Cradilia

[cielo]

"Have they found out who killed the Viscount yet?" Kaamos asked.

It had been three months since the incident with the Jace/Kasiir anomaly, which [who?] had been released after a mental probe had confirmed that Kasiir was in a weakened, controllable state. That same probe had confirmed Yazof and Woodford's suspicions: the Viscount Tildry had not been killed by the possessed Jace, and the killer remained at large.

"No," Woodford said. It had been a week since they had last met; both of Kaamos' teachers had admitted he was good enough to operate independently for now, gathering information and learning on his own. Now they stood on an isolated balcony on the east-facing side of the Patrician's palace, watching the sunset.

Silence, verbally and mentally. Where Kaamos' gift would usually let him hear the rumble and flow of thought around him, isolated as they were he should be able to at least know Woodford was thinking, if not catch snippets. "You're quiet," Kaamos observed.

"I'm going to need to leave town."

Kaamos looked at him sharply. "Why? I'm not done learning yet."

"Something came up in Figaro, reports of an Etheling that the Dollet company had its hands on for a little while. I'm going to follow his trail and make sure he's not too dangerous."

Kaamos frowned, but nodded eventually. They both turned back to lean on the railing, overlooking the sprawl that was Eastern Cradilia. "Dangerous?"

"Not every Etheling gets a hang of their powers as easy as you do," Woodford said. "Anyways, it's not like old Yazof could leave even if he wanted to, so you'll still have half your teaching staff."

---The Following Morning---

"Rise and shine, Rio. Rise and shine, Rio. Rise and shine, Rio. Rise and shi--"

Rio slapped the clock broadcasting his father's gruff voice, causing a small explosion that ruffled his hair and sent the clock flying at the opposite wall of his sleeping chambers. Rather than shatter like any self-respecting clock should, this one became aggressive and bounced about the room like a ball for a few moments before hitting Rio and making him yelp.

He continued the usual morning ritual of washing, dressing and teeth-scrubbing before stepping into sandals and exiting into the marble hallway directly outside his suite in the palace, to find the Captain already waiting.

"You're two minutes early today."

"Bloody clock 'it me. What're we lookin' at today, Cappy?"

"Forensics. We've finally got the Tildry family's permission to use personal effects as belongings." His voice, usually calm and friendly, had a bit of bite to it. It went unspoken between them that the Patrician, competent ruler though he was, gave his nobility a little too much freedom.

"Three months late. Arright, I learnt the circle we need a couple weeks back. Let's get."

[cielo]

The first time Kaamos and Rio met was that day; Kaamos had worked his way into the Tildry estate after his morning drills through a series of psychic nudges, letting the bodyguards and servants think he was supposed to be there, one of them, or not there at all.

So Kaamos was searching through the Viscount Tildry's effects in his untouched and quite dusty study, making sure to put everything back when he was done; so far, all Kaamos had learned was that the man had had terrible taste in art, that and three mistresses.

A key turned in the lock, the same lock Kaamos had forced with telekinesis and then relocked. The windows were closed, of course. He was stuck in the headlights.

"...Kaamos."

"Captain Bythan."

The Captain and a smirking red-haired boy a year older than Kaamos moved into the room. "I suppose I could put you under arrest for trespassing and invasion of privacy, or presumably theft."

"I'm not stealing, I'm investigating. And you're not going to arrest me."

As usual, putting any psychic weight behind his words toward the Captain didn't work; what was with him? Could he not be influenced?

"I suppose not," the Captain said anyways. "Rio Rela, Kaamos. You're both Ethelings."

Blunt. Kaamos quirked an eyebrow, and the smirking Rio suddenly seemed that much more interested. "Oh aye? What's your gift, then? What's your word?"

"I'm a psychic. What do you mean, 'word'?"

Rio faked surprise. "He doesn't know. Cappy, he don't know! Well, I ain't spoiling. Anyways, you ought to get outta here, kid."

The Captain nodded. "I trust you haven't taken anything to your pockets? Good. Leave the way you came out, we're conducting an official investigation."

Kaamos brushed past Rio, who was still smirking, and decided he didn't like the red-haired boy. He left, keeping to the shadows and vaulting the fence around the property with a psychically-assisted jump.

