B3? Interlude 6: Myriad Developments

Deep in the bowels of the earth, surrounded by dripping stone and stagnant eyes, She woke. Seven eyes snapped open, and She knew her purpose.

Gnarled fingers dug into rock, as She rose to her full height. Her deep breath tasted existence—it was weak and untempered. With understanding, came zeal.

Her soul flared with unbridled purity, and She knew Her purpose.

Under Its righteous demands, She would burn a path that only the worthy could walk.

“Come.” She demanded.

And they obeyed.

….

Grumbling at the jumbled stack of papers, Rieker tugged unconsciously at the neck of his soft cotton tunic.

The reports were important—alarming enough that he and Ro were working late into the night—but he couldn’t get that blasted feeling out of his mind. That niggling suspicion that had led him well so often in the past.

He looked to his right, where Ro was lounging on an overstuffed leather settee, flicking through her own reports while she nursed a glass of wine.

Despite the even toned wardlights that lit the room, the fire across from her shone through her dark wavy hair—framing her face in a soft luminance.

Gods, she was so beautiful. Still every bit as captivating as the day she’d muscled her way onto his delving team—way back when they were simple Wood.

And yet…for all her presence was a balm to his tensions, he still felt that little niggle.

“They should be back by now.” Rieker huffed, giving up on the delving reports in front of him.

Ro sighed, bending backwards over her seat to meet his eyes. “They’re only a week overdue, you know what those three are like.”

Shaking his head, Rieker let out a low rumble of dissatisfaction.

“I can’t shake the feeling that something has gone wrong. I know we haven’t seen anything except the usual black-handed bullshit, but with how bloody busy everyone has been it would be all too easy for some of the more…seasoned scum to slip under our notice.” he said, resting his elbow on his desk and rubbing his forehead.

Ro stood up with fluid grace, walking slowly to him. Moving behind him, she placed her hands over his shoulders, bringing the simple comfort of touch as she dug her fingers into the knots of tension that had been building all afternoon.

Leaning back into her, Rieker’s eyes drifted closed as he let out a soft groan of delight.

Ro leaned in close. “We’ve done what we can.” she whispered gently. “They have a medallion, and the stats of a delver in the early second tier. Even if they are discovered, whoever goes after them will be in for a nasty surprise.”

“I know that.” Rieker sighed. Even with everything he had done to prepare them, it did little to banish his concern. Especially with the likelihood of just who would take the most interest in delvers like Kaius and his team. There weren’t too many powers that would have the ability to slip under their notice in a backwater like Deadacre, and unfortunately the ones that did exist were some of the worst.

“We both know that it’ll be the Onyx Temple—the chances they don’t have a cell in Deadacre are close to zero.” he finally said.

He felt his love’s warm breath on his cheek as she gently shushed him. “You know as well as I that they will be operating largely independently—if they even are here. They’ll be limited by the resources they can pull on. Even if they do fall afoul of some scheme, I wouldn’t count them out just yet. Those kids are tough, and resourceful—plus, the chances of someone taking the proper precautions against Kaius’s knowledge of runes is slim.”

Grunting in agreement, Rieker relaxed further in Ro’s touch.

That, at least, was true. While Kaius would perhaps match up to only a middling journeyman traditional runewright, and lacked their skills, his knowledge of the arts would make him a nightmare to keep imprisoned. Runewrights were amongst the worst prisoners—often finding ways to disrupt the formations that would have easily kept someone many times more powerful contained.

It still didn’t mean he enjoyed the thought of those kids being held by Onyx Temple scum.

Ro pushed down on his shoulders, forcing him to relax the tension that had begun to build once more.

“Listen—it’s still likely they’ve just gotten sidetracked. If they’re not back in another week or two, we can start our search.” she whispered.

An easy suggestion, but one that provided no comfort. While he had resources he could pull upon, the most powerful were working at a breakneck pace to keep things stabilised. That wasn’t even considering the frustrating limitations placed upon him by his position.

Bloody politics.

Even if he could rampage as he pleased, it wasn’t like he was a rogue or scout. It would be like trying to hunt ghosts, and the second he moved, they’d go to ground—making his job all the harder.

Rieker felt the soft brush of lips on his cheek.

“I know you’re worried, but we should head to bed—Kaius and his team are not the only lives we’re trying to safeguard. These reports we’ve been getting of beasts suddenly migrating to the south-east have me worried. Whatever is happening, I doubt it’s innocuous, and we’ll have our hands full finding out what’s happening.” Ro whispered, tugging him upwards.

Rieker allowed himself to be pulled to his feet, nodding along to Ro’s words.

It was another worry for the pile—one that he had even fewer explanations for.

Inevitably, he drifted back to the missing lads—his memory moving down paths best left forgotten.

“I just hoped that this time it would be different.” he muttered.

Ro’s face softened, a sad smile crossing her face. “They’re not Gile, Rieker—it’ll be okay.”

Rieker nodded, his face solemn—but his heart wasn’t in it. “I just wish we had more time—had less chains on us. I can’t help but feel that if the worst does come to pass, that I might not have done enough.”

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“We all do—the three of them are smart and resourceful, even if they are captured, they will still have a chance.” Ro replied, gripping his face so he was forced to meet her gaze.

“Besides, I care for them too. If they don’t turn up, I’ll start turning screws—people in this city have a tendency to forget that the Wardog wasn’t the only one of us who should be feared.” she continued, heated in her conviction.

A genuine bark of laughter slipped from Rieker’s mouth. “There’s that fire.”

….

Hanrick groaned as he leaned back in his chair and kicked his legs up onto his desk. Surrounded by the furnishings of his station, and looking out through stained glass to survey his domain, he should have felt at ease.

By the enlightened higher realms, he was in the literal seat of his power!

Instead, he sighed—massaging his eyebrows as if that would dispel the headache that had been building for the better part of a year.