Almagest City

Chapter 2: Sil Myska

Sil takes off running down the street beside the sea creature, Edson; the bug man, Andus; and her almost-desk-partner, Verlan. All of them follow superstar Orias Knight as they go towards Almagest private school as fast as possible.

"Pick up the pace, officers," Orias says. "The more time we take, the more those kids will be in trouble."

"I didn't know we appointed a leader," Verlan mumbles to Sil. "Don't we have the same job?"

"We can take this mission to get acquainted," Orias says as they all run, overhearing. "Andus? Edson? These are two of our new investigators, Sil and Verlan."

Edson doesn't acknowledge the introduction, but Andus nods. "It is... Nice... To meet... You both." The creature's voice is pinched but low, but Sil can't tell if it's because he's out of breath or if he just sounds like that.

"We should've grabbed a carriage," Sil says, feeling the run. She might be mentally strong and magically proficient, but running tires her out fast. She thought she'd be arriving at scenes after the fact, not chasing down hostages. Aren't there ordinary police for that?

"The streets are crowded," Edson says. His raspy voice sounds naturally cold and cantankerous. Probably because of the tentacles and slime muffling his voice. "A carriage would only slow us down."

"Won't do us any good if we arrive there all exhausted," Sil says. "If we fail, our jobs-"

"Ah-ah-ah," Orias interrupts. "Up ahead!"

A cross-street, surrounded by a perimeter of lower-ranking officers, and at one of the corners is a one-story school. A man in full-body armor walks up. He's covered in a thick metal plate, showing no skin at all, and his helmet even covers his whole face and neck. Sil wouldn't know he's an officer at all if not for the badge stuck on his breastplate. As he spots the five of them running up, the officer approaches.

"They're being held inside the school, through there," the officer says, pointing at a window into the school. "We tried talking to them, but all they wanted at first was safe passage out of the city. I think something's wrong, actually, so good thing you're here."

"What do you mean something's wrong?"

"Whoever they are, they've been fighting about something. There were actually about seven of them to start, but only four are still in there."

"Why have you not gone in there, officers?" Orias demands. "Those children need help!"

"O-oh. Well. None of the other classrooms have been attacked, and all of the children in this room are fine, so..." The armored figure scratches his head, metal fingers scraping against his metal helmet. "And you're the elite team. We wanted to coordinate with you."

As Orias listens to the officer's explanation, Sil and the others have already begun to move. Verlan looks over at her and winks. In her head, she feels Verlan make a connection, and she reciprocates. Good. Working as a team already, she hears Verlan say in her head. Now watch this.

In front of Sil's eyes, Verlan's arms spread and transform into feathery wings. He bends and extends his legs in a jumping motion, and glides swiftly onto the roof of the school.

You're such a showoff, Verlan. Not to be outdone, Sil shakes out the muscles in her hands and holds them forwards toward the school, closing her eyes. Magic, magic... The din of the crowd and the words of the officer fade out as she feels the flow of ether in the air. The conductor for her natural magic, a normally silver ring around her pointer finger, is shimmering the colours of a rainbow. Sil has done this enough feeling for cheaters in card games, and she knows exactly how to hide traps, enchantments, and runes. She knows this much better than any of these thugs could ever dream of. It's like squinting your eyes, looking for an invisible tripwire made of fishing line, all in the energy of the objects in front of her.