Yvonne's was a seedy shop, as seedy as the Old Market district had to offer and more, one of those places with dark windows, a curtain behind the counter, and a sardonic cashier who wasn't any help unless the customer asked for the right thing. And you had to know the right thing to ask for. It sold baubles, tourist stuff like "I <3 RhyDin" t-shirts, but there was plenty more in the back room, to be sure...
It closed around one thirty in the morning, for whatever reason, and at two, everything but a magick-sign made to look like neon had been put out - the red sign flickered with every subtle shift of the Nexus, so it flickered often. Tonight the nearest streetlamp wasn't working, and the result was that the light from the sign washed the warehouse front across the street with an eerie glow. It was made from corrugated metal and scraps of wood probably salvaged from the sea, as the piece right next to the main door had two portholes and barnacles on it. Down at the corner, a businessman in a carriage, very drunk, stopped to speak to a prostitute in a cocktail dress who looked vaguely orcish. Up the street, a strange rodent rifled through a trash bin.
Someone had cut the lock on the front door of the warehouse, leaving it ever so slightly ajar...
Fia didn't look like much of anything. She kept her mouth shut, hunched her shoulders, kept her hood tugged over her head and her coat wrapped around her to keep out the cold, and only shuffled along. No one important here. Just moving along. Though once she got to the warehouse, she slipped in and paused, narrowing her eyes and looking around.
The warehouse was pitch black, save for little slivers of lamplight coming in through grimy upper windows. When the door behind her shut out the noise from outside, little sounds from within became louder - hushed breathing, the brief rattle of a chain, something opening with a 'snikt'. And something tripped a latch on the door behind her, sealing it shut with an echoing thud.
She didn't do much for starters. Paused for a moment, moving away from the door. Elves saw better in low light anyway—more rods, or so the smart guys said. She sensed just enough to see if there were any other life-forms there—well, big enough to be a human. Unless they were another mage, she ought to be able to sense their life forces—and if not, they were probably masking just the same as she was. No funny moves yet, however. Supposedly she was here to talk. Right' Right. No need to show teenage bravado when it might just equal stupidity
They appeared human, but different somehow - "hollow," like doppelgangers. Custom-magicked thugs. Four total approached her from different angles, one from the left, one from the right, and two head-on. One with a knife, one with a chain, two with clubs. A light flickered on overhead, and the guy in front, an ugly guy with a hooked scar cutting deep into his cheek, said, "Look what we've conned ourselves....A nice elf-skin coat."
They barely left room for a pithy reply. They lunged, one after the other, working together as a team in a mad attempt to take her down.
Which one came first, so to speak" No matter what, this was gonna hurt. All of them. The guy with the knife was going to find her coat was rather difficult to puncture—it was armored, or something. Didn't look quite right either, possessed of some odd sheen. As for Who, he was getting a stun blast to the face. She didn't need to mouth her spells, like some wizards. If that caught him, he'd be down for the count with any luck. Fia drew her katana from under the coat with her right arm, flipped it back along her forearm carefully, and did her best to duck under the club wielders. She figured if anything, the chain might hurt the least. "Sorry boys, was I late for my dance lesson?"
The chain whipped around her katana as the man who got the stun blast flew back to crash into a pile of rickety old crates. As the chain tugged back and forth, and its wielder snarled, one man lunged for her side to club her over the head, and his partner stepped back.
She wasn't the strongest elf in the world. Thankfully, she didn't have to be. The club hit her, but over the shoulders. Fia didn't quite duck, but jerking his chain-wielding buddy into the guy who'd just hit her? That was what she was trying to do, as well as faking the fall, so she could kick the confused duo into the third guy. As for the fourth' Hopefully he wouldn't get up. She needed a chance to recover to get another blast off. Fia also was hoping that chain had gotten tangled up when she rolled. That was gonna be a souvenir.
The move worked like a charm. The man with the chain swung into his buddy, and a sound kick knocked them back into the third, and they all toppled back into the same pile of crates that the fourth guy laid in....and at once, they all evaporated, in clouds of dark smoke. Across the room, another presence registered on her mage's sense, a seemingly human male who was stepping towards her....and clapping slowly.
