Chapter 18 - Pursuit

Walter

Sweat beaded down Walter’s face, exhaustion slowly creeping in as he put everything he had into holding off the Oathbound. Already he had killed another two, but he knew he would be overrun before long.

The cramped hallway made it awkward to get his weapon into a proper guard stance. He could see the irritation on the man in front of him, also dealing with the same issues within the hallway. He was limited to short thrusts and unwieldy swings, not even the Auris empowering their bodies helping in the exchange.

That was fine with Walter.

His only plan was to buy time and allow the three to get as much of a lead as possible. The Oathbound in front of him took a slight step back, giving Walter a minute of reprieve against the onslaught. The weariness in his arms was debilitating, but he—

A sharp blistering pain shot through his chest and all breath was forcefully expelled from his lungs. Walter looked down, confused to see the tip of a blade ripping through both his clothing and himself. He just couldn’t wrap his mind around why that would be there. Without any warning, he watched as the blade twisted and was wrenched back out of his body.

Walter knew there should have been more pain, but none came, only a numbness that was quickly spreading through him.

All strength left his legs and he spilled to the floor. He looked up and met the dispassionate gaze of Milo holding the very dagger used to impale him.

There were no words to be formed out of hate or loathing, reality refusing to allow Walter to draw another breath. Blood pooled below him and he felt his bowels empty of their own accord. The last thing he saw were the remaining Oathbound streaming into the underground escape tunnels in pursuit of their prey.

Then, there was only darkness.

***

Iris

The entire time they sprinted through the tunnels, Aerowyn didn’t say a word or look back to make sure they were keeping up. Iris couldn’t imagine the many emotions that the older man was going through.

The path didn’t branch off at any point, and their only source of illumination was a small ball of light hovering over Aerowyn’s shoulder. They’d been running for long enough that Iris’ eyes had time to recover somewhat. Her vision was no longer blurred as before, though an iota of pain still lingered.

She expected the path to slope upwards at some point to indicate they were getting close to the exit. Instead, their party eventually came to a hard stop when the tunnel abruptly ended, nothing but hard stone blocking the way.

“If Walter sent us down here just to meet a dead end, I’m not sure what the point of all this was.” Colin said.

“He wouldn’t have sent us this way if the tunnel was finished.” Aerowyn shot back.

Aerowyn began running his hands over the smooth stone while he spoke, “There must be a rune somewhere…”

Colin kept glancing back the way they came nervously, and Iris couldn’t blame him. They were essentially trapped with enemies more than likely closing in behind them. Colin must’ve run out of patience, as he stepped forward and placed his hands on the wall like he’d done when they were escaping from the palace.

Aerowyn saw this and held up his hands pleadingly, “No! We don’t want a hole in the wall! If we can open it and then close it behind us, that will stop them from pursuing.”

Colin looked ready to argue, but Aerowyn continued, “If we can’t open it in time, then we can go through with your primitive idea. Now help me look for this blasted rune.”

As much as she wanted to help Aerowyn, she didn’t know what she’d be looking—

Wait, looking was probably something she actually could help with.

She activated her Trait once more, the stinging in her eyes intensifying in protest. Auris revealed itself to her and she turned her attention to the wall Aerowyn was still running his hands over.

Nothing stood out to her initially until she looked at a particular section on the wall perpendicular to the right side of the dead end. Around knee level and embedded in the rock, there was a pattern of Auris that wasn’t flowing like the rest of the energy in the air. It looked to be dormant, just waiting for a catalyst to bring its form to life.

“There.” Iris said, pointing at the spot where the invisible rune was while deactivating her Trait.

Aerowyn followed her finger towards the stone wall, but just looked at the section with confusion. Iris sighed in exasperation, moving forward and placing her hand to the dormant rune.

“These things really need to be marked.” Iris said.

Now, how was she supposed to do this? She’d seen Aerowyn do it twice before. Did it have something to do with charging the rune’s Auris like Colin did with his own?

