Gods I missed my true form.
The smell of roasted meat and burning wood assaulted my senses as I fell through the air, passing over the chimney of the next building. The dull heat from the smoke crashing against my skin as I soared through the frigid air.
My eyes flicked open and I tucked my knees as my feet collided with the ground of the other building’s roof. I rolled, my shoulder landing hard, and I came up to a standing position. I stretched my hand to my shoulder and rubbed, letting out a soft groan.
The sixth moon was already high in the sky, it’s light barely enough to see halfway down the block without the help of torches. I crouched, rushing to the opposite side of the building I’d landed on, and looked down at the alleyway below.
It had been four weeks since the lockdown and the events of that first evening. I still caught glimpses of Irinda crying sometimes.
She always wiped at her face whenever she noticed me watching. I hadn’t pushed her on the topic and she’d mostly buried herself in getting The Slumbering Drake back in shape. Four weeks since Ophelia had woken up. Four weeks since she had wanted to leave the third floor room at the inn.
I shook my head, clearing my thoughts.
I wasn’t out tonight to take a walk down memory lane. If I was, there were better memories to focus on. But those carried their own kind of hurt. So, I focused my attention on the group of street kids in the alley below. They were right where our scouts had said they’d be.
The group was hugging the wall, keeping close to the shadows as a patrol of soldiers checked the mouth of the alley, flickering torches held above their heads. I could see the fog of their breath even from three stories up. I held my hands in front of my face, watching my own foggy breath form before me.
Winter was coming, and it felt colder than usual. It wouldn’t be long before the first snows blanketed the city, and I wasn’t exactly keen to see how jumping across rooftops in the middle of the night would be when the ground was as slippery as chimera snot.
That meant striking now was important. Which was why I was sitting on top of a building watching a group of five people slink into the street.
I waited until they had all moved into the street and far enough away that they wouldn’t hear me as I jumped down. I dropped over the edge of the building, using my [Swift Strike] ability to kick between the walls of the alley on the way down.
I landed with ease, sending another puff of fog wafting in front of my face as I took a deep breath.
Sticking to the shadows, I followed the group, using the darkness to my advantage. It would have been easier to do it all from the rooftops, but keeping up with them as they crossed the street would have been nearly impossible.
Instead, I used the crates and piles of refuse that lined the alleyways as cover, letting my [Shadow Walker] skill keep me hidden as I followed them for three or so blocks. Finally, they stopped moving down the alleys and began to climb into one of the abandoned buildings in the area.
It was hard to tell exactly where we were, but I thought it might be somewhere closer to where the Eastern Quarter and the docks met. Close to Dock Street territory then. That was good news. It meant I had somewhere to fall back to if things went especially poorly.
I’d made a bit of a tenuous deal with the man running the Dock Street gang. We worked together and his goons stopped exploiting innocent people. It had also earned me a good deal of dislike from the gang’s members.
After waiting for several minutes to pass after the last kid clambered into the building, I finally approached the window slowly, moving the piece of wood that had been situated over the broken glass. I squeezed inside, careful not to hit any of the shards of glass that lined the hole, and dropped to the floor of the room inside.
I blinked several times, letting my eyes get used to the darkness. Without even the pale light of the sixth moon, the room was pitch black, a perfect trap.
My fingers found the daggers at my side and I drew them, thumbing one of them so that the blade was pointing toward the ground, the hilt pressing into my palm, as I activated [Viper’s Bite]. The blade glistened with power for a moment and then returned to normal.
As my eyes settled, I took in the room’s outline. There was a single door directly in front of me. It was wide open, and piles of furniture had been pushed off to the sides. Some looked broken, while others had simply been turned over.
Ignoring the piles, I continued to the doorway, peering around it and into the long hall that ran to either side. Other doorways lined each side, but I could see the flickering of light from a lantern or torch somewhere far down to the left. The sound of whispered voices also flitted down the hall.
Still clutching my daggers, I moved closer.
“You know exactly what I know,” one of the boys was saying from the room with the light.
“And that’s nothing,” another retorted.
“It doesn’t matter why,” the first boy said, his voice growing louder as I stepped up to the door and peered inside.
