Runic Storm (ONC 2022)

Prologue || Wanted Dead Or Alive

Pushing through the door, I was greeted by the typical Friday night crowd within Orcan's Tavern. Thankfully, at 6'2 I could easily scan the place for the one person I was looking for. Since it didn't seem like she had arrived yet, I slowly made my way through tables and people, and slid into an empty booth at the back corner, slightly hidden from the view. It didn't even take ten seconds for Cherry to appear with her usual flirty wink and a glass of whiskey in hand.

"Hey there, handsome. Haven't seen you around since the incident with that Skeiran last month." She placed the drink in front of me, while I leaned back, studying the crowd.

That particular incident was still very clear in my mind. There had been more and more Skeiran sightings lately, but no one knew why. The one I'd come across last month barely resembled the human it had once been. It had had more than seven runes of power. No wonder the poor guy had gone mad. Even I could only bear to have five. Just thinking about the pain caused by the last rune I had gotten made me shudder.

Even if they significantly improved your magical abilities, runes of power were not something to be trifled with. On top of that, every added rune increased the chance of either exploding or  going insane. The Skeiran had destroyed nearly half of the shopfront before I had managed to take it down.

"I had a job lined up," I replied nonchalantly. "How's business been since then? They didn't cause any more problems, did they?"

Two tables over, somebody called for a refill but she waved him off. "Nothing since then. It's been weirdly quiet if you ask me. You want anything else?"

"I'm good thanks," I said, sipping my drink.

"Alright, then you know where to find me." With a swing of her crimson red hair, she sauntered away.

Disinterested, I let my eyes wander over the groups of people lounging around the place, while I waited for Charlie to arrive. I kept sipping my drink, tuning out the noise around me until the mention of a familiar name instantly caught my attention.

Two tables over, three rugged looking guys were putting their heads together, having a hushed conversation.

"I'm telling you what the guy from Stoneend said. The Ghost is actually a short woman. He saw her in person at the guild quarters," the big bald guy whispered.

The small, skinny guy creased his brows responding, "you don't seriously believe that, do you? Half of the city saw him do that stunt at the council meeting last year and they all swore it was definitely a man."

Baldy raised his voice a bit, looking slightly offended. "Are you saying my mate lied? Why would he make that up? On top of that, how would the Ghost have been able to infiltrate the Red Guard, eight months ago? It only consists of women."

"Dude", Skinny Guy whisper yelled, rendering their whole downlow approach effectively useless. "It's not even confirmed that the Ghost was responsible for that".

While they kept going back and forth about their speculations, the last guy finally cut into the discussion, giving both his friends a pointed look. "I think the Ghost just uses illusion magic. Therefore, this whole conversation is de facto useless, since nobody has ever seen his true face anyways."

Focusing back on my drink, I chuckled slightly. So, the majority was basically guessing at nothing. I was slightly worried after my sister had nearly been exposed on the last job she had taken, but it seemed like nobody was any wiser despite it.

We were twins, both born with air and lightning magic, and were both doing the same job under the same alias. Of course, only one of us would take up a job as "The Ghost" at a time, in order to keep our real identities a secret. I had taken the last one and only returned yesterday, so I hadn't gotten the chance to catch up with her yet.

And then Charlie had called me over with something urgent that she needed to discuss with me in private. I usually went to her in case I needed information, since her network within the city was simply unrivalled.

After a few more minutes of waiting, I noticed a panting and clearly stressed woman wearing fake glasses, a fake wig, and clothes that were a tad too big. She looked around a few times, and then headed straight for me. I briefly wondered how she had even been able to spot me all the way over here with those thick black bangs obscuring half of her vision.

While she sat down opposite me, I signaled Cherry, who promptly sauntered over to our booth. Charlie ordered a scotch that she downed as soon as it arrived and immediately ordered a refill. Cherry came back and placed the whole bottle down in front us. "Don't worry guys, it's on the house." She winked and left us to ourselves.

Charlie nervously glanced at me while refilling her glass for the second time. I simply leaned back unperturbed by Charlie's obviously distraught state of mind, but her next sentence immediately made me tense up.

"Did you hear anything from your sister lately?"

"No, why? Did something happen?" I leaned forward, slightly narrowing my eyes to see her reaction.

"Did she take up a new job recently?" Charlie asked. She was one of the few people who knew what we were doing.

Apart from my cover job at the guild's office, my twin sister Kaia and I were running another more lucrative business, mainly dealing in goods and information. In other words, we stole things and infiltrated whatever person, group, or business, clients wanted information about. Sometimes we would also gather supplies from places that were a bit too dangerous for the average person to access, which was exactly what I had spent the last month doing. Climbing through mountains and fighting monsters, while looking for some stupid scales. It was very messy, and I needed at least three showers to get all the grime off of me.

"No, I just finished the last one. You want to get to the point and tell me what this is about?" I narrowed my eyes even more. My patience was wearing thin as I waited for her reply.

Charlie downed another glass, swallowing nervously. "I was hoping it was just a coincidence, that she was out on a job so it couldn't be her. She never got in trouble before, especially not when you weren't around."

"Charlie..." I growled. "If you don't tell me what's up with my sister right now, I swear to Go-"

Before I could finish my threat, Charlie put her hand into the old lady purse she was carrying and produced a crumpled piece of paper. Without seeing the front page, I already knew what was written on top. These flyers, they all looked the same. My stomach clenched anxiously as Charlie finally managed to unfold the paper and I read my sister's name on the front page. Right beneath a headline that I never wanted to see her name associated with.

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE.