Chapter Thirteen

Shuka was sitting on a bench outside of an apartment building, nervously fiddling with a stick. She had been there for a few hours now and at this point, and night had already fallen so she was having a hard time seeing anything. This was a bad thing as she was supposed to be looking for someone.

What do I do? I can barely see and if I don’t find Hector then Anirak will be mad at me again. I don’t know how many more times I can fuck up before she gets fed up with me. The curse probably isn’t helping in that regard either.

Shuka recalled Anirak’s little outburst a few hours prior and was not looking for a repeat of that situation.

But do I even want to find him? After all, I doubt what she wants to do with him will be very nice. I would rather not have to do any of that, but I would rather not suffer the consequences of failure even more.

There was no good option but there was a worse option so Shuka found herself desperately straining her eyes against the dark. It wasn’t helping. She could occasionally see vague shapes moving around, but it wasn’t enough to actually identify someone.

Should I be going up to people and talking to them? It would make it a lot easier to see their faces and even if they’re not who I’m looking for I can ask them about him. But I hardly enjoy talking to people normally, pestering strangers in the streets sounds like torture. Maybe Anirak will find him inside and I wont even have to do anything.

Anirak was the one who found out he lived in the apartment in the first place. She went into the Temple after her conversation with Shuka and came back with the information not even ten minutes later. Now she was in the building asking around and trying to find his specific apartment.

Maybe I could run. If I quickly go back to the inn, I might be able to convince Xorvos and Ralisdor to leave Rockmarsh before the Thieves Guild finds out I left. Or they will now the instant I bail and by the time I reach the inn they will have already set up an ambush.

A finger tapped Shuka on the shoulder twice. She almost jumped out of her skin as she turned around and saw Anirak standing directly behind her with a mischievous smile on her face.

“Well, well, well, aren’t you supposed to be keeping watch? I snuck right past you and you didn’t even notice.”

“I’m sorry but it’s so dark out I can’t see anything. I was keeping an eye out I swear but it’s so hard during the night.”

“Hah, I knew you would freak out. Don’t worry, I know you have crappy human eyes, so I came back to help you out. I wasn’t making much progress on the inside anyway.”

Anirak vaulted over the bench and sat down in it herself.

Well, there goes any plan of escaping. At least she’s here to help.

The two women sat there for a few minutes in silence before Anirak noticed something.

“Hey, eyes up. There’s a Gnoll making his way towards us. Don’t worry though I think I recognise him.”

Shuka looked up to where her companion was pointing and saw a figure moving towards them. All she could tell was that it was roughly person shaped but Anirak seemed sure that it was a Gnoll.

“Stay here and keep an eye on the apartment. I’m going to talk to him.”

“Sure, but the best I will be able to do is tell if anyone enters or leaves, I won’t be able to see the details.”

“That’s fine, just tell me about them after I get back.”

And with that she got up and sauntered over to the Gnoll.

That’s a shame, I was kind of hoping to meet him. I’ve never actually met a Gnoll before, only seen them at a distance. Oh well, I’m sure I will meet at least one on this journey.

A few minutes of quiet conversation later Anirak returned to Shuka with an extra spring in her step.

“Good news. That was a guildmate I was just talking to and he told me he spotted good old Hector at the Rockmarsh Bank barely fifteen minutes ago. I don’t know what he’s doing there but if we hurry, I bet we can catch him.”

“I thought we were the only ones looking for him. Did you ask the Guild for more help?”

“We are the only ones actively looking for him but when I got his physical description, I spread the word that I was looking for him. Scurry over there was just minding his own business when he happened to spot our guy and decided to let me know.”

That’s… surprisingly nice of him. I guess even thieves can help each other out.

“Well, if we know where he is, I guess we better get moving.”

*

Validus was tired. He had been riding almost nonstop for the last few days going from settlement to settlement trying to inform as many people as possible of the witch he encountered. The fact that he had to trek through miles of swampland didn’t help either.

She can’t hide forever, but I fear my efforts will not be enough. What is stopping her from simply bewitching the townsfolk? Or weaving an illusion few could pierce? She did not seem that powerful in a fight but all that means is her strength lies in more subtle magic.

These thoughts troubled him all throughout his journey, but they were put at ease now that he had returned to Rockmarsh.

Now that I’m back I can teleport to Sidus and report that nefarious duo to Grand Priest Mervil. I am sure after he learns of their danger, he will grant me additional forces to help in my search. But for now, I will rest.

