Chapter XIII

The gardens at the base of the Citadel were full of color, a welcome contrast to the constant silver and white of the tower’s interior. It was late spring in Ijiria so almost all of the flowers were in bloom, and many of them reminded Eric of the types of plants he could find back in Wilham. Yet, there were a few that seemed quite exotic, and he couldn’t help but linger on those the longest. One particular bush had a collection of pitch black roses with thorny stems that wrapped around each other in tangles, bringing each individual flower so close to the others that they appeared like one larger rose. Part of him wished he had more time to admire the garden, but this wasn’t their destination, so he instead followed the stone path silently until he and his three companions reached the southern gates of the Citadel. The walls were so tall that, from the base, he couldn’t see the top, and he guessed that it had to be hundreds of meters tall. The gates themselves paled in comparison, reaching only twenty or so feet. At the moment, they were wide open, though there were about a dozen guards in gold and green armor gathered around, probably there to make sure that any trouble caused would be quickly dealt with.

“Why are the gates open?” he whispered to Ryokumo, who was walking right beside him, garbed not in his typical flowery gown, but in a black and gold tunic and pants, with a small dagger sheathed at his hip. “Is the Citadel open to the public or…?”

The Master of Wind shook his head. “Not the tower itself, but the gardens serve as a park for anybody to pay a visit. In fact, for the right price, it’s even been rented by some of the richer denizens of the city for celebrations. Come the season of the Holy Night, its uncommon for it to not be rented out.”

Eric raised his eyebrows in surprise, having believed the entire premises to be locked off and heavily guarded, especially due to the recent attacks on the tower by the Children of Reiner.

Though then again, they’d have to be crazy to come anywhere near the Citadel with how much effort is being put into capturing them. Perhaps they still leave the gardens open in the hopes that they’ll try to sneak back in.

He internally cringed, once again trying to prevent himself from allowing his thoughts to linger on his mother’s adopted children. After all, there wasn’t a single one left alive that wasn’t considered a highly wanted criminal. A few of them even remained in Erika and it was because of those individuals that he now found himself walking through the Citadel’s gates and into the capital city of Ijiria for the first time. Just that morning, Ryokumo had requested that he accompany him down into the city in the hopes of learning more about what the

Children were up to. According to the Master of Wind, Arisa Kirisan and her group attacked and looted a wagon carrying supplies for the blacksmith’s guild and Prince Reigious hoped to use the attack to finally capture them.

“Master Cartus and I have been ordered to go speak to the head of the blacksmith’s guild in a few hours and, since I know you’ve been stuck inside for two months now, I thought it was a prime opportunity for you to finally see the city, and I was luckily able to convince the prince to authorize it.”

Part of Eric wished he could have just remained behind, but the other part did want to get out of the tower into the city and see what his mother’s home was like. He didn’t want any part in the hunt for the Children of Reiner, but at the same time, he knew that if he at least appeared like he was aiding the Citadel then it might help him to truly gain the trust of both the Masters and the royals.

Eric glanced up at the two mages walking just ahead of them—Master of Rock, Sinna Cartus, and her apprentice, Alucian Carrowey. He’d only ever met Sinna once and that was on the day he dueled Prince Reigious, but this was his first time meeting her apprentice. Alucian looked no older than him, with short, jet black hair and violet eyes. His shoulders and chest were broad, and his muscled arms were visible due to the sleeveless jerkin he wore in a similar style to Sinna. The boy hadn’t spoken much since they met up on the Citadel’s ground floor, but Eric didn’t miss the few suspicious glances sent his way.

I suppose it isn’t surprising that he would be distrusting of me. Ryokumo said that Sinna doesn’t like me so it’s only natural that her apprentice would be weary. Though, maybe this would be an ideal chance to get on their good side.