They were all gathered around a small campfire talking. They had their backs to me, their faces turned toward the flames, hands extended, warming them.
“All that matters is we do what we’re told. Felix said we’d be rewarded if we did. We’d be made like him.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good thing,” another boy from the group said softly. He was larger than the others, with broad shoulders and a flat nose. His hair was a long, messy brown, and he looked like he hadn’t bathed in days. Maybe even weeks.
He found each of the boys with his eyes, staring at them for a long moment. “We’ve all seen the way Felix trips over himself to do what Aurelion says. Is that really what you want?”
“Better than being tossed out.” A smaller boy said.
They all grumbled to themselves. This was exactly what we had hoped for. Dissent in their ranks. I hadn’t believed it when I’d first heard about it, but hearing them talk amongst themselves… Irinda’s idea might actually work.
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I slipped my daggers back into their spots at my waist.
“There’s always another option,” I called out, stepping into the room.
Gasps filled the room and they all rushed to face me, their weapons—clubs and even some small swords—clattering as they scurried to pick them up. Some of them almost stumbled into the fire as they moved to crowd behind the bigger one. He stood tall, staring me down.
“We aren’t turncoats.” He said, his words filled with determination.
“Not asking you to turn on him,” I said, stepping further into the room. “You mind?” I pointed at the fire. When none of them disagreed, I closed the distance and held out my hands, letting the warmth of the flames kiss my skin.
“That feels nice,” I murmured. “I can offer you something different from what Aurelion has.”
“He told you already. We don’t turncoat.” The small boy chimed in. He stepped forward, standing beside the bigger one.
I had to admire his courage, especially since all of the others were currently hiding behind the big one. He still shook, but I couldn’t tell whether that was because of the cold or because of his fear. I set my emerald gaze directly on him.
“What Aurelion has to offer is slavery, plain and simple. The empire outlawed it for a reason.”
“The empire’s corrupt. It needs to be burned down.” The big one responded.
I smiled. “I don’t disagree. That’s exactly what Ophelia and I are working toward.”
That earned more gasps.
“I knew it,” the small boy exclaimed. “I knew I’d seen you somewhere. You’re the turncoat. You stole Ophelia from us.” His voice turned especially cold, the words wavering slightly from his tremors.
Shaking my head I looked around to all the other boys, catching their glances for just a moment.
“I didn’t steal Ophelia from you. She chose to work with me, and she got sick. It’s a long story. But she was dying, and I saved her.”
“Just like Aurelion,” one of them murmured. “Always keeping secrets.”
I let out a heavy sigh. Irinda had said I might need to be a bit more forthcoming with them. I had hoped I could skirt the line, though. Keep my secrets to myself. I couldn’t hold the annoyance back. I let out a huff.
“Fine. Ophelia and I were captured while infiltrating the palace. We were taken outside of the city to a prison camp, which we escaped. During our capture, Ophelia was hurt. She became sick. I brought her back to get her help. I don’t know why Aurelion turned on me, but he’s the turncoat. He sent Felix to attack me. I only protected myself.”
The group muttered amongst themselves for a few moments, the big one even watching my warily. Some of them nodded their heads while others shook them. Some of the tension seemed to fade from the group.
“What exactly do you want?” The big one asked after the group had deliberated amongst themselves for several moments.
I offered them another smile. “Just some extra eyes and ears.”
*** *** ***
Slipping through the city at night was becoming easier and easier. I’d spent most nights since the initial lock down wandering the streets, setting up meetings with Woldroff, and even breaking into a few places. It had all been petty, as far as my overall goals and plans went. But every step forward was a bit of progress.
The System hadn’t provided me an update in at least three weeks, not beyond the skill improvements that I’d unlocked over the course of my nightly operations. My [Shadow Walker] skill had advanced to Level 4, while my [Perception] had increased to 5. I’d also received a new point in [Sneak], bringing it to Level 4 as well.
What I hadn’t received were any new quests. Standing on one of the rooftops near The Slumbering Drake, I looked through the list of quests that the System had put in the air before me. I’d been practicing with it, learning how to access the different pieces of information that it offered.
