Chapter 27 On the Run

❄️Snow & Lussuria📖

Snow and Lussuria tumbled as they fell, the awning covering the front steps of the building catching them. It didn’t break their fall completely but allowed them to roll down onto the stairs of the Council Hall without harm, and from there to the street. They could hear the mediator yelling towards the guards from the broken window above.

“Conspirators against the Crown! Arrest them now!”

Snow glanced at Lussuria and was alarmed to see her sister looked a little disoriented from that one spell.

“Lussuria are you okay?!” Snow asked as she steadied her younger sibling. Her sister shook head and blinked a few times, before nodding.

“Yeah, I’m fine but we need to go to the king and tell him the council intends on declaring war on us!” They both paused as they heard the shuffling clanks of armor behind them. A dozen guards charged out of the building, while others could be seen running towards them from afar, attracted by the commotion. Snow grabbed Lussuria’s hand and took off, up the left road around the council building, in the direction of the nobles’ district.

“The king is in the regal district, the one above the noble’s district. It’s a long way to go on foot, but we can get there!” Snow declared, trying to convince herself as much as Lussuria. Her sister remained slightly, save for the small huffing breaths she made keeping up with Snow’s pace.

“Stop now!” They heard as the guards gained on them. It was clear they would catch up soon. After they turned a corner, Lussuria stopped abruptly and knelt before dragging her fingers along the ground while chanting the words to spell under her breath. Her frostblood was still active as the rune formed almost instantly on the ground.

“Ru-t-w-he.”

Once done, the arcane symbol in the center of a tight circle pulsed once and glowed, before fading into invisibility. The whole process happened so fast that Snow almost left her behind before noticing her absence and doubled back for her in panic.

“Lussuria what are you doing?! We need to go!” Snow shouted.

“I’m buying us time. Hurry!” Lussuria shouted back, as she grabbed and pulled her sister’s hand this time.

When they got to the end of the street, they both heard a loud whooshing sound, followed by an explosion of air and heat. Screams of fear followed by groans of pain could be heard afterward.

A glance over her shoulder while they ran let Snow catch a glimpse of a few guards as they were flipped through the air, as if juggled by a pair of invisible giant hands. As the spectacle continued, more were pulled up into the dizzying display, while some of those already in the air fell to the ground with impacts that echoed painfully.

“What was that Lussuria?” She asked, amazed by the magical display.

“A wind cyclone trap, it will last less than a minute with the amount of heat I gave it. Let’s not waste time!”

Snow didn’t respond, but, in the privacy of her own mind, counted herself lucky for having Lussuria on her side, as they continued their escape.

They were coming up to the trifork where the road forked out in three separate directions. The cyclone trap had bought them time, but they could hear the clacking of hooves behind them: guards on horseback were gaining on them. “Which way? Snow?!” Lussuria asked, the nervousness in her voice audible.

Snow nearly forgot which way was the nobles district.

“Uhhhh….” She glanced up as they ran forward and saw something on one of the signs. It was a bird, a black crow specifically... It was flapping its wings erratically, almost like it was trying to catch her attention. The sign it was perched on was the leftmost sign.

“This way!” Snow shouted as she made a hard turn left, as they continued running up the common district she saw the bird again gliding ahead of them, the bird suddenly made a sharp left in between some buildings.

“Turn here!” Snow said towards Lussuria.

“But the district the other way!” Lussuria questioned.

“Trust me!”

They reached a set of wooden stairs. At the top of the sets, they came upon three crows, hoping in a circle as they pecked at the ground. It took Snow a few moments to realize what the message was.

“Lussuria, put a rune trap right there!”

Lussuria was quick to realize what was happening and rushed to comply without a word, laying down the say trap she had previously but without the help of the frostblood.

"Rune-Trap-Wind-Heat!"

The rune pulsed as they continued running, pushing themselves harder when they heard the trap go off behind them soon after. Relief only came when the sounds of the stair collapsing reached their ears. Knowing they had broken off from the pursuers, they looked for a place to hide and catch their breath.

