Chapter 7 — Lady Ayla of Ravenhill

After gaining a lead pointing toward a possible cult member and unofficial support from the local baronet, Yillian recommended heading to the abandoned tower while there was still enough daylight.

And so, Xyn found himself staring up at the ruins of an impressive cobblestone tower. Well, ‘ruins’ was overstating the case. Apart from a gaping hole in the side of the tower revealing the destroyed remains of the tower’s wood staircase, the tower was remarkably intact.

“Over here, Xyn!” Yillian called from the far side of the tower. “Someone left a rope ladder!”

That was unexpected. Xyn had pictured the tower’s cellars as a more likely location for whatever the cultists were up to. Of course, the main entrance being blocked by rubble likely had a say in the matter.

Xyn Petal-stepped over to Yillian and sure enough, a rope with knots every foot or so had been left swaying in the light breeze, making slight rasping and dull tapping sounds as it alternatingly dragged across and struck the tower’s surface.

“Elves first,” Xyn offered and smirked as Yillian’s face blanched a bit. “I can catch you if you fall.”

Yillian nodded at the logic and made a stubborn face as he navigated the scraggly bushes at the base of the tower to grab the rope. On closer look, someone had clearly hacked away some of the sharp branches.

Xyn wasn’t worried about climbing the rope. With the uneven stones used in the tower’s construction, he was fairly certain that he could Petal-step all the way to the top, and once Yillian was up, Xyn did just that, only failing to find purchase once.

“That’s cheating!” Yillian complained, still huffing from exertion as Xyn fluttered to a stop atop a well-worn crenellation and lightly hopped down.

Having finally gotten the reaction he desired from showing-off in front of the half-elf, Xyn couldn’t help grinning ear-to-ear. His triumphant mood abated quickly when he caught sight of the glittering markings and shapes inscribed on the top level of the tower. Inside the meticulous structure of the outer parts was a primal scrawl that made Xyn’s tail fur stand on end just looking at it. “Whoa. Any idea what all this is?”

The half-elf shook his head. “The design is too complicated, and I don’t recognize many of the symbols. I’ll need to sketch a copy and send it to Master Arienos.”

There was something odd about how smooth the top of the tower was considering how weathered the stones everywhere else were. Xyn ran his finger across and tapped a claw against the surface. It felt like glass, and there were scorch marks around where the floor met the ramparts. A lot of effort had gone into preparing whatever was done here.

“Hmm… there’s some kind of film over the inner part of the design,” Yillian noted as he moved and tilted his head to get a different view. “I think I should send a sample of this as well.”

Xyn watched curiously as Yillian tore off a square of paper, and after rubbing it against the film, rolled it up and placed it into a stoppered glass vial, but after watching a few minutes of Yillian sketching the design, Xyn was getting bored and couldn’t help wanting to check the cellars, just to make sure.

“I’m going to see if they left any other clues.”

When Yillian waved him away, Xyn took the creaky stairs down into the interior of the tower. The wood-plank floor of the level below was mostly intact but covered in bat droppings and actually smelled worse than a certain human fort. Xyn paused a moment for his eyes to adjust to the sudden darkness before continuing down the stairs.

There were no further floors, and the stairs spiraled around the outer wall of the tower all the way to the bottom floor. Xyn’s passage worryingly caused dust to trickle down into the space below, accompanied by the occasional piece of debris or loose wood. The late afternoon sun was still catching the hole in the tower to cast a beam of light against the interior.

Dropping down, Xyn fluttered to ground level where the odd-shaped mounds of guano-covered debris were being overgrown with moss, mushrooms, and tufts of grass. Digging out the cellar entrance wasn’t looking like an appealing task. On the other paw—er, hand—if the entrance had been sealed since the damage to the tower, there might be treasure to be had.

Having re-motivated himself, he seeped his aura into the new soil and circuited the walls, navigating the rubble where necessary and trying to detect the location of the way down. Luck was on his side. The trapdoor covering the opening was on a side with minimal rubble and a much thinner layer of ‘soil’.

Motivated or not, scrapping away a layer of bat shit (and maybe worse) with his hands was not going to happen. That meant using aura or a tool, and his sword wasn’t exactly the sort of tool suited to the task.

The approach he decided on was just a more aura intensive application of his aura training from when he was younger.

After increasing the moisture saturation of the soil in the target area to soften it up and make it more like mud, Xyn formed a small dustdevil, adding water to the miniature tornado until he had a whirling water spout with which to scour the surface clear, revealing a heavy trapdoor with an iron pull ring.

The process took more than half his aura, but with a screech of long rusted hinges, he pulled the door open, revealing a cobwebbed space below.

Making use of a still intact ladder attached to the wall inside the opening, Xyn lowered himself down, casting out his aura to detect threats and wrapping himself in a thin layer of mist to keep the cobwebs at bay.

