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Scarlet Ruse

Chapter Ten: The Best laid plans.

We all parted ways early the following morning just before the sun rose over the foggy horizon, myself and Emet left last. With Kaiber and Greyson most likely already some distance ahead, not that there lead would matter much to Sva'll. I had gotten some sleep and my body thanked me for it, my arm was still mostly tender; I did my best to not put too much stress on it. Emet was oddly silent as he went about putting the huge saddle on Sva'll bit by bit, I decided to take inventory of my equipment whilst he did so. I only had one dagger now, Kaiber had seemingly lost the other during the fight with the Shade. I paused some remembering it, to think it had only been five days ago. I'd used all but one of my one of my Althine Salts; the little exploding glass balls full of yellow liquid that severely dampened magic. But apart from that my Satchel was still well stocked, I still had my lock picks, my flash powder, Roric poison and my needles. I had however lost all my throwing knives as well as my clothes to, both were badly damaged in the fight last week. For now I wore an assortment of furs and treated leathers that made me look like some sort of wild barbarian. I couldn't complain thought, they kept me warm and all in all things could be worse I suppose.

Emet bothered me, he'd gone awfully quiet, his gaze now avoided me, I got it though, he was a deeply conflicted and personally tormented man. I understood why he'd been so inhospidibal toward me and my lack of care for Kaiber; his son. That being said, He had his plan and I had mine; what Hazel had said the other day still stuck with me and he was right. I had a lot to learn and I wasn't going to learn it by going it alone all the time, I was barely an Adept. The old Assassins guild, back in its glory days worked together; But that being said disguising myself as Kaiber was a risky move. My plan was to use the Doppler charm to disguise myself as the blasted Lizard, from there I'd let myself get caught and taken directly to Alt in E'Cill Meiar; get the answers directly. I'd spoken to Greyson before he'd left, telling him the plan I had, I'd slip away from Emet once we got to Gillian and rejoin him disguised later on. The real Kaiber would be safely back here with his mother the whole time; it was risky sure, but Broom wanted Kaiber for some reason, badly. As an added bonus it'd get Larsson of my ass to, whatever crooks he had tailing me would lose me once I crossed borders; it'd buy me some breathing room. But more importantly I'd take the heat off Kaiber and his family, I don't know why I cared, but in my head this was one of those win-win scenarios; that is if I could pull it off.

We arrived around midday whilst the sun was high and the icy skies were clear of clouds entirely, not a wisp called the heavens above home. Yet I still felt out of place soaring through said frigid heavens upon the back of a mighty dragon. Made ever so more unsettling by Emets odd silence and perturbed mood of deep thought. I didn't pay him or it much mind, instead looking down at the rolling landscape below and admiring it. You really could see just about everything from up here, if I squint hard enough I could spy Tora mountain in the Highlands of Mirodel. Even though the little trip to this Alchemist, or Pagan or whomever it was would be short I found myself staring at the view lost in my own thoughts, going over every detail of my plan, again and again; till we landed. Strangely the sight of some less than cosy looking log cabin stood atop a towering cliffside hill made me feel uncomfortable. Not many folk would live in such a remote spot in a place like Sval Blaud.

Emet dismounted first as Sva'll came to hang from the cliffside, I clambered off after a measure of effort; silently praying that Hazel had gotten the message to whoever this person was. I could feel Sva'll sitting there in the back of my head, I had to pray that he wouldn't blow my plan either.

“You're playing a rather risky gamble". He said, or thought, it felt weird to just have some voice in your head that wasn't yours. He was right of course, all it'd take is one small hiccup and it'll all come unraveled.

“It wouldn't be a gamble if it wasn't" I replied. Frigid breath visible before my eyes as I made off after Emet. I didn't fancy peeking about inside the shoddy looking home however, but I did decide to eavesdrop on whatever conversation was going on inside. Emet's voice was familiar, yet drawl and weighted, the other voice I heard had an almost malicious tone to it, like the hiss of a snake.

“Tis been many a moon since last you set foot in my humble abode Theodore, a little Bat told me you needed something"? I heard the stranger say, I breathed out a sigh of relief; Hazel had gotten the message ahead of us. I wagered the little varmint was still skulking about in the shadows somewhere near.

