by L. Itram and Ben Yackley Main * Story * Setting * Cast * Illustrations * About * Comment

Chapter 12: In Pursuit (Posted on 2/25/03 )

Luen paced impatiently around the cargo hold. It would be more technically accurate to say that he slithered, but it was obvious to any observer that he would be pacing had he the equipment to do so.

The observer told him to sit down and quit making her seasick.

"Easy for you to say, Viola. You're not dying of dehydration here."

"Nor are ye, Luen. If ye were, ye wouldn't be talking so much."

"I can distill some more seawater for you, but you'll have to wait until tonight," commented Kai distractedly from his corner. He had been mixing, sorting and brewing for the past two days. When Viola snapped at him about the smell, he simply moved to the other side of the room and explained that there would be little opportunity for potion-making if they were hot on Auli's trail. Besides, he added, they all had to occupy their time somehow to keep from going insane with boredom.

Luen occupied his time with pacing and Viola with grumbling.

"Any minute now..."

"How can ye be sure?"

"He overheard the sailors," explained Kai. "You were taking a nap at the time, Viola."

There was along series of bumps and clunks and then the sound of running feet.

They waited. Kai carefully packed up his equipment.

When the ship was completely silent, they snuck toward the hatch. Kai, being the tallest, tugged on the pulley that operated the sliding doors, pausing at each squeak or bump. Finally, they crawled through the entrance into daylight...

And into a crowd of irate Levendish sailors and dockworkers who looked like they wanted some explanations.

"Hi there," said Kai, wincing at the unexpected glare from both the sunlight and the longshoremen. "Uh, lovely ship you've got."

"So close," said Viola. "So close we could taste it."

"I really hope you don't mean that literally," quipped Luen. "You were the one holding onto it."

"So now what?" interrupted Kai, before another fight could break out.

Luen shrugged. "Now we have three choices." He ticked them off on his fingers. "One, we go after Auli. Two, we continue on to the next likely spot on the map. Three, we go home."

Viola sighed. "Let's see tha map afore we make any decisions."

"Good idea."

They looked at each other a moment.

"Well?" she asked.

"Well what?"

"Where is the map?"

"I thought you had it."

"Nae, I gave it ta -- "

"Kinto!" they groaned in unison.

"Okay, so we've got two choices."

"Do we, then?" said Viola.

They thought about choice number three.

"Let's ask around." Luen rose from his chair decisively.

Kai looked from one to the other with the expression of someone who's spent half an hour watching a frantic tennis match and has just now realized there was no ball to start with. "Ask who?"

"Mia, of course. And any other Kinto fans who might still be in town."

Several leads later found the trio at the docks, where a Manaqi woman had boarded a ship to Grandegear the night before.

"But how many Manaqi do you think there are in Aezo?" Kai pointed out.

"She took a carriage from Estevas," Luen responded. "The driver remembered her."

"An' set sail at three in the mornin'. Special passage."

The longshoreman they were speaking to nodded. "Must've been a pretty persuasive lady; cabins have been booked solid since yesterday afternoon."

Kai nodded. "So we're off to Grandegear then."

"First," said Luen, "we need to leave Kinto a message. There's a Couriers' Guild office over -- " he stopped and turned around. "Wait, what do you mean 'we'?"

"Ye won't go back ta Featherglass, Kai?"

"Well, uh, I'd rather see this out to the finish," he responded slowly.

Luen sniffed. "Least you've got a choice. Wish I did..." He turned and headed off toward the Couriers' office, giving the dockworker a curt nod of thanks.

"I'm glad ta have ye stay," said Viola as they trailed after.

Kai's ears perked. "You mean it, Viola?"

"Aye. A week alone wit' him an' I'll go loony!"

"Oh."

"Hi, Mister Mazran! What can I do for ya?"

Viola and Kai gave Luen a pair of bewildered expressions.

"She knows ye?" she asked.

"Or thinks she does," added Kai, who had picked up on the mispronunciation.