Validus was making his way towards an inn when a lone woman rushed up to him.

“Help, help, please somebody help me!”

“What is wrong? I will help any way that I can.”

“Oh thank the gods. I overheard a dark-haired lady talking about how she was going to steal something from the Rockmarsh Vault with a Quanso. I told the City Watch, but they won’t believe me.”

Dark haired lady and a Quanso? That must be the witch I am pursuing. If she managed to hide herself in Rockmarsh this entire time without being found, then she must be more powerful than I thought.

“I will apprehend her immediately. Please direct me to the vault where this crime will take place.”

“At the end of the main road leading towards the mountain there is a tunnel leading into it. Go through the tunnel until you reach the Rockmarsh Bank at the center. The vault is located directly underneath the bank.”

“Thank you, your help will not be forgotten.”

With a destination in mind, Validus set his horse racing down the street.

You won’t get away this time witch.

*

Xorvos was lost. He had been searching for Shuka for the last few hours but before he knew it the sun had gone down. While some streets were well lit with mage lights lighting the way, others were not. Xorvos was rather shocked to find entire sections of the city left in complete darkness. It made traversing those sections very difficult for those who could not see in the dark.

I am never going to find Shuka like this. I might as well go back to the inn and wait for her to get back, if I am lucky, she will already be there. I just wish I knew what direction the inn is.

After wandering around for half an hour Xorvos finally found his way back to one of the well-lit sections of the city.

Oh good. This looks like one of the main streets that run through Rockmarsh. I am sure that if I go down this road long enough, I will find at least something I recognise.

Xorvos was about to step onto the road when he heard hooves approaching. Looking down the street he saw a fast-approaching horse and its rather shiny rider. Xorvos couldn’t make out who it was riding the horse, but he still stepped back into the darkness in case it was who he thought it was.

That can’t be Validus can it? If it is then finding Shuka is more important than ever.

As the rider passed under the mage lights illuminating the street, Xorvos caught a glimpse of his face. It was only for a second but there was no mistaking who he saw. Validus.

Crap, it is him. I don’t think he saw me, but I am worried about where he is going. Does he know where Shuka is? If he does then I should follow him.

His next course of action seemed obvious but… Xorvos still hesitated. He thought back to his last encounter with Validus and his sword buried deep in his shoulder.

If I follow him and he catches me I am done for. I don’t even come close to matching him in combat and if I lose, I might die.

Fear began to build up inside him, and Xorvos had to force himself to calm down.

Even if I might die, I still need to save Shuka. If I run now, then I will never forgive myself.

With his resolve found Xorvos looked down the street Validus rode down and began to chase after him.

*

Shuka was sitting across from a very nervous metalworker in the Rockmarsh Bank. She had never interrogated anyone before, so she was quite surprised that Anirak decided to do it in public. Admittedly, there wasn’t anyone else in the bank so late at night, and they were in a corner of the room out of sight of the receptionist. But it still felt a little to open.

I guess we technically aren’t breaking any laws right now, just giving vague threats while having a mostly normal conversation. But can’t we do this somewhere a little more private? Well at least all I have to do is sit here and look intimidating.

“C’mon, it’s not that big of deal.” Anirak told him with a friendly voice but sharp eyes. “What’s the worst that can happen? Whatever it is I doubt it would be worse then getting on my friends’ bad side.”

Shuka gave him a scowl and watched his fear spike. She just felt silly though.

How is he so scared? All I’m doing is making faces and he is treating it like I’ve got a dagger to his throat. I guess my curse does have it’s uses every now and then. After all I would much rather Hector to tell us what he needs the lead for rather than Anirak actually following through with her threats.

“L-look, I can’t tell you okay. I will get in a lot of trouble if they find out I told you guys.”

“Well then don’t tell them. Just tell us who ‘them’ is and what they want and we will let you go on with your day.”

Hector kept on looking between Shuka and Anirak nervously before he finally cracked.

“F-fine, I’ll tell you. The lead is for Archmage Fredrick.”

He’s working for a Archmage? That’s a pretty big deal. Only the best mage of each type of magic is granted the title of Archmage. If I remember correctly, Fredrick is the Archmage of Conjuration and he is the only Archmage in the Celestial Empire right now.

“What does the Archmage of Conjuration want so much lead for?”

Hector looked like he was about to faint in fear just from the question.

