To the one tied to the chair, the past day was an experience that could be likened to a drowning that did not stop at death. The initial arrest had only been mildly terrifying as Daniel realized he’d been discovered. Neither he nor Khare had been in a position to readily resist a fresh wave of combatants, and there was a difference between defending yourself and killing to resist arrest.
Things had changed when he’d first reached the cellblock as he was reminded of his fears. Enhanced wisdom or no, he still had his phobia and it had taken everything to keep himself calm once it was clear the guard wouldn’t help with his or Khare’s injuries. He’d gotten enough healing from Regeneration to stabilize before the loss of both his Foci had taken all of his powers away. That in itself had been a disconcerting feeling as he was reduced to just what he could do with attributes alone. It had taken Hunter contacting him to remind Daniel that his bond could still function in magical suppression. He might have tried sooner if his attempts to reach Hunter earlier hadn’t failed due to the ringcat being outside the city.
Evalyn’s ability gave him an escape from his pain, fears, and thoughts on how he’d taken people’s lives. The prospect didn’t ruin him as he felt completely justified in his actions, though the feeling of crushing chests and tearing bodies with Claw Strike was hard to banish. In a way he was glad Khiat hadn’t participated as who knows what that would have done to her.
He’d expected to wake up in a cell again, or perhaps in an interrogation room with a guard staring at him as if they’d been there the whole time. Instead, Daniel was presented with a sight that brought him immense relief, even if another would have been as bothered as he was in the cell. An expanse of desert far below him, lit by the sun. Without any obvious landmarks to tell, all Daniel could guess was he was in a Spire which didn’t face the Thormundz mountains or another Spire. It took him a second to ask why and how he was here as he also quickly registered he was still magically suppressed.
An anti-magical cell was an anti-magical cell, but the window he was facing made all the difference. Not even the ropes tying his arms and legs bothered him too much. He felt he could burst out of them if he really wanted to unless they were enchanted, but the enchantment wouldn’t work with magic turned off. As he reoriented, Daniel gazed out into the open terrain and tried very hard not to think about yesterday.
Before any real time had passed, he heard a door open. “Enjoying the view?” They were a woman, human by the sound of the voice, and old. “If you are unwise, it will be the last thing you see.”
The presence of someone else reminded Daniel of just how dire the situation was. Sure, he was close to a window so large he could fall through it, but he was high up. Hundreds of meters easily. There was a way to escape, but now there was also someone else in the room. “Who are-” Something pressed into the back of his head, hard enough it would have broken skin if it were sharp. Instead of bleeding, there was intense dull pain.
“Don’t speak, not unless I ask you to. Honestly, this is the problem with this city. Even Silver Eye.” There was disgust in the woman’s voice. It sounded like she was right behind him, meaning she was the source of this pain. “Weak or unimaginative. Aucrest had the brains to sniff you out but not the guts to do it right. Bennar would if he didn’t have whatever he’s distracting himself with. What he sees in a handful of soon to be exiled guards that makes them worth what you are I’ll have to look into later. And the other Council members? They’re dead, so that should speak for itself.”
There was an ominous feeling to whatever was pressing itself against Daniel’s head. Instead of interrupting whatever this woman was rambling about, he let her continue. “If we had a proper Council like the one I joined years ago, this ‘Mirage’ would only be that, an illusion. Maybe one we started so we could pressure the Hunter’s Guild to throw more of their people under the control of the guard.” The pressure relaxed for a moment. “But, back to you. Artificer. You did well to not announce yourself, if you ignore carrying a giant glowing crossbow on your back. I’ve half a mind to kill you now and do whatever region you came from a favor. If not for what I have spent getting you here. I intend to make that back with interest. What is your level? Answer me!”
Daniel knew without having to be told that not answering would lead to pain, and he didn’t see how this information could hurt him. “Two.” Hunter, can you hear me?
Yes. The others are free. Where are you?
Thank god. I don’t have much time. Is Khare with you?
They are. Daniel did everything he could to suppress his sigh of relief, and the telepathic conversation that continued while he bought himself time.