"Eh, yeah, well..." he turned around and made a show of looking at the teenager's nametag. "Listen ... Stacie, we need to send a message to a friend. He should be showing up at Almanaque in a week or two."

"Righto, just fill out the forms like usual."

Luen's friends exchanged glances as he selected a sheet of paper and carefully entered the appropriate information in the upper half. Like usual?

"Okay, guys. Message time."

"Tell him ta meet us at Grandegear. We canna wait around fer him here or in Featherglass."

"It'll take a while for him to get there," commented Luen.

"So we leave him a note there if we have to leave," said Kai. "Tell him Auli stole the Shard."

"What else?" asked Luen. "We're paying by the word here."

"We can explain tha rest once he shows up," said Viola.

"There you go, then." He handed the form back to her.

"Righto. From Luen Mazran, Kate --"

"That's Kai!"

"-- Holiday and Viola Longdawning. But there's no address."

"He'll be showing up in Almanaque at some point. Have someone looking for him on the docks. Male Tximisti, orange with stripes, hopefully in full armor, carrying a mage's staff. And let's just hope he shows up soon."

Luen leaned on the railing of the steamship, trying desperately hard to ignore the water below. "You're headed back to Grandegear, I hear," he commented to the captain, a short Levendish man who was holding a clipboard and keeping a wary eye on the loading crew below.

"Yep."

"Ship like this, I bet you'd get there pretty fast, huh?"

"Two days."

Viola peered over the rail, absently twisting a bit of string in her fingers. She seemed content to let Luen do the negotiating.

Luen whistled. "Man I talked to over there -" he nodded in the direction of a nearby ship "- said it took him a week to get here from Maglatan."

The captain spared a glance at the other ship. "This's a steamship, buddy. Modern vessel for a modern age. We don't need to worry about contrary winds."

There was a muffled splash behind Luen. "Oops," said Viola softly, and wound the string back up again.

Luen gave her an annoyed look, then nodded at the captain. "Bet you get some important people booking seats."

"...Hang on a second, wouldja? Hey! Bonehead! Is that bricks you're lugging? I don't remember shipping twenty crates of bricks!" the captain shouted over the rail.

"Flax!" came back the muffled response.

"Flax? That's not flax! Not the way you're lugging it around!" There was a pause. "Now that's more like it! What were you saying, again?"

Viola tapped Luen on the elbow. "I just saw an old friend, excuse me..." She headed down the gangplank to the dock.

***

Viola glanced around the deserted alleyway. Deserted dead-end alleyway, she corrected herself, looking at the blank backs of warehouses that framed it on three sides. She was pleased to note that there were no windows in any of them.

The ship was visible from the mouth of the alley - due west, according to the low afternoon sun - and she could see Luen arguing with the captain on deck. Neither of them looked in her direction. She selected a clear patch of street in full sunlight and free of puddles and unknown debris, then knelt in the center of it, tucking her cape out of the way. After checking to make sure there were no bystanders, she pulled a notebook and pen out of a pocket. She balanced the pen on its tip and carefully measured the length of its shadow, then used it to write a number in the notebook.

Height divided by shadow's length, right. Now take the height of the ship above the waterline - courtesy of Luen's distractions - divided by distance unknown... More scribbling. The rule of like unto like says the distance is ... that. Now add fifteen paces from the shadow to the alley, plus margin of error, very important. She shuddered at a memory. Include approximate depth of the hold below the water line - courtesy of Kai's distractions - plus height of boxes unknown, I do hope Kai remembers to check on that... Further scribbling. And there. Perfect, if I do say so myself.

She took out chalk and string and began to draw a circle.

***

"I was just wondering how much you charge for tickets on a fast ship like this," Luen repeated once he had the captain's full attention. He seemed not to notice Viola's absence.

"I don't."

"Huh?"

"Cargo ship. No passengers, boyo. Just crates."

Luen feigned surprise. In fact, he'd already heard as much from the dockhands. "You could make quite a profit, though."

"Not as much as I made selling the flax."

