Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Ymiden 23, Arc 720
"Smoke“, the Mortalborn said the name without a hint of doubt and sat up in his bed, clutching the dagger as he did so. He recognized that voice, silken and sweet like honey, and perhaps a little on the deep side. It had been almost an arc since he had last seen the Yludih poisoner – he had accompanied her to the guards and watched as she had been taken away – but he remembered as clearly as if those events had taken place the trial before.
“How did you …?” he began, but stopped again abruptly. He had wanted to ask her how she had found him – he had been exceptionally careful when he had looked for her, he had even changed his appearance, using one of the abilities that Syroa’s blessing had afforded him - but then he realized what had happened. “The cat. There was a cat that was watching me when I talked to the addict. You were the cat, weren’t you?”
There had been a thin little cat sitting on a crate. Its fur had been orange, almost like the color of the hair of Smoke’s preferred form. He should have taken the fact that she might not always take a humanoid form into consideration. His lover, Llyr, had talked about turning into a cat once. It made sense that Yludih were capable of doing the same.
“You are such an observant man, professor”, Smoke replied with a hint of sarcasm, before her tone of voice abruptly grew more serious. “I’m here because I need your …”
“Not now”, Doran interrupted her and snapped his fingers so that another set of wards that rendered the room sound-proof activated (the walls had been imbued with a combination of Wraithgrass and other reagents). A moment later, he tapped a spot on his nightstand in order to turn the alchemical light that hung from the ceiling and that was based on an invention that his former apprentice Sintih and he had made back in Rynmere on.
“Now we can talk without being overheard”, he informed her as he rose to his feet. “Someone might try to listen in on our conversation. I don’t want to take any chances.”
“Are you not worried that I’ll take advantage of whatever you’ve done and kill you?” the Yludih asked and raised an eyebrow. She looked much worse than she had looked in the memory that he had seen in the Chancellor’s mind. There were dark circles under her eyes, her hair was unkempt, and she looked … she looked a bit sickly, he decided.
“If you had come to kill me, you would already have done so”, he replied somewhat dryly and shrugged his shoulders. “And not engaged me in conversation. So I don’t think that I’ll have anything to fear from you, at least not for the time being.”
He put a noticeable emphasis on the word fear. Even if she had come to kill him, he would not have been afraid, but merely cautious. He was one of the greatest swordsmen in this part of the world, and possessed superior strength. Few mortal beings posed a challenge these trials. An Yludih poisoner that had let herself get caught was definitely not among them.
“So, what is it that you want from me, Smoke?” he asked, put the dagger away, leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. “You said that we needed to talk. How did you escape from prison, by the way, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Part 2
Part 3
Ymiden 23, Arc 720
"Smoke“, the Mortalborn said the name without a hint of doubt and sat up in his bed, clutching the dagger as he did so. He recognized that voice, silken and sweet like honey, and perhaps a little on the deep side. It had been almost an arc since he had last seen the Yludih poisoner – he had accompanied her to the guards and watched as she had been taken away – but he remembered as clearly as if those events had taken place the trial before.
“How did you …?” he began, but stopped again abruptly. He had wanted to ask her how she had found him – he had been exceptionally careful when he had looked for her, he had even changed his appearance, using one of the abilities that Syroa’s blessing had afforded him - but then he realized what had happened. “The cat. There was a cat that was watching me when I talked to the addict. You were the cat, weren’t you?”
There had been a thin little cat sitting on a crate. Its fur had been orange, almost like the color of the hair of Smoke’s preferred form. He should have taken the fact that she might not always take a humanoid form into consideration. His lover, Llyr, had talked about turning into a cat once. It made sense that Yludih were capable of doing the same.
“You are such an observant man, professor”, Smoke replied with a hint of sarcasm, before her tone of voice abruptly grew more serious. “I’m here because I need your …”
“Not now”, Doran interrupted her and snapped his fingers so that another set of wards that rendered the room sound-proof activated (the walls had been imbued with a combination of Wraithgrass and other reagents). A moment later, he tapped a spot on his nightstand in order to turn the alchemical light that hung from the ceiling and that was based on an invention that his former apprentice Sintih and he had made back in Rynmere on.
“Now we can talk without being overheard”, he informed her as he rose to his feet. “Someone might try to listen in on our conversation. I don’t want to take any chances.”
“Are you not worried that I’ll take advantage of whatever you’ve done and kill you?” the Yludih asked and raised an eyebrow. She looked much worse than she had looked in the memory that he had seen in the Chancellor’s mind. There were dark circles under her eyes, her hair was unkempt, and she looked … she looked a bit sickly, he decided.
“If you had come to kill me, you would already have done so”, he replied somewhat dryly and shrugged his shoulders. “And not engaged me in conversation. So I don’t think that I’ll have anything to fear from you, at least not for the time being.”
He put a noticeable emphasis on the word fear. Even if she had come to kill him, he would not have been afraid, but merely cautious. He was one of the greatest swordsmen in this part of the world, and possessed superior strength. Few mortal beings posed a challenge these trials. An Yludih poisoner that had let herself get caught was definitely not among them.
“So, what is it that you want from me, Smoke?” he asked, put the dagger away, leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. “You said that we needed to talk. How did you escape from prison, by the way, if you don’t mind me asking?”