𓄿Crow𓄿

Crow had remained on the same perch he was when he was overwatching Ares, despite recent events not going according to plan. The dark wind that surrounded him died out as he turned and slid down the roof. He ran around the house to reposition when a group of soldiers shuffled in front of the road in front of him. They had crossbows and spears all pointed at him as they approached with utmost caution, he didn’t need to turn his head to know what they were behind him as well. He watched them calmly for a moment as they stopped their approach, his voice spoke with confidence and authority.

“I am an agent serving under Her Majesty High Queen Deamonia. You do not have the authority to interfere in my duties, but, if you feel so inclined that I have done something that warrants this reaction, you may report it to the Warden of this region.”

The guards glanced each other before one of them replied

“Sure, we’ll do just that... eventually.” The lead guard smiled before they all took another step forward in unison.

Crow responded by summoning a strong gust of wind, causing his hair to look like it had gained a mind of its own as dark magic radiated from him. His shadow rose from the ground behind him, twisting back and forth in a strange dance before a large swarm of crows flew out of it, swerving around Crow and towards the guards.

The guards braced themselves, but the swarm flew right over their heads. They lowered their arms in confusion as they turned back to look at Crow.

“That wasn't for you.”

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❄️Snow & Lussuria📖

After catching their breath while out of sight, the sisters later found themselves peeking out from around the corner of a closed down shop, watching the gated entrance to the Noble District. The reason for their caution was apparent in the large number of guards around it, with archers posted up on the adjacent rooftops as well. Snow cursed their poor luck.

“That gate has way too many guards! What are we supposed to do now?” Snow complained.

“They probably haven’t received word about us yet. We should just be able to walk through, no?” Lussuria questioned.

“What if they did? We won’t be able to run away like last time, not with those archers up there.”

As they contemplated their choices, a shadowy crow flew towards them before landing at their feet, gaining their attention. It remained oddly silent even as it approached them.

“That bird…it’s made of magic? I didn’t notice before.” Lussuria noted, intrigued by its true nature.

“I’m pretty sure its Crow’s bird, it was leading us on where to go earlier.” Snow leaned down. “Where do we go now, Little Crow?”

The crow managed to look unimpressed with its new name, an impressive feat to pull off with a bird’s face, until it turned its head sideways as if hearing something in the distance, then cawed before hopping out of hiding onto the road. It used its wings to gesture towards the gate’s entrance before cawing again.

“It wants us to go through the gate, I think.” Snow concluded, bemused.

“Well if the bird says it’s okay, I guess it’s okay. Are we running or walking?” Lussuria asked, still a bit out of sorts, that they were taking instructions from a bird.

Their confusion lasted until the bird flew at one of the archers’ faces, pecking and cawing.

Snow took Lussuria’s hand and pulled.

“We’re running!” And with that, they took off.

“Snow, look! The sky!”

They looked up to see a swarm of crows that flew in from behind the guards and began attacking them. The guards disappeared, as the living cloud of black claws, beaks, and feathers swallowed them whole. A tunnel opened up in the cloud of feathers, obviously meant for them to pass through unseen. They ran through it without pause and entered the Noble’s District.

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🦁The Mediator🦁

After the girls had made their…unexpected escape, the Head Councilor had returned to his seat. Shards of glass from the shattered windows were still scattered all over the floor. His stone lions had returned to their pedestals and aside from the sounds of the guards organizing a thorough search of the surrounding area, it was surprisingly quiet in his office, contrast to the chaos that had erupted mere moments ago.

“Really, to be given such trouble by a couple of brats…Pathetic.”

His self-reflection was interrupted by the sound of heavy boots as they stomped toward him as a man entered his office. A rather familiar looking man with a brand-new eye-patch and worn-out gray armor. The front of his chest plate had a large tear across it, and his leg was visibly bleeding, slowly dying the bandages that were used to wrap it. The presence of a pronounced limp added to the severity of the injury, but the Mediator didn’t care about that.

“Did you find it?” Frederick asked, his voice grim.

The man with the eyepatch responded by pulling out a black ring and placing it on the desk.

Fredrick leaned forward and inspected the ring closely before a satisfied smile appeared on his face. After one more admiring glance, he picked up the ring and placed it in his breast pocket. The man with the eyepatch looked at the broken windows and glass shards on the floor before speaking again.

“Those brats from Regalia giving you trouble?”

“A small issue that can be dealt with.” Fredrick assured as he looked back at the mercenary. “You look worse for wear yourself. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you fought the Warden, but then you’d be dead. Still, it must have been some foe. Did you run into that much trouble getting the ring?”