That was his hope, anyway, but with his sense so on edge in their presence, part of him felt it might be better to avoid them altogether and just rely on Ryokumo to interact with them. In the end, he chose to keep quiet as they emerged on the other side of the wall, giving him his first real look at the capital city of Erika.

To his surprise, it wasn’t the traditional fantasy city he had envisioned during the many stories his mother had told him. Instead, it seemed more like a hybrid between what he’d imagined and the modern cities of Omaruo that he was used to. The district surrounding the southern gates of the Citadel were residential, though the two to three story mansions were almost certainly owned by the rich and powerful. When he asked Ryokumo about it, he told him that they were predominantly owned by successful merchants, nobility, or denizens of the Citadel that wanted a place in the city where they could relax and be apart from their work. He even told him that two of the Masters, Nakoma Taurus and Nyx Rana, owned property in that district.

“And what about you?” Eric asked softly. “Why don’t you have a place down here?”

Ryokumo shrugged, glancing around at the high-end mansions on both sides of the street. “I suppose I have no reason to. While the Citadel might not be the most comfortable place, it is still my home and I have lived there for quite some time. Though, perhaps someday…”

He didn’t finish the thought and a slightly sad look overcame him as he turned his attention away from the buildings. Eric left it at that, deciding instead to focus on taking in the sights as they finally emerged from the upscale neighborhoods and came to Erika’s most famous attraction just under the Citadel itself: Market Street. It was a sharp contrast from the quiet neighborhoods, with shoppers crowded together on the road and on both sidewalks as they went about their business. The market was a mix of portable stalls and large stone shops and as Eric scanned his surroundings, he found a variety of products being sold from people of all different appearances. He didn’t know what most of the products were, and instead found himself surveying the shopkeepers and their customers.

While there were plenty of individuals that looked like normal human beings, there were a good handful of people that appeared far different from what he was used to. Off to his left, just behind one of the stalls, was a small green man with dark brown eyes and pointed ears, who couldn’t be taller than two or three feet, and Eric guessed he must have been perched on a stool. The man appeared even smaller due to the presence of the massive, eight-foot tall troll-looking creature just beside him, burly arms folded across his broad chest, leading the boy to wonder if he was some sort of bodyguard. His skin was gray and his face was covered by his black beard and a mane of long hair. Though, his red eyes were still visible, and when he turned and looked over at Eric, the boy quickly averted his gaze, not wanting to risk offending the creature.

I don’t think I’ll ever get used to being in Ijiria. Every time I think nothing can surprise me anymore, I’m shown just how wrong I am.

Instead, he turned his attention to the smell of the market. There were both familiar and foreign scents in the air, causing Eric’s stomach to grumble and reminding him that he had forgotten to eat breakfast before leaving. Had Sinna and Alucian not been there, he might have asked Ryokumo if they could stop to eat, but unfortunately, they had more important business to attend to.

After a few more minutes of pushing their way through the market, Sinna brought them to the doorstep of a two-story stone building and, based on the anvil-shaped sign hanging beside the door, Eric knew they had arrived. The Master of Rock didn’t bother to knock as she grabbed the door handle and swung it open before stalking inside with Alucian following obediently at her heels. Ryokumo gave Eric an encouraging pat on the back, then the two of them followed suit.

They entered into a small tavern which, due to the early hour, was relatively empty, save for one older man sitting in the back corner, quietly eating his breakfast, never once even sparing them a glance. Eric’s stomach only grumbled more at the smell of cooked meat and eggs, but he once again forced himself not to think about it.

“Good afternoon. How may I help you?”

A short, stout woman wearing a white apron and with her hair tied up in a bun appeared through a doorway in the back of the tavern, a warm smile on her face as she glanced between them.

“Good afternoon,” Sinna replied curtly. “We’re here to speak to Guild Master Varr. Is he here?”

The woman hesitated, then glanced at them all again, as if trying to determine who they were. “Er, well, he is, but he is quite busy at the moment. D-do you have an appointment or…?”