Using her newfound sensitivity towards the energy, she started instinctually moving the Auris inside her body, hoping to do something. Thankfully, it was like the Auris wanted to move along the path of least resistance, and it sought to exit through her palm and into the wall, which she gladly allowed it to do.

A near infinitesimal amount of Auris was all it took, and the rune activated. The dead end grumbled its dissatisfaction at being disturbed and receded back before sliding to the right, the sliver of light from the outside growing.

From behind, the trio started hearing the sound of frantic footsteps of what sounded like an army pounding against stone, and they turned around to see another light in the distance, illuminating a number of Oathbound racing forward in pursuit at a speed that spoke of Auris empowerment. Iris could see Milo’s face among them in the rear, and she took that as their cue to hurry the fuck up.

They ran through the opening and into the streets beyond, Iris briefly activating her Trait to find the rune that would no doubt close the stone passage on the other side of the wall and activating it just the same as she had with the first one. Her eyes were screaming at her to stop putting them through such torture, but she persisted.

Colin stood in the opening, sword drawn while they watched the entrance slowly close.

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It was going to be close.

Milo’s screams echoed from within the passage, the words unintelligible but the emotions behind them clear. Iris risked a peek from around Colin as the last bit of the opening was disappearing. In that slight crack, she could see the whites of Milo’s hate filled eyes as the Oathbound arrived too late to follow.

The stone reset into the wall with a sigh, and Iris allowed herself to relax, confident the guards wouldn’t be able to find the rune so easily. She took stock of their surroundings, realizing the passage they had just exited from was a part of the wall separating the Heights and the Crests. They had exited into an alley that would normally be taken for a dead end, but it still caused Iris to think of the alleys her and Tar would go diving in.

With the crazed Oathbound no longer a problem, they could more patiently plan what their next move would be.

That was until they heard a muted thumping from the other side of the stone. Iris looked at Aerowyn and Colin with concern, and the two mirrored her reaction, hoping what they were hearing was wrong.

The damn fanatics were breaking through! Of course they would! Why would she assume some measly stone would stop them?!

There was no verbal agreement needed as they each propelled themselves down the alley, no exact direction in mind. Iris voiced this to the others.

“Where are we going?” Iris questioned between breaths.

“We need to get out of the city. There’s nowhere we can go that’ll be safe within the walls.” Aerowyn panted, turning them down alley after alley, still heading in the direction of the walls that would lead them to the Reaches.

“And go where?!” Colin said, voice tense as he kept looking back to see if the Oathbound had gotten through.

Aerowyn didn’t respond at first. The trio had just turned onto one of the main thoroughfares, people yelling obscenities at them as they burst their way through some of the thicker crowds. They could see the wall separating the Crests from the Reaches by this point, though it was still quite a distance away. They dodged around the people going about their day, eventually getting close enough to see one of the gates connecting the districts.

Iris noticed that while there had been guards posted at the gates leading towards the upper districts, there were none stopping people going towards the lower districts. It made sense. Why would a guard stop someone from heading into a lower rung of society? They were only there to stop the people who didn’t belong in the higher caste from ascending.

“We will go to House Loris.” Aerowyn finally said.

They blazed through the gates, the guards posted behind looking at them in confusion, none the wiser to their circumstances.

“If we’re leaving the city, I’d like to say goodbye to Elder Varron!” Iris wheezed, barely able to keep up with their pace.

“Who?” Colin and Aerowyn said at the same time.

Iris turned a corner, weaving in and out of some Reaches denizens who just frantically tried to jump out of her way at the same time. Unlike the people of the Crests, these crowds knew it was best if you didn’t get involved with what they called “runnin’ folk.” That just brought trouble, and trouble out here could mean a slit throat.

For their part, Colin and Aerowyn easily kept up with Iris, though their dissatisfaction was palpable, and they tried to get her to commit to the plan.

“Elder Varron is the man who raised me!” Iris managed to get out as she shrugged them off. “I’m not going to leave without saying goodbye!”