=Active Quests=
Hoard
A [Hero] Is Coming
=Abandoned Quests=
The First Piece
Fast Friends or New Enemies?
I grimaced looking at the list. The only two [Active Quests] were ones that I couldn’t complete anytime soon, which meant they wouldn’t really help in my attempts to grow stronger and unlock my [Dragon Form].
I walked to the edge of the building, made sure there weren’t any guards watching the street, and then dropped to an awning halfway down to the ground. A moment later my feet hit the cobblestones and I rushed across to the front door of the inn.
I glared at the list of [Abandoned Quests], the temptation to swipe at the words growing with every beat of my heart.
[The First Piece] had been all about disrupting the Segrid’s deal with the rebels. But, now that I wasn’t doing that, and Aurelion and I were at the crossroads we were, the quest had simply moved to the abandoned list. The System hadn’t provided any information about it at the time. I hadn’t even noticed it was considered abandoned until I had figured out how to pull up the list itself.
I pushed into the main room of The Slumbering Drake. It was still busy and some of the serving girls were busy handing out mugs of ale or wine, as well as bowls of steaming stew. I scooped up a couple of empty mugs from the tables on the way toward the door that led to the kitchen, offering short bows to some of the patrons that recognized me.
The inn had remained a safe haven for many at night, and several of the tables had been pushed further into the room, crowding the space even more than it had already been. People were already curled up in their blankets, some sleeping despite the noise.
Reading the details for [Fast Friends or New Enemies] again brought a wave of regret. Will had been a strong potential ally in all of this. It was disappointing that he was dead now. The only thing Brin had managed to actually take from me before his death.
“Should have just given him System access anyway,” I muttered to myself as I pushed through the door and into the kitchen and dismissed the list of quests.
The warmth of the inn was a welcome relief, especially after a few hours out in the cold.
I’d never had to worry about the chill of winter before. My thick scales and the dragonfire that roared through my body had always kept me perfectly warm, even in the thickest snows. Traveling in the cold now, though, reminded me of how weak this human body was.
How did humans survive winters like this? My body wanted nothing more than to curl up next to a fire and never leave until spring arrived.
But I didn’t have time for that.
The [Hero] had arrived early. Far too early. And my progress had come to a standstill. Like a sailing ship in the middle of the doldrums.
Irinda and two of the girls that worked under her were busy readying dishes and refilling mugs when I entered the kitchen. I set the dishes I’d gathered on one of the tables near the sinks and watched as one of the girls, a red-headed woman named Sabreen, balanced a tray stacked with bowls and mugs on the palm of her hand.
She pushed through the door to the front room with one of her feet, balancing the tray in the air with an effortless movement that was impressive. If I hadn’t seen her do the maneuver at least fifty times in a day, I’d have been worried about her dropping everything.
I caught Irinda’s eyes as I moved deeper into the the kitchen toward the master bedroom of the inn. She smiled, a motion that didn’t quite reach to her eyes. Sadness stared back at me in her gaze.
I tried not to think about it too much as I pressed my way into what had once been Brin’s room in the Inn. Irinda had converted it into her own room, and had even set up the desk that the previous inn keeper had kept in one corner, along with all the chests of treasures that we’d gathered after his death. Or, well, his supposed death. I still wasn’t sure how to feel about him going missing like that. His body should have been ash after being burned with dragonfire.
I found one of the maps of the city that we kept and began looking it over.
We’d outlined several sections of the city, breaking them up based on where each group that held a majority stake in things operated. Our group was still small, but it was growing fast.
We’d expanded quite a bit in the past two weeks, and the borders had slowly moved from just the immediate blocks around The Slumbering Drake, all the way to the market that was located halfway between the inn and Merchants Row, and further south, where it met up with the border for the region run by the Dock Street Gang.
Despite our success, and our deal with Dock Street, Aurelion’s border was still much larger, taking up most of the Eastern Quarter and even the Western Quarter. How he had expanded his reach into the richer parts of town was still a mystery. Whether he had always held that ground or had expanded while Ophelia, Sil, and I were captured was another question I didn’t have the answer to.
The door to the room creaked as someone pushed it open and I looked up to find Sil pushing into the room. He met my eyes and then spoke.
“We have a problem.”