“Just a Lotus fly, but he was squashed readily enough, even if it took some effort.”

“I see we both have been dealing with annoying flies as of late. Nevertheless, our situation remains favorable. Now that I have the ring I can proceed as planned and get the rest of the council on board with the declaration of war. However, if the ‘His Majesty’ is notified too soon, it will ruin everything. The black sheep can be captured alone easily enough, but her mage sister is a nuisance that needs to be dealt with.”

“What are my limitations?” The man in gray asked.

“I need her alive... I will clean up after whatever mess you make, but try to keep it as discreet as you can.”

“I will take care of it. Payment?”

“After her capture.”

“I will hold you to that.”

“And I have always delivered…one last thing, she can cast using just one word. I don’t know how, but it can serve as an unpleasant experience to be on the receiving end of.”

“Not an issue.” Responded the man, unfazed. He left to complete his new assignment soon after, his limp not slowing him at all.

_______________________________________________________

❄️Snow & Lussuria📖

They continued their run until they had completely lost sight of the gate sentries and were heading towards the Noble’s District’s Main Square.

Little Crow flew to them and landed gently on Snow’s shoulder.

“Thanks to Crow we were able to make it to the Noble District. The fastest way to the Regal District would be from the Main Square up ahead. From there, we should have a straight shot to the Regal District and the king.” Snow explained.

The Crow rubbed against the side of Snow’s face, and she was startled to see it was beginning to fade away slowly.

“That must take a lot of magic to maintain. Considering it’s fading away; I think that means we are on our own.” Lussuria said with some worry as Little Crow vanished. Snow and her sister shared a troubled glance before regaining their composure and hiding their worries behind determined faces.

“Let’s keep going.”

There was a surprising amount of lowborn nobility walking around. As they continued their journey, a group of city guards rode up from down the road on horseback. Snow acted quickly and pulled Lussuria towards a small group of nobles hurrying along other similar such groups, each one absorbed in their own internal conversations.

“Don’t show your face.” Snow quietly warned before forcing her pace to match the group that they had subtly latched onto. Lussuria followed her example.

They blended in with the crowd while the horses rushed by in hurry.

“Word will get to the next district gate before we do.” Lussuria hissed.

“Just keep acting natural.” Snow cautioned. It took alot of dodging but they finally reached the Main Square, the goal of all the groups they were using as cover. The center of the square that held the huge gargoyle statue which dominated the top of a majestic fountain, the water was currently overflowing into areas that were clearly by design, judging from how that excess water fed into some strategically placed sewer grates. Slaves grabbed water from the fountain with buckets for their masters to drink while various ladies with umbrellas were walked about. There were also groups of kids their age with their retainers running about. They could see the guards stationed at the edges of the square, but their behavior was worrying.

The guards weren’t fully stationary, but kept moving, all the while searching every face that came near. What they were looking for was obvious.

“Just stay calm.” Snow whispered to Lussuria, who looked fine nonetheless as they walked behind some kids with their retainers.

“Hiding within plain sight in one of the most well monitored areas of the city, when a high ranking official is currently out for our heads and has all the guards searching for us. Right. Just another normal day in the life of a princess on a covert mission. Look at my face dear sister: I am the epitome of calm.” Lussuria replied, her tone as dry as a desert.

Despite their trepidation, their improvised plan proceeded smoothly, as they “tagged along” behind various groups of bustling nobles. They continued with this pattern until they passed the Noble Square and were nearing the Regal District entrance stairs. The entrance was a larger-than-life example of craftsmanship: grand stairs made of pure white marble stone, with streams of water going down the sides. It looked beautiful and pristine, despite the feet that must have trampled over it on a regular basis. Each side of the stairs was also flanked by a huge knight statue. The Twin Knights, as the famous statues were called, were made to frame the entrance to the King’s estate. Although others also lived in the Regal District, the entire district was still considered as belonging to the royalty.

The closer they got to the entrance, the more guards were around. Luckily for them, there was a lot of foot traffic coming in and out of the district, thanks to this being the main road.

“You think they will notice us before we get close enough?” Lussuria questioned, growing more nervous as they got closer to their objective.