Nothing remained alive in the eerie space just barely illuminated enough from the open trapdoor for his eyes to make out a scene of empty or rotting barrels and empty storage racks. Even the spiders had long since died of starvation.

Disappointed, Xyn Petal-stepped his way back to the top of the tower to meditate in the gently blowing winds and replenish his expended aura.

“Didn’t find anything?” Yillian asked sometime later.

“Even the cellar was empty,” Xyn growled, still annoyed that he had put in all that work for nothing. But if he was honest with himself, not checking the cellar would have bugged him for weeks. So, at least now he would have peace of mind. “You’d think with all the effort put into this-” He motioned at ritual circle. “-surely, they would have done something in the cellar. But, nope. Not even anything left from when the tower was abandoned.”

“You’ll be glad to hear we’re just about done here then,” Yillian offered in consolation while packing up his writing supplies.

“Finally!” Xyn’s stomach chose that moment to growl like a hungry tiger.

Yillian couldn’t help laughing. “Good thing for you the inn is our next stop.”

Xyn ignored the easily amused half-elf and took out a strip of dried bear to gnaw on. Still, even if his fellow initiate was a surprisingly good cook, a real home-cooked meal didn’t sound too bad.

The half-elf folded the sketch and rolled it around the vial with the sample and tied the resulting package with a bit of twine.

Xyn was curious how Yillian intended to get the package to Master Arienos, and as he watched, the half-elf took out a magic scroll, unrolling it and placing the small package on top. When the young mage pushed energy into the scroll, a magic bird like the one Xyn had seen in Shir`lyn formed, grabbed the package with its talons, and flew off to the east.

So cool!

Elf magic was so useful! Xyn couldn’t help feeling a little jealous.

Xyn used the wood spoon and the fresh bread provided with the meal to scoop up the thick stew. The stew was different from what his mom would make, and it wasn’t elegant like the meals his grandmother would have prepared but, rather, had a hearty feel to it and was filling.

The drink called ‘ale’ by the humans complemented it well enough, and as hungry as he was, the meal could almost be considered enjoyable if not for the smell and sight of sweaty, dirt-covered humans gathering for their evening meals. As far as Xyn could tell, Yillian didn’t seem to be minding it much and was apparently more focused on listening in on the locals’ inane conversations.

“You are sure that this was everything found in his room?”

“Yes, milady. His items looked expensive, so we made sure to carefully store everything when he didn’t return after the night of the lights and strange chanting.”

Oh? Xyn’s ears perked up at a conversation different from the others.

As a proper spy, Xyn tried to not be obvious while taking a glance at the female talking to the innkeeper. When the human female turned to address a man in armor next to her, Xyn couldn’t help drawing in a breath of surprise and staring.

She was young, around the same age as him if he had to guess, but that wasn’t what made his breath catch. Her mane was glorious like autumn fire, pulled back into braids and ringlets, and her eyes were like beautiful glowing jade, flashing with strength. And her strength made his heart thump in his chest. Xyn had no idea how he hadn’t noticed her enter the room, her aura was as fierce as her hair.

But! He couldn’t let himself be tricked again. He checked and this one had prominent mammaries and was wearing a ruffled dress. He should be safe!

This was the one! He had found his mate!

Xyn found himself on his feet drawing closer to the source of his desire. He wouldn’t miss his chance; this time he would stake his claim.

“Xyn…” Yillian whispered worriedly, then more frantically in Elvish, “Wait! What are you doing?!”

But Xyn only had eyes (and ears) for the one before him—the female whose eyes were narrowing at his approach.

“Human female, I seek to claim you. Name your champion. I will defeat him and claim your heart.”

A groan came from Yillian who had hurried to stand in support of Xyn’s challenge, and a ruckus broke out as humans hurriedly scurried away or made for the exits. Xyn understood his companion’s reluctance but was surprised and glad that the half-elf would back his claim as his Second even though they had only known each other for a paw-ful of days.

The armored men drew their swords, announcing their candidacy for the honor of champion. Xyn thought it strange to fight here in the inn, but he honored them by drawing his own from over his shoulder, flicking it to the side and filling it with aura to fix the shape of the flexible metal in place.

“Be careful, Lady Ayla. This cat-kin is dangerous,” one of the guards warned for some reason. Maybe he was posturing to be chosen over the other.

The female smiled the smile of a hunter seeing tasty prey as she drew her own sword, a narrow blade with artful filigree for a hand guard. “You have courage to be stating your intentions so boldly in public. I need no champion to fight my battles, cat-kin.”

Xyn’s heart soared! It wasn’t unusual for a female hunter to fight as her own champion, but to find a human female who would! He was overjoyed. She would make great kits. With her, his kits would be hunters for sure!