"What if said passenger was willing to put up with a bit of discomfort?"

"Nope."

"And pay extra for the privilege?"

"Nope."

"Even if your hold is only half full?"

"You've been doing your research. Still no. I have crew quarters and cargo hold and I'm not making my crew share their space. They wanna go home."

"Well, what about --"

"Your lady-friend wants to talk to you."

Luen looked over his shoulder. "She's not my lady-friend," he said, heading for the ramp.

"Don't tell her she's not a lady or you'll be in trouble," smirked the captain as Luen slithered off.

Viola nodded at Luen. "It's finished. C'mon, Kai!"

Kai turned away from the linen merchant, who he'd been engaging in an animated conversation about Aezite varieties as the shippers unloaded her crates of dried flax. "Coming!"

The three of them stepped into the alleyway.

"Well, Kai?"

"Only half full, she said. And they were stacking them near the back."

"Thank ye, Kai. Ye were very helpful." There was a faint scratching noise, like chalk on cobblestone.

"Hey, I helped, too!"

"Aye, that ye did, Luen."

A faint purple glow, and then silence.

Visitors approaching Grandegear by ship -- at least, those who arrive in a slightly more legitimate and public fashion than our heroes -- are greeted by a spectacular view: a floating platform the size of a city - or possibly a city built atop a floating platform - constructed of stone and metal and surrounded on all sides by impregnable walls. The docks stretch out into the water like knotty roots, covered in guardposts, warehouses, and other such buildings and shadowed by the vast angular bulks of cargo cranes and chains dangling from pulleys far overhead. The central skyline is blocky with soot-covered rooftops and dotted with chimney-stacks, the structures looming even more than usual with no mountains or other natural features to overshadow them or lend a sense of proportion. Newcomers who write home give one of two initial impressions of the cityscape: a lightning blasted tree, still smoking from the disaster; or a giant angular octopus, its tentacles poised to catch incoming ships. Individual choice, of course, depends on upbringing, personal preference, and what the ship's cook had been serving for dinner the day before arrival.

Given the entire breadth of the world's oceans to settle in, one would expect the Grandegearians to be near the deserted dunes of Jindreth and its metal-rich mines, or possibly the icy waters off southern Levend, close to their ancestral home. Instead, it sits in the center of the brightly colored tropical crescent of the Isle of Maglatan. In addition to being a tourist's paradise, Maglatan is also the last remnant of the land of Kashenda, once a feared superpower and deadly enemy of the forefathers of modern Grandegear. But old grudges have been forgiven and today the two nations live in peace - indeed, the Maglatanians as a people are possibly the most unwarlike, if the most bizarre looking, culture in existence today. The latent magical aura which was Kashenda's gift to its descendants has saturated the people and the land, resulting in a phenomenon similar to the Cotani of Alamanque's Shattered Hill district, but much stronger and not color specific.

Modern Maglatan is famous for three things: its beautiful beaches of white sand, its weird and exotic fruit, and its even weirder and more exotic inhabitants, the last two of which are side effects of said magical saturation which --

"Kai, enough already. Ye sound like a guidebook!"

"Just figured you'd want to know something about where we're going."

"Aye, thank ye. But we're headed ta Grandegear, not Maglatan."

"I know, I know. But we'll have a few days before Auli shows up, right? Couldn't hurt to do a bit of relaxing. I'd love to see those beaches."

Viola stared at him. "... ye just want ta see Maglatan fer tha plants, don't ye?"

"... yeah," Kai admitted with a sheepish grin.

She sighed. "Okay, we might as well do something with our time."

"Speaking of time," said Luen, "we still have two days to go. You did bring the food, right, Kai?"

Kai looked hurt. "You don't think I'd forget something like that, do you?"

"'Course not. I just want dinner. It's been a long day."

"...and that's why we're here. Now if you'll excuse us, we have somewhere to be." explained Luen to the crowd, which did not in fact step aside for him.

"It's not like they stole anything," said one of the dockhands. "Apart from cargo space. In practical terms, no harm done."

