Taken Horizon Origin, volume 2, Descension

Episode 26 : night infiltration

Under the cover of night I took Raptor atop the wall with a [void step], appearing directly behind a patrolling soldier before focusing on a lit area within the city and [void stepping] once again to infiltrate Grigel city.

"Where to now?" As i asked i looked about from the rooftop i had transported myself and Raptor through space to ensure that no soldiers had spotted us.

"Head for the base at the centre of the city. We'll interrogate the highest ranking officer for information about Iron. If they don't know anything, we'll hunt down the insurrectionist and have them answer where Iron is." Gripping my arm Raptor spoke plainly despite having been teleported through space with me.

"Got it." After answering back i [void stepped] multiple times more across the square roofs of the city before taking raptor into the military base, appearing from thin air at the top of a watchtower. "Any idea on where to start then?"

Releasing my arm, Raptor looked over the ledge from atop the watchtower getting a good overview of the entire base. Compared to Ignis' compound Grigel's base's buildings were a lot more compact with more space on the outer area for training and whatnot but it still had enough buildings to accommodate 40,000 soldiers easily. Only question was where would the highest ranking officers sleep apart from the regular soldiers.

"There." Pointing to a building with three floors and some lights shining out from the windows, Raptor seemed determined that was where we would find someone that can tell us what we want to hear. "That should be the command post. Its directly next to the mess hall, there's a straight road to the gate, and it's in the epicenter of the entire fortress for maximum protection."

"You certain?" Whispering from the darkness around me, Thorn blended in perfectly as he appeared atop my shoulder. If it wasn't for the subtle silver embers of aether combusting around his body i may of never been able to see the ethereal crow. "If you end up being wrong things will get bloody quickly."

"I'm positive." Standing up from the edge Raptor extended his and for me to grab. "The layout is less spread out compared to Ignis but it follows a similar strategic design. We'll find our man in there."

Fading out Thorn hid back inside my body and i clasped Raptor's hand in my own, taking him to the rooftop of the command post building with [void step]. As we appeared my shoe scraped across the stone and unfortunately that had alerted the guard already here.

"What was that?"

[skill: horizon chain, casts an illusion of darkness]

Chains shot out around me from random spots in the air, filling the space and infusing the air with aether to alter the world to make it seem as if Raptor and i never existed.

As the guard turned to look at where Raptor and i were standing his eyes stared right into Raptor's neck. Even as he flashed an electronic light atop us the guard didn't see us or the chains filling the air around us. It only took a few seconds for the guard to give up looking and he turned his flashlight off. "I must just be tired."

The guard walked away to continue his watch atop the roof and i mimed to Raptor with my lips. 'Step when he steps.' Understanding me Raptor walked in sync with my slow steps as we gradually got further from the patrolling guard and closer to the staircase leading up to the roof.

Fortunately the door was opened making it easy to slip inside but the electric lights were off making it difficult to see anything through the darkness.

Raising my hand aether converged create a pale silver flame that faintly lit up the area just enough to allow Raptor and i to see the cold stone of the staircase in front of us.