"They helped my teacher, Umoris!" The kid cried.
Aureum understood the real panic in his voice immediately. It was like lightning striking the ground, unrecognizable as anything else. It knocked her own panic out of her.
"Is that—
"Umoris is the man we helped on our way here, yes," Hiems replied as he cut off her question. "I don't know the kid."
"What do we do?" Aureum said.
"Can you take Gemmo?" Hiems said.
Aureum took him, and the boy twisted in her arms to look at Hiems.
"What?" Aureum said.
Hiems was already striding toward the boy, cutting through the crowd.
Aureum struggled to stay behind him.
"Hiems, wait!" Aureum said.
"Imes!" Gemmo said, butchering Hiems' name.
He didn't stop for either of them. In fact, he already stood before the kid.
Hiems grabbed one of his outstretched hands.
"I can help you," Hiems said. "No reason to keep drawing attention to yourself."
"You're—
"Come," Hiems said, cutting him off. "Sorry for the disturbance, everyone! I assume his teacher is drunk as always... in some dank corner somewhere. Leave these matters to me, and go back to your evening."
Hiems pulled the boy away, still putting distance between them and Aureum. She followed, no longer bothering to rush to keep up with him.
It was obvious Hiems was trying to leave as little of a scene as possible. He didn't stop until they had returned to the inn, practically dragging the boy with his clenched hand on his arm the whole way.
Once inside Hiems' room, he pulled out a chair for the boy. Aureum entered as the kid sat down.
"Tell us what happened," Hiems said. "Aureum, can you get the pitcher?"
Aureum placed Gemmo down on the bed.
"Stuuuuuwpid," the little boy said, frowning at the bed as he stood uneasily on it. She picked him up and put him on the floor instead, since he wanted to walk around.
"Stewpid!"
Aureum silently agreed.
"I'll do more than that," she said to Hiems. "I'll even pour him a glass too."
As she did that, Aureum got a clearer look at him. Hair was cut unevenly with a knife, and his small pearl was of wood mana. It lay on the outside of his hand.
To form the pearl upon the hand or foot was a common practice among the modern poor of Aeternitus. Unlike the head or heart, the benefits of the mana were much less, but so was the detriment of a pearl formed flawed.
Even if the thing broke or exploded, it was the loss of a limb instead of a life. Hopefully.
Of course, the poor could simply choose not to form a pearl at all with their limited knowledge, lacking the inheritance and materials of the wealthy. But to do so was the same as waiting for the inevitably of death.
Who could resist that?
This was the fate that awaited them at birth. They had to risk so much more, just to gain less.
The kid had been constantly screaming earlier but was quiet now. Aureum gave him the glass. It looked like he was sweating.
"Can you tell me your name?" Hiems said.
"I thought you'd be taller," the boy muttered. Louder, he said, "My name's Stridere."
"Nice to meet you, Stridere," Hiems said. "You seem to know me. We're the ones who you were looking for. Can I ask what the shouting is about?"
The boy paused. To cover it, he gulped the water down.
"Ah," he said. "It's... It's terrible. My teacher fell in the woods again."
Hiems gave a slow blink. Stridere trembled like a leaf in the wind.
Whether it was the scene on the street or his panic in this moment, Aureum didn't think to question him. The fear was genuine.
"Why are you not at his side helping him then?" Hiems said.
After his words, Aureum realized something more was wrong. She turned back and slowly circled the chair Stridere sat on. Hiems shook his head at her.
Stridere bit his lips and hunched. That lasted only for a moment.
"All I'm doing is what I was told!" He yelled, glaring up at Hiems. "You pulled us into this mess, so get us out!"
Hiems' eyes went cold as he stared through the boy.
Aureum saw him mouth some words.
If you are being watched, it's better not to tell on your own lies.
These were the words he silently mouthed. Then he waited. Stridere swallowed and looked at the ground.
"I d-don't know..." Stridere said.
Hiems looked up. Not at Aureum or the wall, but at some distant point only he could see in his mind's eye. Before he spoke again, his eyes snapped back down to the boy.
"I have a few considerations to make," he said. "Feel free to drink more water while we talk."
Hiems took Aureum outside the room and shut the door.
"I don't want to leave Gemmo—
Aureum's whisper was cut off by Hiems'.
"We have to keep this short," he murmured into her ear. "Obviously his master did not fall in the woods. Something else is going on, but we won't know what unless the boy tells us. I will go and seek out what is wrong with Umoris. You will stay here."
Aureum felt buffeted from these quick commands of his.
"You expect me to listen to this...?!"
Despite her outrage, she managed to keep her voice down.
"Yes, for Gemmo, if not out of trust for me," Hiems said.
His eyes were the coldest she'd ever seen them.
"This isn't about trust!" She said, forgetting herself. "You're still sick. I'll go instead—
He rested a finger on her lips to shush her.
"It's precisely because I'm weak that I'll go ahead," he said. "What is most precious must be protected by the best."
Aureum pulled her head away to glare up at him.
"You can't possibly..."
...Expect me to believe such nonsense.
But Hiems was no longer listening. He had pulled away and opened the door already.
He stepped in. Aureum stood there in fury a moment more, her fist clenched.
"Take me to where Umoris fell," Aureum heard Hiems say.
Always the first to put your neck out, huh? She thought, mockingly. Idiot.
But she clenched her jaw and walked in again.
Stridere was already telling him about some section of the forest. Aureum glared down at him. The kid shivered.
She looked away.
I'm no longer helpless, Aureum thought, as she slivered a small whisper of wind mana to Hiems.
He didn't seem to notice it, once again.
