The Night Rider

Chapter 24 - Blame

To say people were surprised to see such a Truant was an understatement.

Nivara's Trait had done wonders with recreating such a harrowing creature. Its patchy grey skin was stretched over a gaunt frame, welts and blackened burn scars which were a mishmash of purple warts spread over elongated fingers. It had a wide and grisled maw perfect for the flamethrower style attacks it threw at them with deadly precision.

She had seen the young boy through the Storm Key, his fate solidified once his name stirred within her mind like a dark macabre of irony. Creederton Wilson, the younger brother of Sleekerton Wilson, the overseer of Hellgrind and the owner of a very powerful Analyst Trait. His brother had been no different, abandoned after the death of his family and his brother stuck on a decade long quest. Creederton aspired to be everything his brother was but he became the sole caregiver of his younger sister before his Truancy cost him dearly, just like his brother did. His sister died trying to save him from himself.

He had been experimented on by those who had brought him in for questioning until he had escaped with intent to harm the people of Axis, the place where he was carelessly captured by members of the Third Order. Who knows where he was now.

The Order had betrayed her people's trust for the greed of the nobility and Nivara had yet to truly uncover how deep the Chimeran web truly reached while under her careful watch. First Sashio, then Jester, Rook, Madcap, Domino and finally...no. She was fed up of thinking about betrayal. No more.

Nivara had her Agar locate and deal with them quickly but Kaldra had almost been seen by the unlucky Mediator involved and the Third Orders Regent, forcing her to retreat without knowing where either of them went. The Storm Key might've filled in the gaps of the Mediators whereabouts but it was only out of sheer luck that he didn't remember anything, seeing Kaldra as nothing more than a grey tinged hallucination.

Maybe the side effects of Memoriam were greater than she thought. He seemed fine when she healed him back in Axis using her Specialist alias but her informant had not contacted her since, forcing her to assume that all was well. 

With the lockdown of all entrances in and out, Nivara hoped she was doing the right thing by standing her ground here in Opalis.

The fake Overtaken stalked across the pile of junk, metal and copper twisting and smouldering as it began to advance ever closer towards the duo. They were currently hiding behind a section of broken wall, an abandoned factory with pipes and a water wheel chugged along behind them, dripping wet on the broken stonework stopping to a seething halt as it turned instantly into steam. 

Charmer had collected all the items she deemed necessary and was trying to make some sense of a plan but time was running out. She could feel the heat like a noose around her neck, her dragons laboured breathing pounding in her ears as Nivara directed the mist ever closer. The Knuckburst dragon by the name of Fiero had been given free reign of the arena, allowed to produce as much fire as possible as long as he convinced the rest of the people watching that this was the outcome they faced if this continued to be swept under the shadows of the Undercity. If they neglected their fellow Truants any longer, this would be their downfall.

Nivara's smile was grim line was drawn across her face, a stoic reminder for those who believed their Trait to be superior to the sanctum of human life. This was not living. This was barely even considered existing yet her heart yearned for action, to cure those who had been cursed to such a fate. That was her goal as Regent and what should of been her focus but here she was catering to backstabbers and nobility who cared only about getting in a delusional Throneholders good graces. Unfortunately, finding the cure for Truancy would just have to wait. She had bigger problems to outwit.