It was hard to not feel any regret or sorrow whenever he saw someone hurting out on the streets. Down every corner or nearby building, there was someone injured or laying out dead from the earlier destruction when the central pillar unleashed its fury upon the city.
Plenty of fires still raged all over. The air was thick with the scent of smoke and burnt flesh. He thought as time went on, he might end up becoming somewhat tolerant of it.
The city guard marched ahead of them with their blue cloaks trailing behind them. One of them carried a spear and pointed towards the south with their finger up into the air as they approached a dirtied and afraid group of people. “Begin fleeing to the Liall Sorcerer’s University. You do not have long so go now!”
Abigail began to click her tongue as they walked by the group preparing to head there by the city guard’s suggestion. “I’ve never really been all that fond of humans compared to some of the other familiars in the coalition,” Abigail said walking beside him. “But even I admit, that I feel bad for your kind. This place was a sanctuary for you and now it has been taken. Such a pity.”
“Humans aren’t the only victims you know,” Kiran said.
“Sure, but we familiars are so few here. For every familiar in this city, there are at least a hundred or more of you. Still, what’s been done to Liall is truly a tragedy.”
“All thanks to that bastard,” Silvy replied from a few feet behind them.
He just so happened to catch Abigail scowling for a brief moment before quickly reverting back to her normal plain expression she held before.
“Something the matter?” he asked.
“You really thought it was a good idea to bring her of all people along with us?”
“Why, what’s the matter? Have you seen that flaming sword of hers? It’ll be quite useful and her armor is designed to counter sorcery making her a perfect candidate to especially help us apprehend or eliminate Noreko.”
“Are you dumb or something?” Abigail sighed as they kept walking through the street filled with fire and dead bodies. “I swear, how did you end up recruited into the coalition being as dim as you are? I don’t care how well-equipped she is for this. She’s one of the green cloaks for crying out loud.”
“Former green cloak to be exact,” Silvy stated firmly. “If you’re thinking I’m going to betray you after betraying the queen herself and forsaking my oath, then I don’t know what I could possibly do to convince you that I’m on your side.”
“That’s right,” he said. “You think she would betray us now? It’s not like she’s Noreko.”
Abigail looked about ready to punch him in the face. “I would’ve rather you bring that annoying girl of yours along with us than her of all people.”
“What annoying girl?”
She ran her hand down her face. “I’m done with you.”
“Come on, I really don’t—”
Silvy punched him on the back of his right shoulder. And frankly, it kind of hurt a lot. Who does she think she is punching me like that? I’m just trying to lift up our spirits in this nightmare we’re now living through.
“You know what,” Abigail said with a tiny sliver of a smile, “I think I change my mind. I think I might actually like you after all Silvy.”
When they neared the more central parts of Liall, it became clear to what extent the damage from the central pillar had done to this part of the city. Entire buildings had been completely destroyed. Debris covered everything. Big pieces of the pillar left big wide craters in the ground.
He didn’t even want to think about the total amount of people killed within this particular area. It had to of been in the thousands alone. How many lives had been going about their business only to have ended in a near instant?
Too many to count.
As far as he was concerned, they had no choice but to apprehend Noreko. Someone like him had to be caught and or killed for carrying out this act.
They met with one of Abigail’s many agents within her faction of the coalition in a less destroyed area. They kept a black hood over their head and kept their hands in their pockets along one street corner with a bent aura-infused street lamp still somehow operating.
The informant gestured towards Abigail. “He was last seen entering the graveyard a few blocks north of here. Can’t tell ya where exactly he’s at, but he’s in there somewhere.”
“Has he been seen leaving?” Abigail asked.
“Nay. We would’ve seen him if he had.”
“Good. It looks like we’ve got ourselves a sorcerer to gut tonight.” Despite being a small woman, Abigail was not someone to mess with. She began to grin and eyed both Kiran and Silvy. “Let’s go have ourselves a nice ol’ hunt, shall we?”
When they reached the graveyard, the front iron gates were open. Snow covered the ground along with the tops of many graves. Although it had been snowing for quite a bit, footprints hadn’t been fully covered up yet along the path leading further in.
“Be prepared and be careful,” Abigail said.
