Chapter 84 The New Moon.
Isaac raised an eyebrow in question as he received a sealed letter from Edward of all people. Edward was not the type of person to send a letter when he could use it as an excuse to leave the Guild Hall and his paperwork in the hands of the twins. What made it even more strange was that the person to deliver it was a city guard. Isaac took the letter and broke the seal with a quick slice of concentrated shadows before he unfolded the paper. He nodded to himself and passed the letter to Lenna who stared at it for a few short seconds before the letter burst into flames.
—
Fina was lounging in the VIP box in the arena while the rest of her team trained below. She was deep in thought trying to figure out some aspect or another of her magic when she heard the clanking of armor that didn’t sound familiar. She turned to see a guard running into the arena. He handed Esk a letter and the boy’s face grew grim. She jumped to her feet before taking one deliberate step forwards. She appeared a handful of feet away from her team leader and quickly covered the distance. Mark and Shy were at Esk’s side as well and they all read the simple letter together. Esk nodded and handed Fina the letter. “Cinders.” Fina spoke and the entire page turned to ash in a flash of orange light and heat.
—
One of Tim’s men pounded on his office door. “Captain! Captain!” The guard shouted.
“Come in.” Tim replied and set down the criminal profile he had been going over. It was a profile that he would consider classified as it had to do with one of Lord Wexler’s people but the guard sounded frantic.
The guard burst into the room. “Captain! I have a letter from the Guild Master. Your eyes only. He told me it was urgent.” The guard in question told him.
Tim reached out his hand as his brow creased in a deep frown. “Well Jin, hand it over.” He told the guard who stood a few feet from him.
Jin, the guard, started. He reached into his pack and withdrew a simple letter before handing it to the Guard Captain. Tim unsealed the letter with the letter opener he had been given by his duke for twenty years of service. He opened the letter and nodded once. He took a deep breath before moving the edge of the letter over the open flame of the candle on his desk. The corner of the page quickly burned away as the page began shedding more light than the candle. He set the burning letter in his ashtray. “C-Captain?” Jin asked worriedly. “What is it?”
Tim shook his head. “I’ll tell you tomorrow.” He told the young guard. “You are dismissed.”
—
Izen Arbencroft was enjoying tea with his wife. It had been a long time since he was last able to do so in peace. There was always far too much administrative work to do. He knew that most people of his station had a gaggle of assistants but Izen had a hard time trusting people to not embezzle funds once given the opportunity to do so. One of his guards knocked on the door twice before opening it. Twice was never a good sign. “My Lord, I have an urgent message from the Guild Master. Your and the duchess’s eyes only.”
–
Alexander was alerted by a loud ringing and a flash of red light. “Damn.” He swore under his breath and teleported down to the bottom floor of his tower. A guard was frozen in place with a look of pure terror plastered across his face. “Reboot defense system. Tag all humanoids inside as friendly.” He ordered the defensive array that was preparing to reduce the guard to a vague memory. “What?” He demanded of the guard. When the guard didn’t move or say anything Alexander’s eye twitched. “You have all been told not to barge into my tower. Explain yourself.” The guard made an unintelligible sound and Alexander realized something. “Command: Negation.” He spoke and the spell locking the guard in space shattered. The man dropped to the ground gasping for air. “It had better be important.” The guard nodded and handed Alexander a letter from the Guild Master with a shaky hand. Alexander opened the letter quickly and read the contents. “I see. You may go.” He told the guard who found himself outside of the tower in a blink.
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—
Fable was meditating on a mat he had brought for the exact purpose. He felt the mana pathways in his deformed arm as the sapphire gems siphoned off his mana to keep themselves topped off. There was a pounding on his door. One of the maids must have let the man in. The pounding fist shed sounds of clanking metal. “Enter.” Fable ordered as he rose to his feet. His knees ached, even with the cloud cotton mat he had been using.
