The small common room buzzed with noise in the early morning hours. Voices overlapped as everyone tried to be heard over the sound of clattering dishware. Ashe, Nox, and Cupcake shared one couch, while Alex and Svent sat on another. Behind them, the rest of the Wandering Fangs lingered out near the trays of food Nox had acquired from somewhere. Interestingly, they had voted to let Alex represent them in the talks, but somehow still couldn’t resist chiming in occasionally. From what Emily could gather, Alex had naturally stepped into a leadership role amidst all of this.

  Emily, however, sat removed from everyone in a lone chair. Uncomfortably wedged between the two groups. Only Ashe had dared to wake her from her beauty sleep—and with good reason. The fresh hole in the wall of her bedroom stood as evidence of the risk. If anyone else had tried to rouse her, who knew what injuries they might have left with?

  When everyone had gathered to recount their versions of event, Ashe had taken to recounting the details for herself and Emily, while she munched on a fruit salad with not even one recognizable fruit.

  When the Wandering Fangs learned of the situation outside, and the city’s seemingly unbothered stance with the threat at their front door, the uproar became too much. Seeing this was getting nowhere Emily decided to say how she saw things going.

  “Look boys and girls, I’ve explained what happened, but deciding what we do next should not be this much of a problem. We’ll wait till the end of the day and get the hell out of here. It’s not that hard.” Emily said as

  Alex crossed his arms.

  “Yes but how do we do that with the damned shield up and the guards looking for us, not to mention the army out there… I have to say making a contract in this city is the opposite of a smart move, Emily.”

  “I don’t disagree.” Ashe hummed.

  “Hey! Kettle, black!” Emily pouted in Ashe’s direction.

  Both of them just ignored her by now and went on with their conversation.

  “Emily you said we could potentially get out through the gorge, correct? Then if we manage to secure a couple of flying mounts we could make a run for it”

  Emily shrugged.

  “As long as you don’t mind getting shot down by the army of fanatics out there. I don’t know about you all, but I’m not suicidal.

  The room fell silent as almost everyone shot her a dry stare.

  “What?” Emily asked her fork partway to her mouth with a piece of green fruit.

  “Look, we’ll have to think of something, because now that you’re out, it's only going to get harder to move about the city,” Ashe said.

  Alex nodded and glanced back at the wandering fangs.

  “Not to mention we’ll need to figure out how to recover Kael and everyone else.”

  Emily’s eyes narrowed on Alex.

  “Not you too...We’re not doing that.”

  Alex furrowed his brows.

  “What do you mean? We discussed this, we need Kael to get us through the desert.”

  Emily pointed her fork at Alex.

  “Then we’ll find someone else. I can ask Ariandel for a recommendation. We’re not going to risk ourselves against a force of that size.”

  Alex shook his head.

  Ashe had not said a word since they’d started talking about this suicide mission but her expression spoke volumes.

  “Emily, he’s the only one that can get us through that hell hole.” Alex whined

  To which she just shook her head.

  “What about using teleporting magic? Ashe said there were some in the city.” Emily said trying to get them off this topic.

  Alex’s brows briefly rose but he shook his head.

  “You mean the Port gates? You know why we can’t use those. They’re way too well guarded and everyone that passes through is logged…”

  Emily frowned as she realized why that may be a problem for someone trying to avoid a bounty and potentially assassins. The guards in the SourceWell probably didn’t care about Who Alex was just that he was useful.

  Pressing her lips together Emily continued.

  “We’ve both seen these forces strength firsthand. I don’t do jobs like this without a good reason. And as far as I can tell there is no good reason to go back there.”

  “Look Emily, new converts are kept away from the main force. If we can find an opening, we might have a chance at rescuing them. How is this any different from what you did for us?”

  A full-blown scowl had appeared on Emily's face by this point.

  “Chance? You sound just like a Hero. Surely you know some fights aren't worth it? And for the record, I saved you because I needed you to guide me. I’m not letting all my hard work go to waste.”

