Silas shook his head and the blue text disappeared, ignoring the stunned look on Bell Guy’s face and quickly barricading the tavern's doors and windows. Maybe forming a party was a good idea but quite frankly he had no idea what this man’s deal was and he didn’t exactly want to share any information either.
In fact, for all intents and purposes, Silas still considered him a threat. He saved his life, yes, but most Wayfinders were definitely above his capacity to deal with. He was nowhere near catching up with the benefits they likely received in their first mission.
“The name is Hector, by the way.” Bell Guy coughed out, slowly pushing himself to his feet and dusting himself off. His face was a little pale but his eyes were bright. “Didn’t you escape the Market District already? How come you’re back?”
Turning slightly, Silas finally got a good look at the other Wayfinder. Short black hair, sharp features and blue eyes with a bit of a crooked nose. His frame was rather skinny, even more so than Silas’ own. Some fear energy came from the man, lower in quantity but higher in quality.
“I was being chased by a Green-Eyed mutant. How come you never left?”
“Well I can’t exactly leave my group behind can I? A bunch of us are still here.” Hector pulled out an apple from god knows where and slumped into one of the more comfortable seats. “Wayfinders leading as many as they can to safety or survival. Most of us have just been waiting it out.”
“You’ve been talking to other Wayfinders?”
Hector tilted his head at Silas strangely and the Gunsmith had to resist the urge to strangle him. The man did know nothing about this was normal, right? Yet after a few minutes of conversation, Silas realised where the problem lay.
It was in fact normal. So normal that it even answered one of his earlier questions- how come the Lotus told him of an approaching Wayfinder this time, while it didn’t warn him about Arthur? The Prophet had basically no knowledge of him before their meeting.
The Ascension Lotus had many properties, forms and uses- parties and communication being one of the only ones that can be used outside of the Lotus Space. Once a day, you can turn off or on the search function; leading you to other Wayfinders. At the same time, it broadcasts your location to all nearby Wayfinders.
Silas felt like he understood why this worked the way he did but he wasn’t sure. That and with the mention of Goodwill earlier, Silas felt like the Lotus wasn’t trying to promote anything but camaraderie, taking steps to avoid Wayfinders hunting each other down. It still seemed to understand the potential need for hostility though, as if the search function was off, your target would get no warning at all.
One of the other Wayfinders discovered this upon asking the Lotus if it could find other Wayfinders and eventually their small group expanded from there. He met up with all the different Wayfinders that were keen on meeting him and they all decided on a regular daily meeting spot.
“All of you can traverse the city safely?”
“For the most part.” Hector nodded as he tossed the apple core back and forth in his hands, his eyes wandering around the empty tavern. “None of us are equivalent to Physique Establishment yet but most of us are up there.”
“Up there?”
“As in, equivalent to a Seven Gates, give or take a Gate.”
“So none of you are Empyreans then?”
“Nope. Chimekeeper myself. Sound magic! What’s a uh, Green Eyed mutant, by the way?” Hector leaned forward and Silas quickly recounted his experience with the mutated Sergeant and the attack on the Lower City. The frown on the other Wayfinder’s face was expected to say the least.
After the mood turned somber, Silas took the chance to go through the place’s pantry and loot all that he could. He didn’t know if he’d be staying here long, so everything that would last a while got shoved in the food sack and the rest got brought out to the bar.
Hector, apparently, was the only Wayfinder in their group that couldn’t leave as he wanted. It made sense to him, considering that Silas was able to hear whenever Hector fought from miles away. He had activated the search function in desperate need for help after he ran away to distract a horde from his group's hiding spot.
Instead, one of the other Wayfinders would just stop by to relay all the discussions from the meeting that day. Silas was rather impressed by the structure of it all, considering it had only been a few days.
“Are you hiding your aura or something? You saved my life and all but you’re kinda.. Weak. No offense.”
“Stronger than you.”
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“Physically, maybe. Are you focusing on the Empyrean Pathway? You must have gotten unlucky with your first mission, right?”
“You could say that.” Silas looked down at his shoulder and the purple black hawk tattoo hidden beneath his coat and bandages. Even after a chunk was ripped from his shoulder, the tattoo had always seemed unbothered. “Did everyone get the same mission?”
“To an extent. Pretty much all of us had a month to just learn a Pathway and then return.” Hector yawned and Silas nodded. In his mission, he replaced a student and was meant to learn from Erebus. Why was Erebus teaching a class of novices as such a powerful entity? And what exactly was the purpose behind leaving this tattoo?
Not to mention the Lotus Tattoo and all his new scars..
The conversation slowly changed from the logistics of the various Wayfinders in their small impromptu group to the actual survivors in their charge. The smallest group was only seven people while the largest was over two hundred, amounting to a total of nearly 1600 people in total split between some fifteen Wayfinders.
