Part 3: A reckoning rides from the west

Casimir smiles. The two brothers talk for a few more minutes before Ascian fades into sleep. The early hours of the morning send bright shafts of white reflecting into Katrin's cell. She takes her time blinking her eyes awake. A noise from down the hall causes her to sit up. Footsteps eventually reveal a guard and Lord Protector Darian.  The guard opens the door and then Darian waves the guard away. "You're not my brother's biggest fan," he says after the guard has made himself scarce. 

Katrin pushes herself up so she's seated at the edge of the cot. She looks down at the manacles still on her wrists, then back up to the King's brother with a stony expression. "No. I'm not." 

Darian pulls a key out from his belt and unlocks the manacles, letting them clatter to the ground. "Why is that?"

Katrin looks at her hands, her wrists red where the chains had rubbed her skin raw, her palms still stinging from where she'd hit them against the wall. Slowly, she stands up, her expression unchanged.  "Until recently, just the war. And the mandatory conscription into his military. Now?" She gives a mirthless laugh. "Add Daerheim onto the pile." 

Darian nods as Katrin talks about the first two reasons, but frowns as she mentions Daerheim. "How much do you know?"

Katrin crosses to the barred window, her jaw set. "That the city has always been there, just hidden from our minds by magic. And someone killed a lot of people there." She turns to look at Darian. "That your brother intends to keep the truth hidden. And he won't say why." 

"It's not just him, you know," he says. "He inherited this knowledge from our father. The whole world has come together to hide this truth. Surely you can't blame him for all of that."

She folds her arms across her chest. "I have yet to hear the reason why the world needs to hide it. Why is Daerheim so bad?" 

"If I'm going to release you, I can't tell you that," Darian says. "You must swear that you will not discuss this matter further...not with those who do not know." The last phrase is added as an aside, a seeming flippant afterthought, but Darian meets Katrin's eyes as he says it.

Katrin meets his eyes, unflinching. "And if I don't?"

Darian sighs. "Then I won't be able to release you," he says.

For a brief moment, Katrin feels almost compelled to do exactly what she'd said. But a thought stops her. I'm no use to anyone stuck in here.  "Fine. I'll keep the secret. Can I go?"

Darian nods. "You may," he says. "You'll find your weapons in the foyer." He stands and gestures out the cell door. As Katrin begins to make her way down the hall, he speaks again. "A word of warning: My brother has returned to the front lines of the war, but he would be very irritated...to say the least...if he finds that you've been released. Stay out of trouble in the city."

Katrin stops, turning back slightly to look the Lord Protector in the eyes. "You won't have to worry about that, my Lord. I don't intend to stay that long." She turns her back to him, taking a breath before walking away. To freedom.

Katrin begins making her way through the city streets. At this early near-pre-dawn hour, the streets are deserted in the government quarter. She can hear the distant noise of the Amber Market as it echoes through the streets. Nearing the entrance to the dormitory, she cuts off the main streets. She turns a corner, and her keen ears pick up the sound of soft shoes hitting the paving stones back around the corner. As she turns, the footsteps freeze. The silence drowns out the noise of the market at the center of the city.

Her eyes dart from one side of the alley to the other. Unease sets in the pit of her stomach, and her hand twitches towards her side, but then she remembers she hadn't taken her weapons with her to the dinner. "I know you're there. What do you want?" She keeps her voice low, but raises enough to reach her tail, whoever or whatever it might be. 

Katrin's focus is on the corner so much that she doesn't see the movement on the roof. A figure clambers up, and Katrin feels magic begin to wrap around her mind, locking up her muscles. She pushes through the effect in time to see the figure jump down from the roof. "You," the assailant says.  The magic tries to weave its way through Katrin's muscles again, but just like before, she shrugs it off.