"Bravo, Ms. Calriss," he said. His voice was cool as you please, and faintly accented - he appeared sharp-dressed, and his face was familiar...
It closed around one thirty in the morning, for whatever reason, and at two, everything but a magick-sign made to look like neon had been put out - the red sign flickered with every subtle shift of the Nexus, so it flickered often. Tonight the nearest streetlamp wasn't working, and the result was that the light from the sign washed the warehouse front across the street with an eerie glow. It was made from corrugated metal and scraps of wood probably salvaged from the sea, as the piece right next to the main door had two portholes and barnacles on it. Down at the corner, a businessman in a carriage, very drunk, stopped to speak to a prostitute in a cocktail dress who looked vaguely orcish. Up the street, a strange rodent rifled through a trash bin.
Someone had cut the lock on the front door of the warehouse, leaving it ever so slightly ajar...
Fia didn't look like much of anything. She kept her mouth shut, hunched her shoulders, kept her hood tugged over her head and her coat wrapped around her to keep out the cold, and only shuffled along. No one important here. Just moving along. Though once she got to the warehouse, she slipped in and paused, narrowing her eyes and looking around.
The warehouse was pitch black, save for little slivers of lamplight coming in through grimy upper windows. When the door behind her shut out the noise from outside, little sounds from within became louder - hushed breathing, the brief rattle of a chain, something opening with a 'snikt'. And something tripped a latch on the door behind her, sealing it shut with an echoing thud.
She didn't do much for starters. Paused for a moment, moving away from the door. Elves saw better in low light anyway—more rods, or so the smart guys said. She sensed just enough to see if there were any other life-forms there—well, big enough to be a human. Unless they were another mage, she ought to be able to sense their life forces—and if not, they were probably masking just the same as she was. No funny moves yet, however. Supposedly she was here to talk. Right' Right. No need to show teenage bravado when it might just equal stupidity
They appeared human, but different somehow - "hollow," like doppelgangers. Custom-magicked thugs. Four total approached her from different angles, one from the left, one from the right, and two head-on. One with a knife, one with a chain, two with clubs. A light flickered on overhead, and the guy in front, an ugly guy with a hooked scar cutting deep into his cheek, said, "Look what we've conned ourselves....A nice elf-skin coat."
They barely left room for a pithy reply. They lunged, one after the other, working together as a team in a mad attempt to take her down.
Which one came first, so to speak" No matter what, this was gonna hurt. All of them. The guy with the knife was going to find her coat was rather difficult to puncture—it was armored, or something. Didn't look quite right either, possessed of some odd sheen. As for Who, he was getting a stun blast to the face. She didn't need to mouth her spells, like some wizards. If that caught him, he'd be down for the count with any luck. Fia drew her katana from under the coat with her right arm, flipped it back along her forearm carefully, and did her best to duck under the club wielders. She figured if anything, the chain might hurt the least. "Sorry boys, was I late for my dance lesson?"
The chain whipped around her katana as the man who got the stun blast flew back to crash into a pile of rickety old crates. As the chain tugged back and forth, and its wielder snarled, one man lunged for her side to club her over the head, and his partner stepped back.
She wasn't the strongest elf in the world. Thankfully, she didn't have to be. The club hit her, but over the shoulders. Fia didn't quite duck, but jerking his chain-wielding buddy into the guy who'd just hit her? That was what she was trying to do, as well as faking the fall, so she could kick the confused duo into the third guy. As for the fourth' Hopefully he wouldn't get up. She needed a chance to recover to get another blast off. Fia also was hoping that chain had gotten tangled up when she rolled. That was gonna be a souvenir.
The move worked like a charm. The man with the chain swung into his buddy, and a sound kick knocked them back into the third, and they all toppled back into the same pile of crates that the fourth guy laid in....and at once, they all evaporated, in clouds of dark smoke. Across the room, another presence registered on her mage's sense, a seemingly human male who was stepping towards her....and clapping slowly.
"Bravo, Ms. Calriss," he said. His voice was cool as you please, and faintly accented - he appeared sharp-dressed, and his face was familiar...