"The hold was half empty anyway," volunteered Kai.

The captain stepped out of the hold. He looked as if he'd very much like to kick them off the ship, but was smart enough to realize the flaw in that logic. "Yeah, no harm done," he echoed. "Ship's clean, I guess everything's all right..." Kai had insisted they clean up before leaving. The captain shook his head, then gave Luen a lopsided grin. "Should've said yes when you tried t'book passage. Now get outta here, kids."

A look at the dock's timetables told them they still had two days before Auli's ship arrived. Luen frowned. "Kinto will probably be halfway to Almanaque at that point -- depending, of course, on just what that dragon lady planned to do with him."

"Ye're not worried 'bout him, are ye?"

"Aren't you?"

"I suppose..." she said slowly. "But he can take care o' himself. We'll wait fer him here once we get th' shard back," she said generously.

"I suppose. In the meantime, we might as well get settled in."

Luen elected to stay at the inn, once they'd dropped off their luggage. He wanted a nice long bath, he explained, not having had one in two days. Kai headed for the Maglatan ferry as soon as he was sure they wouldn't be needing his cooking skills. "We'll try th' local cuisine," said Viola.

Viola herself elected to do some exploring. After all, she mused to herself, it's not every day one gets a chance to visit the fortress of the Kashendans - the very edifice that was wrested from their grasp and taken over by Gregor Silverfox to be used against its original builders. The center of history itself!

As she explored, however, she was forced to admit that the city around her was a far cry from the nerve center of the magical superpowers and near-conquerors of the known world which it had once been. The machinery and factories had been added much later, and with them came the soot. Lady Nyzia would never have stood for such grime and dirt, that was certain! But Viola was sure that the original core must remain. She could feel the years of history below her feet: if her instincts (and, more importantly, history books) were correct, there were levels upon levels of passageways below the modern city, the very same passageways that were trodden by the likes of Lady Nyzia, the golden General Dias and Lord Vesper, the illusion-master. Probably turned into sewage canals by now, she thought sourly. Those stupid inventors, no respect for the glories of the past.

She tapped her fingers on the hilt of her sword thoughtfully as she paced through the streets of history, then looked down at it in surprise. I'd almost forgotten about that ugly old thing. Whatever prompted me to pick it up in the first place? It's been nothing but dead weight. Still, it wouldn't do to go into danger unarmed, magic or no. Perhaps she could trade it in for a more appropriate replacement. One befitting her soon-to-be-realized status as a trained mage and seasoned adventurer.

Somewhere in the middle of the ocean, a ship sped through the waves as its captain rejoiced at the good fortune which had sent her an impatient weatherworker as a passenger. At this rate, they would arrive in Grandegear a day - perhaps even two - ahead of schedule.

"Ah, Miss Alcandor. I trust you are not straining yourself unduly."

"Don't worry about me, Captain. I won't have to renew the spell for another few hours."

"I will let you enjoy your rest, then."

The Manaqi woman waited until the captain was out of sight before pulling an oddly decorated pendant out from under the collar of her blouse. A powerful weather charm, he said. Well, I only know how to make you do one trick, but that's enough for me. Let's just hope the crew doesn't start asking to see any of my other 'spells'. She put the amulet away again and leaned back in her chair. The weather wasn't the only thing going well these days.

Swords were not very popular in Grandegear, Viola concluded after her inquiries had led to several confused looks and a few unkind jokes. But, her persistence paid off and she eventually obtained directions to the shop of a man who made custom blades for the factories and, supposedly, had once been a swordsmith in his younger days. Probably not a very good one, but it's worth looking into.

So, here she was on the corner of Third Street and Eighth Avenue, looking at a small building which was, for some unfathomable reason, located in the center of an industrial neighborhood and nearly hidden by the nearby foundry and factories. Lukas Edgegrinder V, read the nameplate. She stepped inside ...

