Out of Evenfall (BOOK 1)

Chapter 16

FENRER

Where did he run off to? It's almost dusk. Auras clogged the rest of his senses, making it difficult to discern both magick and Derelict among the sludge of colours. Fenrer adjusted his blinder, looking at the world through suppressed fabric. He took out a cutting knife to slowly divide the bread given to him. People went to and fro, grabbing things from stalls, while children played under heel, chasing each other with wooden sticks. Strange how little things change. He dipped into an alley between two houses, coming closer to the direction Adara, the tavern maid, pointed out. I hope Yuven's signed us in. It might be a good opportunity to get close to the Teboran leadership. He stopped underneath a small tree shadowing a house on the edges of the activity. Kon?

"What is it you need, Little Wolf?"

I want you to check around the forest. I know there's Derelicts nearby, but this activity makes it hard to discern. Fenrer checked back where he came from, and his blood tickled with the distant call of the infernal creatures. They're here, but I don't know where. Stay hidden. I need to go find Yuven.

"As you command." A light mist dropped off him, and it flowed through the grass to take the form of a wolf in the underbrush, disappearing with a hush of wind to stalk the forest. Fenrer forced himself back into the torrent of auras. Happiness boiled at the surface, but something deeper and bloody tainted the emotions underneath. As a mouse, trapped under the cat's paw, its claws digging slowly into the spine. It was easy to get lost in a crowd, especially if Yuven decided to use his magick his usual way whenever it came to crowds. To disappear in a breath of wind, never too far away, but also everywhere at once. Fenrer focused on the colors he allowed to breach his mind, trying to pick out something familiar. An icy maelstrom with crimson thorns digging in their barbs. Most of the crowd centralized and sent up their reveling sparks of colors into the air with each dance they participated in. All of them could wear masks, but Fenrer saw past every one.

Need to find Yuven and see if we can't find somewhere to camp for the night. Somewhere out of sight. Fenrer listened enough to the knights patrolling the outside roads. A magickae sentenced to death by the command of the king, yet murders continued to happen.

"Boiling mold and decay," one young knight complained to his senior as Fenrer passed them. "All things above. Corpses smell awful, especially in the hot months, but he says there was nothing left but a pile of bloody viscera. It has to be magick. No one could leave that devastation. Are you sure the Knight-Captain wasn't having a laugh?"

No, he's right on that front, but it's not magick. Magick leaves traces. Fenrer rushed away from them before they noticed his observing, and away from the main heart of colors, everything cleared up in the air. He took off the wolf mask he picked up from one of the stalls, and untied his blinder to tuck it against one of his straps. It all came back into view as he blinked out the confusing flow. Hand up to his necklace, he focused on the shard of Yuven within, to tug him in the right direction. He waited several minutes before a sharp hiss answered behind him.

"You left me behind!" Yuven snapped as he stepped out of his spatial distortion, unraveling the scarf which kept his prominent features out of view. "Where did you depart? And did you get information?" He folded his arms, and never gave him time to respond. "We are signed up for pointless fight ring. Hope you know that is not the best idea you had."

"I couldn't think of any other options at the time, and neither could you," Fenrer pointed out as Yuven came closer. "I did get some information." He led Yuven deeper into the forest, away from the hustle and bustle. "There's been murders, and they sound like Derelict attacks. Except they've been blaming the magickae. One was executed several days ago." Fenrer looked upon the ground, and blood left its trace of an innocent soul. "There's something wrong here, Yuven. I can't quite pick it out."