It’s funny; I’d thought it was dark earlier. Now I struggle to even see Leslie’s back as we rush through the alleys. I am tempted to light up just a bit, so I can see where I am stepping, but the last thing we need right now is to attract attention.
The rain has slowed to a drizzle but does not stop. Leal’s jacket has been far more lifesaving than I’d ever expected. I wish I could thank her, or just speak with her again. Leal is the only one I know I can trust. Ash and the others have their own goals. Goals that currently coincide with mine, but I know that could change at any moment. I need to be prepared for the eventual betrayal when they no longer need me.
In this dilapidated city shrouded in darkness, the Cano residence sits above all. The mansion shines brightly in the night atop its private hill. It is the only building for leagues that has its own lawn; a gem buried in dirt and filth. It is impossible to miss any time it enters our sight. Every window and blade of grass of the estate is lit by bright lights found nowhere else in Kelton.
If a building can be beautiful, then this is it. I can’t help but feel it is unfair. An entire city of people has to live in decrepit ruins while a single family live in such excess. Is this what money does? Create discrepancy between who has it and who does not? In New Vetus, everyone has a similar quality of living, well at least the ursu do.
I never really thought about money as anything more than something that allows you to buy food. I was fine with letting the group have my share from the thefts to let me stay in the relative safety of their home. When I consider how much it costs for them to eat every day, is it even possible to earn enough to live in a place like this mansion?
Until now, I thought of the thefts I’ve taken part of as something akin to helping yourself to coal when the rest of the tribe doesn’t let you help them with work. It is something I am used to and seems natural. Now, I think I know Zadok culture well enough to say it’s more like a wake of buzzards clawing at one another to try and get the best bits of meat for themselves.
It is a far different view from what I’m used to, and not one I think I like very much.
People care about themselves first and foremost. I can understand that. I had the choice between my life and Gloria’s, and I chose mine. But in the Zadok Kingdom, there are many that take the whole corpse for themselves and don’t leave the smaller birds even scraps, so I don’t think it is wrong for those smaller birds steal from those with larger wings.
I am just worried about the buzzards’ talons.
“Are you ready, Solvei? Not backing out now?” Leslie says from my side.
I look up as much as I feel safe to, keeping my hood low over my face. The estate fence is right in front of us now. Shabby looking huts clutter the space up to a metre before it, where the space is oddly empty for what I’m used to in this city.
I nod once at her. There is no option for me. If Ash has a way out of this city, then that is my best bet. I’d rather not risk running into the uniforms on my own, who knows which of them might be water mages.
I walk up beside Ash as he inspects the wrought iron fencing. I don’t step any closer than he does, keeping a good metre between the fence and myself.
“This is what I need you for.” Ash takes a step back and tosses the stick he was holding at the fence. At only a hand’s distance before it hits the black iron, the stick explodes into flame. The burning stick knocks against the fence and falls to the ground, where it lasts only a few moments before it’s reduced to embers.
The fence did that? I mean, the flame doesn’t feel all that hot, but it is a surprise how quick it activated. The wrought iron now glows with bright red inscriptions lining them. A few seconds after activating, the light ceases and returns the fence back to its unassuming state. Even looking closely, I can only barely make out the lines of the inscription.
“So? You think you can get us through it?” I can feel not only his eyes digging into me, turning to the others only confirms my guess.
I bring my attention back to the fence in front of me. If all it does is light things on fire, I will be fine, but I don’t want to take that chance. First, I throw a handful of flame forward, stripping it of my inner flame and keeping my distance. The inscriptions light up as the flames pass through the iron bars. As the flames reach the other side of the fence, they get sucked into the inscription.
It’s a surprising feature, but I suppose it makes sense to stop your own defence system from igniting the grass every time someone throws a stick through the bars.
Should I be worried about my own flames being consumed by the fence? No, its pull on the flames is far too weak to overpower me, especially against my inner flame which is connected to me far more intrinsically than any control an inscription could hope to achieve.
Also, I have seen an inscription network like this before.
I send my inner flame to wrap around a few of the bars in front of me. I feel a slight but inconsequential tug at my energy. It is nothing I need to worry about. Just like the last time I encountered something like this, I reach through the inscription. Feeling the energy on the other side, I grab a hold of it and pull it into myself.
The network barely puts up any resistance as I drain it of the energy it needs. The fire I can feel through the inscription is far more than what I experienced back at the academy in Fisross. It takes a few minutes before I’ve drained it completely. Like back then, I watch as all the lights of the mansion and surrounding grounds dip out of existence. Nothing but my own flames light up the area.
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The absorbed fire makes me feel hot. It’s like I consumed ten furnaces worth of coal in an instant, the energy is more than I can handle. I take a few steps away from Ash. My flames return to me and the light cuts out. I know I won’t be able to keep my body cool enough with this much heat rushing through me. I’d rather they not burn themselves by accidentally touching me. There’s no way I’m spitting out this much energy.
I can’t see any of them, but I can still hear their gasps of shock.
“You took out their lights? How?” Kerry asks from somewhere to my right.
“They used the same power source for their lights as the fence inscription. I don’t know what they used to keep this thing powered, but I’m stuffed.” I pat my belly, imitating how Leslie acts after a meal. Though, I don’t know how to burp on command.
Leslie snorts, “you ate their incineration wall?”
“Yep.” Stepping forward, I slap the now ordinary fence for emphasis. “All good to climb over now.”
“Can’t you just melt through it?” I hear ash say.
