Chapter 237: Fracture XLII
Wind crashed past my ears as I made the leap from one rooftop to the next. The inscriptions in my legs burned, and my muscles ached. I'd softened some, since my return. In the sanctum I'd managed similar acrobatics nearly every day, using trees and caverns in Mountainside to obscure my presence from either the unwitting infernal children pursuing their rites of adulthood, or the corrupted creatures I hunted.
Close enough to Topside now that I could see the smoke, I slowed my pace, making each leap more cautiously, hiding behind whatever cover I could find. Almost absentmindedly, more out of habit than anything else, I touched the amulet at my neck.
"Vogrin? Anything to add?"
The expected, irritable response never came. I groaned in annoyance. Vogrin couldn't materialize indefinitely. My summon functioned the same as any demonic summon, siphoning off a small percentage of mana until he'd gathered enough to materialize. And considering how long the negotiations with Ozra went, I could only assume he was spent.
Could have given me a heads up before we were about to make our way into the sewers.
In fact, he really should have. I frowned.
There was a whinge of wood, and I looked up to see the lithe form of a leather-armored elf, pointing a fully drawn bow in my general direction.
"The instructions I gave were for you, as well as your division," I clarified, glancing down at the waiting arrow.
Aetherya lowered the weapon. Slightly. "Couldn't be sure it was you. From a distance it could have been any human child, cowering on the rooftops."