I stayed in the shadows of the alleyways, moving with a predator's grace while wrapped in Dorin's heavy cloak. I could feel the sun beating down on the fabric, a silent killer held at bay by a few layers of weave.
As I neared the Sand-Glass Inn, I saw the commotion. Nikolai hadn't waited for sunrise, he had arrived with an escort of City Guards, their polished armor reflecting the morning light, a sharp contrast to the filth of the district.
I slipped into the shadows of a neighboring building, watching through a cracked window as Nikolai stormed into the lobby. My hearing caught every word of the confrontation.
The hunched owner, still wearing that same greedy, yellow-toothed sneer, spat on the floor.
"Oh, that one-eyed girl? Room 3-C, Have some manners, gatekeeper. This isn't the Palace."
The air in the room shifted. Nikolai, usually a weary and patient man, snapped. He lunged across the counter, his hand lashing out to grab the owner's collar, hoisting the smaller man nearly off his feet.
"Have you no respect? She's a Rynd. I would pray to the gods that the Shadow Walker and the Offspring Goddess never find out how you treated their sister. Better yet, your inn sucks!"
Nikolai shook the man like a rat. He in a rage that his blood was about to boil out.
"I've recommended numerous travelers to this inn before, and every single one of them looked at me with disgust. Because of you and your filth, tourism is dead in this sector. If you've breathed a word of disrespect to her, I'll ensure the Council revokes your license by noon!"
The owner's face turned a sickly shade of grey, his bravado evaporating as he realized he had been charging piss-room prices to a member of the most dangerous family in the world.
I leaned against the brick wall in the shadows, a faint, dry smirk crossing my lips beneath my hood. Nikolai was loyal, but he was also loud. If he kept shouting my name like that, every Alchemist Guild spy in the district would know a Rynd was in town.
I needed to "disappear" Eirene Rynd and fully commit to being Zenni Roy for the next few hours. But first, I had to deal with Nikolai before he searched an empty room and started a city-wide manhunt for a missing S-rank bounty hunter.
I picked up a small stone and used a tiny burst of blood manipulation to propel it. It whistled through the air, shattering a clay pot right next to Nikolai's head to get his attention without revealing my position to the guards.
Then I shapeshifted into my old and normal self, my right crimson eye, tongue, five toes and my mutilated arm dissipated into the air.
[DNA trace depleted. Shapeshift deactivated.]
I stepped out of the shadows, the bounty hunter in my chest shifting as my physical form rippled and settled back into the familiar frame of Eirene Rynd. My brown hair with silver ends caught the dim light of the lobby as I walked toward the commotion with a soft, practiced morning smile, the kind of innocent expression that made people forget I could paint the walls with their blood.
I couldn't hear the ringing of the owner's frantic apologies or the clanking of the guards' armor. To the world, I was the silent, lethal sister of legends, in reality, I was navigating a world of absolute silence.
Nikolai's face transformed the moment he saw me. The fury vanished, replaced by a frantic, sweating relief. He moved toward me, gesturing wildly toward the street.
"Hurry, Eirene! We need to go to the Central Library to meet the Council. They should arrive very soon, and we cannot keep the Sages waiting!"
I gave a short, elegant nod, playing the part of the noble Hunter to perfection. Nikolai practically hovered over me, shielding me from the filth of the inn as he led me toward a lavish, gold-trimmed carriage waiting outside. The City Guards snapped to attention, forming a protective corridor.
As I climbed into the velvet-lined interior of the carriage, the door clicked shut, muffling the sounds of the waking city. I sat back against the cushions, the heavy cloak Nikolai had given "Zenni" tucked hidden in my lap beneath my traveler's silks.
The carriage began to move, heading toward the Central Library of Sisiphon, the massive, dome-topped fortress of knowledge that anchored the city's heart. I looked out the window. Somewhere in this city, the drug labs were smoldering, and Oksana was likely receiving word of the Blood Prodigy.
Then out of nowhere, Plasma has decided to show up, he was very quiet during the meth lab incident, I guess his poison immunity didn't work on Plasma.
"Look Eirene, several students going to schools, it reminded you back on Earth, am I right?"
I watched the students through the glass, their ivory robes fluttering in the morning breeze. They walked in small groups, clutching leather-bound grimoires and staves, their faces filled with the bright ambition of the young. Among them, I could almost see the ghost of the real Zenni Roy, a boy who should have been debating theory in a lecture hall but was instead scrubbing chemical vats in a sewer to keep his head above water.
Nikolai followed my gaze, his expression darkening. He leaned forward, his voice low and heavy with regret.
"Look at them, this city was once the world's premier home for scholars gifted by magic. People traveled across continents just to hear a single lecture at the Academy. But ever since the Lotus Dust hit the streets... it's like a plague."
He sighed, his fingers drumming nervously on the carriage armrest.
"A quarter of the student population has plummeted in just the last year. Some lose their mana circuits to the drug, others, like that Zenni boy you mentioned, get pulled into the trade just to pay for the very education the drug is destroying. The Alchemist Guild is eating its own future, Eirene. They're turning geniuses into junkies and chemists into criminals."
The carriage slowed as we reached the shadow of the Central Library. The architecture was breathtaking, massive sandstone pillars carved with the history of magic, and a dome that seemed to touch the clouds. But to me, it looked like a gilded cage.
As the footman opened the carriage door, Nikolai stepped out first, offering me his hand. The air here was cleaner, free of the pink mist, but the tension was thick. High-ranking mages and Council guards stood at the entrance, their eyes scanning every visitor.
"We are here, remember, the Council is looking for a miracle. They see the Rynd name and they think salvation. Just... be careful what you promise them. In this city, even the walls have ears, and half of those ears belong to Oksana."
I stepped out, the heavy Captain's cloak still hidden beneath my traveler's silks. I adjusted my posture, letting the cold, untouchable aura of the Shadow Walker's sister take over. I was no longer a student or a cook. I was the S-rank hunter who had come to burn the rot out of Sisiphon.
We began the long climb up the marble stairs toward the Great Hall where the Council awaited.
As you enter the hall, the massive oak doors groan shut behind you. The High Sage in the center, The Archivist, looks at your closed right eye at Nikolai.
"You brought us a Rynd, tell us, bounty hunter, does your blade move faster than the spread of Oksana's poison?"
Now, I had to face the Council. They would expect a savior, a Rynd who would do their dirty work for the sake of justice. Little did they know, I already had the lab locations and the ingredient list hidden on my person. I wasn't there to take their orders; I was there to see which of them was on Oksana's payroll.