... and back in time two centuries. The interior of the shop was wood-paneled, furnished with chairs whose design was practical - ever the watchword in Grandegear - and yet somehow anachronistic. The walls were decorated with impressive swords and knives of various designs, though the display case which divided off a corner of the room contained the more utilitarian blades which were the foundation of the owner's current profession. A large archway in the rear led to a room that looked like a combination study and smithy. Standing in the archway and glaring at her with his one good eye was a man who could be none other than Lukas Edgegrinder himself: a grizzled, grey-furred, soot-covered Levendish.

"Who are you?" he asked by way of greeting.

"Viola Longdawning. I heard ye were tha best swordsmith in tha city."

He stepped up to the display counter and Viola's eye was caught by the gleam of something blue and crystalline in the back room.

"You heard right," he said, without any hint of pride, "And what business do you have with the best swordsmith in the city?"

"I need a new sword. I'll trade this one in if ye'll take it." She unstrapped her own weapon and placed it on the counter between them.

He nodded and unsheathed the sword halfway to examine the blade, then set it down again. "It's a good, plain weapon; I know someone who could use one like this. But you don't need a sword."

"Excuse me?"

"If you want one for show or to keep the bandits away, there are some wonderful costumers on Maglatan I can send you to. But I'd be very surprised if you've even used this one you've got here."

"Excuse me?!" she repeated. "I dunna have ta stand here an' take that sort o' abuse! If ye think that I canna defend meself on account o' bein' small or a woman, ye'd better think again. I'm a trained mage who's seen -- "

He held up a callused hand. "Miss, that's not what I meant."

"-- dangers that ye canna -- excuse me?"

"Miss Longdawning, my brother was killed in a duel with a woman; I'd be the last to say you can't defend yourselves. Swordmaking is only a hobby nowadays' as you've probably been told, I make my living selling custom-shaped blades to the new factories. However, I do know a thing or two about the people who use swords and you, Miss Longdawning, do not strike me as being one of them. If nothing else, your outfit gives you away."

"Me outfit?" Viola was too taken aback to come up with a suitably witty response.

He counted off the reasons on his fingers. "One, your cape. There's no good reason to wear a cape in this climate unless you'd like to give your opponent a nice convenient handle to hang onto. Two, those gloves are entirely the wrong sort - no traction on the palms at all." He stepped around the counter to get a better look at her. "Three - just as I thought - your boots are no good for moving quickly and you're liable to trip over those heels in the middle of any action. Four, that sword isn't even yours to start with."

"It is so!"

He picked up the sword and unsheathed it. "Those nicks on the blade came from someone with a good deal more upper-body strength than you've got. Granted, you do have four hands, but this hilt," he swung it around to demonstrate, "isn't even designed with room for two. Whether you bought or stole this thing doesn't matter to me, but you weren't the one using it."

"If yer gonna insult me like that --"

"Not insulting, Miss, just pointing out the obvious. So you're a mage," he said, switching the topic so fast Viola felt dizzy. "What's your gimmick?"

"Gimmick?"

"Your specialty. You're obviously Infused or Inspired or whatever that word is, even if you don't have the Maglatan accent. What sort of magic do you do?"

"I'm a transpositioner. I can move meself or others from place ta place without passin' through the space between."

"How far and how much?"

"I can move meself within sight range with no preparation -" she decided not to mention what happened the last time she tried moving beyond sight range "- anything else or any further an' I need a circle."

"Interesting. With a talent like that you'd make a better assassin than swordswoman, especially given your fondness for black. I have a few knives if you'd like to take a look at them."

"Assassin?" Viola sputtered. An assassin was even worse than a petty thief. She may have done some underhanded things in her past to get what she needed, but there was no reason she should resume the habit now. She pulled herself together and glared down her nose at Edgegrinder. "Are ye sayin' ye willna sell me a sword?"

"All I'm saying is it won't do you any good if you can't use it properly. But if you're really serious...?"

She nodded.

"Fine, I could use a challenge." He opened a drawer and pulled out two folded piles of leather. "Put on these gloves and lose the cape. You'll need to get yourself some better boots, too, but I can't help you with those... That's more like it," he said as Viola folded up her cape.