A guard opened the door. He still had his dirty boots on and Fable’s near permanent frown turned into a scowl. “Lord Fable, I have an urgent letter from the Guild Master.” Fable’s eye twitched at the title the guard turned messenger had given him. Fable had turned down seven offers of nobility from the Kingdom of Altia alone. The guard reached out with both hands holding a letter with his name on it. Fable took the letter and opened it with somewhat awkward movements as he broke the seal while holding it all with only his good hand.
Fable read over the letter. “You may go.” He told the guard simply. “And apologize to the maids on your way out. Your boots are filthy.”
—
Michael was doing something that someone in his position, especially someone with his reputation, definitely shouldn’t have been doing. His gaze wandered out the window across a dozen rooftops and a hundred pedestrians. The darkness of the place unnerved him. The street lights were bright and all focused downwards to maximize visibility but above the rooftops was nothing but blackness. His eyes hadn’t inherited as much of the elven eyesight as he wished they had. Michael sighed and turned away from the window. It was finally time to stop engaging in what many called ‘the slayer of genius’. That’s right, he was procrastinating. A few rapid hard knocks rang out from the other side of his door. Michael had to school his face as the joy of finding another distraction attempted to make itself known to whoever was about to enter his office.
“You may enter.” Michael said with all of the authority and dignity of his station and none of the childishness of his recent procrastination. A guard burst in and handed him a letter. Michael saw who it was from and instantly knew what the contents of the letter would be about. He nodded towards the guard who was still breathing heavily. “Thank you. He won’t need a reply.”
The guard nodded and turned to leave. Michael opened the letter and was shocked for only a short moment before he realized something. “The new moon.” He whispered to himself. He read over the paper one last time.
They are on the move. Two days, maybe three at the most. It might be worse than we thought.
—
“Hello Celeste.” Edward said and sat down at his old friend’s bar.
Celeste eyed him up and down and then looked past him. “Comin’ to see me all alone?” She asked. “Where is she?”
Edward narrowed his eyes on her. “At work.” He replied simply. “I have something I’ve been asked to talk to you about.” He explained.
“Oh?” Celeste asked. “From who? I hardly leave, just about anyone should know where to find me.”
“My brother-in-law.” Edward replied casually. A surprisingly small number of people actually remembered that Edward was technically nobility even if he held no grand noble titles. The only two titles he did have he had gotten from the people, not the king. He was their Guild Master and the Blade Master and to many that was all. To himself as well.
“And what does that old man want with little old me?” Celeste asked incredulously. “Are you going to order something?”
Edward had been about to reply when she had cut him off. “Whisky. Half a glass.” He replied evenly. “The Fury of the Dawn will need to be used once again.”
Celeste finished pouring Edward his drink and looked up to meet the seriousness in his eyes with a sternness of her own. “No.” She replied simply. “I’m retired.”
Edward swirled the drink before slamming it like a shot. “You won’t have a choice.” He told her and turned to leave. “It’ll be best if you get ahead of what’s coming. No one wants to see the Dawn get caught in the crossfire.”
Celeste scowled at him as he walked away. “Fine.” She said more to herself than him, which was good as he hadn’t heard her. The hardness in her gaze fell and was replaced with resignation. “I guess it’s time to dust off the old staff and robes.” She glanced down at the letter resting on her bar. She opened it and read the contents.
The drow are coming. Jallen V’Nova is on the warpath. You have two days to decide if you want to help us stop it outside of the walls or in the streets. I already know what your choice will be.
“Bastards, the lot of them.” Celeste swore. Celeste didn’t mean drow specifically in her side comment. No, her curse was much more broad. Everyone in charge of the whole mess, everyone who caused trouble when there didn’t need to be any, everyone who made life more difficult than it already was for normal people. Those were the targets of her enmity. She sighed deeply.
One of her patrons looked over at her. “Ya’ alright Cel?” The old miner asked. How he had ended up in Safeharbor only him and the gods knew.
Celeste nodded. “I’ll live.” She told the man. “Want another drink, Paul?”