It was hard to hear the quiet ringing, as the detector was laying at the bottom of the drawer, but Loar has wakened up at the first sound of it. Someone less experienced in the ways of the mind could have wondered if it was reality or part of a dream. Loar only checked which markers were activated. Only two. The fourth and the seventh. It was probably more in reality, but the alchemical activator had a few minutes of delay, before it sent the signal, and half of the time it would just fail to work. All in all, it was probably the worst security system in its price range. This investment was the most annoying thing he experienced in his fifty years of life. Even his closest friends tried to persuade him to stop wasting money. He had already replaced many detectors, as they had a tendency to activate during storm, which was the only downside that actually mattered to Loar. Today he didn’t expect any rain, left alone a storm, and two signals could mean only that there actually was an intruder. Intruders identity was still in question, but the lack of any normal alarm meant it was no ordinary thief.

It was at least five minutes since the enemy has entered their territory, and it was probably more, but just in case Loar took his time hiding the secret passage to his hideout, and covered carefully the manikin laying in his bed, and turning on the trap inside it.

Good. Now it was time to avenge his brother.

***

Alta took the strange amulets from the novice’s wrists, and hidden them inside her pocket. Paralyze or not, she was not letting him keep a weapon while he was laying just next to them.

The small commotion still didn’t reach the statue, but the monks were still quite close to them. Alta didn’t dare to whisper, and resorted to gestures.

You. Hide. Go. Hide-Go.

Nix seemed to understand what she wanted him to do, but not the logic behind her idea.

“I. Will. Distract. Them.” She said almost soundlessly.

Not he seemed even more reluctant. Alta didn’t like how he was making her the boss, only when it wasn’t convenient for her, and when she finally come up with a plan, he acted like she was mad.

She just pointed at a small window above the statue. Then at herself, and nodded. Then at him, and shook her head.

You. Will. Not. Fit.

He still didn’t look convinced, but the expression on her face stopped him from fighting.

Gesticulation just become too complicated, so she just resorted to showing him to wait. She took back the Spell-breaker and proceeded to search for the proper node in the ward system. Thankfully it didn’t take her long, as has seen this spot few times already, but the voices had gotten uncomfortably close in the meantime. She placed the blade next to the node, and shown Nix to go. Her friend blended into shadows, as he didn’t have to cover two people anymore, the effect was visibly better. Or rather invisibly.

She was squatting behind the monument, hidden by golden rose bush, with roses looking more like snakes than flowers. It was actually so detailed, that she could see part of the entrance, if she positioned herself by the appropriate clearance. Seven… Or maybe even nine, monks have been already been near. They didn’t seem to hurry, but there was no doubt that it would soon change. Have there been some additional security measures that Alta have missed? Or maybe there was supposed to be held some kind of ceremony or ritual? Whatever the reason, seeing an unconscious body of some novice, would definitely put them at high alert.

She didn’t have to wait for a good moment, as she was pretty certain that the monks were already close enough. Alta was actually petrified, by the idea that one move would be enough to let all hells go lose. All the confidence she had while telling Nix to go, was now gone, and even when she made herself push the blade, the enchanted dagger didn’t cut deep enough. As soon as she realized that, she entered panic mode, and stabbed the same place three times. That seemed to do the job, as the warding system has suddenly filled with mana. Well, not whole. Alta has disabled few strategic nodes, giving herself some safe start for her escape.

In one movement she pulled her tools out of the roses, and jumped to grab the decorative part of the statue, she could safely climb on. The ripping sound hurt her a little, but even the artifact wasn’t important now. Only thing that mattered now was getting out alive. She took a quick glance at the snake-roses to see if they were trying to reach her, but to her relief they were not long enough, and anything closer to her was disabled. That was when the not-so-paralyzed novice has grabbed her ankle, and pulled her down.

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***

Main temple’s rooftop hard to get on, and after stepping on it Loar has probably woken up anyone that could be still slipping. He did not care. The rain of arrows he has sent there, just a moment before, didn’t create the sound it should.

Something was missing.

