142. Mass Murderer: Ruku.

Gwaed wasn’t present when I awoke. It was well after lunch, and I still felt weak. She had left a note saying, “Located the bitch. She’s working with the Inquisitors. Your cover is blown. Gone out to spread Joy to the world.”

I have no idea what that last bit meant. I definitely couldn’t take it literally. I grabbed something to eat, but I was never sure what was safe in Gwaed’s kitchen. I had best not go out yet if my cover is blown. I will need to disguise myself somehow. I am not sure I was up to going out anyway. I checked with Wai, and his tail was already starting to grow back. While I am feeling weak, I need to help Wai learn some more Skills, and I am still wanting to learn about his Permeable Skin and Oxygen Absorption.

Ocean Sense and Refreshing Mists are two of my go-to Skills. I haven’t used Refreshing Mists much because of my increased Regeneration, and Gwaed banned me from using it in the apartment. Apparently, it messed with the moisture content in her potions. Ocean Sense alerts me to anomalies in the environment. It hasn’t been a lot of use recently as there are too many strange things that are new to me in this foreign city. I think Wai would find it useful.

I got the impression from Wai that he has a lot of new Skills and would like time to get used to them. He is quite happy to teach me something, though. I grabbed a bucket and filled it with water using Water Surge and Water Manipulation. Wai sat on my palm, and I submerged both in the bucket. I worked out that both his Toxic Skin and Oxygen Absorption are only possible because he has Permeable Skin. I had been trying to learn Toxic Skin without Permeable Skin.

With my Bond and Sense Spiritual active I looked at what he was doing. He wasn’t changing his skin. He was making better use of the pores in his skin to allow water to move through. I tried to replicate it in the hand that Wai was sitting on. My pores were not that flexible and only used to excrete waste in the form of sweat. That will have to change.

It was about an hour later, I suddenly woke up to the fact that Permeable Skin was the opposite of Tough Hide. Tough Hide closed the pores in the skin and hardened the layers of skin. I wanted to open the skin and let water and other items through. I flexed Tough Hide a couple of times, re-familiarising myself with what it did. Then I tried to reverse it, loosen the skin and open the pores. This was making progress.

All of a sudden, there was flapping in the room, and Sugnwr flew out the open window. I hadn’t realised it was now evening. I looked for something for Wai to eat, but Sugnwr must have eaten all the bugs in the place. I fed him a piece of jerky and looked for something for myself when Sugnwr reappeared with a large cricket in her mouth. She dropped it by Wai and then left again. Wai preferred the cricket to the jerky.

About twenty minutes later, Gwaed came in, carrying some food. “How are you feeling?” She greeted me.

“I am still a little weak, but not bad. What is happening out there?” I replied.

Gwaed brought me up to speed on the assassin. She was right about them having my scent. Even if the assassin herself didn’t have a smell skill, then the Inquisition would certainly be hunting me by scent as well as description.

“They have doubled the gate and wall guards, and there are scent-based animals at the gate and patrolling,” she concluded.

“What should I do? This is not my area of expertise.” I was feeling out of my depth.

Gwaed, in contrast, seemed quite calm and in control. She thought for a moment. “I can brew a potion that will change your scent for a few days, although I can’t do anything for Wai. I can get another potion to dye your hair, and we can remove or change your beard.” She paused in thought. “What would probably help most is if you were to get out of the city and lead them on a merry chase for a few days.”

“That sounds like something more in line with my skill set. What would it accomplish?” I asked.

“It would ease the pressure here so I can get things moving. I might even get a crack at the assassin,” she replied.

That made sense, but I got the feeling there was something she wasn’t telling me. “I have an appointment at the Mercenary Guild the day after tomorrow to interview applicants for the Lore Society job. I also have a list of possible smuggler Captains to talk to about blockade running. Then there are the enchanters.”

