddenly felt the urge to inspect all of the runes just to make sure that they were all created right and still working. For now though, he could only sigh and shake his head. He definitely did not want to explain to the sergeant what had just happened.
—
Isaac and Lenna arrived at the dock and stood right in the center of the crescent. There were three large rowboats tied and waiting for someone to use them to cross the tiny stretch of sea to the sapphire castle. At the base of the castle’s large gray support structure there was another dock with enough room for the three boats in front of them. “We should probably take a boat.” Isaac commented.
“I can’t swim.” Lenna replied. “Not in armor anyway.”
Isaac nodded. “I’m not sure if I could swim in my armor either.” He agreed.
“Should we wait for someone to come and get us?” Lenna wondered.
Isaac shrugged. “We’ll give them five minutes and then just make our own way across.” He replied.
“That will definitely draw a lot of attention.” Lenna commented.
Isaac shrugged again. “We are double platinum adventurers, we are supposed to draw a lot of attention. Besides, it’s Sera and Edward’s brother we’re talking about. I’m sure they will be perfectly understanding to us just showing up uninvited and unannounced.” He stated.
“That was a jinx if I’ve ever heard one.” Lenna spoke.
“Shit.” Isaac swore. “I really need to stop doing that.”
“Yes.” Lenna agreed. “You do.”