  Alex leveled his gaze at Emily and she returned it just as fiercely unwillinging to back down.

  The energy of the room had already taken a turn for the worst and neither of them looked ready to back down

  Ashe raised her hands in a calming gesture.

  “How about we talk rather than fight? Emily, I understand you don’t approve but we’ll speak some more on it. We don’t have to have a plan so no one is doing anything yet, but its the right thing to do.”

  Emily’s gaze remained fixed on Alex as she ground her teeth.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  With her life linked to his, she couldn’t allow him to go off and attempt foolish quests like these. She wouldn’t be selfishly dragged around. She would physically stop Alex if need be. The rest could go off and assault the ‘fortress’ but he wouldn’t be leaving her sight.

  When Emily’s frustration reached its peak she sighed, staring at the ceiling.

  “I need to go see Ariandel. My contract expects me there til the end of today. Just don’t make any decisions until I get back.”

  Emily got up from the chair and Ashe watched her head towards the door.

  Alex on the other hand had turned towards his men and spoke to them quietly.

  When Emily got outside she took a breath, but her peace was interrupted shortly after, as Cupcake pushed her nose on the closing door.

  Emily rolled her eyes at the beast.

  “Finally getting antsy after a week of lazying about, are we?” Emily said, a smile sneaking onto her face.

  The Rime wolf shook herself out.

  Emily hopped onto the beast and settled in place, allowing the Rime wolf to stretch her powerful muscles.

  Cupcake didn’t have any reins on, so Emily guided her with their connection. The sun's light was colder than usual and flickering weirdly, but Emily wasn’t in the mood to care about the weather, as she muttered to Cupcake.

  “I don’t think I’m being weird for not wanting to risk our lives on another rescue mission. I get Kael is part of his master plan, but come on. There have to be others out there that can get us across. It never ends well when you mess with zealots.”

  Emily muttered as the tower came into view.

  There were more carriages in the area than she was used to, which stuck her as as odd. Next was the fact that as she approached she saw the tower wide open. It had created a large set of double doors that could easily accommodate half a dozen men or women standing side by side.

  As Emily got closer she spotted movement from inside and saw the uniform too late. Stepping into the threshold, she found multiple guards standing to attention as Ariandel spoke to two individuals. The harsh light outside drooped as she entered the building.

  Their backs were turned to her but Emily could remember the silhouette of Roland the Vice-captain.

  He stood off to the side, silent and watchful. The man currently speaking to the Silvaren had to be the Captain. Human, and only in his late thirties, he was already showed signs of greying hair. The armor he wore hinted at a powerful, well-trained physique beneath its polished surface.

  Citta was right beside Ariandel and her eyes widened when she spotted Emily.

  This small detail didn’t go unnoticed by Roland and he followed her gaze.

  When his eyes fell on Emily they drooped slightly, a look of frustration appearing.

  Emily smirked at the man, unable to help herself.

  “Well sir Mage if you cannot provide me clarity on what happened last night then I’ll have to go to the council to compel you into assistance.” the center man said.

  “I understand Captain, I apologize that I am unable to be of more help at the moment, but please feel free to bring this before the council.” Ariandel with measured grace.

  The Captain glanced at his Vice-captain and saw him staring at Emily.

  “What is it Roland?” he asked as he turned back and spotted Emily.

  “Sir, this woman is a Blood Mage, I can vouch for this personally. It may be possible that she has information about last night's attack.”

  Emily's eye twitched as she got down from the Rime wolf’s back. She’d arrived at possibly the worst time. If this Captain’s abilities were anything like Rolands, then she didn’t want to say a word to this man.

  The Captain sized Emily up and turned away from Ariandel.

  “If it doesn't bother you, I have a couple of questions for the young woman over there,” he asked, though how much choice Ariandel had in the matter she wasn’t sure. Ariandel nodded and they both walked over to Emily.

  "Good morning, miss. I’m the Captain and an active Investigator for a break-in at one of our most secure facilities. Where were you in the early hours of this morning?" he asked in a monotone voice.

