Unbound

"And he just died?" Evie asked.

"I assume it was a condition of his Oath. The Sworn have their name for a reason," Vess said with an elegant shrug.

"What I don't understand is how that led us here," Harn grunted softly. He held up a glowing, green-gold crystal and turned it this way and that. "Or what this is."

Vess plucked it out of Harn's hands. “It is a rudimentary device fashioned by Zara. With the Chant, somehow. She took the Oath cord from the Sworn and trapped it within. Now it is a dowsing stone, keyed to the other end of that Oath."

"That's what you said before, but I don't see how that thing can track an Oath. Didn't think that were possible," Harn said.

"A great many things have been overturned in my time with you all," Vess said softly. She too couldn't resist holding the green-gold crystal up in the air and admiring its shine. It flared with a minute amount of light whenever she pointed it northeast, toward the walls ahead, and it was like the sunset trapped in a jar. The mansion they'd come upon was near the skydocks, well in the Merchants District, and upon arrival Vess had immediately sent out several Dawnwalkers to assess its defenses.

Harn shrugged and hefted his second axe. "Those scouts need to get back here fast. I'm fixin' to kill some Pathless today."

"Hear, hear," Evie cheered, quietly.

Vess could feel the woman's bloody excitement echoed in the Talons behind them. Everyone was keyed up after the attack and Felix's display, though they kept their heads covered and out of sight. The alleys in the Merchant District were plentiful, but they were broad and well-maintained; not the easiest of places to hide a company of soldiers. Vess let her Perception play among the crowd, catching snippets of whispered conversation despite the tense atmosphere and dour, rainy weather.

"Fiend'll teach 'em. You'll see."

"...don't stand a chance. Captain Aren and Commander Harn took out the shadow bastard that fired on the Autarch."

"The Sworn. Heard he was a Master Tier, too."

"Sure, but that don't mean nothin' to them. The Autarch eats Master Tiers for breakfast, and his commanders do the same. S'what I'll do, when I become a captain. Take on a whole horde of Adepts, not let any of em pass."

"...see her? She was a whirlwind in the crowd. The Lady Dayne slayed a grip of Paladins, her and her flyin' Spears..."

"That's Dragoon work, that is. Passin' rare, they are."

"Gods, but she's bleedin' beautiful—ow! What's that for?"

"Ain't for you to be gogglin' at. Lady Dayne's a higher class of person than some Blade."

"Oh and an Arclight's so much better? Mages ain't half as smart as the lot of ya pretend, ya know..."

Vess pulled back on her Perception, a blush creeping across her cheeks. She had long grown used to being referred to by passersby during her time in her father's house, and training within the ranks of common soldiers had hardened her sensibilities to the...ribald tongue that most warriors bore. No, what clung like thick, foul medicine in the back of her throat was something else entirely.

Dragoon work. Is it, though? She held a hand to her middle, roughly above her core space. Am I?

The Dawnwalkers stole up to them, dropping stealth Blessings close enough that Vess jolted in surprise. "Milady. The way is cleared."

Vess clenched her jaw and held up the crystal once more. It glimmered, brighter than ever. "Then it is time to knock on the door."

"Why is everyone in such a hurry, ma'am?" Xavi asked. Something sensational must have been happening, because everyone he knew was running about like mad men.

The round and kindly Mrs. Hetch looked at Xavi as if he'd grown another set of horns atop his Faun head. She snapped at him, in a manner that he was quite unused to. "Don't ask questions, boy. Just keep your nose down and go back to the stables. Please. You'll be safe there!"

Mrs. Hetch bundled Xavi out the door and into the southern courtyard. The door slammed behind him and was bolted shut—he could hear that through the thick, imported wood. The rest of the courtyard was abandoned, as if no one dwelled in the immense Rellest Estate at all. That didn't surprise Xavi overmuch. Few came this way. All the southern courtyard contained was the secondary stables and a gate out onto the streets.

Now, Xavi loved the stables. He loved the avum and the rare khedor, even if it had scary teeth and big claws. He loved the saddles and the feed, even mucking out the stalls wasn't so bad, not compared to descaling the cauldrons in the kitchen. Xavi shuddered as he crossed the flagstones. He was a runner first and foremost, but the Estate put him to work in whatever way they needed him. Parents dead, no other family to speak of, he was happy enough to have a roof over his head, and two whole meals a day. There wasn't a lot he wouldn't do for some square meals.