[cielo]

"Master?"

Yazof turned from Julien's Twelve Districts to greet his apprentice with a smile. "Back so early? Find any pertinent information, boy?"

"Not so much, the Captain and a helper showed up when I was in Tildry's desk. Got made to scram... But the helper, master, he was an Etheling."

"Ah... You'll want to make some tea, then. We'll get to your numerology lesson after I've explained a few things to you."

---

Kaamos served himself and Yazof the abominable rooibos, which he had to admit was growing on him. Master and apprentice sat across from each other, sipping in silence for a few minutes.

"What was the name of the Etheling?"

"The Captain called him Rio Rela."

"Ah. The hermetic. Yes, I'd heard about him, and so has Woodford; it's public knowledge, at least among the mages, that Velan Rela's youngest son has an Etheling gift."

"He seemed sort of... Strange. Smiled too much. Got feelings of bitterness."

"His father sees purely magical gifts as seperate from more physical ones; rather than train his son, he was sent to live with a relative, while his older brothers were still taught by a legendary mercenary directly. A bit of excess bile is understandable." Yazof took another sip of the red-brown tea, emptying his cup. Kaamos refilled it.

"He asked me what my gift was, I told him I was psychic. Then he asked about my word?"

Yazof quirked a wizened eyebrow. "What do you think he meant?"

"It was probably in the context of magic, but he must not have known you were going to start teaching me thaumaturgy soon, so it has to do with being an Etheling."

The old nu mou steepled his fingers and watched Kaamos' face. "Expand on the implications of that."

"That would mean there are common links between Ethelings, these words. So that would rule out one of the potential theories of Etheling origin, the magical mutation viewpoint, at the same time strengthening the idea that Ethelings are born the way they are by something for a purpose." Kaamos felt a little queasy.

"You're near enough to the truth," Yazof said with a nod. "We have no way to be sure, but those aware of the words have developed a series of even more complicated theories, from direct influence by the Totema, cosmic roulette, or the intervention of the djinn Great Magic."

"No real way to find any of those things out for certain, though."

"No. Here," Yazof gestured, and a book Kaamos had never seen him reading before removed itself from the bookshelf on the wall, a slim volume bound in red leather with no title. "This contains some information you might find useful. Put aside Julien's telekinesis babblings for a few nights and read this instead. We'll talk on it again after you've finished."

Kaamos accepted the book with a nod. "Yes, master."

"You're free for the afternoon, but be sure to be back with dinner at the right time."

"Thank you, master." Kaamos smiled, it was rare he got time off, but the mansion was nearly spotless after months of diligent cleaning and Yazof's alchemical ingredients were all organized alphabetically, by effect and by age, so his chores in the house were done.

He went for a stroll.

[cielo]

Kaamos sped through the city, pursued by imaginary foes; swing that way, use that gate as leverage, catapult over that building. He set himself challenges. 'Reach the top of the clock tower, only pushing.' He made it, but it took much longer than just flinging himself upwards. 'Get from the docks to the east side in under five minutes.' Nearly made it, kept going until he got it.

'Sit on the statue of Saint Raymond in Tower Square without being noticed, ten minutes.'

That one required a lot of attention; it distracted him, turned his mind to a single focus. Psychic invisibility was difficult to accomplish among small crowds, but the bazaar at Tower Square was flooded with citizens during the pre-supper afternoon hours.

He did it, sitting crosslegged and staring at the clock for ten minutes. To passersby, it would seem a strange boy suddenly drew their attention, where before their eyes had instinctively moved over him, unseeing.

He shot off, gripping the side of a department store with nothing but his thoughts, caught the ledge with a real hand, pulled himself over easily, and ran across the rooftop.

While Woodford was away, he wouldn't grow complacent. There were still things to do, and if his self-imposed drills were even more difficult than his teacher's, then all the better.

[cielo]

"...How many, master?"

"Twelve dozen."

Kaamos did well not to look skeptical or irritated. It wasn't like they didn't have enough in the way of eggs already; Kaamos made sure that for the shopping trip he went on once a week, they would have enough eggs to last at least until the next trip.

"Why, master? Certainly we could use something else for my practice."

