Eryn dived quickly back against the wall, the motion
knocking the contents of his pocket out onto the floor. He stared down at the
obsidian disk and the image of Neave flashed before him. Then came the memories of the times with
Rose, before he was imprisoned. The smile on her lips, her laughter, the gleam
in her eye. This image was swiftly forced out by the two faceless children,
being brutally murdered, Neave and Shroud slain on the floor. He remembered
Rose for what they once were, for one last time. He buried the memory, a keep
sake at the bottom of his heart. He peered around the corner again and made for
the cover of crates closer to her. She had stopped talking to the man that
accompanied her and was now fully concentrating on a book. The man was now
looking over the edge of the promenade, breathing in the morning air. This was
soon followed by noxious smoke from a scrap of wood and he was knocked out
cold. Eryn forced down the last of the memories of Rose and did the same. It
was swift and silent. With her now over his shoulder, he now carried her out of
Minotaur territory. Past the border was a small tavern now in ruins. Eryn
decided it was probably best to hide the body to transport down and hoping to
prove his theory correct, wanted to put Rose inside a cask.
Inside looked as if the Iron Wind had blown through. The
room was upside down, glasses were smashed, chairs were broken and dust refused to fall. A light cough alerted Eryn
he was not alone. He placed Rose on the ground and approached with caution. A
man was scrounging around on the floor. He seemed to be searching for what Eryn
could see was his eyes; one of which was projecting the image of a playing card
just above the retina. The man found the other eye first and with a quick rub
on his robe, squelched it back into place. He looked upwards catching a glimpse of Eryn
through the haze and with the tilt of his head Rose. His voice was familiar to
Eryn and he to the man. Maw had left the Foundations and would have seemed to
have found himself with the Minotaur Gang. This was not how the plan was meant
to go. Without a reply Eryn sparked up his halo of flames, plunged his right
hand into it and leapt at Maws face. He could feel the flesh melt under his
fingertips, the burning smell masking the rotting ale and the damp. Maw cried
out in pain and fell to his knees. Eryn crushed the other eye with his heel, it
exploded into fragments of optic nerve, tiny cogs and glass shards. Eryn searched behind the counter and found a
empty keg. He gingerly placed Rose inside and with the innkeepers tools that
were left, nailed her in. Behind the broken remains of the bar there was a
small floating wooden spiral that was parallel to the floor. Eryn touched it
lightly and it hovered in the direction it was pushed. It was most likely a
form of transportation for the barrels and so Eryn place Rose on top and trying
give himself the demeanour of an inn keeper, left for lowers floor.
The morning crowds were swelling and his journey was a tight
squeeze. At one point a rush past him knocked the barrel off its transport,
letting it tumble down the promenade and off the side. Eryn's reactions were
faster, and to much applaud and a few shins, rescued the barrel with his
grappling hook. With a look of confusion he took a bow and proceeded onwards with
more caution. He soon reached the Undercroft Market by mid morning, although
there was no light down here to tell. He had caught the attention of one of the
Silver Palm members and Dehart appeared in no time at all. He was surprised and
thankful, secretly hoping this prisoner would get him back up to the top of the
city, or at least level five. His passed
on knowledge of Neave's house in the poorest part of the foundations, although
warned there were men with no insignia with heavy tools searching in that area.
He also mentioned that the area was also being hit by something, or someone, as
many of the poor were slowly disappearing night by night. He didn't know if the
two were related by it was possible. Eryn left the barrel with Dehart and did
not look back.
For Chloe the morning was quiet, the voices in her head were
most likely asleep although she had found that during the night she had turned
one of the blankets covering her into amethyst. Her first thoughts though were not
of that but her dress. She leapt upstairs and to her surprise, one befitting a merchant lord's daughter was left
for her. She dived on it, trying to swiftly put it on, but in the process, as
it fell into a fitting form, it too slowly turned into amethyst. However the
crystal it formed was like nothing she had seen, it was almost as if the amethyst
itself had taken on the properties of the material rather than a pure change of
state. She went to go wake Lily who stopped her as
she walked out of the bar grabbing her by the collar, she had been oblivious
that Lily was already awake.
Lily had received her orders. Chloe was to be her Marionette.
Melvile had been heard from since
Chloe's apparent visitation to him, and the old woman wanted anything and
everything she knew. Lily had to get the information from her, but it was too
soon, her guard would be up. Areanna called Lily over, a happy distraction. She
told her that while they slept a cloaked woman had visited, trying to ascertain
if Chloe was here, she was sent away instantly. This was followed by the report
of what Eryn was doing. Much to Chloe's
protest about not having any breakfast, they left for Neave's.
When they arrived they found a large hole, burned into the walkway
before the spire Neave lived in. This was along
with charred remains of makeshift beds and shelters around the edge, leaning
against the spires that supported the floor . Below in the void that was the rubbish
pit, were heavy machinery; saws, drills and hammers. Chloe took a crystalline
jump over to the open doorway, only to be knocked backwards, and nearly falling
off the edge due to Lily, who had jumped in front of her. Inside Lily stooped, the
ceiling purposefully lowered so that two families could fit into a single
floor. She found Eryn clutching the spent stone tablet. Its screen was showing
him trying to attack two intangible figures, one a mere shadow before they both
disappeared into the wall. There was blood splattered in every direction, mixed with mercury. There
was a small selection of alchemical and laboratorial equipment, along with
scribbled manuscripts littering the surfaces. To the left incense was burning,
its tendrils caressing the surgical equipment which lay mixed with blood spattered heavy
machinery. The seating had been turned into two operating tables. There were
body parts with probes and tubes feeding blood, mercury and goodness knows what else
into these segments. The bones inside the flesh were pure metal, surrounded by
a lattice of metallic webbing that covered around its surface and extended into
the flesh. Beside this were research notes in the handwriting of Melvile and a
pale gold dress, adorned with finery of royalty. It was stained with a malachite
coloured patch centred around a puncture mark in the fabric. Lily refused Chloe to pass into the room and told her to stay out.
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