  Emily could see the man looked run down from late nights of work and yet the dark suspicion in his eyes had Emily on her toes. She couldn’t afford to lie to this man, he almost certainly had truth skills. The best she could do was strech the truth here.

  “Well, Captain I was in the lower city helping a friend out,” Emily said.

  “Oh? With what?” the Captain followed up, a growing sense of interest in his eyes.

  “It’s rather embarrassing but he got in with the wrong crowd, you see, and I went to rescue him.”

  The Captain’s eyes solely focused on Emily and he paused before asking his next question.

  “Do you have any relation to a fringe group called the Weeping. And if so were you involved in their plans to break into the SourceWell.”

  Emily’s throat closed for a second and she glanced over at Ariandel whose eyes were locked on her.

  “...I, No. I have no relation to the fringe group known as the Weeping. Nor do I know anything about their plans regarding the SourceWell.”

  The Captain’s look of suspicion was intriguing, but Ariandel’s expression of shock was far more compelling. Emily smiled the most innocent grin at the two men as they glanced at one another.

  “Hmm, do you-”

  “Captain I think we’ve confirmed that Miss Emily had nothing to do with your case. Now, she’s come here to work, and I don’t want to waste her precious time. It was great that you stopped by but you are you men are welcome to leave now.” Ariandel said as he twirled the fur below his chin

  The Captain glanced between Emily and Ariandel before nodding.

  “Understood, you two have a safe rest of your days.” The Captian said as he turned to leave. Roland squinted at Emily as though he didn’t quite believe Emily’s lack of involvement, but seeing as his boss was retreating he didn’t seem to have a reason to stay. A call from him was all it took for the remaining guards to follow suit.

  When they had left the room fell completely silent as the only three people remaining were Emily, Citta, and Ariandel, and they were locked in a stare-off.

  “I think you’d better come with us. We’ll need to get to the bottom of this. The fact that you are not with the Weeping changes everything.”

  Emily glanced back at the exit and noticed it was gone. So much for a quiet last day. Emily didn’t get much say in the matter when Ariandel flicked his fingers and teleported them all to his office. The man sat down in his chair and stared at Emily as Citta left the chamber.

  “So, who are you? And why did you feel the need to break into the SourceWell when I said I would handle it.”

  Emily swallowed quietly and walked over to his desk to lean against it.

  “Apologies, I’m not quite sure what you mean. Is Alex alright?”

  Ariandel face twisted into a snarl and all the red source in the room exploded. Heat baked the area as pages near his desk went up in flames and the aged wood groaned. Cinders licked his fur and yet never burned him.

  “Do not take me for a fool! Neal saw a Blood Mage there and coincidentally the prisoner you were looking for had gone missing along with a long list of others!”

  Emily’s brows raised. This was news to her. She thought they were the only ones to make it out. Something must have happened when she left.

  “Why does it matter who I am? I can do the work, can’t you just let bygone be bygones.”

  The rage flitting across Ariandel never dulled.

  “It matters because of the impression of Blood Mages in the city. Both sides needed to benefit. We have long since suspected that the Weeping was operating within the city and I thought you could be our bridge. But now the council is wary.”

  Emily crossed her arms and shook her head.

  “That is not my problem. We had a deal, and I’ve upheld my end. Anything else is collateral damage”

  Ariandel mask of rage broke for a second, replaced by a slack jaw.

  “Do you really not know what you’ve done? How did you not notice it on the way here?”

  Emily frowned as Ariandel flicked his fingers and a large glass window opened up on the wall to look out across the city.

  That same harsh daylight streamed into the room but now that Emily took another look she could tell that the light was not coming from the sun. Instead, it was coming from a shimmering barrier, or looking at it from another angle, a failing one. The protective screen that had been faithfully guarding them for over a week was rippling with instability.

  “The SourceWell was what was powering our city and with the sudden loss of over ten percent of its workforce, we are vulnerable to attack. Unless we can find an answer to that the veil will fall in a day or two.”

  Blood points: 331