Shit.  As soon as the magic tightening her muscles recedes, she pushes off, running down the alley. She doesn't get very far before she can feel the spell taking hold again, this time freezing her in place. Fuck. She can hear her assailant closing the distance, and with effort, she shrugs off the spell's effect again. She's just turning to look over her shoulder, when he catches up to her. She grunts in pain as he slashes at her with his sword, both strikes finding purchase.  "No you don't," she says, and his sword begins to glow, first yellow, then orange, then red, and finally white-hot. With a cry, her attacker throws the sword away, the still hot blade clattering against the cobbles across the alley. His sleeve is smoldering. Well, that's not gonna do me any good over there. Fuck it. Before she can move, he tries to grab her, but she slips out of his grasp, running deeper down the alley. But he catches up to her again, this time managing to grab and hold on. She struggles to push him off, but his hands tighten around her arms, holding her in place. With effort, she tries to throw a punch, but it misses. As he tries to tighten his grip on her, she breaks free again. Instead of running, she swipes across his face with her elbow, finding purchase on his jaw. As he reels from the blow, she kicks a foot out at his knee. He falls to the ground clutching at his injured knee, and as she moves to run, something....familiar catches her eye. She stops, breathing hard and staring at the man and the brand on his chest.  Gesrik. "What the hell does Gesrik want with me?"

The would-be assailant winces, making a fool of himself as he clutches his knee and attempts to slap out the fire on his sleeve. Katrin's words seem to fall on deaf ears, and the man pulls down his mask and spits on the ground. "I won't tell you nothing," he says in a slurring Heartlands accent.

Katrin gives the man a hard look, then glances around at the alley. "Are there more of you?" She slowly starts to back away. 

"Dozens of us, all nearby, all waiting for you," he says with a sneer.

She can feel her heart pounding in her chest, but something about him was off. "I think you're lying. I think there's just you. And now you've got a bad knee."  

The sneer fades in intensity, a shadow of doubt passing over the man's face. He spits again, regaining some of his composure. "So what now?"

Katrin glances behind the man, at the glowing sword. She skirts around him, dropping her spell, the metal slowly fading back to it's original state. She picks it up, and holds it to the man's neck. "I think you've got some explaining to do. You're coming with me. And if you try to run, well," she leans in, her eyes like hot coals. "You won't get very far."

Katrin pulls the man by the collar the remaining few blocks to the Arcane Minded. The man's knee has swollen up to the size of a small melon. As she turns the corner to Timm's shop, she sees Na'arik sitting outside, a faint trail of smoke drifting up from a pipe held in one large hand. He pushes off the front porch with a quizzical and amused expression on his face. "Who's this?"

"Someone who thought he could fuck with me," she says, pressing the tip of the sword into her captive's back, reminding him of his situation. "Works for an old....friend. And I want to know why he tried to kidnap me." 

Na'arik nods, accepting the bizarre situation at Katrin's word. "Not here," he says. "Marianne is at a place across town. I'll take him there. You go get your friends and then have them follow." Na'arik gives Katrin a few directions and then hoists the man up with ease. "We're gonna go for a little walk, you and I. Don't make things difficult." The big man walks off with Katrin's prisoner, sticking to the back streets.

Katrin watches Na'arik head off with her prisoner, the shortsword held loosely in her grasp. Once he's out of sight, she enters the Arcane Minded, heading into the guild hall, to find the others. After a few moments, she enters the Fireblade's quarters. Her hair is frizzy, her dress torn and stained from the attack in the alley. She takes a few steps in, tossing the shortsword on a nearby empty sofa. 

Thezra hardly slept the night before, spending most of the evening lost in thought over the days events. By the time the morning rolled around, she was quick out the door to train - it was as good a way as she could imagine to let off some steam - before returning to the others. Her mind was still adrift in the past 24 hours when the door opened to reveal a beat-up - yet familiar - face in the door. “Katrin! The fuck did they do to you?”

Lilliana was lounging in her and Katrin’s room, trying different movements with her new leg when she hears Thezra’s exclamation. She immediately moves to leap to her feet, but the awkwardness of the prosthetic leg causes her to stumble and lose her balance. She tries to catch herself on the bed frame, but instead jams her fingers hard and she lets out a loud curse and she hits the ground. “I’m okay!”  She shouts, maybe a little louder than was necessary, but she eventually she gets to her feet with grumbles and a very hurt pride. She strides out and see Katrin, immediately her green eyes flare a bright silver and her hair swirls around her body in a frenzy. “I will kill them! They promised they wouldn’t hurt you! They promised!”

