Chapter Eight Mother Luna shone bright where Lenny had been. Her gentle rays had somehow invigorated Lenny’s mind, sending great swathes of purple and green in and around the dirty, thin man. Silent One could see what most could not. He could see that the drunk’s essence reserves were more than large enough to grant him the abilities of a true Ta’ seer. Silent One had watched the man talk to more than a couple of passersby from afar before building up the courage to go up to him. Seeing Lenny for what he believed to be reverent, Silent One had given the entire sack of coin to Lenny as payment for letting him use the spot for just a few moments. Creator knew he needed the rest. Lenny had hesitated only slightly before taking the offered pouch. In hopes of avoiding being bothered, the bandaged man had cast a crude image of Lenny over his visage and willed shadows to cover the image’s eyes. He was tired and knew which areas he struggled in, making believable eyes was one of them. They always ended up looking... off. One too high, one too small, usually the iris looked melted, so it was best to cover them altogether if he could. Adorned in his false skin Silent One allowed himself to fall into a short, shallow slumber. Utterly aware of the man who was laying behind a nearby stone wall, Silent One cast a small charm on the bottle between his legs. It would act as a radar of sorts and make the man in hiding think he was awake. He’d not gotten but ten minutes of some well-needed rest before she was there. Silent One assumed her bulging pack meant she was out for food, so there was no reason for her to be in this area, where food was obviously in low supply. Silent One struggled not to speak, not to explode in a fit of rage laden concern, as he so dangerously desired. He was tired, weary from casting so much... but her safety would keep him up to the night’s end. It nearly shattered Silent One’s very core when she posed her question. When she asked the shadow Lenny about him. Distracted by the fatigued young woman Silent One, almost missed when the bottle stopped searching and started pointing. He couldn’t use his sight because the sapphire glow would definitely draw attention now, especially coming from Lenny, but he had seen her soon enough. Heria was the name he heard in her brief exchange with the starving Wilder girl. An Alta woman... An Alta woman who wore the White of the Councilor’s estate guard. Silent One felt conflicted about jumping into action. It was apparent that the young Nomad could handle herself but she seemed worn, stumbling every so often with her heavy pack wrapped tight on her back. He also desperately wanted to feed his bloodlust upon seeing Heria’s immaculate white armor. Silent One chose to respect the Nomad’s strength and simply watched the two until they bolted by him and ran to the rooftops. The young woman was swaying ever so slightly. The bulging pack the young woman wore had slowed her down enough to make it a fair chase for Heria, who lumbered around oblivious to the intricate Ta’ carving replicated in her armor; armor that shone brilliantly enough Silent One could track it from afar with ease. Silent One gave their hidden onlooker a quick salute before he pursued. Smart man. The Alta woman would’ve flattened the older eavesdropper in seconds and each had seen that their friend from the Wilders was no easy target herself. No matter the man’s intent, he hoped his salute would hold the tentative peace between them in place. One thing at a time. Heria had his full attention as he sprinted onward. For much of Noctra’s history the land of the Ta’ was the only truly safe place for what his people referred to as The Blessed. He’d seen as many Alta as he had Ta’, Nomads, and Trallens combined in his childhood. Men, women, unidentified, and uncategorized sexes and genders abound, not a single Alta truly looked the same but their conditions followed one absolute rule; they were only blessed by one sacred Wilder-beast. Silent One had seen Alta with full hound snouts, ears, and eyes but a man’s body, a man’s voice, and intelligence. Some had animal bodies and human faces, some had one finger of a beast, others had nothing “human” to show. Always from the same beast no matter the severity. Heria, however, had the arms of one animal and jaw of another with wicked scars down each side of her face and shoulders. He also couldn’t fathom a reason an Alta would choose to wear the armor of The Grand Councilor, but it couldn’t matter. If he used his Venerable Sight he knew it would be easier to track Heria, even a false Alta would put off immense residual essence, but it could also give away his position, so Silent One moved on trusting tired eyes to guide him in the pale light of Luna. It didn’t take long for the two women to lose him between the myriad of towering white buildings. Cursing his worn state and pushing his protesting muscles to the furthest corners of his mind, Silent One raced on towards where