Julian followed Barry and Lomen through the tight alley. There were three doors, two on the left and one on the building they’d just jumped down from.

“I’ll check if any are guarded,” Lomen whispered. He raised his staff and covered the tip with a black cloth before casting his spell, “By the Knowing Shade that Sees through Mana Bade, [Inspect].”

Through the fabric Julian could make out the faint red glow of the elf’s magic. At this time, a deep shadow flickered on the wall behind Barry.

John had returned. The human rogue wouldn’t reveal himself until ordered to. They'd been on enough missions together where Stealth was life and death. Since John had revealed himself in an obvious show, that probably meant the man had news to share. Julian waited until Lomen was finished his spell to not disturb the mage.

Julian held up a hand and said. “Report.”

A shadow clone of John walked off forward, startling the elf but not Barry. The swordsman simply smirked at the shadow. John could create a realistic version of himself out of the shadows, but that cost a lot more mana, and gods knew the rogue was functioning on mana potions tonight as it was doing all of the tasks Julian set him to.

The shadow opened its mouth. “The bridge troll has escaped.”

“What?” That wasn’t what he’d been expecting to hear, and Julian furrowed his brow. “When?”

“A few minutes after you left the palace.” The shadow replied. Barry and Lomen exchanged glances but didn’t interrupt.

“Why are you only telling me this now?” There was plenty of time since then for the bridge troll to get into mischief. She could be kidnapped, killed, or escape as a secret accomplice to the Blackfog. Though more likely she’d made her way to safety.

“She used some sort of portal skill, so I had assumed she didn't go far…” John’s shadow sounded sheepish. “I was wrong, and couldn’t find her anywhere. And your mother had a task for my palace shadow so I was unable to leave from there to chase you. This is the shadow that was originally with the bridge troll.”

“... what did my mother want?”

John’s shadow didn’t reply right away, cocking its head as if it were listening - probably to its other shadows. “She wanted me to retrieve the Arc Warden from the treasury and bring it to her on the roof.”

Julian cursed and looked at the two with him. They were waiting patiently and his gaze settled on Barry. Lomen seemed like the anxious type that followed through with his orders, but Barry was in it for the amusement and the challenge. The later wasn’t a safe bet, but he was the more likely to get the job done well.

“Barry, I need you out of the port gates. Now.” Julian instructed. “I’ll give you a bag of gold and a shiny treasure from my personal stash if you follow through with the plan to inspect the docks and rescue my sister if you find her.”

“Why now?” The human’s eyes gleamed and Julian felt confident in his decision.

“Because the entire city is going to get magically sealed any second now.”

Barry smiled and waved, and then he was gone. Some sort of footwork perk that he’d manage to activate silently. Julian’s twenty-five in perception wasn’t enough to catch the swordsman, but he did note the scuff in the dust of the alley floor.

“You aren’t expecting us to actually find and rescue your sister on this side without Barry?” Lomen’s voice was high pitched and laced with panic. The second his human was gone, the elf clutched his staff white-knuckled and nervous.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Did you learn anything from your spell earlier?” Julian asked, glancing up. He was reassured by the lack of grand arcane magic that would undoubtedly go off soon.

“Well, yes.” Lomen sighed almost imperceptibly and pointed his staff at the second door on the left. “That door is overly magically guarded.”

“But not the other door leading into the same building?” Julian frowned, wondering what the trick was. Who would guard only one door to a secured building.

“It could be a gated door, or an office entrance.” Lomen reasoned. “It could be anything! I’m just the mage.”

Julian only hesitated a second. “Can you get past the defence?”

Unexpectedly, that offended the elf and he scoffed, “Who am I?”

Julian took it for the statement it actually was, and watched as Lomen raised his freehand and an enchanted key appeared at the ready. Julian was impressed; he’d only ever seen a [Last Unlock Mimic Key] once, when John had used his on an especially difficult dungeon floor. They were a limited use item, but were enchanted to create the same magic that previously unlocked a door.

Of course, that also meant it mimicked a failed attempt, but for a random heavily guarded door in an alleyway that wasn’t as likely.

The door opened and beyond was a simple lit hallway with a door at the other end.

Julian looked at John’s shadow. He whispered. “Search the area and follow anyone from the street who ventures inside a building.”

The shadow sunk to the ground and moved to do as he bid. It was late enough that shadows were everywhere and John’s high level should protect him from most detection.

Before Lomen could lead them into the building, Julian activated the perk, “[Barrier]”

[You have attempted to use the Perk: [Barrier] on Lomen Morninglory. You have succeeded.

Select Durability Strength: 10 Mana per level. You have selected 2 Durability. Mana Cost 20.]

As long as Lomen had a barrier up, Julian could activate further abilities to protect the mage. “Now we can go.”

The hallway wasn’t very long, and they easily passed through into another hallway that ran perpendicular to the previous, stretching out left and right. Opposite the hall were a few doors, and there was another at the end on the left. There was no one in the hall, but voices could be heard coming from the far room.

Lomen and Julian exchanged looks and Julian nodded. He took the lead and lead the pair towards the sound of people.

“...and you promised we’d be out of here before dinner!” A man’s voice grumbled. He had a slight accent that softened his o’s into a’s. It was a specific dialect that was common with seafarer’s on the southwest coast. “Now you’re saying it’s too soon? What’s too soon?”

Another masculine voice, this one deep and sombre replied, “The western star needs to crest the treeline.”

“You wait that long and we might not make it out to sea.” The first voice countered, frustration clear. “I’m calling it, we ride out now.”

“It is too late to leave now.” The deep voice said sadly. “Wait until the star tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?! No, we are leaving now and to the depths with your nonsense Wayfaring Vashid.”

“My friend.” The deeper voice called out as a door opened and then loudly closed. There was a sigh and the man spoke into the silence. “There is no use if the way is already barred.”

Julian felt himself relax a little, knowing what that meant.

His mother must have activated the highest level city defence. If Julia was still in the city, there was no way they were going to be able to get her out.

So it was only a matter of time before he found his little sister.

Wayfarer Rashid sighed and the door opened and shut again, letting Julian and Lomen know that the second voice had followed the first out of the room.

Julian held off entering. Instead, he pointed to the doors the length of the hallway.

They would search those first, moving systematically through the building until they’d searched everywhere.

He would find his sister.