Meiridin's gates are made of old thick bronze, they have a slight teal discoloration. The guards at the gates aren't stopping merchants or peasants from coming and going, there is too much traffic coming in and out of the southern gate for them to do so.
The reason is that the walls don't encompass the entire city as it has spread south beyond its ramparts which means that inhabitants of all comings have to use this gate to go from their homes to work. Which is precisely why I decided to use this entrance, it would take pretty bad luck for us to be one of the few they decide to question.
Although, it wouldn't be surprising if we were the ones they do since Tsek and I are wearing uniforms and escorting two prisoners in chains. We masked our faces with mud and dust, doing the same for our clothes before doing a bad job scraping the stuff off when it dried.
I can't exactly enter the city with my mask on my face and I can't risk anyone recognizing the Exemplar. I also made Aisha and Tsek conceal their traits in this way because it paints the story of two soldiers hunting down runaway peasants or criminals.
I remain cautious as we go through the gate, I removed their ankle shackles because we had to walk here and it would be impossible to run with them if something goes wrong. The guard officer raises his hand, making me tense, but he simply salutes us. I salute him back and keep going.
The plate armor covering my left arm isn't such an odd sight as it turns out, many veteran soldiers buy disparate pieces in the hopes that it will help them make it into elite forces, survive, or perhaps acquire a complete set after a few generations. Vikiana insisted we take the rest of it so I made her carry the chest herself as it is hers after all.
I agreed despite not being able to use it, it's not that I'm not too short, it's just that the armor is tailor-made for her. Right. I can always sell it if we need money but I would rather not as the runes are keyed to Vikiana, or to a Templar, and that marks it as belonging to the Order.
Besides, if the Exemplar frees herself and somehow also finds the time to armor up, things are already so far gone that I doubt it would matter. My hammer, concealed by a piece of tarp, has a rather ordinary appearance as many low-born do so for their tools, scythes, saws, anything with a blade.
We go through the southern portion of the city without slowing down, it fits what Aisha told me about, there are plenty of shops, workshops, and marketplaces here, it is well patrolled.
It takes us half an hour through congested carriage traffic to enter the center of the city. I don't know how many people live here but it is obvious that there are a lot more than there were in Meria, perhaps ten times as much.
I've never seen such a huge gathering, so many buildings. This number of humans going about their business with a purpose in the paved streets makes me think of the Rykz, the underlying order hidden beneath the chaos.
If I ignore the beggars relegated to dark alleyways because they would be otherwise arrested if they ventured in plain sight. Can't have wealthy people see the misery according to Tsek.
Aisha and Vikiana behave, surprisingly. I expected it all to go to shit at the first occasion, and prepared accordingly. Yet, the two women don't make any waves and play their parts as prisoners.
A good thing, I don't want to kill them and my backup plan that consisted of setting fire to all the empty buildings surrounding the institute is dangerous for Cetyz and would have attracted a lot of attention. Not to mention the very likely disastrous collateral damage but it's not like I'd have many other options if I had to do this alone.
My right hand is literally bust, I can't close my fingers into a fist because my forearm's muscles are inflamed, twice the size they should be. My symbiont is slowly diffusing its cool substance through my system to help me handle the constant pain.
It took us a couple of days to cross over to Meiridin through the countryside and I gathered quite a bit of information. Not only is Cenwalh gone, but so is his army and the majority of the Templar regiment stationed in the capital.
It does not take a genius to guess that he went south to confront the Rykz, which makes my mission even more urgent. Problem is, I can't really accelerate my plans. I roll with it and take this as a boon instead of a problem, the bright sight being that the city guard is the only armed corps I'll have to deal with outside of the institute's protectors.
My reserves are full and I have constructs anchored inside my body putting the total flow available to me at twice my daily regeneration, close to fifty portions. I'm sure that there are Nobles left in Meiridin but I may very well be the one with most access.
“There.” Tsek speaks up, pointing at a band of street kids playing near a baker's stall.
“You sure?” I ask.
“Certain, look at the little girl escaping. That bulge under her shirt is a chunk of bread.” He says.
“Aisha, stashes.” I speak up.
“That's what you're up to, huh.” She nods approvingly, I respond with a glare. “Nearest one is close to the Temple.” She hurriedly says.
“Too risky.” I shake my head.
“Another one is under a roof in the tannery block, but that's in the institute's sector.” Aisha tells me.
“No.” I say.
“There's one in the sewers but it's a maze so you would need to enter near the stash, in plain sight, to avoid getting lost.” She notes.
“That works.” Tsek says. “No one's going to ask questions about urchins playing and exploring places they shouldn't. They'll be suspicious but that's always the case. It works in our favor, hide in plain sight and such.”
I stop at the corner of an alleyway and make our two prisoners face the wall. Tsek takes his soldier's tunic off while Aisha gives him directions. He makes her repeat the details a few times to be sure he memorized them.
The plan is for him to send the kids in to pick up the package and then meet back with us after making sure no one is following him. The little thieves might cross us but that's fine since we can keep trying until it works or Aisha runs out of stashes at which point I'll figure something else out.