The stables was just as quiet as the courtyard, free from all the hustle and bustle inside the manor. The avum looked up from their stalls, a variety of beautiful plumage on display. From green to a golden-sheen, these were some of the finest birds the little Faun had ever seen before. It almost made up for the fact that he'd been shoved out there, away from whatever excitement was going on inside.

Stuck out here, no one to talk to but the birds. And I think I saw a sword! Xavi kicked a rock that had wandered into the stables, sending it careening into the painted walls. The khedor snarled. I already missed all the commotion down at the Temple today. I can't believe I'm missing this too—!

A rattling whomp shook the stables with enough force to tear open a wall. Xavi ducked and hollered, bracing himself against the cobblestone floor and wooden posts. A second burst of heat and light made the earth lurch again. He fell onto his face, bruising his chin and driving his own teeth into his tongue.

"Hurry! To the stables!"

The shouts mingled with the pain in the Faun's head, rolling around each other until Xavi could force himself up onto his knees. Over the blasted out wall slats and piled up feed sacks, he could see that the manor was on fire. Of the ten windows he saw, six were belching a thick black smoke, and two of those were being licked by the tongues of vivid orange flame.

Men hustled into the stables, shoving open the heavy doors with ease, yet their faces were all streaked with soot and sweat. Xavi was rattled, but he recognized the first person. Master Rellest! The master of the manor was followed by a number of men and women, all Humans, that Xavi had seen around the manor before. Except now they wore dark cloaks that did little to hide their blood-red plate armor. Paladins!

Fear gripped the Faun, and he froze behind the feed bags as Master Rellest and the others stomped further inside.

"Mister Hob! Mister Hob I have need of you!" Master Rellest shouted into the loft, but there was no answer. "Burning ash, what a time to run and hide. Faithless servants. Faithless!"

"Merchant, we need to leave now. I'll have my men saddle your avum," the lead Paladin said. A tall, bald man that Xavi had seen once or twice in the parlor, his hand never once left the sword at his waist. "We cannot tarry."

"I know that!" Master Rellest snapped. At the same time, his gaze fell onto Xavi's hiding place, and it widened in recognition. "Little deer boy! Come here!"

Xavi froze, but a wide hand clamped onto his arm and hauled him to his feet. Master Rellest was grinning, but it was off somehow. Xavi's heart hammered in his chest and he couldn't speak through the clenching of his lungs. He could barely hear over the roar of his heartbeat, and when he did, it made no sense.

"...get these saddled for us. I need the khedor ready to ride," Master Rellest said. His affable grin slid away and flattened. "Now, boy."

Xavi couldn't stop staring. At Master Rellest. At the Paladins. The Master shook him, so hard he bit his tongue again. "Go! We need to leave! Now!"

"Merchant! Forget this fool boy and your favorite mount. You'll run if you have to!" The leader of the Paladins was already mounted up on an avum, and half his men were too. Another explosive boom shook the manor. A huge, tearing crash came from outside the stables, followed by a wash of arctic cold. "The Fiend's men are coming!"

Worthless child!" Master Rellest bellowed, and threw Xavi away. Propelled by Apprentice Strength, Xavi's slight body arced through the air a solid fifteen strides before he landed in a rolling heap of limbs and bruises. He tried to scream, to cry out, but the pain was too much to bear. All he could do was watch in breathless horror as his Master grabbed an unsaddled avum and all but throttled it in his efforts to get onto its back. "Ride!"

The earth thundered, and not with the step of the avum. That arctic cold seeped into Xavi, deeper than the chill of the rains, until he saw strange, crystalline patterns of ice form in the cobbles. Rellest and the Paladins ran to the back gate, but behind them emerged a handful of immense giants, all of them surrounded by a whirling sphere of white flecks and raging flames.

"There! Secure him!" one of the giants called out, its voice almost too deep to understand. Xavi laid upon the freezing ground, unable to move, only watch as their enormous tread ate up the short distance.

"Diurnal Reach!"

Bolts of golden light speared from the gate, crashing into the giants and driving a few back with pain grunts and grievous wounds. Xavi watched, helplessly, as one of them took a bolt to the knee and tripped. Their shadow covered him entirely as they fell, and though he tried, the Faun was as frozen as the ground itself. He could only watch as death dropped atop him.

"Chains of the Protector!"

