Whatever deep night meant, Lirssa felt very certain she was in it. Though RhyDin was a city that did not sleep, the sounds changed. Everything altered when the darkness was at its richest, purest hour. Moons, stars, lamplight, gaslight — it did not matter, because it was more than sight. It was smell, sound, touch.
Lirssa knew it well. She knew it from years of living out in those streets, the nights of cobble-bedding; just finding a place against a warm wall or the heat from a sewer drain rising up with its dank, putrid song of filth and decay.
The wall she leaned against was not warm. It was protected from the sun by the tall house across a narrow alleyway behind it. It never got a full touch of heat, and because of that it was just where she needed to be.
It was a simple warehouse. Not the monstrosities of Stars End or even the cavernous ones by the docks. It was part of a different time, built when the wares moved faster because their time was precious. It had seen days of beehive activity and well maintained walls. Those days were gone. In its place were whispered conversations, ambiguous transactions, and seven cots with quiet, drugged children resting.
She had planned better this time. Took time to train herself with Canaan's help to make sure she could do this alone. She would not put anyone else in the position to doubt what they were doing or why. She was not going to be useless.
"She's no good to me broken...". She could still hear him say that. And what good had she been to anyone lately' She would do more. She had to do more.
A door clicked open and swung out towards the alleyway. She watched the figure step out and light up a cigarette. Another figure followed, less hunched and more indignant. "Maintain the patrols. I will not have my industry ruined by incompetence."
The man with the cigarette snickered and spat out something into the stream of alleyway filth. "You think Patrim was incompetent' Wasn't that, mate. He just got too big. Too much space to cover. Not here. You'll get your cargo shipped tomorrow just like planned."
"Hmm, well, good then. You will be paid when it does." The man turned the other way down the alleyway. What Lirssa would have given to have him come close to her. One knife from a vambrace, and he would be gone.
But at the risk of the children. So, she let him go. She let the other man go back inside. And she sat, closed her eyes, sank into the inbetween, and counted.
From the outside, she was asleep -or even dead. Inside, she stretched out to sense magic nearby. It was deep in the walls of the building. The night before she had touched it to see if they noticed. They had. It was a near thing to stir from the inbetween and get away before they found her.
That only meant she had to be faster. The count was going on in the back of her mind. After years, and the months training with Canaan, she had built a greater awareness of herself while separate from the world. She could mark time passing, feel where the arcane elements manifested, whether creature or object.
There were two mages on this team, and they kept strong ties with the magical boundary in the wall. She hoped the planned distraction for the three other guards would work, because she had to take down the wall and the mages all in one. It was this alone that caused doubt to needle at her plan.
Except there was no more time, and nothing was going to change tomorrow anyway. She stretched out to find the three gizmos Penelope had rigged up for her. Penelope had been a lucky contact to make. The gadgets she could cook up combining magic and tech were near miraculous. And after a good turn or two, affordable. Slightly.
Three gizmos were out at the front of the building; one at the main door, one at each corner. With a pulse from that waterfall of power at her disposal, she brought them to life.
One, two, three, four, five...She counted. She could not hear if the gizmos had done their job, but she had to give them time to do so. And then she broke free of them, reaching out to the mages and the wall and snatching at them. She had to be swift, fierce, grab hold, and rip as if she were shredding flesh from skin.
And they fought her.
Lirssa knew it well. She knew it from years of living out in those streets, the nights of cobble-bedding; just finding a place against a warm wall or the heat from a sewer drain rising up with its dank, putrid song of filth and decay.
The wall she leaned against was not warm. It was protected from the sun by the tall house across a narrow alleyway behind it. It never got a full touch of heat, and because of that it was just where she needed to be.
It was a simple warehouse. Not the monstrosities of Stars End or even the cavernous ones by the docks. It was part of a different time, built when the wares moved faster because their time was precious. It had seen days of beehive activity and well maintained walls. Those days were gone. In its place were whispered conversations, ambiguous transactions, and seven cots with quiet, drugged children resting.
She had planned better this time. Took time to train herself with Canaan's help to make sure she could do this alone. She would not put anyone else in the position to doubt what they were doing or why. She was not going to be useless.
"She's no good to me broken...". She could still hear him say that. And what good had she been to anyone lately' She would do more. She had to do more.
A door clicked open and swung out towards the alleyway. She watched the figure step out and light up a cigarette. Another figure followed, less hunched and more indignant. "Maintain the patrols. I will not have my industry ruined by incompetence."
The man with the cigarette snickered and spat out something into the stream of alleyway filth. "You think Patrim was incompetent' Wasn't that, mate. He just got too big. Too much space to cover. Not here. You'll get your cargo shipped tomorrow just like planned."
"Hmm, well, good then. You will be paid when it does." The man turned the other way down the alleyway. What Lirssa would have given to have him come close to her. One knife from a vambrace, and he would be gone.
But at the risk of the children. So, she let him go. She let the other man go back inside. And she sat, closed her eyes, sank into the inbetween, and counted.
From the outside, she was asleep -or even dead. Inside, she stretched out to sense magic nearby. It was deep in the walls of the building. The night before she had touched it to see if they noticed. They had. It was a near thing to stir from the inbetween and get away before they found her.
That only meant she had to be faster. The count was going on in the back of her mind. After years, and the months training with Canaan, she had built a greater awareness of herself while separate from the world. She could mark time passing, feel where the arcane elements manifested, whether creature or object.
There were two mages on this team, and they kept strong ties with the magical boundary in the wall. She hoped the planned distraction for the three other guards would work, because she had to take down the wall and the mages all in one. It was this alone that caused doubt to needle at her plan.
Except there was no more time, and nothing was going to change tomorrow anyway. She stretched out to find the three gizmos Penelope had rigged up for her. Penelope had been a lucky contact to make. The gadgets she could cook up combining magic and tech were near miraculous. And after a good turn or two, affordable. Slightly.
Three gizmos were out at the front of the building; one at the main door, one at each corner. With a pulse from that waterfall of power at her disposal, she brought them to life.
One, two, three, four, five...She counted. She could not hear if the gizmos had done their job, but she had to give them time to do so. And then she broke free of them, reaching out to the mages and the wall and snatching at them. She had to be swift, fierce, grab hold, and rip as if she were shredding flesh from skin.
And they fought her.