Discordant Note | TBATE

Chapter 119: The Song of the Storm

Blood Jasper, I recognized. Hofal and I blew up one of their blithe warehouses as they worked with Blood Joan.

I cursed internally. My optimism had blinded me. I hadn't expected someone to come and try to sabotage the event; at least not so early on.

Aurora's puppet slowly refolded its wings, staring intently at the Jasper man. I'd wager he was sent to disrupt anything I was trying today. From the gleam in his eyes and the angry mumblings of the many men and women around him, it seemed his plans were working.

I wouldn't allow it.

"You think you know me," I said lowly, allowing the slight tinge of menace to carry through the crowd. "But most of you are here not for what was advertised."

I paused, scanning the many men and women beyond me.

"Some of you wish to gather more intel on me in the aftermath of what I did to the Joans. Some of you are paying back a favor to my patron, Lady Renea Shorn. You hope to wash away your debts to her by attending this little concert."

A rush of surprise went through some of the guests. My elimination of Blood Joan was an open secret, true, but I'd just publicly admitted to ending their line. Still, others mumbled as I called them out on their true intentions.

"I'm quite aware of this fact," I said with candor.

The air was almost electric as I continued. I wondered if it was from the crowd's displeasure, my own power wafting through, or the imminent thunderstorm. I felt a drop of water hit my head, and from how many nobles looked up, I knew they did, too.

The Rats watched with nervous eyes. I couldn't see Karsien among them, but I knew he was watching. Waiting for something to change.

I threaded mana through my dimension ring, withdrawing the age-old heirloom of Named Blood Daen. My violin settled into my hands, its familiar curves resting in my palm as I withdrew my bow. The scent of polished wood banished the overlaying waft of ozone.

"I doubt many of you are here for what was promised." I raised my violin to my chin, my bow hovering above the strings. "The music."

A few more drops of water pinged off my head. Thunder rolled. The weather had halted for me; hesitated as I'd shown my colors. But it was so, so angry. It wouldn't hold back in it's tirade for long.

"Are you going to try and stop us from escaping this storm?" the Jasper man cried. The people around him were tense. Whether from the coming lightning or the tension I'd exerted, I didn't know. "I'll have you know that my Blood–"

"You don't know the storm," I said, cutting the man off and tilting my head to look up at the sky. The clouds swirled angrily. The treaty I'd arranged with them was almost over. "You want to escape the rain, don't you? But do you know what it's like to wade through the storm in an attempt to escape? To truly become one with the water and thunder overhead?"

I drew my bow over the strings lightly, drawing out a slow note as the rain began to drizzle. "I'll show you what a true escape from a storm is."

I blocked out the nervous anger of the crowd in front of me; the anticipatory eyes of the Rats and Sevren's nervous panic on the side. I even pushed away Aurora's bond in that instant, isolating myself from everything but me.

I remembered a day months past. On one of my first ascents through the Relictombs, I faced a dimension of endless white trees. The gnarled branches sought my blood with an unending determination. Whenever I turned away, they'd reorient, each of their limbs pointing toward my heart.

What had I felt upon first entering that zone? Confusion. Total confusion. Where were the enemies to face? Where was the trial to be overcome?

But as the day stretched on, that confusion shifted to eerie fear. I drew low notes in a slow, ominous tempo, projecting my memories into the ambient intent. Each note was a footfall along that single, empty path. Every spike was a sound deep in the unending woods. And all the while, a storm grew in scale miles in the sky.