The woman behind him thankfully didn’t notice. “Better than one I suppose. Feh, but a personal Artificer is just what I need to make sure my idiot son has enough influence to remain relevant. Even he can’t foul that up.” The object rapped against his head twice, Daniel now getting the impression it was a ring. “You have a choice, young man. Form a termless contract bond with my family, or die. It’s quite simple, and I’m afraid you have little room for negotiation.”
There was a pause that let Daniel know he could speak. “Can I ask a question?”
“You try my patience.” That wasn’t exactly a no.
“What level are you? I can sense the magic in your ring.” That was the source of his unease about the object pressing against him. It was like the potential energy of the heliorite he was familiar with, processed into an enchanted object. There should have been a void considering the room was magically suppressed, meaning the item was above the level of the suppression. He’d barely be able to hold it since he didn’t meet the level requirement, and Lograve had warned him of potentially fatal consequences from prolonged contact or use of such items.
The woman laughed, the sound bordering on cruelty towards the end. “My dear fool. Why in the name of the Octyrrum would I take a class?”
“What?”
“Hmm, of course. You’re new to this region. Unlike others, here the people rule. The foremost among them, of course.” A wrinkled hand, not the one pressing into the back of his head, was brought into view. Each finger wore at least one ring, some incredibly intricate while others were just simple bands with embedded gems. Something, likely his class, told him one with a ruby was the most powerful. “With artifacts like these, why would I need a class?”
“How can you touch them?” The pressure faded from the back of his head, only for one of the hands to strike him hard. Daniel would have fallen over if the other hand hadn’t steadied the chair.
“Idiot! You call yourself an Artificer and don’t know the basic facts? Only people with a class cannot use items above their level. Ask me something like that again and I will strike harder, or just use my ring of lancing and put an end to this. Either way, no one outside my family will see you for some time, if ever.”
Daniel was afraid of how this woman would judge his next question, but Hunter was still getting ready and he needed more time. “What about the others? The process of elimination to figure out who kidnapped me would be fairly short.”
“I can stall a search for long enough to move you somewhere safe. I hardly need you to be here to do your work, and in the middle of the desert I don’t need to worry about suppressing your magic or any means of magical communication. Fewer distractions too.”
Daniel frowned, gazing out the window. “Why put all these enchantments on a room open to the outside?”
The woman laughed again as Daniel tensed, waiting to be hit. No strike came. “You don’t know anything. Stupid boy. It’s not the room, it’s me. Hard to fight someone who can suppress your powers at will, isn’t it? Sadly there hasn’t been anyone stupid enough to try in the last few decades. The look on a would-be Assassin’s face is priceless.” Footsteps clicked against the stone as an old woman with a leering smile leaned against the window frame. “Tempting, isn’t it? Of course, without your Focus and only the clothes on your back, there’s no way you’d survive the fall. Not at your level. I happen to know Artificers have little in the way of self-defense if you take away their tricks. Though, I suppose I could be merciful and let you choose the way you die. That is the choice here. Serve, or die. Maybe my son will be weak enough to take pity on you when he takes control of the family, but not while I live.”
Not even Tlara had been this directly abrasive to Daniel’s belief in the common goodness of mankind. Then again, he supposed there were people like this back home too. “What did I do to you? Why are you doing this?”
“A child’s questions.” The woman slapped him across the face, wizened nails making cuts where they hit him while the rings bruised his face. “I do what I do because I can, and because it is the best thing for me and my family. Even so, I do take some small pleasure. It was one of you that caused so much pain and suffering centuries ago. Armafus, a thousand curses on his name. What is more right, that one person hurt many, or that one person is hurt to benefit many? Soon, you will realize escape is hopeless. Your future grows ever more displeasing the longer you drag this out.”
Is she just that arrogant? Daniel couldn’t explain it any other way. This woman was standing by the window, not even restraining him anymore. Sure, there were the ropes, but he could break through them with enough effort. There shouldn’t be anyone else in here either or he would have heard them. Either she thinks I can’t survive the fall, or she thinks she can stop me in time with an item on her. I guess she doesn’t know I can contact Hunter. “How much worse could slavery get?” Just keep her talking. I need to make sure I’m lined up right.
