Sybil sat next to the bed with her arms crossed, glaring, projecting her anger through her hymn as loudly as she could. Her eyes were fixed on the man that lay on the bed, his blond hair surrounding his hair like a halo. The man’s beard had been shaven off, revealing several scars on his throat and chin, deep ugly things, tucked away from sight.

They made her push her anger harder, to scream it out at him with her hymn.

But no matter how loud she was, Han did not stir.

The goddess had physically healed him, but he would not wake. Irsi had claimed it was to be expected after exposure to a powerful cognition hazard. That it could very well take Han weeks for his mind to recover completely.

And inside Sybil’s own mind, the one scene that she could not tear her thoughts away from was the last time she’d spoken to him. The freak’s attack, the shock, Han holding her back. The glare, the declaration of betrayal through her hymn.

The look of hurt in his face, the recoil in pain and silence of his inner voice.

“Please… please don’t let that be the last time I heard your song.” She grasped his hand, the same hand that had healed her far too many times for her to count, that had reached out to her when she’d been at the lowest point.

Not able to remain there any longer, she stood, pulled her hood over her head and the cowl to cover the scar on her face, and dimmed her hymn to the stoic professionalism that was expected from her. The guard keeping watch over Han’s room gave her a quick salute, and she was off.

There were things that needed doing, and that only she could do. At least while she temporarily held this post of representative.

Her ears perked and swiveled under her hood, searching for the hymn of one person in particular.

The person in question was Aalis the Hawk, a named user of great renown within Sky Bridge. She was a rovian, a species infamous for being strongly isolated, so it was rare to find them outside of their tribes. Sybil had only heard of the Hawk in passing, a user who’d gotten her hands on multiple kill-glider monster lord cores and had mastered flight through the grafts she’d obtained.

Apparently the user had made the temple her home, occupying one of the many unused rooms near the top of the spire. And now Sybil had to find the woman, since she was supposed to be the one leading the investigation into the attack.

She found Aalis talking with some knights near the temple entrance, ignoring the stares from the others passing by. The woman held herself aloft, her hymn a casual song of calm confidence with undertones of amusement. Yet for its familiarity, it also signaled quite firmly it did not want to be disturbed.

Sybil waited on the side, staring at the woman.

She was tall, almost as tall as Damon. Her arms and legs were reinforced claw grafts of at least fifth upgrade, wicked sharp silver gauntlets and feet that could tear through just about anything. No doubt they held a secondary upgrade each as well, Sybil felt awe at the feat of having obtained enough cores to upgrade oneself to such a degree. But most impressive of all was on Aalis’ back, it was her signature graft, a large set of foldable wings that came with a fire and wind propulsion system.

It reminded Sybil of the vessel the Goddess used to watch the city.

A shift in Aalis’ hymn informed Sybil the woman was now free for conversation, so she approached. Part of her expected the woman’s hymn to detect the stain of heresy on her hymn, but Aalis showed no reaction, which surprised Sybil.

Everyone recoiled away from those who’d tarnished the Gods.

“Representative Sybil.” Aalis bowed, bone white hair swirling around her face, caught in a breeze. “What do I owe the pleasure to?”

“It’s in regards to the investigation. The report came back that there was nothing anomalous within the Incuuri household.”

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“That is correct.”

“But the men there died of a cognition-attack.” Sybil pushed. “None present had the capacity for such a thing.”

“We suspect it was this… Damon, who did it.”

Sybil pushed hesitation and doubt into her hymn. “With all due respect, that is impossible. Damon did not have any grafts.”

Aalis’ hymn took a cool edge to it as she reached into her satchel, pulling out a piece of paper. “We have it on good authority that he came into contact with a surgeon from the undercity, as well as a group of user-killers. It is likely he purchased something and used it in this attack.”

“But…” Sybil frowned, reading over the report. It was a list of all gathered material evidence. “There’s never been a weapon capable of doing this. Cognition attack weapons have only ever hampered a single target, never killed, and never a crowd. It seems likelier there was a monster within the Incuuri mansion, perhaps a new kind of brainer.”

