Heirs of Hyarch

As it turned out, Tayfel was accompanying them once more.

Myronel couldn't tell if it was because the young Elefae man happened to be familiar with this part of town, because of him having already worked with their group, or simply being the only one available. Whatever the reason might be, Tayfel was here now, guiding them carefully to the north part of Melyn.

It was slow going, avoiding the patrolling guards and knights while keeping Sedat out of sight as best they could. There weren't that many - Myronel's guess was a lot of them were securing Lord Melyn's home - but there was no way to know which of the other people walking about might report them. It wasn't impossible that one already had, which made the slow pace more dangerous.

"Stop." Tayfel's voice was only a little higher than a whisper as he held up one hand.

"More guards?" Myronel asked quietly.

"Knights." Tayfel pointed at the three armed and armored figures visible just ahead, standing at the intersection of two streets. "Storehouse is just down the road."

That they were almost there already was a little surprising, but maybe they'd made better time than Myronel had thought. Hopefully they wouldn't have to wait too long for the knights to move on. They couldn't just approach the storehouse either, with a group their size including multiple Elefae and Sedat as well. The knights would spot them immediately.

Several minutes passing made it clear three men weren't going anywhere. Why they were here was a bit of a mystery to Myronel, but not knowing any real information about Melyn meant it could be any number of reasons. What was important now was these knights were in their way. They would either have to distract them, or pull back and find another street to approach the storehouse from.

"Guessing you don't want to throw another of those big rocks," Tayfel said to Edeline.

Edeline's response was an irritated glare. "I don't see a good way to lure them away without us splitting up."

"Then we need to circle around from another direction," Myronel replied, "Is there another way we can get to the storehouse?"

"No, it's up against other buildings on all sides. We can go further up or down, but we'll still have to go out onto this street."

Of course it was. That left either continuing to wait, which they did not have the time for, or fighting their way through. Knowing Nela, he'd expect her to pick the latter. That is, Myronel thought as he looked over at her, if she didn't charge out herself, knights or no knights.

"Wait. I have a plan," Hamond suddently said, "It might not work, but it shouldn't expose us."

"Worth trying then." Myronel had a guess what it involved, knowing the spells Hamond tended to prefer.

Hamond nodded, then turned his attention to the men ahead. "Hydropidax," he said.

A jet of water materialized from somewhere behind one of the knights, soaking his back. How Hamond conjured the water without seeing where it was coming from struck Myronel as a bit unusual. Every time he had seen Hamond or the others use that spell, it had always sprayed the water from close to where they stood. It was probably speaking more from his inexperience with thaumaturgy, Myronel supposed.

"Shit!" The knight's shout was loud enough that people several streets over could probably hear it. One of his companions reflexively clapped his hands to his ears, while the other gestured at the man, probably asking why he had yelled so suddenly.

The man with the wet back half-turned, reaching around and feeling with one hand at where Hamond's spell had hit. Another reached down with a gauntleted hand, poking at the spot with a finger. The conversation between all three knights wasn't audible from here, but Myronel could see a mix of frustration and amusement on their faces as they realized what had happened - or rather, what they thought had happened.

Hamond's plan, which Myronel figured was to make them think someone had thrown water at them, seemed to be working. The struck knight pointed down the street, and then after a moment more of talking, the trio moved off to try and find whoever had done this. All this, while still being unaware any of them were there.

"Let's go, quickly," Myronel told them.

They all hurried out, moving as a group. Sedat kept in the center of them, a choice they'd made to keep her wings concealed among them as best as possible. A quick glance confirmed the three knights were occupied, looking down another alley.

The storehouse was larger than Myronel had expected, although it definitely showed all the signs of being abandoned. A building this size had to have been the possession of quite the merchant. What became of that merchant was a mystery, one they didn't have time to solve. Not that it stopped his, or anyone's, curiosity.