The Master of Rock snorted as she reached into the pocket of her jerkin. “I don’t need a damn appointment.”

She then produced a small silver coin with a snowy mountain peak engraved upon it—the symbol of rock magic. The woman’s eyes went wide and she appeared to immediately tense up as she beheld the item that identified Sinna as a Master. Ryokumo followed her lead, producing his own coin from his tunic and displaying it for the woman to see.

“I am Sinna Cartus, Master of Rock, and this is Ryokumo Caeli, the Master of Wind,” Sinna snapped. “We wish to speak to Gillian Varr so if you would be so kind as to take us to him, we would be grateful.”

“Y-yes, of course, Master,” the woman stuttered, backing away and clearly intimidated. “Right this way, please.”

Nearly tripping over her feet, the barkeep turned and ushered for them to follow her into a hallway in the back left corner of the tavern. This time, Sinna and Ryokumo took the lead, leaving Alucian to fall back and walk beside Eric, though neither of the two boys made eye contact with one another. They were led up a staircase in the back of the building and into another corridor. Banners lined the wall with the anvil and hammer that was the guild’s emblem. Between the banners were weapons of all different types, ranging from swords and axes to bows and spears, all displayed on shelves, their metal glittering in the sunlight that filtered through the windows. They stopped at the door at the end of the corridor and the barkeep hurriedly knocked.

“What is it? I thought I told you not to bother me?” came a gruff call from within.

“I’m sorry, Master Varr, but…well, two Masters from the Citadel have come to speak with you,” she called back.

There wasn’t an immediate response, though Eric thought he heard some movement inside, and he figured the guild master was rushing to make himself presentable. From the sound of it, he had been on a break.

“Uh, yes! Send them in,” he finally replied.

The woman opened the door then stepped aside as the four of them went through, giving Eric his first look at the blacksmith’s guild master. The first thing that caught Eric’s eye was the large burn mark down the side of his face, as well as the eyepatch he wore over the same side. He couldn’t be any older than forty or fifty, with a clean shaven face and an amber eye. The man was well dressed in a fancy suit that reminded Eric of Nigreos and Album’s typical attire, making it clear that he was quite wealthy. As the door shut behind them, he gave a bow and smiled broadly, though it was obvious to the boy that he was forcing it.

“My Masters,” he greeted. “I am Gillian Varr, Master of the Blacksmith’s Guild. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Ryokumo chuckled softly and eyed the man wryly. “Oh, I think you know why we are here, Master Varr. After all, from what I’ve heard, your guild has had a recent…problem with a handful of Children of Reiner, has it not?”

Gillian’s face twitched and his smile became even more strained. “Y-yes, well, we are dealing with that issue and I promise you it will not happen again. The Children caught us by surprise and it is clear that we need to increase our security to prevent any other incidents and I promise—”

“I do not care for your promises,” Sinna growled sharply. “And I’d really rather not be here longer than necessary, so all we wish to do is ask you a few questions regarding that particular shipment and then we can be on our way. From what I’ve been told, you haven’t been terribly cooperative with the soldiers we’ve already sent so I would warn you to do as we say if you don’t want things to get out of hand.”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Gillian cleared his throat nervously and glanced away from Sinna’s piercing glare. “W-well, you see, Master…?”

“Cartus,” she said.

“Y-yes, Master Cartus,” he muttered. “You see, the records of the blacksmiths guild are quite confidential. We don’t often allow those outside of the guild to see them. It is simply our tradition in order to prevent some of our…er, opponents in this market from gaining any sort of information that could be detrimental to the guild. So—”

“Well, you need not worry about that with us,” Ryokumo quickly interrupted. “We do not involve ourselves in market politics as long as everything taking place is legal. All we need is to know specifically what was in those shipments so that we can have a better idea of what the Children might have. You have my word that we will not be telling any of your competitors any of what we see.”

Gillian hesitated then glanced over at Eric and Alucian, as if sizing them up, before sighing and nodding.