he had seen the last shadow disappear. He noted that as they moved northward that the homes and streets became nicer, more immaculate, and pristine than their southern neighbors. More guards and Watchers were also stationed in these areas. Even with a large bulk of them flooding to the southern border, it was at least double the personnel who had been stationed on the wall. Their armors were more exquisite as well and he was certain if he used his sight there would be faint communication lines running from each one. Silent One reprimanded himself for using such reserves of energy and essence for his morbid display before but he was sure he would find the strength to push through. He had to; the young woman from the Wilders wouldn’t have been there had she not come looking for him. He wouldn’t forgive himself if anything befell her. Silent One slowed his pace despite the panic that had begun to overtake him. Bending his knees far as they would go he crouched, arms out to his sides nearly parallel to the ground, he undulated his arms up and down slowly as he moved. Knowing it would benefit him to save energy he didn’t cast any shadows or tricks to hide his presence; fortunately there was little need with how dark the night had become. There was no sight of the Wilder woman or Heria the Alta from the streets and Silent One was forced to scale a large building nearby to scan the area. Aware of the guards and Watchers swarming rooftops and upper levels he decided he would actually need to cast a slight shade over himself. Had he been at full strength the task would have been minimal, but being so drained after using such copious amounts of essence, the effort was great enough to tense his muscle and illicit a cold sweat that ran between his shoulder blades. Silent One's ascent was slow and cautious, making him shake with strain as his fingers gripped at crumbling stones and ledges unwilling to offer a reprieve. As immaculately detailed as northern Blancanan homes seemed, they too suffered from sufficient decay. Nearly every piece he latched onto trembled along with him, sending dust down onto Silent One more than once. He realized then that the city truly was a new wilderness; one he had not tamed. Yet. It eased him a little to hear the older man who followed behind him struggling. He tailed Silent One at what was deemed a safe distance, stopping and laying flat against the building every few feet in time with the climbing Ta’. It was a laborious event, leaping from shadow to shadow cast by the wall and towers above, stopping, and repeating to avoid alerting any guards. The higher he climbed the more the northern districts looked occupied, as opposed to protected. Just about every rooftop held two armed bodies, shifting shadows revealed there was scarcely a break in Watcher’s numbers on the towers and pathways above. At the top of a lovely, crumbling building, with a heaving man in the shadows below him, Silent One felt safe using his sight. High up as he was, most would think him an oddly placed es-torch… hopefully. Sapphire light escaped beneath his bandages and illuminated the world around him in swarming signatures of essence. A calming storm to his eyes, a familiar place among the unknown; something he knew how to interpret. Heria’s essence signature frenzied like a vicious gale of purple and red winds that darted away before circling back around, dwarfing all others around her. He knew these surges were the Alta woman lashing out, enhancing her strength for each strike she made. Silent One saw no indication of the lone Wilder woman’s presence but between slight gusts of wind and monotonous chatter of guards he could hear steel ringing, slashing, striking off of stone and armor. He wasted no more time. Once more he neglected the pain and fatigue that attacked his body and leapt, willing the last of his own essence to make an unseen path through the air. One, two, three, four steps and Silent One was falling towards a lower roof, likely that of a shop instead of home because no guards were stationed nearby. He rolled and slid a few inches. No alarms sounded. No Watchers were screaming above him. Silent One was in the clear. Taking the chance while it was presented he knelt and bowed his head, letting the Venerable Sight’s glow fade as he closed his eyes beneath sweat-soaked wrappings. One long breath in, two short out as his wrist stumps pressed against the rooftop, framework hands disassembling in sync, wrapping around his forearms like thin bracers while he prayed. Mother Noctra, grant me the audience, bless me with your essence, so I may find peace. So I may restore balance. Ta’ Noi, my Mother. Reversing the flow of his will he began to slowly siphon essence from his surroundings, accepting Noctra’s great gifts without any reservations. Pulled from the rooftop beneath his wrists, small flecks of emerald shone for an instant before he absorbed them. Blue, yellow, and red intermingled before fading as he muted