“...Oh, that seems a tad convenient…" I heard Emet mutter, though I did raise a brow at the stranger's use of Emets first name. Typically Paladins were referred to by their surnames followed by whatever title there renown bestowed; perhaps the stranger was just ignorant.

“Whispers carry far these days Theodore, talk is stirring of War". That statement cocked a brow, so far as I'd heard the only War going on was the civil War in E'Veldan, then again if word was to be believed, Broom was back; if anything he'd be warmongering. I pulled away from the door after that, I'd heard enough, it was hard to think the world could be on the brink of another great War. When you read the books about the old Wars, The Great White War, The Arcanis War, the illustrations alone were grim and the murals painted in the Tomb of Hero's; words couldn't describe their brutality. Just the thought alone of another War of that scale, it made me feel uneasy and off put, like I had nausea.

Even though I was well in over my head with this I reassure myself that if all went well then maybe War could be averted, to think what any of the Kings would pay to know of Brooms location or plans. All the more incentive to step up my game and make sure things went smooth and silently like any good Assassin should.

“You're scared" Sva'lls mental voice suddenly piped up inside my head, I was really starting to dislike his presence. It was pretty hard to miss, just this heavy feeling in your head, like some living creature just sat there inside your skull, moving about through your thoughts and memories.

“Well unlike you I'm not a huge gold dragon and unlike Emet I'm not a Master Paladin who fears nothing! I'm a novice Assassin who's basically self taught marching around with lunatics and I'm about to do something really stupid to help people I don't know. So yes… I'm a tad on edge I suppose". I bit at the big golden beast, keeping my voice low so Emet didn't hear, last thing I needed was him getting suspicious of me; well more so than he already was anyways. I rubbed at the bridge of my nose as a throbbing headache set in uninvited.

“You call us crazy, you say you don't care, why are you still here then, why are you willing to do what you're going to"? He asked after a good pause that lasted just long enough to make me somewhat paranoid. Though I wasn't really expecting that question to rear its head, the answer was something painful that I didn't want to remember and much less wanted Sva'll to probe.

“Just...stay out of my damn head ok". I said with a hiss, marching back and forth in paces now, I tried to focus on my secret plan, going over it in my head to try and distract myself, hoping Sva'll would leave well enough alone. He didn't.

“Who's Mahiel"? Just hearing my dead little brothers name made my throat close up, it'd been years now since I last even heard the word spoken. My single greatest fuck up, the reason alone why I distanced myself from people; why I didn't care.

“A younger sibling"? I stopped pacing, head now hung toward the snowy ground, the wind felt warm against me as did the sun yet I felt cold. I was ten, he was only seven at the time, we had a good life as children of the Imperial Volthume. Yet I still remember watching him fall to the pavement, all cause I'd climbed up to the roof and taunted him to try and do the same.

“He fell. You couldn't save him. Is that why your helping Kaiber"? I was sick of Sva'll digging up this pain, he had no right to do so I didn't care if privacy was a foreign concept to him. It was downright rude, I'd buried these memories for a reason.

“I said get the fuck out of my head you stupid lizard"! I snapped, lip curling upward, brows knitting inward as I turned sharp to face the great big golden Dragon. At this point I was clutching my head tight in my palms and of course at that exact moment Emet decided to exit the little shack.

“What's going on out here"? He asked, looking between me and Sva'll. I breathed sharply through my teeth as I forced my arms to my side.

“Nothing…". I replied, looking away for a moment.

“Good, we should get going at once." Emet said, tossing underarm a small bundle of cloth wrapped with twine. Emet strode at once toward the big golden beast of his as I unwrapped a small ivory tube, a black feather tied to its base and matching twine to loop it around my neck. And there bore carved delicately upon its surface was a mural which, as I turned it showed the visage of a Crow of Gillian and also that of a Vermian.

“Scarlet! Let's get moving." Emet exclaimed, my mind was now fraught with things I wanted to bury, things I didn't want to confront and also, the thought of looking like that damned blue Lizard.

“Oh joy…" I muttered as I turned and wiped a tear from the corner of my eye.