“Just one moment, please,” he grumbled. “I shall be right back with our records.”

The guild master excused himself and stalked from the room, leaving the two Masters and their apprentices to wait. Neither of the other three spoke, so Eric decided to entertain himself by surveying the room. It was rather large, probably twice the size of the main room of his quarters up in the Citadel. A large window covered the southern wall, letting natural light illuminate the room. More banners with the guild house symbol hung behind Gillian’s desk and on the wall across from it was a giant map of Calkorai, with colored lines indicating what Eric guessed were various trade routes leading to all of the major cities. Iris had been making him memorize the Calkorai map so he was already pretty familiar with most of the cities, especially those in Ijiria. And as his eyes wandered down to one city in particular, he recalled a question he’d been meaning to ask Ryokumo for a while now.

Noctalus, he thought. It can’t be a coincidence, right?

Just as that particular city entered his thoughts, Gillian returned moments later, holding a leather-bound book under his arm.

“Here are the records,” he said. “Everything in that shipment should be in here, but from what I was told, there wasn’t anything left after the inferno stones destroyed the wagon so we can’t be sure what they took and what was left behind.”

“Well do not worry about it. That will be for us to figure out,” Sinna replied irritably as she swiped the book from his hands. “Thank you, Master Varr. That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

His lips tightened as he stiffly shook his head. “No… I’m sorry for the delay.”

“Then we’ll be off. Have a good day.”

As quickly as they arrived, they turned and departed the office before making their way back through the guild house and out onto Market Street. The road somehow seemed more crowded than just mere moments before so the four of them pulled up alongside the guild house wall and stopped.

“Well, that went well,” Ryokumo mused. “Reigious should pleased.”

Sinna nodded. “Yes, well, we shouldn’t have needed to be here in the first place. These market masters are far too pompous for my liking. They think money is power, but I’d be interested to see how well their precious coin defends them against my rock-infused fist.”

Ryokumo chuckled. “Yes, they can be a bit arrogant, but at the end of the day, if Varr were stupid then that visit would have been a tad longer…and a bit bloodier I would imagine. Let’s be thankful he knows when to give in.”

“Well, regardless, I’m glad to be done. Let’s get back to Citadel. Come, Alucian.”

“Actually,” Ryokumo interrupted as they were beginning to head off. “You go on without us. I promised Eric I’d show him his mother’s monument so we’re going to take a quick stop there before heading back. I’d invite you to come along, but…well, I know how you feel about people who visit it.”

Sinna narrowed her eyes and sneered at him before turning her irritated glare toward Eric. He wasn’t sure what to say and, under her probing eyes, he found himself quickly turning his gaze toward a random stone in the road.

“Very well,” she grunted. “I shall make the report then.”

Ryokumo smiled. “Much appreciated, Cartus.”

Eric finally felt some of the tension easing up as Sinna and the ever silent Alucian departed back toward the Citadel. Both of them set him on edge so he was grateful to be alone with Ryokumo. He wondered if he could finally ask to stop and get some food, but his master was already turning and heading in the opposite direction of Sinna.

“Come along, Eric,” he said. “We shouldn’t be long.”

The boy hurried up to walk alongside him and frowned, realizing that something was off. “I-isn’t my mother’s monument on the western side of the city. Why are we heading south?”

The Master of Wind grinned then shrugged. “I see you’re learning about Erika. Good for you, boy. However, I might have told Master Cartus a little white lie. You see, we’re actually heading somewhere else…somewhere she might not have approved of me taking you.”

Eric cocked an eyebrow, glancing back in fear that Sinna might come back, before responding in a hushed voice. “Then…where are we going?”

“Yesterday, you asked me to prove to you that I am your ally,” he responded softly. “And while I have revealed to you my motive for helping you deal with Album, I still have not proved my trustworthiness with action. I intend to do that now, so if you come with me, you’ll see what I mean.”