"Now will ye sell me a sword?" she sighed.

He nodded. "But it won't be cheap, even with the trade-in. You don't like that, I'll give you the address of the second-best swordsmith in Grandegear and you can get one of his discount models."

"I'm prepared ta pay."

"Something else you need to know: I told you swordmaking is just a hobby now, right? That means I don't have to cater to every Wilhelm, Frederick and Johan who comes in wanting a piece of metal to poke people with. I can choose my customers and I only do custom work, if you'll excuse the repetition there. As a rule I don't deal with people who don't at least come recommended, but you're a very special case and designing something to fit your abilities could be very rewarding. Intellectually, I mean," he added before Viola could bring up the mention of payment, "though, like I said, it won't be cheap."

Viola nodded again. She liked the idea of a custom sword. "Can ye have it in two days?"

"You've gotta be kidding! I have ideas, I could put together a mockup in two days -- but we're talking old junky parts and held together with string. You don't want that. You came here for the best, right?"

"Aye, but I will need some sort o' weapon in two days. Could I have tha prototype ta practice with?" "If you're that concerned, sure. But it'll take two days even to make one of those. I told you, if you don't want quality I can send you somewhere else."

"Nae, I can survive a few days without a sword."

"Do you mind? I was in the middle of something!" Luen glared at Viola over the edge of the tub.

"Sorry ta interrupt yer little nap," she sniffed, but was careful to close the door more quietly than she had opened it.

"Trance, not nap. Tending to Clorin and that puppy again." He covered a yawn. "Hey, where'd your cape go?"

"'Tis nae practical fer a swordswoman ta go about in a cape," she responded, stuffing the shopping bag under her bed.

"Eh, whatever. I always thought it looked stupid, myself. Who wears a cape these days anyway?"

Viola gave him a derisive snort. "So where's Kai? Still off at the beach?"

"Actually, he came back shortly before you did. Said he wanted to cook meals himself, so now he's out shopping. Given the local food, I don't blame him."

"'Tis nae that bad," said Viola, who had found a tiny Kyrian restaurant after following a crowd of factory-workers on their dinner break. "Though they don't seem ta know what curry powder is."

"If you say so. Most of what I've seen is bland and boiled... I'm sure Kai's found something interesting on the island." He leaned back until everything but his nose was under water. "Glad we got here early, though. We'll be focused and ready when Auli shows up."

"Aye, but what is she doin' here?"

"She doesn't live here, we know that. My bet is she's either fencing the shard or out to steal something else."

"She won't have much chance ta do either, once we're finished with her."

Somewhere in the middle of the ocean, a ship sped through the waves, veering and tacking as its crew tried to get the most out of the contrary winds.

"There's nothing to be worried about, Mister Rofo," said the captain. "A bit blustery, but no more so than is to be expected this time of year."

"I know, I know, I'm jus' inna hurry."

"Worry yourself not on that account, sir. We'll still make the trip in five days."

The Tximisti mage continued pacing as the captain left. That's what I'm worried about. Man, I wish I had Viola's book of wind spells right about now.

Kai hopped off the ferry with three sacks of produce and a head full of advice from well-meaning vendors on how one prepares this, that, or the other variety of blue squash. It was well past midnight but Maglatan was the island that never slept, and one glance at their glowing ornamental trees showed why. Grandegear was likewise wakeful, although less active, and a handful of sailors were loading and checking their ships in preparation for an early morning departure. One ship was still unloading and the sleepy passengers milled about, trying to find information on local hotels. He waved at an attractive Manaqi woman with a duffel over one shoulder and a slightly more wakeful expression than the others. She smiled and waved back as he headed past the ships toward the hotel. He glanced idly at the names painted on their prows, then stopped and turned around. The woman gave him another wave and a slightly less friendly smile to indicate that she wasn't here to be picked up by strange men so he'd better introduce himself first. Easygoing and easily sidetracked Kai might be, but he was not dumb.