I would have said no straight away normally, but the energy rushing through me is incredible. Placing a hand on the iron bar, I heat it up as much as I can. The red glow the metal bar takes on makes me hopeful, but it’s already taking too long. It doesn’t matter how much energy I have in me if I can only reach a certain temperature.
“Not unless you want to wait twenty minutes,” I say. I don’t think I can melt through the bars, but I should be able to bend them out of the way if I have enough time.
It takes a few minutes for us to get over the sharp pikes of the fence, mostly because Ash and I struggle to get over. I stressed about climbing while keeping safe from the rain and Ash needed the other’s help to get over with his injured leg. The spikes on top of the fence are luckily only for decoration rather than for preventing intruders, their spikes smooth and blunt. It looks like they never expected anyone to get past the security measure that burns on touch. I guess even the eastern races realise how effective fire is against themselves. Why else would they use fire in their defence?
We glide along the grass of the garden until we reach the mansion. Well-trimmed hedges lining the walls give us a perfect place to lurk.
“We check the windows first. If none of them are unlocked, we’ll climb to the second-floor balcony,” Ash says.
The first window we try opens with ease. They really didn’t expect anyone to make it past their fence.
“Okay, Solvei and Leslie, you two go through that window. Kerry and I will find another window and Demi, Medi, you’ll climb up to the balcony. Join Solvei and Leslie if no other is unlocked,” Ash says. “Remember, only take what you can easily carry. I don’t want to lose anyone because they got greedy. Prioritise jewellery, if possible.”
The dry air inside the mansion calls to me. I climb through the windowsill before Ash even finishes his instruction. I take a deep breath, relishing the feeling of air not drowning in moisture. The air outside isn’t as painful or anything, but it feels like I’m suffocating trying to breathe.
Leslie leaps through the window with grace and is already opening drawers and wardrobes before I can blink. I pass through the only door in the room after checking there is nobody on the other side. A couple of couches surround a small knee-high table in the centre of the room. There aren’t as many places to look in this room, only a table with drawers beside the entry door. There are paintings and decorations in the room, but none would be easy for me to carry.
Opening the drawers only returns some tableware. I can probably take some of the shiny knives, they don’t look much good for cutting like my hunting knife, but they’re made of a metal I’ve never felt before.
Out of curiosity, I try to burn through it. Unfortunately, even this is too much for me. Although when I open my hand again, I realise I’ve bent it out of shape. I discreetly place it at the bottom of the pile, taking a few intact knives with me in case I can’t find anything better.
“What do you think?” I hear Leslie’s voice from behind me.
I swivel on my feet, having forgotten to pay attention to my surroundings. Leslie is striking some sort of pose with her hand on her chin. She’s done something to her face, it looks darker than usual.
“Who would’ve thought these rich families put this stuff on just to make their hair look whiter.” She tosses me a small case of a grey powder as she wipes the stuff off her face.
“Should you really be messing around right now?” I ask.
“Why not? Anyone rich enough to afford tan powder isn’t gonna be this side of the wall unless they have to. Either they’re up north or leading the charge into New Vetus.” She continues to rub at her face. “Shit. How do they get this shit off?”
I ignore her and poke my head out the other door of this room. The hallway is empty so I creep out towards the next room, Leslie following far less quietly behind.
I freeze when I hear the slamming of a door at the end of the hallway. A shout follows not long after.
“Bain, get here this instant. What is going on? Why are the lights not working?”
I hear someone reply, but it is too quiet to know what they say.
Against my better judgement, I approach the voices. It is probably dumb, but I want to know whether they know we are here or not. A bit of risk is fine if I learn whether they are setting a trap for us.
“What do you mean the source was drained?” the voice shouts. “That was supposed to last another two years. Have the pilfers launched another revolt? The nerve to do so while our nation is at war. What of the backup supply?”
Leslie grabs my arm, turning me to face her. She remains quiet, but her raised eyebrow asks everything. I nod toward the voices before approaching the archway leading into a large, open area. A set of double doors sits to my right while a grand staircase climbs the back wall. While not near as large as some of the ursu’s stairs, it somehow still seems far more grand.
Careful to remain within the darkness of the corridor, I watch two men holding candles talk halfway up the stairs.
“I’m sorry sir, it will take the boys some time to carry the backup source from storage.”
“Tsk. Organise the guard. We’ll cut down any that breach our estate.”
The front doors slam open. I flinch back into the shadows on reflex. Through the entryway runs a woman holding a lantern, rushing until she reaches the base of the stairs.
“Mr. Cano, sir. The Henosis soldiers have knocked down the front gate.”
“What! This is the Empire’s doing? Fuck! Those bastards.” In his rage, the man on the stairs swings his arm into the fancy railing beside him, shattering it and sending stone into the wall at the other side of the foyer. Dust clouds the room from the impact.
“Send someone to the barracks. I want every reserve we have at my front door in ten minutes. I’ll grab my sword and meet you with the guard to intercept.” With his final word, the man, Mr Cano, runs upstairs.
As the dust settles, I can’t help but gawk as the wall that had been there a moment ago is now, well… missing. Instead, I can see straight into a large hall with a long dining table.
How is he so strong? I don’t think any of the ursu I’d met could do that, not even Gerben. He isn’t a mage either, unless he has a way to hide the glow of his markings when they are activated. That, or he is a different type of mage than what Leal knew about.
I glance behind me to see Leslie’s face gaping with wide eyes. She looks exactly how I feel.
Maybe I shouldn’t have agreed to steal from the Cano family after all.