Large flakes of snow start falling as we wait in the alley, they slowly descend and softly land on roofs and pavement. Aisha pulls my cloak closer around her shoulders. I should have bought a second one. I tough it out by taking a deep breath, embracing the cold. I've found that resisting the chill only makes it worse for me.
“Most have put their candles out, we could go back to that porch now.” Aisha says.
“Agreed.” I nod.
We make our way to the plaza, taking a different street than the ones we took to leave it. Most of the precautions I take feel superfluous or useless as anyone watching the area should have noticed us half a dozen times by not but I find no reason not to take them as they don't cost me much.
As we walk towards the porch, Aisha takes hold of my forearm and taps my wrist with her fingers before pulling me slightly to the right. I focus on my sense but don't detect anyone in range so I throw a glance around.
It takes me a while to catch the shadow on the western side of the plaza, about forty meters away from us so out of my symbiont's range. I only notice it because moonlight shines on the very upper portion, making it obvious that the dark patch isn't behaving naturally.
We walked past it and I still missed it, that's a pretty scary illusion. Although, I wouldn't have if it entered my range. Aisha guides me towards an alley and we make our way through the streets, making a hook around the block to meet up with Tsek.
We turn at a corner, finding that the shadow is gone and that Tsek is sitting on an open window's border with the black cloak over his shoulders. He's wearing a huge grin and has a thick pouch in hand.
“You got it?” Aisha asks.
“Yup!” He exclaims.
“Alright, let's get out of here.” I speak up.
Tsek hops off the edge and joins us. We make our way towards the Palace and then head towards the docks before making a hook to the slums when they're to our north.
I remain alert for the entire journey, so does Aisha but I can't trust her to tell me if she spots the other Shade. Tsek makes an effort to be serious but he's in way too good a mood for that.
He does have the sense not to make noise, yet he keeps skipping ahead and backtracking when he realizes he left us behind, or that he doesn't know where we're going.
As we go past an empty building, I decide to make a stop here and talk before we return to the shack. Eventual pursuers might think we're staying there and reveal themselves by getting closer, at the very least it'll mean Tsek will cool down after recounting his success.
I break the front door's lock. We enter what appears to be a butcher's shop if I go by the smell of blood and the cleavers hanging from nails over a red worktable. I assemble a fire construct and make it float in between us for warmth and light.
“Go on.” I tell Tsek, who is fidgeting on the spot. “Start with the Palace.”
“It didn't work, the Chancellor knew of the Exemplar's troubles with the Order and he noticed that she didn't have her golden lion pommel sword. He assumed the Temple took it from her because they're demoting her so he wanted to speak to the Templar in charge. She said we'd send him and left.” Tsek recounts with a grimace. “I kept watching the gates until nightfall and didn't see anyone following her out of the city.”
“Shit.” Aisha swears. “I planned to take care of that but then...” She throws me a glance. “Well, you happened.”
“What did you do next?” I ask Tsek.
“I rented a room in an inn with a good vantage point on the target, I spent that night and day keeping an eye on it. I almost went for it because I didn't see anyone go in but I decided to be careful like you are and waited.” He says, throwing me a proud smile. “Good thing I did, it turns out the Shade had been inside for quite a while, didn't even go out for food or water. He's a pretty slender guy with a beard and shaved black hair, doesn't carry any weapons I could see though.”
“He can make a bow out of flow in case of emergency, his ash tree bow is usually hidden somewhere near his current assignment.” Aisha tells us. “And don't rely on that description.”
“Anyway!” Tsek exclaims. “He left a few hours ago, I was super careful and enhanced my eyesight to see where he went, I found out that he met up with a sailor not too far from the place.”
Shit. I control myself so that they don't notice my concern that the Shade is part of the group that's been scouting out the institute.
“After that, I went in.” Tsek continues. “It took me a good hour to gradually drain the flow out of the alarms but I made it. Like Aisha said, if you slowly pressure the constructs, it doesn't trigger because it's like natural consumption. I almost ran out of flow but I stocked up a couple day's worth of regeneration so I made it even though he just recharged them.”