Prove to me…with action? What the hell is he going to do? And if he doesn’t want Sinna knowing, then it must be something illegal.

However, knowing that he needed to trust Ryokumo Caeli to get what he wanted, Eric decided to bite his tongue and go with him, his concerns be damned. Ryokumo led him further through the market before taking him down a side street that sent them back into neighborhoods, though the houses here looked more affordable, with some even reminding him of the houses in his own neighborhood. Yet, the further they went, the dirtier things seemed to get, and within ten minutes, he knew they had entered the slums of Erika. There was a pungent odor in the air and many of the buildings around them looked run down or deserted altogether. As they passed by a group of men huddled around a makeshift fire, part of Eric wondered if they should put up a distortion spell for fear of being recognized, but he supposed that if Ryokumo hadn’t done so already then there was no reason to.

The boy swallowed nervously and, wanting to take his mind off his worries, he decided to ask a question that had come to mind back in Gillian’s office.

“Ryokumo,” he began, “could you tell me a bit about the city Noctalus?”

The Master of Wind laughed then glanced down at him with another grin. “Ah, Noctalus. I was wondering when that particular topic would come up. Sure, ask away, boy.”

“W-well, I don’t imagine its name is a coincidence, right?” he said. “Is Nocta derived from Noctis and Lus from Luz? Does that city…relate to Nigreos and Album in some way?”

“It does,” Ryokumo answered. “In fact, it’s where their families are from and it was where they were born and raised before coming to Erika.”

Eric frowned. “Their families? What are their families like?”

“Well, let’s just say they were once quite powerful and influential,” he responded. “Noctalus is the ancient home of the Noctis family, and in recent centuries, the Luz also gained some control over it, bringing the two clans together under the one city. Ever since its creation, a Noctis has ruled over Noctalus, and even now, distant cousins of Nigreos and Album are in charge of it.

“Distant cousins? W-why?” Eric inquired. “Do Nigreos and Album not have any siblings or…what about their parents?”

Ryokumo shook his head, a distant look coming over him. “Nigreos was an only child, and while Album had an older brother, he is now dead, as are their parents. Nigreos and Album are the only living members of their families, and they denounced their claim over the city when they became Masters, though not because they were forced to. They simply didn’t want it.”

Their families are dead? I guess I never really thought about what their pasts might have been like…

“I’ve actually been to Noctalus,” Ryokumo went on. “It’s a beautiful place, especially in the summer, though I have not been for a few years. I’d offer to take you sometime but…I do not think you are long for Ijiria…at least, not if all goes well.”

Eric exhaled softly, finding himself wondering more about Nigreos and Album’s history. He only ever saw them as the scum who took his life away, but at the end of the day, they were still human beings like him and they had experiences of their own that created the monsters they became.

“Anyway, enough about that,” the man said. “We are here.”

They came to a stop in front of a two story building that looked no different from those around it. The door was hanging off its hinges and the windows were shattered. The roof had caved in and the walls were charred black, indicating that the building must have been burned down at some point.

“Where are we?” he asked.

“Your mother’s orphanage.”

With that sudden response, Ryokumo stalked inside, leaving Eric standing there gaping at him.

Her orphanage? This is where she raised the Children of Reiner?

He hurriedly followed after him and went into the front room, only to find that it was just as rundown and destroyed as the exterior. Everything of value had either been lost in the fire or looted so the room was barren and empty. Yet, knowing that his mother called this place a home made him glad to see it, even knowing that it was now in the past. In a way, the Children of Reiner were his siblings. They called his mother “Mom” just like he did, and they fought Ijiria in her name. He knew very little about them, but knowing his mother raised them was enough to tell him that they were good people.

“You know, Abi often told me that she bought this place to atone for her failure to care for you,” Ryokumo said as he stared up at the rafters of what was once a ceiling. “She said she couldn’t be a proper mother for you, so she would instead be a mother for those who needed her here…and one day, she wanted to return home to you. Part of me wonders if she intended to take these children with her…but I suppose there’s no way to know now.”