One turn and two blocks later, they’d arrived at the church. Iris didn’t stop to take in her old home, in no mood to think about her upbringing. She flew up the steps two at a time and burst through the wooden doors.

“Elder Varron!”

***

Tarros

Captain Pike had not been happy to receive the “reward” that Tarros had brought back, per se. He hadn’t gone off in rage at Tarros, but had rather just accepted the Patriarch’s words, Tarros of course acting as the mouthpiece. A quick and somber dismissal from Captain Pike’s office now had Tarros shuffling through the Reaches with a haunted look in his gaze.

The sight of the bloody mess on the floor of the Patriarch’s office was a gruesome sight that would live uncomfortably in his mind for cycles to come. He wandered with no clear goal in sight, just allowing his feet to move on their own. His mind was adrift, wondering if he should just hang up his watch guard uniform and see if the head of the orphanage, Harrigan, would take him back in.

Surely she would take pity on him, right?

After all, while he may be nearly a man—at least in the eyes of the law—he’d seen one dead body too many. That was more than most guards would see, for sure. On second thought, this was the Reaches. With the underground gangs active within the city, the watch guard had no doubt had their own run in’s with them, or they’d at least seen the “results” of gang business. Luckily, Tarros hadn’t experienced that as of yet, even though his time with Henly would’ve probably…no, definitely led to that eventually.

The thought of the big man brought to his mind the lump of blood and bones on the floor again, causing him to shudder.

The movement brought him back to reality, and he looked up to find himself in front of the Church of Ilea. Iris had grown up here, had lived in those very walls, beaten and run-down as they were. Maybe a quick prayer to the Goddess wouldn’t hurt, and maybe She could even ease his mind.

He walked inside, expecting to find Elder Varron tending to the church, but was met with an empty hall, instead. He made his way to the frontmost pew and sat down, performing the gesture of offering while he spoke. “The mind—open, the soul—given.” Once he felt the gesture was complete and sincere, he bowed his head and clasped his hands together in prayer.

“O’ Holy Mother, I seek your guidance in troubled times. I have borne witness to acts between men unholy in na—”

BOOM!

“Elder Varron!”

Tarros spun around, his focus landing on a silhouette standing in the doorway of the church, features shadowed by the light streaming in from outside. Except…he knew that voice! He could just make out the figure’s head swiveling towards him, especially since he was the only person within the hall.

“Tar?”

***

Milo

Fuck.

Milo turned his head left and right as he scanned the crowd, the breached wall between the Heights and the Crests a few turns into the alleys behind him.

FUCK.

Where could they have gone? His fellow Oathbound were spread out, stopping citizens here and there while they demanded answers as to the whereabouts of the treasonous scum.

FUUUCK!

His eyes landed on a merchant warily hawking his wares across the street from the alley’s entrance, and his steps ate up the distance between them. The merchant saw Milo coming like a rockslide, inevitable in its momentum, and his eyes widened in fear. Milo reached across the stand holding the merchant’s wares and grabbed the man by his tunic.

“Where did they go?!” Milo demanded.

The man was shivering, yet replied all the same, for ignoring an angered Oathbound was a death sentence waiting to happen. “Where did who go, sir?”

Not the right answer.

Perhaps it was the nerves getting to the merchant, Milo’s questioning tactics probably not right for the situation, but Milo didn’t care. Not when he’d already failed not once, but twice. He flared the Auris in his body and lifted the merchant easily over his stall, wares clattering to the ground as he body slammed him into the floor. His hands were still holding the man by his tunic, and he shook him a few times in frustration.

“The only other people to come running out of that alley, you imbecile!” Milo yelled, pointing at the alley he had just come from.

The merchant glanced over at the alley in question and he seemed to finally understand Milo’s question, recalling the three individuals that had plowed through the crowd not long before.

“T-They ran towards the R-Reaches, sir!” The merchant said.

Glad to get an answer, Milo violently let go of the man’s tunic and stood up, the parted crowd watching on with both fear and interest. He gathered up the rest of the Oathbound with a patterned whistle and set off towards the district that was home to the lowest of scum in their society.