“Good thinking.” I nod. Tsek positively glowers at the praise.
“What did you find?” Aisha asks.
“That's the best part, I found the schematics and the notes out on the table instead of inside the secure coffer you taught me how to pick. It scared the shit out of me cuz it meant he was going to come back soon so I bailed out of there.” He tells us.
Aisha and I straighten up, we throw worried glances as we inspect our surroundings, like the Shade could come out of the shadows at any moment. The risk isn't negligible considering that Tsek's stroke of luck could have been staged or that the Shade could have returned as Tsek left and spotted him.
“Don't worry, I nailed it.” Tsek reassures us. “I didn't directly go to the rendezvous because I thought it could have been a trap too! So I stuck around in a dark alley with a view of the door. The shadow illusion was still active, it only ran out a couple of minutes before you two found me.”
“Why are you so sure the Shade wasn't watching?” I ask tensely.
“Because he came back ten minutes after I left and rushed out of the building two minutes later. He didn't spot me when he looked around and then almost ran towards the docks, but I didn't follow so I don't know where he went.” Tsek explains. “I left when he was out of sight.”
“Impressive, you'd make a good operative.” Aisha compliments with a grin.
“It was really close.” Tsek nods, his eyes darting to me.
“Very good thinking.” I agree. “Probably should have deactivated the illusion construct while you were on the move, Aisha spotted you when you were watching us at the plaza.” Tsek shifts his weight, apparently a little embarrassed that he got caught.
“I'll get better at this.” He affirms, his good mood mostly unaffected, which is good considering I wasn't trying to spoil his win.
“We can wait a few minutes, see if we spot anyone.” Aisha says.
“Let's.” I agree, finding no fault in the suggestion.
We explore the building, finding a deactivated runic cold storage room with hooks hanging from the ceiling. We make our way upstairs, where the butcher lived, and use the windows to take a look at the streets surrounding us.
I catch no spies with my sense but, like Tsek before, someone could be watching from outside my range. Aisha grills Tsek a bit about the sailor, trying to dig up information but he doesn't know nearly enough to give her the answer, that the Shade is either working with or against house Hetlan.
“All I know is that, while I was looking through the stuff on the desk, I read stuff that looked like blackmail material against Liliana Hetlan, the eldest daughter. Something about, um, heavy-handed nighttime incidents with peasants.” Tsek says, blushing a little.
“Not really a surprise, we're taught to secure leverage if possible on assets, even if they're willingly cooperating to eliminate variables.” Aisha comments.
“Heavy handed?” I ask, puzzled.
“Rough stuff.” He replies with a rugged voice.
“Oh.” I shrug. “It could ruin her reputation if the Court heard of what she did with low-born, I guess.” Tsek blinks, looking surprised by my reaction or lack thereof. Why would he be? “It's not like I care what Edusa's sister gets up to with her lover.” I tell him.
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“I mean, these weren't, um...” Tsek tries to explain himself but awkwardly fumbles. “You really don't get it?” He asks, disbelieving.
“Probably shouldn't get caught up on those details.” Aisha speaks up. “We have other things to worry about.”
“Indeed.” I nod, the subject would only fan my desire to see Leomi. “In fact, I think we've stayed here long enough, we should go.”
As I head downstairs, I notice that Aisha pats Tsek's back behind mine. He whispers something I don't catch. The Shade shakes her head, replying in the same low voice. I quickly enhance my hearing.
“...see her reaction if you told her.” She says with a weirdly dark expression on her real face.
I only catch the end of her sentence, finding their behavior odd and more than a bit annoyed that Aisha's suggesting that hearing about that stuff would get me going. The concern isn't too misplaced as we need to focus on the present... and it's been a while.
I smother the thought that could lead to a distraction when there's so much to do in so little time. I focus on making sure that we aren't being followed as we make our way back to the shack. Tsek follows our example and keeps an eye out.