“A good question, finally. How many arms do you need to enchant?” She looked thoughtfully at his right shoulder and waved a hand. “We can always have it grown back if you need it. But there are other things we can remove that I'm sure you don’t need. Nothing is off the table, Artificer. That is what leading means. Doing whatever it is you need to do for the good of the people.”
Right, the people. Daniel really should have been intimidated into silence, but he just couldn’t resist talking back to this monster in a woman’s flesh. “So I’d be making things for normal people then? Not just your family? Since this is for the greater good and all.”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Her gaze turned hard at the first sign of true rebellion. “I’m certain you don’t need two eyes. Let’s tend to that before we continue this chat.”
Hunter, I hope you’re ready. It would have been the perfect moment for something witty, a short line of banter or scathing rebuke before Daniel acted. His captor had gone through the trouble of monologuing just to set this up. In the end, all Daniel could say as a sharp nail aimed at one of his eyes was, “Nope!” Then, he took a leap of faith.
…
In the underground cell blocks, Evalyn and Khiat remained whilst the rest went to work finding Daniel. He was important, but Khiat was in almost, if not as much trouble. Whatever Hunter’s power had done calmed her down, but there was still turmoil in her soul. Evalyn had no powers to support a search effort, not unless they had someone to interrogate. She could make an attempt, but Rasalia had already efficiently torn through the guard here. Sherman and a handful of others were thought to be responsible, but they’d fled the city after taking Daniel and his possessions under the cover of releasing him.
That left Evalyn and the Assassin alone together. She’d had strong reservations about Khiat at first. They were reasonable, given the reputation of Khiat’s class was as widespread and well-earned as the Bard’s. Even so, seeing her now and knowing that Khiat hadn’t raised a hand against the thieves, Evalyn couldn’t bring herself to think of her as anything but traumatized.
The Bard held one of Khiat’s hands with two of hers, waiting for the other to speak. Eventually, she did. “I want to go home.”
“Alright. We can take you there.” Evalyn didn’t even mention the reasons Khiat had left the oasis earlier. Compared to her current state, they didn’t matter.
Khiat thought about them though. “What about the people? The Fate?”
“Damn them,” Evalyn said simply. “Anyone who would take a person from their family is a monster, and we’re monster hunters.”
“You are. I’m just, just, I didn’t do anything!”
“Good. You didn’t want your class to turn you into something. You kept true to yourself. Fighting everything and everyone is how you either get yourself killed or become something terrible.”
Khiat shook her head. “Khare and Daniel fought! I just stood there.”
“True. To my eye, Khare didn’t seem too troubled and we’ll find Daniel.” She cursed internally as she realized the mistake a second later.
“If I’d protected him, if I’d helped, he wouldn’t be missing. I don’t deserve my class. I don’t deserve your help!”
“You have both. They don’t need me for the search, but even if they did I would be right here.”
“Why?”
“Because you need me too. I talked with a lot of people who lost someone where I came from. I was one of them. What happened to you doesn’t exactly compare, but I can see the wounds you took.”
“I didn’t fight,” Khiat repeated.
“Not to your body, to your heart. You haven’t fought people before, and you haven’t seen what we have. No one was expecting you to do anything. Your village certainly didn’t train you to fight in wars did they?” Khiat shrunk back into the wall at the mention of the oasis and shook her head. “I think it’s hard for me to remember because you’re normally so much taller, but you’re young, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” Khiat admitted in a small voice.
“I’m sorry it’s me instead of your mother and father here. If they were, maybe they would have the words you’d need. Maybe there aren’t any words at all. But, I’ll stay with you either way, because you need someone and I can be that person.” Khiat didn’t say anything else, so neither did Evalyn. Talking to her wouldn’t change things, not while she was still reliving what had happened.
