Aelheim, like any great city, is safest during the day.

  The City Watch has a rough time maintaining order in the city. That only gets harder under the cover of darkness. In most affluent parts of the city, this is somewhat alleviated by the presence of well-maintained Magical Implements serving as rge streetlights.

  We were not in such a pce.

  “I can’t see a thing,” Damian whispered at my side.

  The two of us were on the roof of a five-story building, a clothing store of some kind. Anias had used her Gift to get us up here. From this vantage point, someone could have just barely made out the dark shapes moving below. I was not just anyone, however.

  Click. Click.

  The sword was silent. It had been quiet all day, though I could feel its presence more acutely today, too.

  I could see them clearly now. People hurriedly moved this way and that. Most of the people I looked down on seemed ordinary enough. Just normal people trying to get back to their homes, or perhaps trying to find a tavern or a brothel. Some people still managed to stand out.

  My interest was only in the very few people who walked towards a rge rectangur building in the distance. It looked empty, given that it had no lights at all. People seemed to be going everywhere but there. It was one of four warehouses, the only one that was completely dark. The others were at least dimly lit.

  “My Lady, do you see her?” Estovan stood a few steps away.

  “No, and what did I say about calling me that?” I murmured.

  "My apologies, Eline." He murmured awkwardly. I didn't see why. It would have been helpful if he wasn't overly polite too, but you couldn't have everything.

  “Will she be okay?”

  Anias had gone on to scout ahead. Estovan and she had both agreed she was better suited to the task.

  “If she wasn’t.” Estovan mused. “Then we would have heard it. Loudly.”

  There was silence, save for the dim sounds of the people beneath.

  “You didn’t have to come, Eline." Estovan said. "I still think it's foolish."

  “I did.”

  He took a breath, the sound carrying in the stillness. We had argued about it twice already; my reasoning was always the same. I refused to put people I liked in danger while I lounged back home. Of course, Damian had turned the same logic against me.

  Was it smart? No, it wasn't. I knew there had to be something I could contribute here, and so I came. The two had set some ground rules, mainly that I was to stick behind them and listen to what they said, but they had acquiesced. Whether that was them being confident in their own abilities or them knowing I would try to come anyway was truly anyone's guess.

  I just hoped Lana kept Sere company. Hopefully, the girl was asleep by now.

  “She’s here,” Estovan murmured.

  I didn’t feel a thing for a few seconds, and then I felt the mana. A figure nded on the opposite end of the roof, slowly approaching us. If I hadn’t been able to see clearly, it would have been hard not to be afraid. Anias looked formidable in the light. In the dark and with her oversized cloak? Well, I was gd she was on my side.

  “What did you see, Anna?” I asked her as soon as she drew close.

  “I've been able to count twenty-two,” Anias murmured. Was she sweating? I suppose levitation like this was hard even for her. “They're petty thugs. I doubt they have strong Gifts or that they even have Gifts. I didn't wish to risk myself and go closer, but that's how many I've counted entering.”

  I nodded. Anyone with a Gift, even a vaguely useful one, likely wouldn’t be in a petty gang to begin with.

  “They have Magical Implements instead of Gifts,” Anias added, before fixing her gaze on me. "That's not a good thing, Eline. A Gift requires skill to use. A tool much less so."

  Not completely harmless then. Hmm. A Magical Implement would trade versatility for immediate power and ease of use. They were also generally more efficient in terms of the mana needed to achieve a certain effect.

  I saw Anias hesitate. “Is there something else?”

  She slowly nodded. “I didn't see any humans.”

  My mind wrestled with that fact. That meant it was mostly Dwarves, Lizardmen, and Beastkin we were fighting. Perhaps a few Karr as well, though that was unlikely.

  That made sense. Aelheim, and the Kingdom in general, was very speciesist. It was hard for a non-human to find a respectable line of work unless they were talented. It was no wonder disillusioned people like that would join a gang. There were probably still a few humans, but they'd be a minority.

  “It doesn’t matter,” I whispered. It wasn’t my job to fix every problem in the world at the same time. “Were there children, Anias?”

  “I didn’t see any,” Anias said regretfully. “I would have risked discovery.”

  My hands clenched. “You did the right thing.” Something odd tickled at the back of my mind. I ignored it. Right now, it was time to focus.

  “I suppose it’s time we move then."

  Approaching the warehouse was rather easy.

  Anias moved us rooftop to rooftop until we got as close as we could, before she slowly let us down into an alley. From there, I dutifully followed behind Anias and Estovan as they led the way. Estovan seemed to be following Anias, too. For her size, her steps were silent, and she seemed to have a third sense for when and where to stop to draw the least amount of eyes. Once or twice, even I lost sight of her for a moment, and I was following right behind her!

  The more I learned about Anias, the more curious I became. Now wasn't the time for it.

  It wasn't long at all before we were almost at the warehouse gates themselves.

  I didn't usually keep my senses enhanced for this long. It made it more disorienting when I eventually turned them back to normal. Right now was the exception.

  Two men were posted there, lit by a Magical Implement that flickered above them. They were both Lizardmen, one of them greenskinned, and the other brown. Both men had rge spears at their sides, one end a fine point, the other some kind of…bulb?

  “We take out as many as we can undetected,” Estovan murmured, more for our benefit than Anias’, I knew.

  The air shifted. Two daggers floated freely from Anias’ back, hovering in the air.