There was a surprising amount of city guardsmen just standing around and they were being surprisingly vigilant of their surroundings, leaving no doubt that they were following Fredrick’s orders. They formed an unofficial checkpoint, and a final obstacle in their mission.

“All we need to do is get to the stairs. Then we can make a break for it.”

Easier said than done, considering they were about four streets away.

“Snow, if we get caught, I’ll use a rune blast on them to clear the way for you.”

“Hopefully, it won’t come to that.” Snow didn’t want to have a repeat of what happened in Regalia and they had done well enough up to this point, the surprise in Council Hall notwithstanding. Something did feel off though. As they approached closer, Lussuria kept glancing at her.

“What is it?” Snow sharply whispered, confused.

“Snow, your hair.” Lussuria whispered back in panic.

“What?”

Lussuria pulled out her mirror and showed her. She had streaks of white that were growing larger by the second. The magic disguise Arthur had given her was wearing off!

“This is not good, we are so close, we can’t get found out now!”

“We need to get off the main street.” Lussuria advised. They looked to their right and walked off the main street into a residential area, trying to maintain their composure.

Once out of sight of the main street, they stopped to reevaluate their plan.

“Okay. We’re close, just stick to this residential area and maybe we can still get past them.” Lussuria declared.

Snow tried to think. “If I’m remembering the map Arthur showed us correctly, this area is isolated from the rest of the district.”

“So we can’t get to the Regal district from here?”

“We can, but we have to go to the end of it.”

🔥Arthur🔥

Arthur hurried down the street towards the Mage guild. He could recognize the cracks spider-webbing the ground from anywhere: Ares had fought here. Arthur followed the trail of destruction until he reached the old building. The door was sealed shut, but that didn’t matter to him. He didn’t like using doors, preferring stealthier entrances. He walked around the building instead and found what he was expecting-a giant hole in the wall. Another sign of Ares’ presence. His brother in arms didn’t like using doors either but expressed that dislike more destructively. ‘Ambush points’ he called them, and Arthur agreed but would never admit to that. Arthur snapped his fingers and a flame sparked to life over his palm as he stepped through.

He walked through the blood-filled halls until he found an excavated tunnel, holding out his magical light as he continued his path. The tunnel led to what appeared to be a vault, and there were several items clearly bounded by runic magic here. The thing that stuck out the most in the room though was at the very end, where a huge door appeared to have been blasted open.

Arthur was familiar with this type of vault and shot a fireball at the center of the ceiling. An unseen resin, coated on at the time of the rooms construction, ignited, allowing the fire to spread in intricate patterns to unlit torches that lit up the room beautifully. Arrogance and artistry combined, typical of organized groups of mages. He could see that the back half of the room looked ready to fall apart, rubble lying everywhere. He approached the vault’s seal room for a better look when he heard a quiet cough followed by a voice.

“Arthur... That you?” Arthur immediately recognized the voice and rushed forward after determining no one else was nearby.

“Ares! Are you okay?” But Arthur answered his own question when he found his comrade.

Ares was completely buried under the rubble. Arthur could only see a small portion of his face and one arm, which had been crushed.

“Shit! I’m going to get you out of here okay, just hang on!” Arthur shouted as he started digging him out, beginning with the larger pieces.

“Listen, they were after a ring that can force people to obey against their wills... that bastard with the eyepatch works for the Mediator… and that bastard Mediator is the leader of conspiracy… Don’t let him meet with the King, it’s a trap...”

Arthur stopped digging and looked at the blood pooling underneath the remaining rubble.

“How could you lose Ares?” Arthur asked quietly.

“That bastard with the eye patch, just before I would have killed him, he blew up the whole damn room! I hate rats, they always result to crazy shit to save their own hides. Heh, now that I think about it, that must have been what Crow was warning me about in the hole under the room. Damn it, he’s going to be insufferably smug later… Anyways, just get going… the royalty is more important right now.” Ares urged, before coughing up some more blood.

“I’ll be back. Hang in there Ares.” Arthur ordered, his voice grim.

“Hey idiot, I’m not going to die, so get that look off your face! I just... need to free my damn arm! Argh! Stop being a baby… Just make sure Crow is alright, okay Arthur? Do me that one favor...”

“I will.” Arthur turned and ran out of the vault.