That was Evalyn’s thought at least, having received no formal training in this area. Bards weren’t exactly made for this kind of thing. Thomas might have a better idea despite his lack of specific powers, but Lograve had judged his knowledge of Aughal valuable enough to take along when they confronted Aucrest. Hunter and Tak were needed to scan the city, and although Khare could have gone with anyone, they wouldn’t have been much of a conversationalist here. In that way, Evalyn was the only person for a role she was more than willing to fulfill.
So, she sat next to the Assassin, using no power, playing no music, waiting for her to speak, and glaring at anyone who tried to enter. It was hunger that won out in the end, prompting Khiat to ask for food. That was enough to let Evalyn convince her to come back to the inn, and the two left the guardhouse undisturbed in Rasalia’s lingering wake.
As Khiat walked the streets stiffly, carrying instead of wearing her travel armor along with her bow and quiver. Both of them attracted some attention due to their looks, though for different reasons. Evalyn spurred Khiat on gently, wanting to get off the streets as soon as possible. Her thought was if Khiat could sleep in a real bed after eating the best of whatever the Painted Dusk had, she could heal in some small way.
What she couldn’t have possibly expected was what they’d both see right before making it to the tavern.
…
“Nope!”
Claret Sosa raised an eyebrow as the Artificer planted his feet on the ground and pushed towards the window with all the strength his class gave him. She knew, of course, that her suppressive ring would stop him from using mana even if he had a power that didn’t rely on a Focus and likewise didn’t fear for her life. He would make it, but she wasn’t concerned. This would be the moment hope was truly lost and he’d be ripe to bind.
Confident that he’d get nowhere, she didn’t move and waited for him to bounce off the Shroud that protected the open spaces of the tower from travel both in and out. This Artificer was stupid, something she’d have to work out. Who would put windows in a tower a kilometer tall without any precautions in place?
Such it was that Claret gaped in surprise when Daniel and the chair he was tied to sailed through the window frame. She tried to grab him at the last moment, but her hands met against a barrier far stronger than the level 4 enchantment that suppressed magic around her. Furious and in disbelief, Claret pointed the ruby ring at the falling man. The ring of lancing was an Armafus original, made by the long dead Tyrant of Aughal for his mortal servants and powerful enough to burn a small hole in the Spire’s shroud. Part of her family’s legacy and a key piece that had allowed them to hold onto power.
She missed. Claret wasn’t used to using it on targets further than a meter away and cursed her old hands for shaking. Then, her eyes widened as a light flared in the distance, the ray she fired impacting the Divine Quarter.
Gravity was quickly bringing Daniel far out of her control and she was powerless to stop him. Worse, she’d just used her signature ring to attack the gods.
...
Meanwhile, Daniel exited the range of Claret’s suppression artifacts and reached out to his friend. Hunter?
I see you falling.
Yeah, falling too fast! The exhilaration of freedom was crossed with the hazy terror of yesterday, though for now, it was dominant. Falling didn’t bother Daniel so long as this plan worked, though he was worried about how sluggish his body felt. Without Graceful Fall or Balance he was almost helpless.
Where?
Daniel couldn’t turn his head too far but had enough of a view of the city to reason it out. The southern Spire, like I thought. Also, I’m tied to a chair, but I have an idea for that. He spotted Hunter’s aura, and those close to him. Do you have the wings on?
Yes, Hunter hesitantly answered. I haven’t used them before.
Well, I’ve hit the ground after a fall before and we both know how that turned out. All you have to do is not miss. Can you do that?
I think so, but I am not sure.
And whose fault is that? I don’t know if I can survive this fall Hunter, and even if I’m just horribly injured I’m going to guess the person I just bailed on is going to send people after me. This gets us out of the city quickly.
Out of the city? Now he had Hunter’s interest.
I’m not fucking staying here after that just happened! Tak’s down there too right?
Yes. Too far for you to hear. He was looking around the other side of the city.
Doesn’t matter. Tell him to get everyone else out of here, we’re in danger.
As if he was trying to find some way out of doing what he was about to do, Hunter added, Others in the city are helping. One shouts very loudly.
