Nyx blinked up at the wooden beams holding up the floor above, trying to recall where she was. A moment later the faint scent of her prey tickled her sensitive nose and flashes of memory of the day before filled her mind as she indulged in the pleasure of Aster’s scent and her own body.

She glanced around for her twin to find him sitting at a table in the corner and polishing his sword. She gave a slight groan coming down from her fragrant high as the arousing smell was barely in the room anymore. She knew she had wasted time, a lot of it, but she had been so frustrated and he had smelled soooo good. Just the memory was making her crave more already and she forced herself to sit up in the bed. The sooner she got moving, the sooner she could smell and finally taste the real thing.

“Welcome back to reality,” Lux said with slight mirth and annoyance mixed in his tone. He found her delirious trips to be both frustrating and endearing which caused him an endless amount of headache to try and come to terms with. “Shall we get going? We’ve lost valuable time to your hedonism.”

She rolled her eyes at him, quipping back, “I hope you remember this when you find someone that sounds as good as he smells.”

It was his turn to roll his eyes as he sheathed his enchanted sword and stood, placing it back at his hip. “I doubt there is such a person. Now get dressed, we have people to contact and information to gather.”

She groaned but obeyed, grabbing her discarded clothing off the floor and donning it once more. She made an elaborate gesture towards the door, “Lead the way, dearest brother, Paladin of the Minister’s Order and Magistrate of the Enclave’s Shadows.”

He scowled at her and grabbed his shield that was leaning against the wall and slung it over his shoulder. He walked past her and led them out.

They meandered through the city, heading towards its center and trying to pick up the trail again. The twins were especially gifted at tracking with the special abilities they had been born with. Nyx had Magic Scent and Lux had Magic Sound.

Magic Scent

Effect: Smell the magic in the air around you.

Duration: ∞

Cooldown: None

Cost: None

Magic Sound

Effect: Hear the magic in the air around you.

Duration: ∞

Cooldown: None

Cost: None

They were extremely rare abilities and had been an invaluable tool for them over the years, quickly elevating their status within the ranks of the Shadows. While Nyx’s ability wasn’t as obtrusive as Lux’s it seemed to have a more addictive side effect for her, as Lux was witness to the day before. Lux’s ability manifested more as a unique sound that people gave off. The closer he was or the stronger the magic, the louder the sound became. It was better for measuring and identifying people’s affinities and strength, however, rather than tracking them around like Nyx’s. People didn’t leave a trail of sound behind them like their lingering magical odor did.

It annoyed him at times, and he would often find himself wishing that he had gotten the better nose, until Nyx’s episodes reminded him that he at least got to keep control of himself by dealing with the annoying hums.

It was almost midday again, and they had been trying to follow Nyx’s nose for hours in between meeting with different Shadow members and some associates of their information network, asking about potential sightings.

They had just decided to stop for some lunch when a sound gradually grew louder over the constant din of the crowd’s normal hum in Lux’s ears. He hated crowds due to the cacophony he had to force himself to ignore normally but this sound that continued to rise above the others forced him to look for it’s source. It was a harsher sound than he preferred, like trumpets screeching through a blizzard, and it put him on edge.

His gaze fell upon a tall pale Winter Elf being led through the crowd by a dwarf with their short beard on the sides instead of the usual chin, cheeks and mustache that most sported. Lux stared at the young bespectacled male and focused intently on the three symbols displayed through the wisps of silvery hair on his forehead: water, ice and illusion. Just like their target’s noble companion.

He touched Nyx’s arm to get her attention and nodded towards him. Her eyes followed his stare and as she saw the elf she gave a grin and quickly slipped through the crowd towards him.

She returned to his side a moment later, informing him, “The scent is on him. It’s definitely one of the party members but our quarry is not here.”

“Grab a Shadow to tail him. We gather a bit more information and a force large enough to handle them.” He grimaced slightly, still not taking his eyes off Saelak, “His magic is obscenely raucous.”

Nyx gave a small frown as she added, “I think the water I smelled from our prey actually comes from the elf’s presence always so near. Alone it’s more like a-” she searched for the words for a moment, “a cold mint tea? Probably the closest comparison but it is sharp and strong,” she said with a hint of annoyance.

“Well hopefully he’ll lead us to that scent you prefer and ideally we can strike when they are not together like now,” Lux said as he gestured for Nyx to go grab someone to follow the elf while he kept track of him on his own.

Several minutes later Nyx returned with one such lackey, a young dwarf that would easily blend with the crowd, finding Lux easily again with her nose, and handing the newcomer a communication sphere, giving strict instructions to follow and get ahold of them once they knew where the target’s party was staying or going to.

Nyx almost begged Lux to let her follow the elf herself so that she might find the source of her aromatic desire sooner but knew that she needed to help organize the hunting party for actually capturing them. So she reluctantly followed her brother to one of their safe houses, letting the elf fade from sight and scent.

Later that evening Lux’s communication sphere hummed with vibration and gave a soft glow before he sent his mana into it and spoke with the Shadow on the other side, “They’re stayin’ at a small smithy shop on the eastern wall called A Knight’s Might, there’s a place above the shop that they seem to be havin’ a celebration in right now.” the dwarf relayed.

Nyx leaned in excitedly, “Can we strike now, brother?!”