“Alright, go. Don't go anywhere near the stash and meld into the crowd once you've got the gold.” I remind him. “And buy quills, ink, and parchment while you're at it.” I add.
The few gold coins I give him are enough to cut my funds by half. I could easily live an entire year on what's left if I were alone. I've spent more money in the last couple months than during the rest of my life.
I take Ruth's rag map out and point at a street corner at the very edge of the docks. Tsek nods and leaves. I take my own tunic off and rip it in half, using the pieces to hide their shackled wrists. I ponder for a moment about how to handle my two prisoners, ending up making them walk in front of me.
“Alright, let's go find a place to crash.” I speak up.
“Need my help?” Aisha ventures.
“No.” I reply sharply.
I don't directly head to the rendezvous point as Tsek could take hours to get this done, instead, I lead us in the institute's direction. It's close enough to the docks and the area is poor so I won't have to worry about overzealous guards.
We find a nice little run down tavern next to a shady looking restaurant, if one can it that considering it's made of a hastily nailed down stall in front of a wood oven made of what looks like stones that were taken out of the street's pavement.
I almost throw the owners a gold coin because I'm hungry before reconsidering, I instead keep walking with the other two and walk inside a shady alley. Showing gold would be a good way to get robbed, I've seen the looks people throw at my plated arm.
“Put that chest down and help me take that off, Viki.” I say, enjoying the flicker of anger that crosses her light blue eyes when I use the nickname.
“Don't.” She says.
“What's the problem, Viki?” I ask, making use of the fact that I'm not wearing a mask to throw her a mocking grin.
“I can play that game too, Jay.” She replies with a raised eyebrow.
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“Fine.” I fold.
She is aware that I need her and revealing my name to Tsek wouldn't be enough for me to justify killing her. Maybe break a few bones. But I need her in shape to train me... Does she need her left arm for that? Probably.
“Oh well.” I sigh.
“What?” She asks.
“Don't worry about it.” I smile. “Are you healed?”
“Pretty much.” Vikiana replies.
She helps me unstrap the plates from my symbiont and store them with the rest of the armor. I then make her cut my spare shirt into one long ribbon that I wrap around my left hand's fingers, palm, and wrist. My long sleeve covers it so that there isn't much risk that my symbiont will be seen even if it slips up.
I assemble two air-blades and two lightning constructs, letting them hover above their heads as a threat while I go talk to the restaurant's cook. He's a pudgy middle-aged man with greasy hair, and shirt, and hands... Okay, I'm nowhere near hungry enough to eat here. He throws me a suspicious glance, or that's his natural look, who knows.
“I'm looking for a discreet place to sleep in, cheap rent.” I tell him.
“I gots mah'self a shed, just five silvers a week.” He replies.
“Never mind.” I reply.
He's trying to rip me off, he definitely saw the plate earlier. I head to the tavern even though that'll put Aisha and Vikiana at the edge of my range, which forces me to pay a lot more attention to them. I drained their flow and they're already targeted, shouldn't be an issue.
I step inside and start asking various patrons, not about a specific place, just a general neighborhood that fits my criteria. I don't actually plan to rent something and involve someone, but I need to know which areas of this huge city have vacancies to have somewhere to start looking.
I'm told that, with most of Meiridin's army gone, the inns lack clients so I should be able to find a really cheap room but that otherwise there aren't any abandoned parts of the city 'except that place' as one of them whispers ominously, no doubt talking about the institute.
I thank them and walk out, having picked up a clue as to what I have to look for. There must be a lot of empty houses with the soldiers and all those needed to maintain the supply chain gone.
A few hours later, I find a small house stuck between the docks and the slums with no apparent occupants. The windows are barred and all the small things that are usually left on the porch during the day are missing, like flower pots, chairs, and the day's trash.
Aisha recommends it but I don't let her opinion influence mine as the location seems perfect to me, it is on a small out-of-the-way street, not too close or too far to anything important like a marketplace or a Temple. The most important detail to me is that there is a well nearby.
There is no point in second-guessing myself because of the Shade, there would be no end to that kind of thinking. If she disagreed that it's a good place to hide, I would have thought she's lying. Her agreeing could mean it's bad for me or that she expected me to change my mind and that's why she went with my choice.
Besides, the neighbors to the left of the house also seem to be gone while the building to the right is a small wood-shop. Not sure whether it's occupied or not, I can see tools on the workbench through the window but it's the middle of the day and there's no one there.
Instead of waiting for nighttime like I originally intended, I make use of the fact that the street is deserted to directly break in the small house. I'm relieved to see that there is no sign that people recently lived there, the food stores are empty and there is a thin layer of dust on the table.
I call my prisoners over, pointing at a door to the bedroom which has a single barricaded window that gives into a tiny alley, not even large enough for Aisha's shoulder width, and she's the thinnest of us three.
I apply few lightning constructs all around the room, anchoring them inside the walls, nailed flaps, and the door. I then grab a rope to tie Aisha to the bed, reinforcing it with a defensive construct.
