The first thing to consider was the fact that the enemy had bypassed the protection of his Aegis without Rolynd even noticing. There was only one explanation for that phenomenon that Rolynd knew of.

The answer lay within Rolynd’s subconscious. Naturally, Rolynd’s Aegis protected him from every conceivable threat. Its automatic function was part of what made it so powerful, but it was also where weaknesses would emerge. If the Aegis protected him from everything, Rolynd wouldn’t be able to live as he did. No light would reach him, no air would reach him. And so, there needed to be some kind of filter that decided what was safe and what was unsafe. Rolynd himself could control and decide those parameters. That had been his first test when his powers had manifested; he needed to learn to breathe again.

There were only a few things that Rolynd had fairly lax control of while his Aegis was amplified. Things like sound, electrical currents, visible light, and temperature. The people of Al Dherjza needed heat to cook and forge weapons, and electrical currents were needed for the occasional appliance, medical machine, and streetlights. Visible light was of course necessary for everyone to be able to see, and sound was necessary for people to be able to speak to each other. Naturally, there was a strict upper limit on visible light concentration imposed by Rolynd’s Aegis.

So, which of these three mechanisms had been exploited?

The attack that had destroyed the palace’s structure only affected a single, large stretch of it. If the assailant had been capable of performing that attack at range, why would they only destroy that particular section of the palace and in such a conspicuous pattern? The aegis had also fallen near the exact instant that the shipment from Sarigold was scheduled to arrive. Al Dherjza’s intercity teleporter was the nearest access point to the palace, so it was the shortest route for any assailant to take, yet even the most athletic person would never be able to make that journey in just a few seconds, especially if they didn’t know of the city’s layout beforehand.

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These clues suggested that the saboteur had performed their attack at melee range, in a single powerful strike. As for how they reached the palace… Therefore, the saboteur must have somehow run from the Sarigold teleporter to the palace in an instant, as teleportation was only permitted in specific parts of the city, the palace not among them.

Rolynd supposed both an electrical current and light would be able to make the journey from the teleporter to the palace. He doubted someone would be able to run the distance in that short a time. The Bloodstone’s very own speedster, Charlie, was unable to move at pace while the aegis was active, he would produce too much light, heat and sound, and his magical vacuum field generator wouldn’t function, as it attempted to manipulate the air molecules that Rolynd had domain over.

The final clues, then. The missing debris and the scorch marks near the destroyed sections. The most telling of these was the missing debris. It suggested that the molecules of the palace’s marble had simply… disappeared. But matter could not simply disappear. There were three options. It had either been chemically or physically converted from a solid into a gas or vapour, been turned into pure energy, or been banished to some other dimension, like Effie’s signature ability allowed her to banish herself and things she touched.

To Rolynd, these clues together suggested that the saboteur could turn their own bodies into either light or electricity, or perhaps both. They were also capable of converting materials near their body, perhaps by touch as Effie had to. If the mystery person had been able to banish themselves, then there would’ve been no scorch marks left at the scene.

They were probably a Chimaera, Rolynd decided. He doubted the Incandestine had such sophisticated, specialised equipment with them. Any such equipment would also have to be protected by Universal Law.

And… there was one last clue.

Rolynd had not been attacked for the minute or so that he had been standing around, solving the mystery of the saboteur’s identity. Furthermore, he had heard nothing from any of his allies since. It was certainly possible that their silence was owed to being assassinated, but Rolynd doubted it. No, it was far more likely that this mysterious Chimaera was unable to activate their great powers continuously. Even Effie, the oldest of the Bloodstones, struggled to maintain continuous use of her powers for more than a minute.