Tayfel pulled out a small metal key as they came up to the door. "Boss says she got in through one of the windows, so one of you may want to-"

A shout from down the street drew their attention. One of the knights was now backing away from a thin figure of a middle-aged woman advancing on him. His sword was drawn, but Myronel knew it would do little good against the four glowing blades floating in the air around the attacker. Knowing just who it - the one missing arm confirmed it - was meant the bodies of the other two knights laid out on the street was hardly a surprise.

The blades sliced forward, and the Witch of Wrath stood triumphant.

Myronel drew his sword, for all the good it would do. More likely, he would be handling any other men who took notice of the battle to come. That battle would be loud and dangerous, with the sort of spells that Edeline, Hamond, and the Witch of Wrath would be trading back and forth.

"Who is that?" Tayfel asked, louder than Myronel would've preferred.

Unsurprisingly, this got the attention of the woman. She paused a moment as she took in who they were, then gave them all a fierce smile. Out of the corner of his vision, Myronel could see the others readying their weapons. He braced himself as well, knowing they would only have a few seconds to react to what came next.

The Witch of Wrath took a step forward...but then turned and darted away, her spell fading behind her.

It seemed she didn't want to fight them just yet. Hamond had mentioned something about her only wanting to choose battlegrounds that favored her, but the situation didn't help them at all either. Or maybe she didn't want to draw too much attention herself, although the dead knights certainly would do that as it was.

"So we know she is here, and she knows the same for us," Edeline noted quietly, sheathing her sword. "Hardly ideal."

"Have...have you met?" Tayfel stared.

"We can explain later," Hamond quickly said, "Just know that she's our enemy, and wants us dead."

"Shit, did you piss off the Spellking or something too?" Tayfel's eyes were understandably wide. "Leave me out of that."

"We intend to," Edeline said, "Just unlock the door."

"Already done." Tayfel pulled it open. "You go ahead. If it's that girl you want, she'd probably hide from me. I'll just keep watch, in case she gets past you or tries to go out the window."

Myronel didn't bother to mention that they'd certainly been overheard by now, so whoever was in here was probably hidden away. Even from here, he could see stacks of old crates filling the building. Some of them likely contained Syrkonel's stashed goods, but any of them could also be empty. Countless places for someone small and cunning to conceal themselves, and Jylania had proven very good at that.

"Teleios horama," Hamond said, stepping inside and looking around.

"How would that help?" Myronel asked, mainly out of curiosity.

"If it was Jylania, she probably used light spells to see at night," Hamond explained, "And...it's faint, but there were spells cast here."

"Jylania!" Nela wasn't even trying to be subtle about it, calling out to her apprentice. The others paused, waiting a moment to see if she emerged, but nothing happened. The building remained quiet, with no sign of life.

"That clearly did not work," Edeline finally commented. She walked over and kicked a crate resting on its side. A rat immediately ran out, dashing into the shadows. Edeline leapt back with a yelp. "Vermin," she grumbled after recovering.

"So either there's food here, or they made a nest." Hamond wrinkled his nose. "Probably the nest. I can't see Syrkonel storing anything that might rot in a place like this."

"If he did, he'll need to get more," Myronel said, "It's better we don't pry into it though. Let's spread out and search."

"Do you think we should call on light spells of our own?" Edeline asked.

"It might help a little, but then someone could see it through the windows," Hamond said.

Myronel had to agree, but before any of them could say another word, a loud crash shook the building. Wincing, he glanced around, looking for the sign of what caused it.

It turned out to be Sedat, who stood next to a damaged crate toppled on its side. "Sorry. Bumped it with my wing," she said with a grimace.

"Shit, that scared me," Nela grumbled, "Don't do that!"

Myronel shook his head, just glad no one was hurt. It was almost...hold on, he thought he heard another sound, a soft rustle that was barely audible. It had come from...there, that back corner. There were a couple of crates stacked there, but it looked like there was some space between them and the walls.

Holding up a hand to signal silence, Myronel walked over to the crates and peered over them. Sure enough, he could see Jylania sitting there, facing the wall and clearly trying her best once again not to be noticed. Aether, this search could have ended so much worse. Thankfully, it hadn't, and Nela ought to be so relieved that they'd found her.

"There you are," he said, startling Jylania into staring up at him.