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."
"I thought Elven vision was superior."
"That changes little."
I fought a surge of annoyance, eventually settling on ignoring her, measuring the distance to the next rooftop, and backing up until I was confident in the run-up.
Aetherya spoke quickly. "Sevran believes you're hunting the void mage. He is under the impression that I could be of help, as my division is disciplined enough to fulfill their role without my oversight."
"And you agree?"
"I am impassive, in the matter."
I rolled my eyes. Tempting as it was to tell her to strike rocks, reluctant help was better than no help. And putting emotion aside, I could really use someone with her skill-set.
"Alright." I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "I have a plan to deal with the fire, but there's a problem. Soon as I do, he'll know I'm there. Extinguishing the flames means giving him a window to escape. I’m guessing he's up high somewhere, elevated."
"And you've established this how?" Aetherya questioned.
"If you're a mage capable of using void from range, you're either embedded in the frontline as a spell breaker, or at an elevated distance shaping the battle from afar. I doubt our quarry is the sort to break concealment," I said, not bothering to hide my disgust.
Aetherya nodded, seeming to find the explanation satisfactory. "Then lead. I'll position myself to observe everything you cannot."
—
I panted, cycling clean air into my lungs with wind magic. It barely helped. The smoke from the growing fire—a grainery to the side of a mercantile square—hung hazy in the square. There was a flash of movement that half startled me before I realized it was Aetherya, scaling a multi-story common house near the fire, clinging to a brick chimney, bow drawn, perfectly still.
Everything Sevran described held true. A long line of dirty, sweat-sodden faces formed, weathering the storm of spirits armed with pails and wine-skins, moving in tandem. The prior orderliness of the Crimson Brand had evaporated. For the most part they held their position to the side, watching the fire warily.
Slowly, then quickly, the inferno died.
A ragged cheer broke out on the street, but I barely noticed. Across the clearing, Aetherya was shaking her head.
No movement.
Dammit. I snarled, ditching any remaining instinct to stay hidden and dropped down the front of the building, barely remembering to place an aegis and break my fall. There was a reason this was happening. The void mage played a part, of that much, I was certain.
Unfortunately, the rules of Topside—scatter as soon as the crisis is averted—gave them perfect cover.
I darted from person to person, taking in their faces, peeking under hoods, looking for anyone out of the ordinary, checking if Aetherya had found someone and growing more desperate when I realized she hadn't.
In the span of minutes, there were more ghosts than people. Floating specters and ambling silhouettes.
Aetherya descended from her perch in an acrobatic series of hops, beginning on a distant awning all the way to where she landed beside me, solidly. "Well. That was a disappointment."
"They were here." I snapped, shuddering in discomfort as one of the silhouettes walked through me, leaving behind a cold, cloying sensation.
"Yet there was nothing to report." Aetherya breathed a long sigh. "It is no accident the void mage has remained hidden for so long. But we must think strategically. Subjecting a granary to arson is senseless. We must accept the possibility the fire was lit as a distraction."
"I'm telling you, they were here." I seethed, still scanning the square, finding little beyond frightened expressions. "It's the only explanation for what happened to the water. They were just here."
Aetherya shrugged, unbothered. "Experience suggests we will not pick up this trail for sometime. Carry on the search if you wish. But I must tend my greater duties."
Ever so briefly, I entertained the idea of ordering her to stay, before eventually dismissing it. There was less tension between us these days, but it was far from gone. And I was meant to be above using my power for pettiness.
I waved her away, watching with clenched fists as the Elven lieutenant sprang up the nearby wall.
Cephur chose her for a reason.
We'd never seen the void mage leave. And yes, Aetherya could be right, the bastard could have slipped away through a blind-spot, maybe even with the aid of a glamour. But there was an obvious, second possibility. In lieu of support, I scoured the square, searching any possible hiding spot. They could be hiding in plain sight, beneath the curtains of a shuttered stall, peeking through the gaps of planks in a doorway.
As I attempted to look everywhere at once, hope dwindled. The square was entirely abandoned, save the owner of the granary, surveying the damage.
Still, I pressed on. Searching for something. Anything.
The ghosts grew more numerous. In human form they were harmless, but every time they passed through me, it was like the very warmth was being siphoned from my chest.
With every possibility expended, I sidestepped a lone specter, intending to question the granary's owner.
And stopped short when a frigid hand clamped down on my wrist.
"Please... Help me..." A familiar voice whispered.