“I woke up at noon so I'll be standing guard as usual.” I speak up as we enter the shack.
“Alright.” He nods.
“You'll both be on your own tomorrow.” I say, turning to lock eyes with Aisha.
“I won't be an issue, I have work to do anyway.” She tells me.
I nod and pull my blanket off the chair, settling it around my shoulders to sit down. Tsek settles Aisha into her shackles, a measure that feels more and more unnecessary, perhaps useless, but one that I can't dismiss.
Tsek riffles through the stuff I brought back and picks up the two last blankets. He rolls one of them in a ball and hands it over to Aisha so she can use it as a backrest. I could have done that but it didn't bother me to see her suffer a little.
They both settle down inside their blankets and go to sleep. I spend the night going through the constructs I plan to use, lightning, air-blades, a modified air-blade for my scimitar, and one last basic construct that I'm reluctant to make use of. I train myself by making small mock-ups.
By morning, my reserves are almost full so I anchor the flow inside the scimitar. I notice that the slight glow I thought I saw before on the edge of the blade is now clearly visible when I squint my eyes so I concentrate the energy until it disappears, even if it accelerates the rate of decay.
Tsek gets up early, and Aisha does too when he makes a bit of noise. I close my eyes and let myself succumb to sleep.
--- --- ---
At noon, I wake up to the enthralling odor of Tsek's cooking. He's using the same ingredients as I do to make the gruel but he somehow manages to make it smell like it's a different dish.
Aisha is still in her shackles, studying the schematics Tsek brought back, but the chains linking the bracers together aren't wrapped around the stove's foot anymore. Tsek's thought process likely had more to do with easing her discomfort than the risk of making food while she sat so close.
“When will you be ready?” I ask Aisha.
“Don't know yet.” She replies. “I found a flaw in how they switch the controller but I haven't figured out how to exploit it yet.”
“Estimate.” I tell her.
“By tomorrow morning, if I skip sleep.” She says.
“No need, you'll have the day to do it.” I inform her.
Tsek and I have lunch, during which he can't help but recount his adventure in exhaustive detail. I behave as politely as I can, responding with appropriate awe. Basically doing what a normal person would do.
I throw Aisha a glance, she's a natural at this stuff but she's eating her food without even looking at it, nose stuck deep into the other Shade's notes, attentively reading them with a fascinated expression.
I suddenly notice that Tsek stopped talking so I look up. He seems a bit vexed and I realize that I probably forgot to answer or simply react to something he said. He chows down on his food in silence. I'm really not good at being normal, even when I try.
“Sorry, I'm distracted because I have a lot on my mind, and a lot to do.” I tell Tsek.
“It's fine, I was rambling.” He tells me.
“It was impressive that you made it without getting caught or spotted with such a small window of opportunity.” I say.
Tsek nods, his clear green irises widening despite him trying not to appear too excited by my praise. I smile a little, amused by his immediate reaction. Tsek's ego is sufficiently boosted, I can focus and settle on a timeline for the assault.
He spends the rest of the meal smiling from his efforts being recognized. While I finish my bowls, he washes the dishes. I leave as soon as he's done, taking my scimitar along after ensuring that the tarp wrapped around the blade is loose enough that it won't be recognized as a weapon but not so much that it'll slip off.
I take a long detour as I head for the run-down structure where I hid my barrels of flow, making sure that I'm not followed. I directly enter the building when I pass by as I neither see or detect anyone around.
There is a corner of it where one can't be seen from the street despite the holes in the wall so I settle there and reach out to the flow. I've lost count of how many portions I stored at least a week back but there should be six hundred at a minimum even while considering that the batches have started dissipating.
I create a single air-blade construct shell around my scimitar, using a hundred portions because it'll need to overwhelm stone and runic constructs. I arrange the segments in order but don't activate it so that it doesn't absorb the air forming the basis of the construct, meaning it won't be consuming flow to maintain its shape.