“There is no way you will get in and out of the Mercenary Guild un-noticed. I can talk to the Captains. There is a fishing Cabin about two days south of there. If you can throw the pursuers off and get there, I can arrange for the interested ones to meet you there. Say, two weeks' time? The Enchanters are a problem. What do you think from Wai’s incursion?”

“I have a blank, especially if the cliff is a non-starter. I can come in from the sea, but what will that accomplish?” I really was stumped about that.

“We can destroy it. If they are modifying the ship, you can blow it, and I can probably rig Esgyn to firebomb the building. I don’t know about rescue. I will look into it, and we can discuss it when you get back in a couple of weeks,” Gwaed said.

“Evading multiple military patrols, with tracking animals, is not going to be easy,” I said.

“I know. I will send Prybyr to help. He is lonely anyway. Esgyn can spot patrols from the air, but I am not sure how he can communicate with you. With my Multi-Tasking, I can probably relay urgent info to Pybyr. He is getting smarter for a mutt.”

“What exactly will you be doing in the time I am gone?” I knew something was up.

“I am going to do my best to take out the assassin, and I don’t mean out on a date. I also anticipate that we will have considerably more opportunities to try and rescue the enchanters in a couple of weeks,” she replied.

“Why. What is changing in two weeks?” I pressed.

“This was never going to work without a massive disruption in the city. I initiated the ‘if all else fails’ plan. It will take a couple of weeks to spread.” Gwaed stated flatly.

“You set off a massive disease in the city?” I was bloody outraged. “We didn’t need to do that. Thousands are going to die!”

“Yes, we did need to do that. Yes, thousands will die, just like thousands will die in your stupid little war,” she responded.

“Those are soldiers, trained and there by choice, not civilians, not children,” I argued.

“Children die in wars all the time, hell I have seen children fight in wars. If you think soldiers choose to fight, especially here in the empire, I think you have blinkers on. You have supposedly led troops. Did you give them a choice?” She said.

“They chose to enlist,” I responded.

“Not all of them, even in your ‘wonderful’ kingdom. Even less here. Anyway, it is done. No going back now,” Gwaed stated.

“I think I do need to get away and clear my head,” I said.

“A few more hours, and you will be back to full health. I will brew those potions for you, especially the scent ones.” She turned to her alchemy.

I went into the other room. Bloody hell, I am an accomplice to mass murder. She is a mass murderer, and she is quite comfortable with it. Maybe I should kill her. It won’t stop this, but I don’t think she should be loose to do this again. She has bloody done it before. Should I turn her over to the Empire? I wouldn’t survive that. I know I knew it was possible as a last-ditch method, but it sounds like she was always going to use it. I do need to get away and think this through. I am not sure I want her potions. I guess if she were going to poison me, she would have already done it. She may have already done it. She certainly doesn’t see people’s lives as significant anymore but just as a means to an end. I am very certain that we do not want her back in the Kingdom. She should be on every Kingdom’s hit list.

I tried to distract myself with Wai and the bucket, but it wasn’t working. I packed everything together a prepared to go. Gwaed came in with some vials at about 2 am, and I got out of there. I moved in stealth along the rooftops for as long as I could. I hit the ground on a major road with lots of people's scent. Gwaed could have Merch or Sugnwr following me. It is funny, but she seemed like the greater enemy now.

I cut from the main road down some alleys, making sure to leave a scent trail, but a minimal trail. I came to the wall and found a spot to climb. When I got to the top, I waited for two guards and enhanced my Physical Agility for Speed. I struck from behind with my knives, using Fast Strike combined with Piercing Strike and Poison Blade. I took them both down silently. I then went down the outside wall as fast as I dared and took off into the night. The bodies would be found in 1-2 hours then the chase would be on. My scent was all over them. I pushed the Physical Agility and left the Attribute Enhancement on as long as possible, running at full speed. I wanted to get out beyond the farming areas before full light. This would be a very long couple of weeks for me, but I knew and had trained for this.