Angelfire | The Whispering Wall #3

Sixty One: Sneak

"You saw a man by the wards with this demon?" Cara demanded. "Are you certain?"

Grace's face was very pale. Beside her, Nova just looked exhausted.

"I know what I saw," Grace said, her voice gaining strength. Jordan glanced up at Yddris, who shook his head in a silent Later.

"Have any more demons breached the wards?" the Guildmaster asked Koen, who had just stepped inside the taproom of the inn and seemed alarmed to be ambushed so suddenly.

"No," he said. He took the bench beside Jordan with a groan. "But the wards were tampered with where Grace said she saw it. Someone was trying to unpick the net. It was too deliberate to be a weakness in the casting."

Cara's shoulders sagged. "And have we found where the Death got in?"

"A Death could have got into that weakness," Koen admitted. For Jordan's benefit, he added, "Geists are more resistant to wards than corporeal demons. Nets have to be generalised to keep them all out, but some rune combinations only work on demons that have a body. A Death could easily squeeze itself through a small weakness, especially if that section of the ward wasn't tuned specifically to keep it out."

"Then we're going to need search patrols," Cara said with a sigh. "I had hoped I could give everyone a night off."

"Admirable thought that may be, Cara, I'm not sure it was ever going to happen," Yddris growled, glancing at Jordan again. He knew what his tutor was going to say before it was out of his mouth. "I'll take Thorne on first rounds with me. We'll take the area near the breach."

"Are you sure, Yddris?" Cara asked. "I'm not sure I'm happy about sending an apprentice that way."

"Thorne is suited well enough to this investigation, I think."

Jordan inwardly cringed, but no one else appeared to pick up on the double meaning behind Yddris's words. Grace sent him a worried glance, and he tried his best to sound reassuring.

"I'll be fine," he said, mainly to her, but also because Cara looked as though she might still put her foot down, "It's been re-warded." Around his neck, Ren fidgeted as she woke up, two small paws straining out the side of his hood as she stretched. "Besides, I'm carrying an alarm system." He poked at one paw and was rewarded with the prickle of claws in the leather of his glove.

"That's settled, then. Come on, boy." Yddris wasted no time leaving the inn. Jordan followed more slowly, yawning. He hadn't slept well since they'd left the Reach. If he wasn't on patrol, he was worrying that he hadn't discovered Marick's spies yet or that Silas was always nearby. It was difficult to sleep when one never knew if they were being watched. While he knew why Yddris wanted him on this patrol, he also would have liked to catch a quick nap on a bench while there were enough people around for him to be safe.

Not that 'safe' meant what it used to. The longer he'd spent under Arlen's tutelage, the harder safety had been to come by.

The village was still unsettled after the attack, and it didn't seem that anyone else had slept that night, either. The first weak rays of light were showing on the horizon, and the village square was bustling like it was market day. People huddled in groups or darted between neighbouring houses looking hunted, though there was a marked absence of people around the area where one of the horse handlers had been taken by the Death. Jordan glanced at it as he followed Yddris past, at the body wrapped in a white shroud and laid on a crate and left well alone, as if the bad luck was catching.

"Where's Nika?" he asked, hurrying to catch up with Yddris.

"Went on medicine rounds in the village," the Unspoken grunted. "Think he just wanted the distraction."