“It was our first suspicion as well, but we found no traces of such.” Aalis shrugged simply, taking the report back. “Unfortunately for this… Damon, it seems his companion was not as protected as he’d been.”

“Han would never do such a thing.” Sybil snapped.

Aalis’ hymn shifted slowly as the woman took a slow glance around their surroundings. Using her hymn like a sword and warning off all others within their vicinity. Only then did she turn to look at Sybil with those poisonous yellow eyes. “It’s not lost to me that Damon was seen speaking to the Goddess in an unknown tongue before escaping. Would you happen to know anything about that? Has the Goddess decided to take sides in the city’s inner politics?”

“No, never!” She quickly replied, taking a step back. “Damon’s past is… a complicated one, one that puts him in a strange spot.”

“I was asking you as the Goddess’ Irsi representative.” Aalis pushed, her hymn gaining an undertone of skepticism. “I am a part of the Knight Order, and the leader of this investigation. I should have access to relevant information.”

Sybil considered her words very carefully, too aware that this was a delicate matter. “The Gods cannot act directly in this situation. That is all I am allowed to say.”

Aalis frowned. “A scion of the great house of Incuuri was killed along with his retainers. The merchant guild is in chaos, trade has ground to a halt, and even if the situation were resolved swiftly, it would still place Sky Bridge in a tenuous place economically. Does the Goddess not see this as an impending emergency?”

“The Goddess is focusing her efforts on activating one of the struts so as to ensure there is heat and water to spare.” Sybil answered politically, tasting bile in her throat but holding it back from her hymn. “There is not much else she can do for the city at this time.”

“She could declare a state of emergency.”

“You pointed your claws at the Goddess potentially taking a side within the city’s politics, and now speak of declaring a state of emergency!?” She hissed, ears canting backwards.

“As a representative, it is known that you hold the power to suggest such a course of action.”

“As a temporary representative, I assure you I do not.” Sybil replied.

Aalis smirked, placing her claws against her hips. “Goddess Rali has had many representatives, but you are the first representative of Goddess Irsi within living memory. Even if temporary.” Snorting, she rolled her eyes. “Who do you pray to, Sybil?”

“Janus.”

“Ah.” A slow nod. “Yes, that makes sense. You come from the marshes, do you not?”

Sybil felt hesitant to speak of her past. “Yes, I… came to Sky Bridge to undergo the trials.”

“And being stuck in the city as a representative is not ideal when you’d rather be searching for monster lords and their cores.” Aalis touched her clawed hands, the metal sheen of her fingers passing over her forearms. It was a very elegant design, deadly. “Perhaps you could find someone else to take the position.”

Sybil bowed quickly. “I appreciate your earnest words, but as much as I would wish to continue my trials, I will postpone them until the Goddess has deemed my service to have reached its conclusion. I am being called upon, may the day be good to you.”

She did not wait for a response, turning to leave before her hold on her hymn loosened enough for it to waver in front of Aalis.

The last thing she’d want would be to allow the sudden burst of suspicion she felt to leak out. Her mind ran circles over the interaction as she realized she’d been so easily led away from the matter regarding the investigation. As much as she held Damon in utter contempt, she was not stupid enough to assume he’d done such an act.

Her gut told her something had happened inside that house, something someone very powerful wished to keep secret.

> ***

>

> ***

Aalis watched the young user rushing off and could only sigh inwardly. She’d pushed too far and now things would be more complicated going forward. With a small shrug, she turned her attention back to the message she’d received.

It was a simple statement, a flag had been raised by one of her underlings, informing that one of the agents, Stebos the Archivist, had not just made contact with Damon but had agreed to smuggle him out of the city.

All Aalis would need to do would be to meddle with the search parties and patrols so there would be a hole for them to slip through.

She wasn’t sure exactly why the Incuuri household was paying so much money to get the man out of Sky Bridge city rather than have him killed publicly. But then again, she didn’t really care.