The sun rose on the same square that hosted Amos' arrest. He returned here in hopes that he could find Ink, Arria, and Mondir. They weren't there, but he found Bubble in his alley and slapped him awake. He threatened him until the beggar pointed him in the direction his friends had left.
After asking around and speaking to a few drunkards and early risers, Amos found his friends scoping out Rockfall Keep under the shade of a tree.
"...use the hook to get up the side, but just be careful not to fall. If you hit the water, you'll die," Mondir was saying.
Arria swung a hook in her hands. It was attached to an absurdly long rope, making a thick coil on her hip.
"I'll make a distraction at the front gates, and Ink will be with me to punch our way out if things turn to shit," Mondir said. "These stone dwellers will never know what hit 'em."
"Yeah!" Ink pumped his fist. "Let's get Amos back from the bad guys!"
Amos watched their terrible, terrible plan unfold from a distance. He stepped forward, scuffing the ground with his shoes. He couldn't keep the smile from crawling onto his face, despite his red-ringed eyes. "Hey," he said.
All three turned to face him instantly. Arria nearly swung the hook at his face in surprise, but managed to stop herself.
"Holy shit," Mondir said, "how did you get out?"
"Amos! You're alive!" Ink bounded forward and wrapped him in a big hug. Amos returned the favour, happy to see his best friend in free air. Ink pulled away eventually with a quizzical look. "How did you get out of the prison?" he asked.
Amos shrugged. "They didn't know I was Drai," he wiggled his fingers in an attempt at distracting humour. He intentionally didn't mention Gertruda. "Plus, I had help."
"You look tired, son," Mondir said.
"Help? Who helped you?" Arria asked.
"A lady with pointy ears named Thryll."
"Amos!" Arria chided. "That's not something you should say about people. I know you grew up on a farm, but come on."
There's elf racism?
"Sorry, won't do it again."
Ink looked around at everyone's ears. "You all have pointy ears a little."
Arria slapped her forehead, then turned to Amos again. "Won't the Trenmir be after you? We shouldn't be hanging around like this or we'll get caught. Again."
"Ever the voice of reason," Amos said. "Let's get to Avidia Institute."
"Sure," Mondir said, "let's just go ask around, shall we?"
"Okay!" Ink sped off in the direction of a forming crowd, not too far in the distance. The people were gathering around a slightly raised stage, rubbing their eyes and yawning. They were called by a hawkish boy with a deceptively loud voice. Amos and his crew stood near enough to hear, but far enough not to be noticed.
"Hear ye, hear ye!" he practically screamed. Anyone in the neighbourhood that wasn't already awake definitely was now. "During the wee hours of the night, a most precipitous event has occurred! A crime of great proportions, indeed, a malfeasance of the highest order!"
"Get on with it, crier," grumbled an old man in the crowd.
"Gird thy loins and prepare for a most horrible piece of news," the crier looked around at the crowd and nodded in satisfaction at the number of people waiting. "Overnight, a murder has occurred in Rockfall Keep! Not any old stab in the dark murder between inmates, however. Hark now, 'twas a crime against the Emperor indeed; a murder of one of our very own Trenmir officers. Two inmates slated to be tried for crimes of treason against the Divine Emperor's will escaped in the same night. Their names are Kethryllia the Killer and John, son of John."
The crier continued to give physical descriptions of Thryll and Amos, before asking for any sightings to be reported to the relevant authorities "posthaste!".
"That John guy must look like you, Amos," Ink said, "and weren't you also stuck in Rockfall Keep last night?"
Amos kept silent.
"Amos..." Arria said reproachfully, "that elf... was her full name Kethryllia?"
Amos nodded.
Arria pinched the bridge of her nose. "You let out a serial killer. Probably the most famous one in Mauria."
Amos kept silent.
"A killer on the loose?" Ink cried. "We have to go stop that lady!"
"No!" Mondir and Arria said in unison.
"But..."
"Remember what happened last time we did the right thing? We're going to the Institute, now," Mondir said.
"We'll fix this later, right Amos?" Ink said.
Amos kept silent once more.
...
Amos guided the group using the red string in his chest. It seemed he was the only one that could see it. Its presence felt the same a pair of watchful eyes in a crowded room might; something ethereal, but ever present. He just had to trust Xaemarra's work would guide him to Avidia Institute.
Several times they had to duck into alleys or turn their faces when Trenmir units trudged by. A few of them ran with urgency, all moving in the same direction. Something must be happening out in the city.
The sunlight hurt Amos' eyes. He hadn't gotten any sleep last night. He kept thinking about Gertruda. What he had done, how Thryll had responded.
Could she really be a serial killer? But she was so nice...
He shoved the idea that he had lost control to the back of his mind. He remembered someone once told him only the exceptionally weak and exceptionally strong Drai are susceptible to the powers of the Constellations.
Am I really that weak?
It seemed the only recourse was to become stronger. To prevent it from happening again, of course.
After a long, long walk over cobbled streets that Mondir continuously grumbled about, a towering building rose before them, throwing Amos and his friends into its shadow.
A long walkway, hemmed by arches of white stone, led the eye to a magnificent work of architecture. The Avidia Institute was made mostly of a stark white stone that Amos was unable to identify. The corners of the buildings were adorned with masterfully crafted sculptures - snarling gargoyles, beautiful mermaids, prancing unicorns, and more.
Surrounding the walkway was a myriad of smaller buildings, each with a unique identifier: metal hems, open windows, sculpted columns, exterior walls covered in writing.
A blur smacked into Amos at great speed and he fell to the floor, entangled with what turned out to be a student in black robes.
"Sorry," she called, then pushed up off him. She reached down to tap something on her boots and zoomed into the main building with superhuman speed. Amos' head was reeling from the sheer speed of the encounter. People here had places to be, things to do.
The main building at the end of the walkway was adorned by multiple towers. It was almost circular, but had angular walls: A dodecagon. The twelve towers sprouted from each point where the walls intersected. They had domed roofs of glass, ringed with copper trim. The other roofs were metallic and glowed with the lighting of the sun in the background.
As Amos approached the main entrance, he was able to make out a simple, circular insignia hanging above it. It was a dull red metal, stamped with twelve stars and connected with straight lines to create a web effect in the centre.
Mondir sneered as he looked around at the architecture, but everyone else was thoroughly impressed.
Amos' invisible red string pointed in the direction of the main entrance, so he walked up and grabbed a hold of a large brass knocker.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
It was heavy. He waited a moment, for someone to open the door. No one did. Arria grew impatient and pushed it open herself. Though they were easily three times everyone's height, the gnarled wood swung open with ease.
Inside the main building was a veritable horde of students in robes. They were seated around various desks, books piled high. Some were eating from silver plates, cutlery clinking. The smell of breakfast wafted through the door, drawing Amos in dazily.
"Woah," Ink said. His belly grumbled in agreement.
So, this is Avidia Institute. I could get used to this.
"Now what?" Mondir asked, kicking at the floor absently.
"I need to find someone named Xaemarra," Amos said. "She's the one who sent for me."
The red string piercing his chest gave a little tug forwards. It nearly pulled Amos off his feet and sent him flying, like it had done when he was reincarnated in the Infinite Lake, and again in the flaming forest. Instead, it stopped short of a little shove and made Amos stumble into the room.
The frantic chatter of students was everpresent, but Amos raised his eyes from his groggy stumble to look across the room. There, standing with her hands clasped, was an elderly woman.
She strode across the floor towards Amos and his friends, students parting like the Red Sea. It was Xaemarra. That matriarchal smile graced Amos and made him feel at ease.
"Bailey," she said with confidence. "Welcome to the Avidia Institute."