their glow as well. A searing jolt ran through his body before the essence was accepted and quickly faded into a warmth that reinvigorated every atom, propelling Silent One back to his full potential, if not beyond. He couldn’t accurately guess to what value, but each sense was immediately heightened, and suddenly he knew nearby streets by their smells and sounds; their very essence. Silent One could tell from salt on cool winds he was near a port. Wafts of metal hung on the air mixing with the sweet scents of fruits and delicacies still displayed by late faring merchants. It was a sweet-bitter taste on his tongue, one he didn't much mind in truth. However, layered beneath the scents of sweet-bitter salted air, Silent One recognized the stench of death. Decay. A haunting musk that overpowered and dulled all else to his sense of smell. An aroma he'd come to know all too well. Steel gray bracers sped back down his arms, becoming tightly clenched fist, as if of their own volition. Later, he reasoned weakly with his own rage. There were more pressing matters to attend to. And Silent One wouldn’t be forgetting where that stench was any time soon. The man who had followed him was getting quite the show in his secrets, though Silent One felt at ease. He sensed no malice from the shadow, curiously watching from a flat perch on the building he himself had just sprang from. Sparks flickered from his wrists as essence entered into his body, probably looked like shining dew to the older man who he could hear breathing heavily, speaking softly to himself. “ Oh shit..” the shadows rustled above as the man shook his head frantically, “ Okay, okay.. I can do this. Just down the way I came and I'll.. uhm… no, too much time she might be gone by- ah.” The shadow flattened his body so fiercely, Silent One imagined the man must feel himself absorbing sharp stones like a thousand short blades. The stranger went quiet; bracing against a fierce wind. Silent One could hear the breathing above him slow. He could also hear a quickly receding heartbeat growing more steady as seconds passed, completely calmed by the time Noctra’s breath had faded. Impressed by his pursuer's resolve and control, Silent One decided to offer a hand. By the man’s remark about “she” and the fact that he followed peaceably, Silent One figured they both had the same destination anyway. Charged to the brim with essence that excited the center of every cell in his body, Silent One cast another invisible path above. When he’d cast his own path it laid out like a staircase, even in his drained state he knew where he was going. The man above was granted no such luxury; to him it would look like empty space but feel like a solid patch of ground. Unfortunately, they had little time for the man to figure it out on his own as the erratic clanging of steel and reverberating thooms nearby had ceased. Harboring an ill feeling in his guts about what that could mean, Silent One pushed a gust of his own creation with the timing of Noctra’s breath, causing nearby buildings to shudder. Though slight, it proved enough to knock the man’s footing loose. He fell only a few inches before hitting his path but still managed to let out a petrified yelp. Luckily it seemed no guards noticed over the hearty winds and crashing waves on the coast. Silent One blessed Noctra for her fortune and willed the invisible path to slant at such a steep angle the still gawking man above quickly slid downwards towards his own position. As a preemptive measure he willed a small dome of air around the man to absorb any screams or shouts of pandemonium, which proved ever useful. As expected. What Silent One had not expected, however, was for the falling man to cast so quickly himself. Their essence collided and suddenly Silent One knew this man. He’d felt more than seen the man’s... Patri’s... life in an instant. He knew why this guild leader passionately sought the woman from the Wilders, Amberosin, and that he feared Heria the Alta. He could feel the man’s love for his partner, someone named Senfe, blooming with heat in his own chest. Each passing second as Patri slid towards Silent One flooded him with memories and feelings that quickly melded into his own. Patri seemed oblivious to the accidental leeching as he slammed into the rooftop still screaming for a moment before realizing he had landed safely. The unseen dome kept the sound muffled and Silent One only smiled at Patri beneath his bandages. This man was to be a friend, he could tell. His mind and heart were still being swarmed with Patri’s past when he sprang forward and grabbed the man by the wrist, dragging the old thief’s tiring muscles past their limit as they sprinted towards an ever empty street. Hoping they would not be too late. Amberosin. He let the images from Patri’s life flash before his eyes and pinpointed her in his memories as his feet glided across the increasingly pristine marble streets. Just hold on a few more minutes. Please.