That's quite a bit of flow to spend but I'll only need to replenish the energy and ensure that they don't lose coherence every morning when I take their reserves. Vikiana and I then step into the main room to train.
We get started with hand to hand combat as the Exemplar estimates that it's the best way for her to estimate my limb's strength and range of movement. I raise my guard before she even steps in kicking range.
I've trained with her, she is a lot faster than she pretends to be without flow and takes a little too much pleasure in attacking me by surprise when I'm listening to her explanations.
She starts with a kick to my right side which I block by raising my own leg. She follows up with a series of jabs aimed at my chin, I lean back and try to catch her wrist with my left hand.
I am more than surprised when I succeed but she impacts my torso soon after, taking advantage of the fact that I'm standing on my heels to break my balance. My back hits the ground but I couldn't care less.
“I win.” I say, flat on the floor but still holding her wrist.
“You would in the case of a duel, not if you're fighting two or more skilled adversaries. Breaking the first's non-dominant wrist in exchange for your footing is not a worthwhile exchange.” Vikiana replies.
“Good point.” I nod and get back up on my feet.
The next exchange goes similarly but this time I decide to dodge her jabs by slipping to the side and counter attacking with a left straight. An even worse mistake as she manages to grab my right shoulder and hand, locking them into a hold and threatening to break my elbow and wrist.
“Let go.” I order between grit teeth as waves of agony course through my arm.
“You need to get that fixed or this whole thing is dead on arrival.” She says, releasing me.
“I will.” I reply, massaging my arm.
She loosens up for the rest of the exercise, putting her efforts into testing my symbiont's range of movement. We find out that only its elbow and wrist articulations are limited in range, but are still more mobile than a human's.
The only thing that seems to be preventing my left shoulder from moving three hundred and sixty degrees is that my body is in its way to do so. She tentatively tries to break its bones but doesn't get anywhere.
She does manage to dislocate my symbiont's wrist but, after I stop it from trying to impale her regardless of the injury, it simply rearranges its string-like muscles a little and pulls the bone back into its socket.
“Freakish.” Vikiana whispers.
“You didn't leave me with any other choices than to die or become this monster, Exemplar.” I snap.
“I didn't mean it as an ins...” Her voice cuts off when my fist impacts her stomach.
“Fuck you.” I utter with difficulty because of the panging distress in my heart.
She folds over with a wet cough. I grab her by the collar and drag her to the bedroom, throwing her at Aisha inside. I then lock the door and crumble to the floor, laying my back against the wall. I did what I had to, the Rykz would have killed me, or if not, I would have been just another drone for them and died of hunger if they ever released me. Or at least that's what I thought back then.
But I'm different now. I won't break like I almost did because of Leomi. I'm stronger. I surreptitiously wiping the tears in the corner of my eyes, refusing them, denying them even to myself.
I rise and go pick up my hammer. I repaired it but it'll be useless to me in the institute, Aisha can't be trusted with it and I won't be able to hold bring it inside.
Not to mention I need to create and maintain the charade that I'm their prisoner to that Director. I can't count on someone like her, who is at the head of something Vikiana calls a cesspit, to care about my hostages. I notice that my prisoners' lips are moving, they're talking.
“Silence.” I utter coldly at the bedroom.
I can't stop them from talking but I can make it harder for them. I could separate them but it would make it too complicated for Tsek who doesn't have my ability to sense the surroundings.
I silently twirl my hammer in hand with an empty mind. I run my finger across the blade, wondering if I should cut my hair. The ends are starting to curl and they don't really get in the way.
It would be a departure to stick with long hair, I've always kept them short so that they didn't bother me at work. Going back to that feels wrong. I'll keep them like this for now. Also, we're going to need food, what little we bought isn't going to last.
I walk into the bedroom and untie Aisha. I then throw the pieces of my soldier tunic over their shackles and we make our way to the rendezvous point I agreed on with Tsek.
I don't stand at the rendezvous point. Instead, I ditch the Exemplar and the Shade in an alley to climb a roof. I lay flat on my stomach over the tiles to conceal my silhouette. Tsek arrives with a leather case not long after and stands at the crossing within eyesight of the meeting spot.
He soon gets impatient and starts fidgeting but I don't let it bother me and wait for an entire hour as I observe the surroundings to make sure that he hasn't been followed... and hasn't betrayed my trust.
I keep some of my attention for the prisoners, moving the constructs I left to guard them to remind them that I'm 'watching'. After another half-hour, Tsek starts exploring the nearby city blocks, going in circles searching for us.
It takes him a good hour until he gives up and sits down at the crossing right where we said we'd meet. He looks frustrated, worried, and rather oddly embarrassed. I shape a message construct to tell him to walk into the alley I left our prisoners in and send it over under the pavement.
He startles and panics a little when the black-gold flow construct enters through his foot. I cut my link to it and he soon relaxes, his lips rise in a wide grin and he follows the instructions.
I've hidden for so long that my muscles start cramping so I stretch. I still stay on the roof for another hour, until I'm more than certain that no one who arrived after Tsek remains in the area. And it'll be easier to lose anyone good enough to escape my notice now that night is falling.