A shield of swirling metal Mana flashed into existence, a magic that made Xavi's heart soar as it deflected the fall of the injured giant. Another, smaller giant ran to their side, helping them up and giving them a sort of jug of glowing liquid. The shield held, however, until a green-skinned man leaned over the boy.

"You alright?" he asked, the words sounding funny through the small tusks in his mouth. "Geir, is Hapdir—?"

"He shall be fine. Go, Loquis. The others need your help," the smaller giant said. They were already helping the injured one into a sitting position.

More of those light bolts blasted across the courtyard, but they hit a shield made of crackling light...and another shield of conjured metal. "Don't dawdle! We almost have the weasels!" A slender woman landed among them, and the shield moved to her gestures, blocking more of the light bolts. Her hair was rain-slicked against her head and her skin was flushed and bloody, but she was grinning like she was having the time of her life.

The green-man mumbled something and ran forward, accompanied by an absolute herd of armored soldiers, all of them wearing a flashy purple sash. The bolts stopped, and the lady warrior banished her shield. She looked down at Xavi and her grin grew wider as she dropped a glowing red vial onto his lap. "Take this, kid. And stay safe!"

Xavi's lungs finally unclenched, just in time for the strange, beautiful lady to leap away. "T-thank you."

But she was gone, joining the dwindling fray at the gates just as Xavi saw the two-faced Master Rellest fall to his knees. He was confused and frightened, but he couldn't blink as the Paladins were brought low and blood ran red in the gutters. All he could do was clutch the glowing vial to his chest, a tiny remedy for the ache in his chest.

Vess strode among the collared and shackled prisoners, making an inventory of exactly who they had taken. The Rellest manor hadn't put up much of a fight, not when confronted by the Fiend's Claw. Vess had been fairly impressed to see how smoothly the Claw operated now. Many of its flaws had been smoothed out and their fractious nature reforged into something resembling a functioning army, even the small portion they had taken for the strike force. Darius' and Harn's doing, no doubt.

It meant that none escaped the net they'd tossed atop the manor, certainly not the culprits. A fair few of their prisoners were servants and retainers, all of them guilty of attacking the Claw with their Skills. Most of them were likely innocent of the larger plan, but Vess was not taking any risks. All of them were restrained and collared. Thankfully they had found a goodly number of elision shackles in a deep storeroom at the Grandmaster's estate during their cataloguing efforts.

"Repeat yourself, Paladin," Harn grunted from the side.

A man in crimson plate, chained and kneeling on the ground, grimaced at the axe put near his face. "I said, that we were promised safe passage from this Pathless forsaken city if we killed the new Chancellor."

"By whom?" Vess asked.

"House Rellest," he said. "And her."

Vess followed the man's acidic gaze toward a cowled woman kneeling among the prisoners. At a gesture, one of the soldiers marched over and threw back her hood, revealing a face that was at once old and young, and hair of a vibrant red. Vess flared her Analyze, but the woman's details were blocked. She was strong enough that the shackles only sealed away her active powers; she clearly had a potent Temper. "Who are you?"

The woman stared at her, pride etched into every inch of her face. "I am Matron Lavelle, high seat of the Elemental Fire, and devotee of the true ruler of this city." She tried to make a gesture, but the shackles turned it into a pained shrug. "And these unfortunate fools forced me into aiding them in exchange for my life."

"Liar!" the paladin shouted.

"Enough!" Vess did not have the patience for their bickering. A Spear hovered just under the man's chin, lifting him as high as he could go without standing. "You will be silent unless spoken to. Do you understand?" The Paladin grunted something close to an affirmation, but Vess was already moving back to the Matron. "You. Speak."

"I demand an audience with the Autarch," the Matron declared, her pride not smudged at all by the rain matting down her copper tresses. "I claim the right to Please Before Authority."

Vess couldn't see any menus, but the moment those words left the Matron's mouth, she heard the System make an almost audible trill in her Affinity. She was of course familiar with the right; it was something allowed all members of a System-certified city, and Ahkestria qualified. The Matron looked positively smug at the annoyance on Vess' face, which drove her scowl deeper.

"Fine," she said after a moment. "Right acknowledged. On your feet, all of you."

The Claw pulled every shackled prison upright, even the unconscious Lord Rellest. The Paladin fumed. "Where are you taking us?"

"To do as requested. We go to see the Autarch," Vess said before glancing at the Matron. Behind her, the Claw began to march the lot of them out of the gates of the burning estate. "For better or worse."

Vess took small comfort in feeling the Matron's shackled Spirit tremble at those words.

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