Thegn circles in long arcs within the void of the canyon, catching updrafts to increase his altitude. The whole time, he keeps an eye trained on Bule through an imbued monocle. Caffiel rides on his back.

All these years with you and I’m still enamored with the thrill of flying.

“All these years with you and I still can’t stand you in my head like this.”

Temper, temper, young one. You need my help right now, and not for just these magnificent wings. He creeps up Thegn’s back, placing his head by Thegn’s ear. Do you have any clue as to where our old friend went, or that she still exists?

Thegn shakes his head. Bastard rat, acting like he can whisper in my ear. You’re still in my head, asshole. Don’t act like you can actually speak!

You’re very good at fuzzing your thoughts. I only caught your last sentence.

“Yeah, fat lot of good it did me. Karui hive telepathy is completely different from what you’re doin’. This at least feels like a real conversation, despite you bein’ in my head. To hide anything from them, you basically have to think in code. The fuzzing technique you trained me with didn’t hardly work at all. I tried to use it for the first ten years. Worked for long-term goals, but it’s absolute shit for real time.”

Fascinating! Caffiel’s words boom in Thegn’s inner voice, giving up on the mock whispering. However, are you purposefully evading my question or are you really this easily distracted?

“I know. I’m still looking. It seems like the Umbrati followed the residual energy from the boy’s soulmancy trick out of the bar. He and Durga headed to the stairway between the upper part of the city and the lower. They’ve got some light resistance from the town’s militia, but they’re a paper wall.”

So you’ve relegated it to a mere trick now, have you? That boy had you trapped and then put you on the flat of your back … with a derivation of your own technique, no less. And that’s not taking into account how the girl handled you. Durga’s spirit hasn’t even been fully awakened in her yet. You’re out of practice.

Thegn casts a glance at the rat on his shoulder. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

Absolutely! This is the most excitement we’ve seen in at least fifty years.

Thegn thinks back to all the various skirmishes the two of them have been involved with over the last fifty years. “You have a very bizarre sense of what constitutes excitement.”

I’m flying through the air on the wings of Death. You set the bar pretty high, youngster.

A snort is the most acknowledgment Thegn gives to Caffiel’s comment. He goes back to surveying the town through his monocle. “For a horde unit this size, it looks like it’s weighted heavily for fighting and capture.”

Like they were specifically assembled to come after you.

“Could be. Probably. It’s a new strategy from the horde, at least. In any case, I can’t be sure, but it doesn’t look like they were expecting much in the way of soulmancy. Not very many seekers. Probably aren’t any in the group with enough nuance to tell the difference between energies. Probably.”

Not nuanced enough to detect that imbued monocle you’re using, either, or is that another “probably” thing?

Thegn scowls at Caffiel. “Probably.”

So the child and the boy got to the stairs. It stands to reason that they were headed for the lower part of the city. Any sign of them down there?

“Too slow, old rat. Already looking. Traces down there are faint. Bunch of interference in that area for some reason. But maybe—”

Through the monocle, Thegn sees a sudden burst of color emanating from a single building, like it’s on fire with soul energy. It’s in the lower part of the town, not far from the base of the stairway connecting the upper and lower parts.

“Well, that’s unexpected.”