What? Look, they’re not here. Do you think you can do it?
Yes.
All in all, Daniel was surprised at how well he was handling falling out of a skyscraper. That all this was happening just after what amounted to physical and psychological torture should have made a difference, but a calm spread as Daniel’s subconscious pushed that into the future. In this moment, instead of being crushed by what he’d had to endure, he acted.
The chair was still a problem and would have been an obstacle if there wasn’t a bar set low between the front legs which his feet could rest on. Daniel still didn’t have his Foci, and for that matter didn’t want to risk them during Hunter’s jump, but that didn’t mean he was helpless. The strength that had gotten him out of the room broke the chair in two as he ripped his arms free while pushing his feet against the legs to break the back. He rarely made use of his enhanced attributes but without any powers, it was the only option he had left. Now that he was free, all he had to do was hope Hunter could cover his end.
On the ground, Hunter prepared as the wings mounted on the back of his armor glowed. Daniel had designed Hunter’s armor after making his set of lightning wings and had spent extra time figuring out a way to fit them on. He’d had nearly a week of sitting in one place whilst he enchanted the rest of the gear used to kill the lightning dragon and could devote his mind to other tasks so long as a part of it remained enchanting. The result was a section of the armor on Hunter’s back that would clip onto the base of the wings and hold them until released. The swept, jet-like appearance of them gave more of an impression that a drone was docked on Hunter rather than that the ringcat had grown a set of wings, but Daniel was proud of the work either way. Of everything, designing that armor had been his greatest intellectual labor.
I can’t adjust my path, Hunter. You’re going to have to catch me. Daniel thought, seeing that he’d fallen halfway to the ground already.
Do not like this, Hunter growled, but even he knew there wasn’t another option. I can do it.
Didn’t you just complain about not having done this before?
I can feel what I need to do. After that, I just need to leap as if I am pouncing on prey.
But you’re not going to attack me right?
I am ready.
Hunter?
Doing it. A few seconds after he'd left the window, the mental conversation having taken place more rapidly with adrenaline speeding his rate of thought, a beam of light fired from the wings on Hunter’s back as he leaped into the air. Whether the light needed to touch the ground to work they didn’t know, but Hunter wasn’t taking chances. The additional effect granted by the heliorite used in the construction allowed for a Jump-like ability with far greater height, though at the cost of a one hour cooldown that only reset while in sunlight. Otherwise, the wings just allowed for gliding. They were an improvement on an earlier design intended to do just that, only these didn’t carry the risk of exploding.
The defenders of the city were already on high alert which had been further escalated by Rasalia’s city-wide cry of anger. By now, a few had noticed the man falling from one of the Spires. No one was in a position to do anything since the only way to fall from the superstructures was to climb the exterior. Anyone foolish enough to do that deserved the fall. When a monster shot through the air to intercept the falling man there was a sense of panic and confusion in the already unsettled streets that turned to pure confusion when, instead of being torn to shreds, he pulled his way up the armor and sat just in front of the small protrusions coming off the back.
And you didn’t like this idea, Daniel beamed, arms hurting from catching onto Hunter but otherwise unscathed from the midair collision. If you did this during a fight I could snipe monsters from up here.
I can turn them off if I want.
Can’t you just give me this? Daniel asked, half-jokingly, as he righted himself on Hunter’s back. From this position, he could almost compare it to the fantasies he’d had growing up about riding dragons. There was a tactical aspect to his repeated attempts to get Hunter to agree to use mounted archery on hunts, but Daniel would admit it wasn’t just that.
The ringcat, perhaps sensing exactly what Daniel was trying to distract himself from through the Empathic Link, relented. Fine. Where are we going?
Outside the city, we should be able to glide over the walls from here. Hunter, thanks. Really. He patted the ringcat’s side and then frowned. Did your fur get softer?
..
Below them, Evalyn winced as Khiat crushed her hand, though the grip was not strong enough to warrant a complaint. Instead, she placed her other hand on the arm and nodded. “See? Everything is going to be alright.”