A lot of these groups included guardsmen that had been patrolling when the Darktide fell who escorted as many people as possible to what they thought was safe zones. Hector’s group was in a house with a cellar while the larger groups were spread out amongst the warehouses.
Some of these warehouses were at the port where the Airships landed and where all the trade was stored, providing them with enough supplies to last a rather long time. The other warehouses were all in the depths of Ironsides underground, meant for storing goods and equipment. While both had good defenses, the mining warehouses had to send their Wayfinder out regularly to keep scavenging food.
The biggest group of survivors was actually located in the Deium Refinery that powered the city, keeping it going even now with many of the original workers. Even now they were refining the oil and feeding it to the city’s power station. Silas thanked him inwardly for the hot water he used the last couple days.
“Well, what’s the plan?”
“I’ll drop you off at your group and then I’ll head to the Refinery” Silas decided. He was limited in growth by never leaving the Villa and not absorbing as much fear energy as possible. He had no idea where to get more Catalysts now, so that was his only avenue of improvement.
The synergy between the Nightweaver Path and his Innate Talent had already expedited his growth, yesterday’s events had given him so much fear energy that he’d been forced to use his talent constantly. A couple days in another populated place and the Seed would probably Mature. After that, all that was left was for it to Crack.
Hector seemed excited to have the help, running up to him and giving the Gunsmith a big hug that Silas could only return wryly. The slight bit of resentment vanished as Silas realised the past was just a misunderstanding.
[23 Wayfinders remaining in Ironside]
Silas watched as the other man’s face suddenly paled and Silas felt some pity for him. Counting himself and Arthur, that left only 21 other Wayfinders. It was likely that the deaths were part of their 15, which meant the deaths of a lot of people. With a slight shake, Silas mourned the loss of life and then breathed deeply.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if some of those hideouts had been discovered long ago. They were saving their forces to attack the Lower City. Now that they have, success or not, they’re getting rid of the hidden groups in the Market District.”
He knew of the intelligent mutant but the other Wayfinders hadn’t. It was safe to say only the guardsmen in the Lower City knew, and probably just the Sergeants and above. Even the Green Eyed mutant seemed to have some semblance of intelligence, even if it just meant commanding others and tossing rocks.
If that mutant is already so intelligent as to bide its time and wait, Silas was sincerely worried about the longevity of the other groups. Only the Warehouses were reasonably safe now. The cellar groups likely had to take the risk and meet up with the others. With the fog around though, how many people could they support? Do any of their Pathways allow them to resist the fog?
What does the fog actually do? Silas hadn’t seen it himself and every time he’d been out with others, they had been protected by blood energy. Was it just the corruption? Ignoring the headache that was these questions and likely answers, Silas packed up his gear and got ready to go.
He got Hector to pack all the perishable foods he brought out so that the Chimekeeper could carry them himself. As Silas was the only one who could fight silently, he was expected to be at the front yet again. Even so, Silas wasn’t confident in his hand to hand skills like that. He’s relied on the advantage of firearms for most of his battles.
Nervously gripping his knife, Silas led the two out into the silent streets and followed Hector’s directions towards his safehouse. The soft orange glow struggled to shed light on the foggy streets beneath the false sky. The thought crossed his mind that Hector could, instead, be leading him into a trap.
But why?
Nothing he had was of value for Wayfinders likely way stronger than him. Why wouldn’t he risk it then? Hector saved the lives of everyone from the Orphanage once and Silas felt like he should honour that trust, even if it comes back to bite him.
They moved slowly throughout the depths of Ironside for twenty minutes and made sure to take in every detail they could. No signs of hordes or enemies nearby. Silas could sense Hector’s fear slowly rising as they got closer to the destination, chalking it up to worry. There was a good chance the man knew people from his group. He understood how it felt.
Walking into the Orphanage and seeing the bodies was one of the hardest moments of his life. He wouldn’t downplay a similar experience. He sped up as fast as he could without risking their safety, doing his best to get them there faster for Hector. Roughly twenty minutes had passed when they finally reached a large, downtrodden townhouse.
The windows were all boarded up and nailed shut from the inside, only small narrow slits left open to see through that shed a slight light. When they arrived, Hector sped past him with hurried steps and approached the door with some relief seeing the defences intact.
He knocked on the door twice and then whispered a few words.
Seconds later, Silas watched the door open wide and an older lady appear with a bright expression and a gentle smile. She talked with Hector for a few moments and then finally noticed Silas standing behind him. With a small curtsy, she invited them both inside the safehouse. Hector grinned and with a slight turn of his head, beckoned him to follow.
“Come meet the family!”