Oh, whoops. Maybe I should just leave all of the questions to Anirak. I don’t know if it’s because I am being hyped up by Anirak or if he’s just inherently cowardly, but my curse seems even worse on him.

“H-he wants me to build him a n-new lead storage room. I-I-I think it has to do with the new l-law restricting summoning components.”

There is a new law that’s restricting summoning components? That seems weird. I am pretty sure Fredrick works for the Celestial Church a lot and they could pretty easily stop a law like this going through. If I had the worlds best summoner working for me a law like this would be the last thing I want. Hold on, isn’t Hector part of the Church? Maybe they are trying to help Fredrick circumvent the new law to gain his favor.

“Are you working solely for Fredrick or is the Celestial Church involved too?”

Anirak seemed surprised at Shuka’s proactiveness but said nothing.

“T-the Church is also involved.”

It looks like he’s going to have a heart attack if I continue this conversation any longer. I better let him go before he does something stupid.

“Hey Anirak. Do we need him for anything else or are we done with him?”

Her words did nothing to calm Hector down. In fact, hearing that she was ‘done’ with him only increased his fear. Anirak caught on to this though and quickly interjected before he did something rash.

“We’re not gonna kill you. You told us what we wanted so we have no reason to hurt you. Just get out of here already.”

Hector didn’t need any more convincing and was out the door as fast as his legs could take him. It was a little surreal to Shuka, seeing him run away so scared. He was, after all, a good foot taller than both of the women he was running from.

“Well, well, well. It seems you are smarter than you let on. Looks like you just need the proper motivation.”

“It’s not really that impressive, I just happen to know a thing or two about the current Archmages. And besides, it’s not like the questions I asked were anything special, so why do you think I’m so smart?”

“It’s not what you said, it’s what you were thinking. You were obviously thinking about something, making connections and so on. And then when you had a good theory you asked just the right question to confirm it or not.”

She got all of that just from looking at me? How?

“Look, I’m not some kind of genius ok. I just thought it was a bit odd that the Church would let a law pass that would hurt one of their strongest allies. I figured the only way they would let it happen is if they made sure it wouldn’t affect Fredrick in any way.”

“You didn’t even know about the teleportation relay and yet you know about the relationship between Fredrick and the Celestial Church? I don’t believe it. Either you were lying then about not knowing about the relay, or you’re lying now about what you were thinking.”

“My magic teacher goes on long rants sometimes and one time he ranted about Fredrick and the Church. He’s the one who knows stuff, not me.”

This is bad. If she thinks I am smart then she will probably consider me either too valuable to let go, or too dangerous to let live. With this dumb curse on me it will probably lean on the dangerous side. I need to get out of here before she makes any more assumptions.

Right at that moment there was a loud explosion that shook the ground enough to knock Shuka and Anirak out of their chairs. When she managed to collect herself, Shuka found that there was now a large hole in the floor of the bank. Climbing out from the rubble was a familiar figure. It was the same masked, cloaked, bow wielding thief that stole the book in Rainsburg.

What the hell is going on? Why is he here? Fuck. Don’t tell me I will take the blame for his crime again.

When the thief finally reached the top of the hole he was climbing out of he took the bow off of his back and nocked two arrows in it. Shuka moved behind the table she was sitting at thinking the arrows were for her, but instead the thief aimed his bow at the front door of the bank. Shuka almost laughed at the ridiculousness of it. His stance was terrible and there was no way he could shoot two arrows at once with any sort of accuracy. But when the door opened, and two guardsmen entered to investigate the sound both arrows found their mark in the guardsmen’s heads.

He used the bow to give the arrows the velocity they need but then used magic to redirect the arrows mid flight. It sounds simple but that sort of thing requires incredible reflexes and control. Not to mention he did it for two arrows at once.

After he took out the two guardsmen, the thief put away the bow and began casting a spell. Shuka wanted to stop him, even if just to prove her innocence, but the two corpses at the door made her reconsider. The fear made her hesitate long enough for the thief to finish his spell and disappear.

It must have been a teleport, or maybe invisibility. Either way, me and Anirak are now the only culprits and I’m the one with the bow. I have to get out of here before anyone else arrives.

Shuka got up and started running for the door but stopped when she heard the sound of hooves on the stone road outside.

It can’t be him can it? It can’t be, Korro said he left already.

All of her worst fears were confirmed when she looked out the open door and saw him. A knight in shining armour coming for her head.