Lux waved her back as he responded to the sphere, “Good work, we won’t be able to make it tonight most likely as we’re still gathering fighters, keep tailing them, they most likely think they are safe and will continue staying there but let us know if that changes. Do not be seen or you will learn regret for giving away our element of surprise.” He cut off his mana feed before the dwarf could say anything more and glared at his sister. “If we rush in without being fully prepared we’re going to end up just like Ryden’s party, or have you forgotten so quickly what became of them?”

Her expression soured but she nodded, understanding the wisdom of his words even if she didn’t mind the risk. “So tomorrow?” she asked with a note of hope.

Lux slowly nodded, “Ideally tomorrow evening when the streets won’t be so busy and less chance of others interfering with our operation.” She gave him a grin and nod and they went back to planning and gathering more fighters and mages to overwhelm the group.

Aster’s head was pounding as he awoke to find Donoma sitting on his bed beside him offering him a steaming cup. “Here, this’ll help da headache go away,” she said.

He sat up, taking the cup gratefully and burning his tongue slightly before remembering to blow on it a bit first to sip at the soothing tea, feeling the warmth spread and the relief come quickly to his addled mind. The memories of what happened slowly returned and he looked at Donoma, asking cautiously, “So… do you remember much?”

She gave an embarrassed grin, shaking her head and replying, “Unfortunately yes, I can’t believe I told Saelak ta use da nickname me mam gave me when I was a wee lass.”

Aster gave a sympathetic chuckle, “Well, at least you went to bed after that.”

Donoma raised an eyebrow at him, “Oh? Somethin’ even more embarrassin’ happen after?”

He flushed and before he could say anything the door creaked open and Saelak looked in saying, “Oh good, you got him some of that.” He glanced at Aster for a moment before blushing and looking away asking, “So, um, what, uh- last night… um-”

Aster interrupted with a half-hearted laugh, “You know, I think those drinks were a bit too strong for me. I don’t really remember anything that happened after we finished the food.” He couldn’t meet their eyes as he lied, trying to save them all from further awkwardness.

Saelak just blinked at him for a moment before a mixture of hurt and relief passed over his face as he returned the half-hearted chuckle, “Heh, yeah we were all pretty out of it, huh?”

Donoma gave Aster a sidelong glance before nodding at Saelak, “Yup, let’s not do dat again fer a while.” She stood then and made to leave. “Well, let's all finish our recovery teas and get ready ta head ta da mines. I’m sure Slava is excited ta extract our labor today.”

The men nodded silently and Saelak returned to help Slava down in the shop as Aster got properly dressed for going out. He packed his things in his small spacial bag just in case he would need something and joined the others before Slava made sure the shop was locked up for the day with a small sign on the door apologizing for being closed and to return tomorrow for any would-be customers and if it was an emergency to contact the Mining Corp which was in charge of handling and organizing mine expeditions and access.

The group was uncharacteristically quiet on their morning trek to the Southern side of the cavern as the city slowly started to awaken. Aster kept his head down, not wanting his marks to be seen nor wanting to accidentally make eye contact with his companions.

“You lied, Aster.” Hitsuki’s voice whispered in his mind. It wasn’t the scathing accusation that he had half-hoped for but more a statement of fact.

“I know.” He thought back at her. Not wanting to elaborate further. He was well aware that they knew why he did it.

“You never lie.” Imbratisa’s strong accent added, with a hint of disapproval mixed with surprise.

“You forget all those lies of omission, not letting anyone know about my past life.” he didn’t want to have this conversation right now but he could feel the guilt eating away at him.

“This is different, this lie is to shield yourself, not them.” Rosabella said softly. Aptly hitting the nail on the head as to why his lie left him so unsettled. “You may lie to yourself that it was to save face, but we know it was so you could keep running away.”

The three went silent then and he knew they wouldn’t push it further for now, having said what they wanted to and calling him on his cowardice. He knew they were right, he knew he was running from this part of himself. He was just unsure of himself, and at a loss of how to figure out how he felt and what he wanted.

He was grateful that both his party members seemed to go along with his obvious deception, though. He wasn’t sure how they felt either, if they wanted to change their group dynamic at all, or if it was all just a drunken mistake that showed their weaknesses.

He tried to put his worries out of his mind as they reached the guarded area that controlled the access of people into the dwarven mines. Slava had signed them up to go down a shaft known to have an abundance of iron and refill his stock so Aster decided to focus on the task now at hand and put his relationship troubles aside.

A young dwarf spoke quietly into a glowing sphere, watching the odd group walking down the road heading South, “It looks like all of them are heading out now.” It was still early but a few commuters were out and about already so the dwarf’s presence wouldn’t cause any suspicion as they strode up to read the sign on the door nonchalantly, “Looks like they’re headin’ for the Mines today. Says they’ll be open tomorrow so they’ll probably return later this evening.”

Lux’s voice came from the small orb, “Excellent, keep tracking them to make sure the target remains with the party and contact us if that changes or once they’ve returned to their lodgings.”

“Yes, Magistrate.” the dwarf replied before realizing that the response hadn’t been necessary as the paladin had cut off their call once more. A bit put-out by the obvious pawn treatment, the Shadow Acolyte followed the target down the path, mingling with the crowd whenever possible but being forced to a halt once they crossed the boundaries into the mines. They decided to find a good place to wait out the group’s return where they could easily see the entrance and made themself comfortable.