Aureum wasn't about to let him wander into a trap on his own. When he and the kid left, so would she, at a safer distance.
She looked down at Gemmo.
One problem presented itself.
I'll have to take him, she thought. To leave him behind would be worse.
So it went. Hiems followed this Stridere into a trap, and Aureum and Gemmo followed some distance behind. Out of sight, letting a little string of wind guide her.
This was the beginning of the line of tragedy.
———————————————————
Stridere offered no further words of warning to Hiems despite their journey outside the city.
Hiems didn't blame the boy. Umoris was probably held hostage by whoever pursued them. What could a boy do in that situation? No, Hiems' mind had moved on past that to the puzzle of who it might be who had sent the boy was his only focus.
If it is Mors, he thought. I am done. Same if it is any great number of soldiers from the Hidden Manor. But if it is Nix... there may be hope.
Stridere was a slow leader. He lacked the mana to be fast. This gave Hiems plenty of time to plan.
Not that he had enough information to plan for every eventuality. Inevitably, his thoughts wandered from things more practical to soundless hopes as worse scenarios presented themselves before him.
If I can just buy some time at the very least... maybe make a distraction.
Hiems knew it wouldn't do much. It was unlikely Aureum would cut her losses and run away in time.
It's a miracle already she didn't demand to come with me.
This thought made Hiems pause, but Stridere continued to pull forward, and a horde of other alarming thoughts clamored for his attention. Each one worse than the last.
If whoever set this trap was after her and Gemmo, they would continue even after they finished with him.
Hiems gritted his teeth.
After everything, is this the only way it can end?
Even though Stridere was slow, he wasn't slow enough to stop the inevitable. Hiems sensed the men before he saw them.
Certainly, the warriors of Nix were trying to hide themselves, but Hiems was almost one of their own. He didn't have Aureum's sensitivity, but the mana of ice called to him as soon as they got close.
Hiems gave a twisted sneer.
Stridere halted. He took a breath.
"We're here!" He yelled. "Show yourselves."
Not a single warning for me even till the end, Hiems thought.
The soldiers of Nix came out of hiding. It seemed they had been under every bush and in every branch. With each new figure in the night, Hiems felt his heart thud louder and louder.
That's a large number of heads.
Unlike when he'd run from the Hidden Manor, he had no goal. If he ran, they would look for him. If they didn't find him, they'd go after those he traveled with.
That wasn't an option he could take.
Hiems took a slow breath as those that came out of hiding approached them. Cold sweat slid down his neck.
I don't need a chance, he thought. I need certainty.
"You weren't kidding about him being ugly, Nimbi!" Their leader said, stepping out from the rest with a sneer of his own. "Who let one of Malum's nightmares out in daylight?"
This man was Canes, of course.
"Worse sight I've e'er seen," Nimbi said. "Looks as if his ma was a beast herself."
Hiems clenched and released his fists. He could not be goaded into making the first move with so many eyes on him.
No, that made the words they spoke even more galling. They were rubbing his own powerlessness in his face.
"Where is the old hunter?" Hiems said.
Canes shook his head.
So, either he's dead or they're planning to kill him, Hiems thought.
"That is no longer any of your business, traitor," he said. "You will come back to us, to Nix, and meet your judgement."
The boy quietly backed away from Hiems. The ugly man turned to the boy.
"If you're going to run," he said. "Now is the time."
"I'm not going to abandon my teacher!"
Hiems lowered his head. Every second felt slow for him. From the moment the boy made his decision, Hiems no longer had time for him.
"Even a boy from Ariolus knows more loyalty than you," Canes mocked. "What was the cost? I heard you're traveling with a pretty woman. Was it the hope of a simple life? Did you even wait a moment before you betrayed all you know? How desperate were you—
"I waited my whole life for my obedience to be paid back," Hiems said. "And when I looked into her eyes, I knew that my whole life had meant nothing. All I had to show for it were stained hands and countless scars."
Canes' sneer became wider.
"So you love her then?" He said.
Hiems face became empty of expression. As if a lake had swallowed a rock without ripples. Canes knew that no expression was still an answer.
He could almost smell the desperation coming from Hiems' stiff body.
"So that's what you're willing to die for...?" Canes shrugged as he walked closer. "Surely you know that Nix hunts after those who help traitors... right? I know you must have gotten comfy outside of the city, but justice will come. Even to that little harlot of yours..."
Hiems' jaw clenched.
Standing in front of him, Canes leaned in to whisper the next word into Hiems' ear.
"Did she really go into bed for free? With you? Or... are you just doing all of this for a promise—
CRACK!
It was difficult to tell what happened next. Neither Aureum, hidden off in the distance, watching two small figures between the trees, or Nimbi standing maybe eight paces away from it, saw what happened.
"Urgh..."
One figure fell to his knees, blood pooling from his lips. Nimbi saw the sudden jerk in Canes' body. Hiems held a pearl of ice in his hands, with bloodied ice protruding from his nails.
It was an old story. A man so clever with his words, played with fire until one day, he got burned.
Canes thought Hiems completely caught. Who would fight with so many numbers bearing upon him? This man was no ascended sorcerer.
Even so, Canes' steps toward the backed man were measured. Each word was a sword, meant to stab open a response.
Canes had wanted information. That wasn't entirely true. He had wanted to see Hiems' reaction.
However, he had underestimated what could go wrong. For just one moment.
That was all Hiems needed. He had spent his life doing dirty, bloody work. Canes had spent it training or talking.
Canes had seen the hand move and thought to grab and stop it, but the thought came too late.
Thus, Canes was the one on his knees.
"BOY!" Nimbi said, dashing forward.
All of the soldiers of Nix began moving at once.