“Y-yeah…I guess,” he murmured, feeling emotions welling up inside of him that he quickly tried to repress. He didn’t want to cry in front of Ryokumo. “Those Children… my mother wasn’t gone that long before she died so…how long did she care for them?”

Ryokumo thought for a moment. “Four years, give or take. It wasn’t that long, so it’s a testament to your mother’s character that they loved her as much as they did. Many of them came to her as teenagers though there were plenty of small children as well.”

“Do you know where those small children are?” Eric wondered. “Are they safe or did Ijiria…?”

The Master of Wind shook his head. “Do not worry, Eric. Reigious and Piura would have never authorized the execution of little kids. They were smuggled out by the Children who didn’t attack the Citadel…or as far as we know, at least.”

He felt some relief knowing that the younger ones were most likely already beyond the borders of Erika and perhaps even out of the Ijirian country completely, and he hoped the ones still in the city managed to escape.

“Perhaps we could ask them,” Ryokumo suggested.

Eric frowned. “Ask…them?”

“Yes, ask the Children if the little ones escaped. What do you think, Hannah? Feel free to undistort and tell me. The boy is trustworthy. So, has Kirisan ever told you what became of them?”

The boy stared at him in utter confusion, but when Ryokumo slowly turned around and eyed an empty corner of the room, he realized that his master wasn’t speaking to him.

“Should have known I couldn’t hide from you, Master.”

The distortion spell fell, revealing a young woman in her early twenties standing where Ryokumo was gazing. She wore a cloak with the hood pulled over her head, but Eric could clearly see her yellow eyes and her smile that had a similar level of mischief as Ryokumo’s often did. Had the Master of Wind not been grinning back at her, he might have worried that they were under attack.

“Oh please, don’t act like you were trying,” he retorted. “You and I both know that you wanted me to know you were here.”

She laughed softly. “Perhaps.”

With that, the woman named Hannah rushed toward them and threw her arms around Ryokumo, pulling him into a tight hug. Eric soon realized that he recognized the name, knowing her to be his former apprentice, the one who went rogue after killing the Master of the Mind and fleeing the Citadel with the Children. When they broke off the hug, Hannah was still smiling, but she quickly stepped back before regarding Eric with a cocked eyebrow.

“So who is this?” she asked.

“Oh, this is my apprentice, Eric,” he introduced. “Eric, this is my criminal apprentice, Hannah Lynn.”

The boy hesitated, not knowing how to react to the girl, before finally deciding to force an awkward smile of his own. “Uh, nice to meet you, Miss Lynn.”

Hannah regarded him for a moment before turning a sly grin toward her former master. “Wow, it’s only been two months and you’ve already replaced me? I’m slightly offended.”

“Well, actually, he came into my tutelage hardly a week after you left,” he teased back. “Truly, I was actually quite lucky that I got a new apprentice so easily. And he’s just as much a treacherous bastard as you are.”

Eric was stunned by how blunt the man was acting as Ryokumo gave him another pat on the back, all the while Hannah continued to stare at him, as if trying to figure out just who he was and why Ryokumo trusted him so much.

“Anyway, Hannah, I was hoping you’d sense me,” he went on. “And I was wondering if you could do me a favor.”

The girl furrowed her brow in thought. “W-well, I’ll do anything for you, Master, but is it really okay for you to be here? If you get caught with me, they’re going to kill you for certain.”

“Then I won’t get caught,” he said simply.

She seemed exasperated as she looked back over her shoulder and through the orphanage’s door. “Gosh, what am I going to do with you? Very well, what do you need?”

Ryokumo chuckled. “Nothing too troublesome. I would just like you to take us to see Arisa Kirisan and her siblings. I have somebody they might like to meet.”