Alexei clambered down from the rooftops with relief in his heart. It would be a while before the assassins of Delsi tried to attack him again. In that time he’d be able to prepare, and perhaps even figure out who had sent the assassin to attack him. The slave trader had implied that his name was already being bandied about in the seedy underbelly of the city. If anyone thought that they could get one over on the academy by taking him out then it was no wonder that assassins were suddenly showing up looking to put him under the water. Rivals of the Royal Defence Corps were frequent throughout the kingdom, far and near, and while they would never do anything to directly hinder the progress of the fight against the shades an outlier like Alexei would be easy pickings. He made the final leap down to the road and stuffed his hands into his pockets. A cursory glance over the surface of the river revealed nothing, the body of the assassin must have sunk deep down to the bottom where th
The area of the city that Lyla’s map directed Alexei seemed to be one that was much less travelled by the majority of the population. The buildings became more tightly packed together and the riverway that he and Neave were following began to smell progressively worse and worse. He’d heard rumours, back when he lived in the Academy, that there had been a part of the city that had been dedicated to beastkin. At the time it had seemed absurd. Why would they need a whole section of the city just for beastkin? It wasn’t like they weren’t people, even if there were elements of the beast about them. But that was a naive view clearly held by someone who had come from out in the countryside. While Alexei had known that beastkin tended to get the short end of the stick when it came to respect in society, he hadn’t quite known how bad it was. Not until he’d seen the slave traders' tent, anyway. He pulled Neave close as they walked through the shadowy side streets. While he didn’
Neave stood patiently while the older beastkin worked out her measurements. He had her stand in all manner of positions while he took a measuring tape to her arms, her legs and even her feet. When it was all done he let her stand by Alexei and began to gather a variety of materials from the shelves around his shop. He pulled down reams of fabrics and pieces of leather. The sort of things that Neave thought she would never be able to wear herself. “Don’t worry Neave,” Alexei said, noticing how uncomfortable she looked, “I promise all of this is okay. You don’t need to worry anymore.” She appreciated the kindness Alexei was showing her, but that didn’t make any of it any easier for her to believe. The lion beastkin worked fast with all the skill and expertise of a long-standing professional, backed up by his beastkin heritage. Instead of using scissors or guillotines to shape the materials he was working on Christopher used the claws that tipped his fingers to easily slice
There was still one thing that Alexei wanted to take care of before he and Neave called it a day. It was clear that his planned life as a water salesman out in the sticks of the kingdom had been dashed, or at the very least were on hold. If he was going to be engaging in dangerous activities, such as taking on slave traders and discovering who sent a pair of deadly assassins after him then he was going to need a bit more than a couple of exploding pots to see him and Neave through. They were going to need weapons, proper weapons, that would allow them to hold their own against some of the threats that came their way. They wouldn’t be able to rely on dumb luck and the element of surprise forever, after all. It had also gone past noon, and so Alexei was starting to get a little bit hungry. Neave likely was too, not that he expected the girl to admit it. From her malnourished appearance, he was willing to bet that she hadn’t exactly been leaving off three square meals a day whil
Alexei was back out in the city again. This time he had left Neave with Lyla. The girl hadn’t been too happy about being left behind, but after her experience with the woman in the tea shop, he didn’t want her to go through anything else that day. Not only that, he could tell she was getting tired, no matter what the defiant look on her face said. Besides, a black market weapon shop wasn’t the sort of place he wanted to take a child. Alexei’s plans had changed rapidly. He had started the day with a plan to become a water seller, using his abilities to sell water to places that were in drought or had poor irrigation. The attack by the assassins had made him start to rethink that. Being asked to take out the slavers in Alandria by Christopher had made rethinking it a certainty. But to fight against slavers and assassins and who knew what else he was going to need more than ceramic pots filled with explosive compounds and some fancy low-level enchantments. They were go
The graveyard had been warm, just like the rest of the city. The interior of the mausoleum was decidedly not warm at all. The air was cold and damp and seemed to cling to every inch of Alexei’s skin. He was nervous for a moment that the cloyingly cold humidity might cause his remaining explosive to misfire, but fortunately, the ceramic container was sealed well enough that no water was able to penetrate. As he found a flight of stairs that seemed to lead down into the depths of the Earth, lit only by sparsely located flickering torches, Alexei couldn’t help but feel like he was being watched. In fact, he was almost sure that he saw the skulls that lined the walls of the mausoleum turn very slightly to follow his movements as he began to make his way down the stairs. He swallowed thickly, his mouth dry, and decided to ignore the potentially necromantic goings on around him. He was entering a location called the black market, after all, he had to expect that there would be
Alexei wasn’t sure what his power had latched onto when he had touched the staff. Was it the living core? The concept of magic itself? Wood?Surely it wasn’t wood. What could you even combine with wood?“I know that look,” The old man said knowingly. It snapped Alexei out of his thoughts, “Sorry?” He said, “I zoned out there for a minute.” “That’s the look of a man who has found the foci for him, there’s no doubt about it,” The old man said, closing the case once more, “The only question is, does the man have the coin to pay for it.” Alexei rolled his eyes, the shopkeeper may have been old but it was clear that he still had the instincts of a businessman. “How much would you be willing to sell it for, then, I don’t see any prices,” Alexei said. His coin bag was about half way empty now, but he was sure that he had enough cash to pay for the staff. The old man sighed, patted the box, and said, “I’ll part with it for a single gold coin.” “I’m sorry, what?” Alexei all but choked
Alexei continued to watch the battle raging below. The bigger of the two men darted forward, his body shimmering with the telltale orange glow of an enhanced agility enchantment, and slammed his fist straight into the stomach of the smaller man. But despite the agility enchantment speeding the bigger of the two up, his speed was no match for the smaller. Somehow the smaller of the two seemed to bend around the larger’s fist, moving like he was made of water. With a swift upward motion the smaller man lashed out at the larger’s elbow with a strike that was infused with golden energy. The elbow inverted with a sickening crunch that could be heard as far away as the crowds were standing. The smaller man wasn’t done yet, either. He took a step forward, moving closer to the larger man’s chest and struck with a mighty two fisted blow that was launched so fast it seemed to scorch the air around it in a small halo of fire. The larger of the two men shot away as if he had been launched