Kiran began summoning a sword. While they walked along a path with footprints in the snow, the sword managed to fully manifest into reality. He tightened his grip and kept watchful of every possible place Noreko could be hiding behind.
If Noreko wanted to do some kind of sneak attack, there were plenty of opportunities. Behind every gravestone, he may just be behind it. So far, however, he hadn’t appeared. The footsteps just kept running through the graveyard with fresher imprints the further in they went.
Snow continued to fall and gather upon his shoulders. Abigail stopped forcing them to pause their approach.
“What is it?” he asked looking all around.
“I think I hear something.”
He tried to listen in. In the darkness of the graveyard, there was little sound to be heard other than the slight clinks coming from Silvy grasping onto her sword with a gauntleted hand.
They began walking again only to stop as the footsteps ended near a crypt. The tall entryway leading into it was left open the same way the entry to the graveyard had been.
Abigail began to mutter the words of a foreign tongue under her breath. Her pupils enlarged and the irises turned into an aquamarine color from her usual deep blue colored eyes.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“What spell is that supposed to be?”
“I just cast two spells actually. One will let me see better in the dark and the other one will let me see if he put up any hidden traps that we normally wouldn’t be able to see.” The latter spell reminded him of the one Noreko had used when they were wandering through the chambers beneath the city.
Abigail led the way since she could best make out any possible traps and see in the dark better than them. They went down the steps leading further into the crypt. They entered a rectangular chamber with three halls. There was one directly ahead and one to the left and one to the right. “See any traps lain for us?”
“Not yet,” she said. “This spell will almost always correctly identify any arcane traps if there are any.”
“Almost all?”
“Someone like Noreko might know certain arcane traps that the spell cannot identify.”
That didn’t exactly bode well for them. He certainly felt as if they were being led into a trap of some sort by the sorcerer if he was truly down here as they suspected.
The depths of the crypt opened up into another lengthy chamber. He could hardly see. There were just a few candles lit to keep himself from bumping into wall after wall after wall. He just had to follow Abigail’s footsteps and he’d be fine he figured.
However, they all stopped as a terrifying scream erupted out from far away.
“We must hurry,” Abigail said.
They began to sprint ahead. Flames roared from behind. Silvy had undoubtedly set her sword aflame which helped in their rush to find the one who had screamed. He could begin to see properly due to the flames coming off her sword.
More screams echoed into their ears. The closer they got to the source, the more loud and intense they became.
Within a room with indentions alongside all four walls, candles ran along them lighting the dwelling quite well. It helped to illuminate the figure standing before a stone slab with a spread-out body tied up to it. As they approached, the figure’s hand motioned behind their back. They contorted their fingers and a reddish barrier cut them off from going beyond the middle of this place.
They pulled their hand that cast the barrier to block their approach back to their side. Due to Noreko’s position, he hid the majority of the figure tied up on the stone slab who began bellowing out loud and terrifying screams.
“Noreko!” Abigail yelled.
He shushed her. “Please, my dear Abigail, be quiet. I am busy here if you couldn’t already tell.” He motioned their hands doing something to the face of the figure on the slab and the screams only intensified as they did their work. Abigail slammed her fist against the red barrier that rippled and warped a bit. Maybe we really should’ve brought Juna after all since she knows how to break these kinds of warded barriers.
“What do you think you are doing you monster?” Silvy struck the barrier with her flaming sword finding herself unable to penetrate it. Bits of flames exploded off the barrier and hit the ground. They quickly faded out and the armored flame-bearing former knight lowered their sword realizing that they too weren’t going to get through it.
Noreko opened up a brown leather bag that was strapped diagonally over their robed shoulder. They stuffed something inside of it and then closed the bag. Then without any hesitation, they plunged a small blade into the heart of the figure.
No further screams came from them as they remained there dead on the slab. Noreko turned and began to approach them still managing to obscure the now-dead person that they killed.
“Explain yourself,” Abigail said the moment Noreko stood right in front of them behind the red barrier.
“My dear Abigail. I’ve never quite liked the way those lips of yours are only capable of screeching. Have you ever thought to lower the tone of your voice so that people would be more willing to listen to you?”
She sent her red-bladed short sword towards his face. The tip hit the barrier and even managed to penetrate through it just a little. Unfortunately, the red blade shattered and the hilt flew out of her hands slamming harshly along the crypt’s floor.