Katrin just looks at Lilli. "They didn't do anything," she runs a hand through her hair, detangling some of it. "Someone followed me after I left the palace this morning."

Lilliana’s fury dissipates almost as quickly as it appeared, her hair falling back down and the silver fading from her eyes. “Oh. Well, I take it you took care of that bastard then.” She looks abashed and works on finding somewhere to sit. “I’m glad you’re back.” 

Katrin looks at the girl for a moment longer. "I didn't kill him. Yet."  Then she turns to the rest. "Na'arik's taking him to a place across town. We all need to be there."

"How did Marianne get you out,"  Thezra arches a brow as she circles around the room towards her.  "And why go across town when we're all here?"  She shakes her head, yesterday's frustrations quickly dragging their way into the new day. 

Katrin sets her jaw, her eyes hardening. "But we're not all here, are we?"

"Marianne has Ascian, doesn't she? Would it not make sense to bring him here than for all of us to go th—?" She pinches the bridge of her nose,  "Forget it. Whatever. If it means getting any answers at all then we go."

"Na'arik asked me to gather you. This request doesn't come from me. Stay if you want. But I gather you'd rather not be kept in the dark." Katrin's eyes move over to Akiran and Thrandimir, who were as of yet silent. Odd, that the dragonborn not be the first to shove his opinion in her face. 

Thrandimir  hears Katrin enter the common area of the Fireblades' quarters and  looks up from the book that he is reading. Wordlessly, the wizard sets the tome down, crosses to his Dwarven friend and wraps his arms around her in a tight embrace that leaves Katrin swaddled in the sleeves of Thrandimir's heavy grey robes. After a long moment, the wizard releases her, his hands on the cleric's shoulders as he looks her in the eyes. " You remembered," he asserts firmly, watching her face for her response.

The hug is surprising, and Katrin nearly freezes up for a split second. But she relents, accepting her friend and the comfort he sought to give her. When he releases her, she nods. "Why do you think they wouldn't let me leave?"

Thrandimir nods in curt agreement. "Ascian was first. Akiran has since broken the enchantment too. If Na'arik wants you to gather us, then we should all be together again soon."

"I need to change. And then we should go. I have unfinished business." With that, she moves past Thrandimir, past Akiran, Lilli, and Thezra, shutting the door of the room she shared with Lilli.

Eventually, the Fireblades make their way across town to Marianne's property, which at first glance seems to be an abandoned stable and grain storehouse. In the early morning light, the group can see Ascian sitting on the peak of the roof. Marianne stands in the large double-doorway.

Thrandimir's eye is drawn to where Ascian perches at the apex and the wizard raises a friendly hand to the boy in greeting, Ember walking dutifully by his side.

Ascian stares unblinkingly down as the group approaches the stable, his legs free and still as they hang over the roof's edge. It's to Ember his eyes are first drawn, safe and whole at Thrandimir's side, and then sweeping over the rest of the group, finding them in a similar state. Safe, whole, and together. In how many ways? Did Katrin and Thrandimir feel like Akiran and Thezra now too? I didn't know , he states without preamble into Thrandimir's mind as soon as the wizard is near enough. I didn't know it would do that.

I know , Thrandimir thinks back in response to the now familiar sensation of Ascian touching his mind. It's not your fault. Whatever happens next, we'll tackle it together. He pauses before adding some more information. Akiran, Katrin and I have remembered Daerheim. Lilliana and Thezra have not yet.

Katrin had been silent as she'd led the rest of them across town to where Na'arik had instructed her to go. The majority of the tension in her body dissipates when she sees Ash sitting up on the roof. Well and whole. Thank the gods he's alright.  Once they're close, she strides ahead to meet Marianne in the doorway. "Where is he?" She says without preamble, the burning anger she'd felt earlier when she'd been attacked returning. 

Lilli decided this time, it was probably for the best to keep silent... remembering her mistakes from the bar the other night. She would speak up if needed, but for now... She looks over the woman she believes to be Marianne, hoping that someone might make the introduction for her, but if not she would do it herself.

Marianne frowns. "If you're speaking about your assailant, he's inside. Bound, gagged, blindfolded, with Na'arik watching over him. He's not going anywhere."