“Did you make that same challenge to my cousin before you kidnapped him, cultist?”

Xyn euphoric state was thrown into confusion at her words, and he almost missed the flare of aura as she flashed forward and struck.

The pain of her sword slicing a shallow gash in his side cut through his foolish bravery. He would have been disemboweled had he not Petal-stepped to the side at the last second—and her attack was still coming!

Panicking, he quickly deflected the series of stabs that followed, using the mirror surface of his sword and the Fluttering Petal technique to reflect the light into the eyes of the female noble and her guards.

When the female jumped back and guarded her face, Xyn wrapped them in the Fog of Lost Souls and threw Yillian over his shoulder with an “oof!” from the half-elf as he Petal-stepped past the kitchen and out the back of the inn.

What was he thinking?! Was he an idiot?! And he ended up running away like a coward. There was no way she would accept him now even if she didn’t think he was a cultist!

“Quick! They’re getting away!” the noble’s voice rang out.

Ack! Had she escaped the illusion already?!

Xyn frantically looked around for a place to hide but there was no time. Yillian was sucking wind from his shoulder, so there wouldn’t be any help from that direction. Glancing back at the inn, a solution came to him, and he quickly Petal-stepped from windowsill to crossbeam to sill until he was on the thatched roof, where he deposited Yillian in the shadow of one of the chimneys. Ducking down himself, he managed to create a mist clone of himself carrying Yillian through the field behind the inn just in time as the noble and her guards rushed out of the inn.

“Where’d he go?! They couldn’t have gone far!” she called out.

“There!” one of the guards announced, pointing at the illusion.

Xyn directed the fleeing illusion onto the north road out of the village.

“Prepare the carriage!” the noble ordered. “We can’t let them get away!”

When they rushed for the stables, he let the illusion dissipate.

“Ugh. That was too close,” Xyn breathed out under his breath as he sheathed his sword and wrapped himself and Yillian in a muffling and obscuring illusion.

“You know, you sent them in the same direction we need to go, right?” Yillian muttered with an eyeroll, having finally regained his breath after having the wind knocked out of him by their escape.

Ugh! He was completely right! Xyn groaned to himself and was about to admit his screw up when he thought of a way to save face. “That’s the main way out of the village, so it’s not like there was much choice. Besides, when they reach the crossroads, won’t they be more likely to think we’d take the road back to Mirewood and the Beastlands?”

Yillian snorted. “You just thought of that right now, didn’t you?”

The half-elf was too damn sharp! Xyn had no reply and pretended to keep watch for people looking for them.

A sigh escaped from Yillian. “Dare I ask what was even going on in that cat-brain of yours?”

“…It’s embarrassing,” Xyn admitted, not really wanting to talk about it.

“I’ll say!” Yillian huffed and grumbled, “That’ll be the last time I let you order any alcoholic beverages, for sure. I can’t believe that anyone is that weak to alcohol!”

Ah! Was that what happened? He’d have to test it when they were some place safer. That would be a critical weakness for a spy!

The throbbing in his side brought Xyn’s attention back to his wound. His aura was preventing further blood loss by controlling his blood flow, but the wound would need to be treated soon. Fortunately, it didn’t seem as deep as he first thought. Unfortunately, his shirt was ruined. Only one of the three he brought still remained in good shape, his first shirt and pants set having fallen victim to a tangleweed before he discovered the Rippling Strikes technique. His robe would have to be stitched though as he didn’t have a spare for that. Not wanting to allow the blood to stain the fabric further, he used a small amount of aura to draw as much blood as he could out of the fabric and back into the wound.

“You going to be okay there?” Yillian motioned at where the blood had blotted his clothing. “I’d treat the wound and bandage you up, but my supplies are with our packs in the room.”

Noticing the way his feet were sinking into the thatch, Xyn came up with an idea. “I think we can part the thatch enough to get back into the inn through the attic.”

Yillian motioned for quiet as the noble’s carriage was finally hitched to the horses and she and her guards rode past on their way out of the village.

With some effort, the pair stealthily made their way back to their room without being seen. Yillian was good to his word, treating and bandaging the wound. The stiches had hurt something fierce, and Yillian told him that knowing the stitching hurt worse than the wound would be a good reminder not to be stupid next time.

Xyn wanted to find out from the innkeeper about the noble’s cousin since that seemed important to their assignment from Master Arienos, but Yillian thought it too risky for them to be seen, and they decided to sneak out of the village and find a small copse of trees or gully to camp in for the night.

Getting the packs through the thatching took effort, but with no one the wiser, the pair of initiates soon disappeared into the dark of evening. In the morning, they would go north at the crossroads and head to the town of Clear River Crossing where they would investigate House Arden.