I focus on the targeting segment and set my left hand as the target. The reasoning is simple, if I directly target the institute with a construct, they might detect it and I need the weapon to reach me since I won't have the leisure to look for it.
With this done, I settle the scimitar down on a pile of rubble and point it towards the institute. I start weaving an armor-piercing construct with fifty of the portions stored inside, using the last ten to shape a comparatively low-powered lightning construct, which is enough to enhance the other construct.
I then carefully modify the two to link them together at a single point, the armor-piercing construct's timer segment. It is an unusually complicated timer segment as, unlike with most other constructs, it shortens as necessary to provide the armor-piercing construct with the energy to cut through anything that gets in the way once activated.
Linking the lightning construct to that timer segment means that it'll discharge in sync with the armor-piercing construct which will therefore remain enhanced as it pierces through the institute's walls.
Those three constructs are in a dormant state, the air-blade shell is anchored to the surface while the lightning and armor-piercing constructs fill the Vuskyt. They'll consume some energy but not enough to be of much consequence.
To finalize, I shape a construct composed of two segments, one tiny timer segment that'll last fifty minutes and a conditional segment that'll activate the three previous constructs when the timer runs out.
I will activate that extremely basic construct and start the countdown when Aisha and I pass nearby on our way to the institute. I estimate that, after forty-five minutes, I'll be inside Suxen's runic array. She'll either activate it before my assault begins, or be about to. Either way works for me.
I create a second construct with those same segments except I set the timer for forty-five minutes this time. I then set my sights on the energy contained inside the barrels, gathering half of it.
Thick streams of flow emerge from the barrels, seeping through wood and ground to gather in front of me in a massive ball. Fearing that it would be seen, I direct most of the energy underground but keep the upper portion in my sight.
I start shaping it into a huge lightning construct that, if I activated it now, it would likely spread out to cover the entire block in a lightning storm and no doubt kill me in the process. I modify the timer segment so that the construct sustains a bolt that'll take five full minutes to discharge.
I set my right boot as its target. I have no doubt the institute will work hard to protect my shoe from it. A chuckle escapes me at the thought but I don't relax because it's taken me a few hours to do this and I still have work to do.
It isn't that risky to bet that the array will be in the most protected, deepest, part of the institute. And it would certainly have been a bit less wasteful in terms of energy to create several lightning constructs to strike at the building but I want them to not only focus their attention and defenses on the spot it'll strike.
Not only that, I also want them to pour their energy into the defensive constructs optimized to counter lightning, which I have no doubt they have considering they're holding a Princess against her will.
All of this will make it more likely that the air-blade propelling my scimitar makes it through, and more likely that the scimitar itself reaches me by taking advantage of the fact that the runic constructs optimized to counter armor-piercing constructs will be low on energy.
There's another part of my plan that'll ensure that they don't have the spare flow to fully activate all their defenses on top of Suxen's runic array. To make sure of that, I need a lot more air-blades.
I seize two-thirds of what's left in the barrels and create thirty air-blade shells with it, each containing about six or seven portions of flow. I anchor those inside my body for later as I have to face a difficult decision about what to do with the energy I have left.
Delaying that call, I take about twenty portions that I store inside my scimitar's handle, to recharge my reserves when it reaches me. I then look up through one of the gaps in the crumbling roof. I'm amazed to find that night is about to fall on Meiridin, the last one before Elizabeth Vil breaks a leg.
I giggle, feeling hopeful and almost impatient to free her sister. Delaying further so as not to spoil my mood, I go through each and every construct I've made during the afternoon to thoroughly verify their integrity and stability, even the simple two segment ones.
The constructs like started decaying, I'm certain, but not noticeably so. I am proud to observe that I haven't made any critical mistakes, I do notice a few errors in alignment that I correct but I've made those before and they didn't change the outcome.
I triple check, just to be certain. It's still delaying. I sigh and gather every scrap of flow that remains in the barrels. There is no hesitation to be had, I've made an oath.