"Y-y-you're Auli!?"

The woman squinted at him in the dimness. "Have we met?"

He spun around and raced for the hotel.

Auli sprinted after. She had shorter legs but her luggage was lighter than his and she managed to keep him in sight. After all, anyone here who recognized her was a potential threat to her plans.

"Luen! Wake up! She's here!" There was the sound of gravel hitting the window.

Luen and Viola exchanged glances. He grabbed his chalice and crystal pouch and slid down the stairs while she ran toward the window and warped herself down to the street below.

"Auli!" exclaimed Kai, too frantic to react to Viola's sudden appearance. He was slightly out of breath and still carrying the ingredients for dinner. "She's at the dock. Just got off the boat. It's -- "

"You again!" exclaimed two voices as Viola and Auli glared at each other.

Luen slipped out of the hotel's side door behind her. "Give it back. Now."

Auli spun around with a laugh. "I could say the same thing." A pair of daggers appeared in her hands. "But something tells me I'll have to be more direct and take it back myself."

Luen cursed as he instinctively went for a handful of crystals to load his gun, while Kai dashed for cover behind a stack of barrels. Viola, meanwhile, went for her sword, only to remember that she had traded it in earlier that day. Auli advanced on the trio. "Don't tell me you're completely unarmed. That would make this the stupidest fight I've ever been in."

Kai chose that moment to bear down on Auli, wielding a squash like a mace and charging with what he hoped was a fearsome yell. Auli barely had time to react before it came down heavily on her skull - and exploded into a shower of pulp, seeds, and bits of squash rind, leaving Auli unhurt but messy and Kai in exactly the wrong place to be. An elbow to the gut and a double-fisted blow between the horns left Kai stunned on the ground.

Viola had vanished by this point, warping behind Auli, looking for an angle of attack in an attempt to wrestle her to the ground. The problem with this, Viola realized in retrospect, was the slight purple glow that accompanied here each time she moved. In a dark alley in the middle of the night, it was a dead giveaway to her position every time. Auli turned away from the formerly berserking herbalist and directed a kick at Luen. With one opponent knocked out and the other temporarily winded, she had no trouble intercepting Viola between jumps and giving her a few nasty slashes across the chest.

The whole process took a matter of seconds; Auli spun around and faced Luen as he regained his balance. "Glad you're still awake. Now that they're taken care of... Nhaal is mine, finhead. Give it back."

Luen raised his chalice, pointing the dish at Auli. "Give the Shard back and we'll talk."

"Nice bluff, but you know as well as I do that's not a weapon. Fire away - all you'd manage to do is attract maginaria to me. You can't hurt a person with chroma."

Luen stayed silent, gritting his teeth at Auli and leaving the chalice raised while very slowly recoiling backwards onto his tail.

"That's better," said Auli, approaching him, daggers still drawn. "Now, give it back."

And then Luen sprang, uncoiling and sweeping his chalice arm out in a wide arc at eye level that caught Auli off guard. She grabbed for the nearest large object and raised her arms to protect her head. There was a metallic clang and another shower of squash as Auli spun around and barely regained her balance, massaging her left wrist where the chalice had slammed into it. "You're going to pay for that, finhead!"

Luen was already rearing back for a second blow, but Auli saw this one coming and dodged to the side - just far enough to grab him by the shoulders and fling him to the ground in a throw, twisting him just enough to land awkwardly on top of his own chalice, dislocating his shoulder. She reached down and plucked the pouch containing Luen's crystals from his belt.

"Thank you," said Auli, swinging the pouch around by one hand. "This will make my job so much easier. I can't say it's been nice seein' you, but I've got to run. I'm not on vacation, after all. Goodbye." And with that she was gone.

Luen sat up and carefully fingered his shoulder. "That could've gone better," he grumbled before someone put a hand on his back.

"...C'mon upstairs. I'll carry Viola," said Kai, helping him balance upright. "I've got plenty of healing potions, and I think we're gonna need them. We can figure out what to do afterwards."

(...to be continued)