Unto Dust

016.

They all leaned closer.

Fiona scratched her head. mor Magus' profile was visible, but from a strange angle. It was as though she were looking up at him from below. As though from the vantage point of a much shorter person.

She slowly turned to Suli, whose eyes were fixed on Orithin. Just as the ink-image showed. What had she put into her eyes?

Orithin clapped his hands, drawing their attention. "This is how we will track Suli on the surface. She will not be able to send us messages, but we will be able to see her."

Podge interjected. "Can we hear her?"

"No, but I believe seeing will grant us more than hearing, in this case. If she needs to, Suli will alert us through the usual way."

Whatever 'the usual way' referred to, it seemed to satisfy the curiosity of the other mages.

But Fiona stared at mor Magus encased in the crystalline surface. Though he was looking at Suli, it was unnerving to feel he was looking straight into her eyes. Surely this involved highly intricate spellwork. The ink was likely mixed with some enhancing agent for power and something to keep it from drying out. Perhaps anhydrinne. But she felt the ink was not the difficult part of this spelling. It was how he had mirrored what Suli saw to the ink-image. If she had a week, she could probably manage it. But Suli would ascend to the surface and the spelling would hold. Any net transference would likely be negligible---such was Orithin's mastery of magic.

She remembered what Goldy had told her about partitioned bindings. He could manage a fifty-part binding. When he brought her to his subterranean dwelling, he had transported them using a spell spoken in silence. His face was unlined and youthful. He did not seem old enough to hold such achievements. He had never said so himself, but he had almost certainly been educated at Amorfixia. The man had undoubtedly been a Master Candidate. The lords of Amorfixia would desire to keep such a mage on retainer.

Something in her pocket suddenly trembled, and she nearly jumped. It was Orithin's modified flit. She had hidden it in one of her pockets. She was able to keep her expression neutral, though it seemed none of the other mages gave her much interest in the first place.

The image within the gloss of the ink shifted as Suli turned towards the door. She gave Orithin a curt nod before leaving.

Fiona sneaked a glance at Orithin, who also caught her gaze and winked. The flit shook once more. One of his hands was tucked into a pocket.

She understood. It was not that he had neglected to include hearing, nor had he been unable to do so. He had omitted it intentionally, so that they could communicate through the cipher. However, Suli had only taught her a handful of words. She had been practicing them, but they were next to useless for this sort of reconnaissance.

Yet the body had been hidden within the dark canopy of Gead. Though she had not been involved in planting it, it was almost exactly what she would have done. The soldiers stationed outside of Gead were not particularly diligent, and it would likely take some time for them to discover her body. Suli would join the search on the surface so as not to draw suspicion to herself, but evidently, Orithin did not expect much else to happen today.

Satisfied, Fiona signaled to Goldy. As they left, mor Magus bid them a cheery wave goodbye.

---

It was past Blushing when she finally returned to Bitter Sway.

"Been busy?" Sway queried with a raised eyebrow. His long violet hair was pulled into a knot at the nape of his neck. "Lots of packages for you." He ducked behind the counter and started to stack boxes upon boxes. "It is long past my bedtime, sor. And I could not simply leave these for anyone to take, now, could I?"