Chapter 39: Watcher in the Dark
Harvey Miller didn’t own a home in Allensward. There was no point, not when he was present, at most, for a sixth of every year. Far lighter, then, to seek short term lodging on each visit, both for his logistics and his coin. So it was that Harvey locked the door behind him, in a similar inn room to the one Will had stayed at, albeit with an extra layer of polish and cleanliness, to reflect the area’s wealthy clientele. He was of no mind to appreciate the decor, however, his hands shaking as he twisted the crown of his pocket watch, again and again and again.
“Thirteen to the right,” Harvey whispered under his breath, counting each turn with a tap of his foot. “One to the left, pause for a heartbeat, then three more turns. One and three, then thirteen again.”
Thirteen and thirteen and thirteen, a number bearing certain connotations in the workings of fate. Interpreted in this format as thirty turns exactly, not for a rite of divination, in this case, but as a password of sorts. As Harvey completed the final turn, the dial of the watch faded from black to crystal clear, the hands vanishing as well for good measure. A low hum could be heard, barely on the edge of the audible spectrum for humans, just enough to indicate that the device had been activated, applying a faint cloud of ambient magic upon its immediate surroundings. Not enough to disturb the mind of even a newborn, but sufficient to disrupt the delicate weavings required for divination magic. Only then, reassured that nobody was watching him, did Harvey open his contacts list and begin a call.
[Amelia Dawn - Level 30 Necromancer]
For a while, there was nothing across the line except the sound of dialling. That, too, was expected: Amelia was the best healer in Allensward and therefore much in demand, even with the recent hiring of several assistants to lighten her workload. In any event, it was nearly three minutes later that the call clicked through, connecting Harvey to the strongest person in the village, bar none.
“Amelia, we have a problem,” Harvey began without preamble.
“Of course we do, you’re calling me. You never do that unless there’s a problem,” came the supposed healer’s acerbic reply. “Let me guess, one of your minimum wage couriers dropped another crate of powder someone unsafe, and you need me to decontaminate it?”
“I wish,” Harvey groaned, reaching over for the first of six bottles of wine he’d ordered for the night. “Today’s recruitment pitch got a bit out of hand, and well, Damien’s dead.”
“Monitor.”
That single word wasn’t addressed to him, Harvey knew, but rather was prompting the System to bring up Amelia’s list of contacts; a very extensive list, but that’s what tended to happen when someone lived into their second century. God knows, he’d only been a young boy when they first met, and Amelia hadn’t aged a day since, nearly thirty years ago.
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“Oh? Another Assassin? That will be useful, it’s not long now, until the next changelings start to appear.”
“Will could fulfil that role,” Harvey agreed, suppressing a shudder as he recalled the sudden and brutal execution that he’d witnessed minutes ago. “But he’s more set on the path of the Merchant. A good head on him, that one, with a keen interest in what’s going on beyond this sleepy little village. It’s the eyes, windows to the soul, they are; his interest was genuine, no youngster can fool me and tell otherwise.”
There was a long silence at the other end of the call, long enough for Harvey to gently clear his throat.
“I’m still here,” Amelia replied, sounding somewhat distracted. “Just digging up a medical file. There, I got it. William Swindell, prefers to be called Will. He was brought in for care, one week before his Class day, after a training accident at school. Damien was the other party to that, cracked him right in the head with a wooden practice sword, and left a nasty concussion for me to clear up.”
“Funnily enough, Damien neglected to mention that part to me,” Harvey sighed. “I wouldn’t have sent him to meet Will, not even the first time, had I known there was bad blood between them, let alone the second.”
“What I’m more curious about is how Will got the drop on you. I know you like to test new recruits in battle, have an older lad rough up the newbie, a bit of harmless hazing, before putting a stop to it all. But what I don’t understand is, what did he do to Damien, that you couldn’t pull them apart in time to keep it non-lethal?”
“Will has an innate storage ability,” Harvey sighed. “That’s what got me interested in the first place, although I’d thought it was only for liquids, after Damien’s initial report. Turns out, it fits anything he can carry in his hands, cold metal not being exempted, and he’s good with his hands. Dropped some fruit behind Damien for the old slip and trip, then was on him with a knife in an instant. I’m good, but even I can’t do anything with Damien’s neck sliced open.”
“You want me to cover this up.”
“I do,” Harvey bit his lip. “There’s something weird about Will, and I know this is hypocritical coming from me, but he doesn’t move like a Level 1 Merchant, and I know the local schools don’t teach kids to be anywhere near that vicious. There’s something strange about him, and I want it.”
“Hmm. After I healed him, I gave him my Contact details, expecting to be asked for advice by a boy uncertain of his place in the world. Instead, he checks out of the Orphanage early, practically locks himself in the library until Class Day, and has been a blur about the village ever since. Curious.”
“A Horizon event?” Harvey offered uncertainty, after a moment’s thought. “It wouldn’t be the first time someone unlocked their hidden potential after a traumatic injury. The Royal Family alone can boast of three such cases, in this generation alone.”
“Perhaps. Too soon to tell, though. You’re taking him along the usual route?”
“Yes,” Harvey replied immediately, glad for the chance to steer the conversation back to more normal topics. “Damien mentioned that Will used to want to be a Soldier. That’s off the cards now, naturally, but it’ll still do him some good, to see just what it is humanity fights against, beyond the walls. The coastal air won’t do him any harm either.”
“Acceptable. Report back when you return next season. Damien died after pushing himself too far, training in the woods. Regrettable, but he never exhibited any true potential, and was earmarked for enlistment as a low ranked Soldier. No living relatives either, so there shouldn't be any outcry, and only a perfunctory investigation that I will deal with.”
“In the woods, got it,” Harvey heaved a sigh of relief. “Thanks again, Amelia. Talk later?”
Amelia ended the call.