“Yes, allow that oh-so-familiar anger of yours to control you. I need merely say the right slew of words,” he snapped his finger, “and you’ll do all the dancing I so very much desire.” He turned his gaze towards Kiran. “As for you, do you not have anything to say to me? You appear far more calm and capable of carrying on a conversation unlike the two of them.”
“I don’t have much to say to you.” Kiran kept looking at him directly in the eyes. If I could, I’d drive this sword right through you. Though they looked like Noreko, it almost felt like standing near a different person. It sickened him beyond belief. They had helped heal him and even helped him gain some of his memories back. To think that they were nothing more than a monster this entire time. It infuriated him.
A part of him didn’t even want to believe any of it despite having clearly witnessed them murder someone in front of their eyes just a moment ago. There was certainly no denying at this point, that he had intentionally destroyed the pillars. Just the look alone in his eyes revealed that to him. This person—if they could even be considered one—had no remorse, no morals, and certainly no appetite for what was good. How was I so blind to this side of him?
Noreko broke eye contact and began to stroke his trimmed beard. “Well then, I see no reason why we need to continue this unfortunate encounter. I must admit however that you’ve all done well to find me. I should’ve known better than to underestimate the coalition’s ability to locate someone. Alas despite finding me, you will not be killing me now or ever. And I doubt we’ll even see each other again. So farewell my love and farewell to you, especially, Kiran.”
Without delay, the sorcerer began to head towards another hallway they had access to towards the left. The reddish barrier disappeared as a new one went up to block the hall they entered. They had gained full access to the chamber but he prevented them from ever thinking to follow him out down the path he motioned through.
Abigail grimaced with all her being. “That bastard!”
“Can we not get through this new barrier?”
“Not in a million years. This is a tier-one warded barrier. Unless he relinquishes the spell holding it up, there’s no getting through.”
“Couldn’t we destroy the walls around it and move through a new opening?” Silvy asked.
“Maybe if we had the tools or abilities to. But no, there’s nothing we can do to catch up to him through this route in any reasonable time.”
Kiran had kept listening to their conversation while he went to observe the dead figure on the slab. The sorcerer had pierced their heart and had cut the entirety of their front face off exposing the red bloody flesh beneath. They had made careful cuts along the sides and peeled it off with precision. The blood still seeped out of their ruined face as they lay there dead.
Silvy came to stand by him and appear utterly grossed out noticing this poor man’s face being cut away. “What would lead him to do this to this man?”
“The kind that will ensure he’s well hidden,” Abigail stated firmly. “I’ve learned a lot about Noreko in such a short period. He sure kept a lot of himself hidden from us. I knew he was a powerful sorcerer, but it seems clear now that he’s been hiding the fact that he was even more powerful than what he wanted us to believe.” She stepped between him and Silvy observing the slain man on the slab. “I don’t believe any of us got a look at this person’s face, now did we?”
They shook their heads.
“That’s what I thought.” Abigail stepped away desiring no longer to look at the gruesome dead body. “With their face, he’ll cast a spell to appear as them. Or so I believe that’s the purpose of this gruesome act. Finding him from now on will prove problematic.”
The thought that Noreko would appear as another person frustrated him. It meant in the future, he could effectively hide in any crowd and there was nothing they could do to counter that as far as he was aware.
“Come on. Let’s get out of here and try to see if he reappears from someplace else in the graveyard.”
“You think we have any chance?” Silvy asked.
“No, but it’s better than doing nothing.”
They left the crypt the same way they had entered it. All three of them spread out in the graveyard to try to hopefully find them fleeing from another exit. Unfortunately, they never did. And worse yet, they couldn’t just wait around all night with the hopes of spotting them.
As they expected, Noreko never did reappear. Abigail’s agents also never saw them leaving the graveyard. They had little other choice than to leave knowing that he would still be out there in the world to do as they saw fit.
Kiran still wondered why the sorcerer was acting in this evil manner. What were the motivations that would lead someone to plunge an entire city full of people to their deaths? He tried to seek the logic behind the reasoning to take such actions. He only ever ended up with nothing.
Perhaps that inability to understand their evil motivations was a good thing. He knew not. He only knew he would do the opposite whenever given the chance.