All but one of the detection spells have failed to show any result. If he could only cast another divine ritual, he would be already spilling blood, but the gods have restricted the powers they lend to humanity, and even the Eternal King had to obey them. Waiting such a power at the very beginning of the search was foolish of Loar, but to expect that the intruder could resist even the Eye of Seekers, would be also foolish. Loar knew who the intruder was, and that man was not powerful enough to do something like this. The explanation could be a deciding hint concerning his real identity. Loar has already suspected his enemy’s origin, but just because an answer fits well does not mean it is true. There was small probability that some divine artifact could counter the Eye of Seekers, but he was quite sure that a divine spell could tell him about it. Whatever the care might be, the intruder was close, and Loar didn’t have to know his exact location.

“Shadow Razors,” he called the accumulated mana, that was just waiting to cut into something.

The spell formed into wild surge of hundreds paper-thin blades flying in chaotic patterns. It didn’t take long before an unobtrusive presence have revealed itself just a few meters away. The masked man didn’t look like he was hurt. His scale armor looked like it just left The hands of a blacksmith Who even took his time to decorate it with faint green paint. Yet his posture was showing something completely different. Loar could smell The pain caused by his spell but couldn't understand its source. Shouting more Shadow-blades just shown how hard The armor was. Whatever kept The man hidden must have also made him vulnerable. It could be good if Loar could trick him into thinking he could hide again. Doing so would be hard but if he…

The man has vanished once again. This time Loar has immediately shot the shadow-blades flying. Just to see all of them fly thru the air without any resistance. The old monk has felt some magic starting to work around him, and had to cast the same spiral of shadows as earlier. The intruder managed to protect himself this time, but thankfully the spell didn’t seem to do anything. It just made him angry.

As he was trying to cast a stronger spell to piece that stupid armor, the man who killed his brother vanished again. When Loar felt that magic tinkering again, he just summoned his sword, and jumped at the general direction he suspected the murderer to be. He called upon the forces within the blade to ignite it, but he did it too hastily, and couldn’t grasp the delicate formula. Before he could make another try, an invisible fist punched him in the stomach, sending him at the edge of the rooftop, where he hung on two crossbow bolts, that impaled his robes, missing his body only by a finger length.

“I think that we can talk now,” the murderer said.

Loar couldn’t even insult the man, as he was so angry he could only scream in rage. Somewhere at the border of his mind he actually knew that all of this was effect of whatever magic was working on him. Resisting mental manipulation like this was something even a novice could do, but the last thing he wanted to do was to stop hating this man.

“It seems that I finally have your attention,” he said when Loar stopped screaming incoherently. “Good, let’s talk about the journals. You know what I’m talking about, right?

Loar had no idea what reaction did that man expect. Even if he could talk, he would never help him. Not to save his life. And definitely not because he was asked nicely.

All that aside, the problem seemed to solve itself, when the man seen Loar’s smile.

It’s not here, he wanted to say. You wasted your time, and soon you will die for nothing.

***

Her bloodied hand held the last of the protruding element of the statue. Alta had to jump only half a meter to catch the window frame, but she didn’t trust her aching ankle. If she failed and somehow survived the fall, the monks would finally notice her. Originally she hoped they would just assume a system malfunction, and just send for someone who could fix it. Either they had a lot of trust in whoever made this, or the dead body somehow made them suspicious. She tried her best not to look down at the novice she stabbed, when he tried to stop her. She was afraid of heights. And blood.

And killing people.

As long as the rose-sneaks were hostile, she was safe up there, but while going through the window someone could shoot an arrow thru her chest, as she would no longer be covered by the statue. She will have to act fast. Feeling her fingers slowly loosing grip, she propelled herself with all her strength. The adrenaline softened her pain, and made her reaction just fast enough to grab the edge of the window frame. She was never so relieved in her life, as when she seen that it could just open it, and didn't have to break the glass. It almost didn’t make any sound, but to her it was definitely too loud. Crawling outside she grabbed the Spell-breaker with intention of driving it into the wall. She didn’t even care if she would damage it, all she wanted was something to help her get on the roof.

“I thought I made myself clear, that you should use it carefully,” she heard a voice.

Startled she noticed Kaihil was floating in mid-air next to her. Because of his bloodied face almost, she almost didn’t recognize him. That and his eyes full of green glow, like he overdosed cheep alchemics.

“Good thing I was just walking by. Those distress signals are really short-ranged. Do you have any more of those sticks? I would want to…

She couldn’t hear anything he said, as tremendous pain spread through her body. Kaihil noticed that a bit too late, only to see her arrow impaled body drop down dead.