  “Wait,” I whispered. “There’s another one. In the shadows.” I pointed discreetly.

  To my eyes, the man was clear enough. He stood off to the side, leaning against a wall as his zy gaze looked around. A human. He was hidden in the shadow of the wall behind him.

  “He’s…about ten feet to the right. Next to that shrubbery.” My Gift let me say, but conveying what I saw was another matter.

  “That range is a little too far,” Anias murmured. “We’ll have to get in clo-”

  “No matter.” Estovan cut in. “This range works just fine for me. Now, Eline, can you point to him?”

  I did as he asked, pointing right in the direction of the man.

  Neither Anias nor Estovan spoke, though I could feel their mana. Damian crouched next to me. “Is…is this going to be fine, Eline?”

  “A little te to wonder about that Dorian,” I murmured back.

  On some signal known only to them, the two acted. The two daggers flew off, piercing the two Lizardmen. They both grabbed at their throats, swayed, and fell. There was a sharp rustle of wind. A croak from the darkness. The third man had a rge hole right where his heart should have been.

  “Come.” Anias urged. She moved a dozen steps closer, and then the two dead Lizardmen’s bodies moved into the darkness.

  We followed right behind her until we stood near the wall. Anias rose into the air, peeking over the walls. “It’s safe.” She murmured.

  Warm mana entangled me, and then dissipated. Damian was already floating.

  “Eline, please stop using mana.”

  “Right.” I did so. I blinked, the world a blurry mess in comparison once more.

  The mana wrapped around me more firmly, and then I was rising with the rest. We crested the wall, Anias setting us gently on the other side.

  In front of us was a small stretch of nothing before the warehouse itself. It was a rge blue building, its walls stretched wide. There were a few windows, though no light came from within. The rge white doors were slightly open, likely just open enough for someone to come in or go outside.

  “It doesn’t make sense,” I murmured. “I should be able to hear something.”

  There were a few men patrolling outside. None of the guards was human. I even spotted the first Dwarf I’d seen so far.

  Click. Click.

  Three stood outside the rge doors. Two stood on the roof. Two more did aimless patrols in front of another gate off in the distance.

  “I think I understand now,” Estovan murmured. “It’s a barrier Artifact of some kind. ”

  “I didn’t want to specute,” Anias murmured. “I’ve never encountered this kind before.”

  “Like...at the auction house?” Damian thankfully asked, saving me the need to.

  “Somewhat simir, yes,” Estovan murmured. “Except I suspect this Artifact keeps all sights and sounds from leaking outside. They are popur during wartime for concealing military camps. They are rare. It would have been hard to procure one even on the bck market until only recently."

  “Then it's expensive. A cost someone like Greenward could pay, if given the right incentive.” I mused. This did complicate things. With no way to see inside, there was no telling what we would be walking into. Anias hadn’t seen anyone who looked strong, and she had been observing for some time, but that was hardly a guarantee.

  Right now, we all huddled in the deep shadow cast by one of the walls. We could just leave, come back again. It was the smart thing to do.

  I blinked. The gate on the opposite end slowly slid open. In came a wagon. No, it was two wagons. Unlike the ostentatious carriages I had ridden, these wagons were white, featureless. They were also not drawn by horses -that was a sign of nobility. These were drawn by a Magical Implement that served as some sort of engine.

  They slowly came to a stop in front of the warehouse. The drivers stepped off. The guards moved towards it.

  “Eline, I don’t think you should see this,” Estovan whispered.

  Click. Click.

  I heard everything. I heard the individual breathing of Estovan, Anias, Damian, and me. I ignored those, casting my attention ahead.

  “Big fucking haul this time.” One of the men said, moving towards the carriage door. He opened it wide. “Well? Get on out.” He growled. Another man came to join him and peered inside. Then, he reached forward. Other men moved to open the second wagon.

  I had expected it. I had braced myself for it. I had told myself over and over and over again about what I’d find.

  It infuriated me all the same. They pulled children out of those wagons, bound and gagged. Boys and girls. The first wagon had five of them. The other wagon had six. Eleven children. Eleven.

  “Esra…I can’t…breathe.” Damian croaked.

  I was channeling before I’d even realized it. This was bad.

  Click. Click.

  I tried to tamp down on my rage. It was the only way to regain my control. It worked only for a single moment.

  COWARD!

  The sword screamed. I felt something smming into a wall in my mind. The wall held, barely. It smmed again, and the wall shattered. My Gift escaped altogether. The knobs were gone, leaving behind nothing but the rage, and the sword screaming from a corner of my mind.

  I was channeling again, channeling as much mana as I ever had. No, this wasn’t channeling mana at all. This was pouring it out into the world. No control at all. I tried to steady myself. The roaring fme inside of me refused to simmer. It wanted to boil. It wanted to tear these men apart limb from limb.

  Unchain. Them.

  The screaming was almost unbearabe. Why now, damn it?!

  Anias sounded frantic. “Eline, I understand how you feel, but-”

  My hand shot to the side. It was impossible to say in the moment if I did it, or if my hand moved on its own. I felt the sword form in my hand.

  "This...isn't...me." I forced the words out.

  The men near the wagons all flinched. One of them turned, pointed at the darkness we hid in.

  Anias and Estovan were already channeling mana. Damian stepped in front of me. The man on the rooftop threw a ball of fire at us.

  Everything went to hell.