Yazof's smile was that of a wizened old creature, but deadly in its own right and brooked no argument. "No, chicken eggs. I expect that they shall all reach here, intact, simultaneously."

It was two weeks since Woodford had left. Kaamos had returned home late a week past and Yazof had been forced to look through Cradilia, eventually finding him inching along the streets, right ankle broken. In his efforts to improve himself through more rigorous training, the boy had injured himself, and Yazof had been forced to repair his apprentice's wound there in the street.

Kaamos had been forced to endure four days of bed rest while on the mend, for even curative magic was not so perfect as to fix a shattered ankle instantly. Yazof had had to do the cooking and much of the chores himself, worsening Kaamos' experiences with terrible home cookery likely ripped from some tome of eldritch lore the old nu mou had under chains somewhere, that and tea brewed to opaqueness with too much sugar in it.

They had had several discussions while Kaamos lay in bed, cast around his ankle.

"If you believe," the old thing said with that same acid-sweet smile, "That my methods of teaching are too slow, or too simple, then perhaps it is time we picked up the pace a little bit. Your strive for excellence is admirable, boy. Certainly you deserve what I have to offer."

Kaamos had gulped in fear at that. Yazof was not an unpleasant teacher, very fatherly in his own way. But when he smiled too much he was quite frankly terrifying.

Back in the present, Kaamos gave a lopsided, uncertain smile. "But why eggs, master? What will you have me do with them?"

They both felt the joke coming on, and Yazof cut him off before it could get out. Yazof held up a finger, as he often did before lectures. "These will not be for cooking. You will hold aloft one dozen eggs at a time, at standing head height, as long as you can. When at the limit of your endurance, you will tell me, and drop the eggs. They are not to be broken or even cracked."

Kaamos blinked. "Yes...Master?"

"You understand the implications, then. You are to display such fine mental control as that pressing from within and without on a dozen eggs dropped from a breaking height will mean their continued viability as a food product."

It sounded impossible. A ridiculous task. "...Yes, master."

Yazof smiled. "Good. Now go get them!" A satchel floated across the room into Kaamos' hands. "You're free to pick the colours yourself, of course. Personally I prefer brown."

[cielo]

It was forty-eight eggs broken before a frustrated Kaamos took to specifically attempting to preserve a single egg out of the dozen; it alone survived the fifth dozen, but from that experience Kaamos gradually increased the number per dozen, extending his will dangerously in each direction.

The twelfth dozen, on the third day since the start of egg practice, had eleven of twelve eggs survive, and to celebrate Yazof had Kaamos make them omelettes, which Kaamos reflected upon during the meal as the clever old fart just manipulating him for food.

On the fourth day after a much-deserved rest mental and physical [Kaamos had, after all, been forced to stand and hold up a dozen eggs for several hours at a time], Yazof requested yet more eggs, only six dozen this time, and Kaamos returned with them, reporting yet more confusion in the market at his slightly less absurd purchases.

"You're going to get it perfect," Yazof insisted. "You are my apprentice."

The first dozen failed spectacularly, three eggs surviving. Kaamos was baffled and discouraged, but continued; his rate of egg survival climbed dramatically as he grew more tired and frustrated.

At the end of the fifth dozen, the sun was sinking below Cradilia's labrynthian western skyline. Kaamos was aching and covered in yolk, while Yazof had marked his place in another tome to meet his apprentice's eyes.

"We're seeing a clear pattern here," Yazof said to bleary-eyed Kaamos. "Your aptitude grows considerably when you are feeling desperate. Survival instinct, perhaps, but unheard of in mages. I suppose as an etheling your gifts are attuned to your body, each acting upon the other. Most interesting."

"Master--can I finish tomorrow?"

Yazof shook his head. "Why stop now? You've had late nights before. Push to the limit, give yourself a migraine. None of these eggs will break. Do you understand?"

Kaamos nodded wearily, and picked the final dozen off the table and held them aloft.

Four hours, longer than any eggy vigil before. He stood for four hours, swaying almost the entire time, eyes closed for most of it. And when, finally, he couldn't fight gravity any more, the eggs dropped. Yazof watched with interest, and Kaamos' eyes remained nailed shut, focusing all his awareness into the completely irrelevant things falling.

Eleven thumps. One crack, but Kaamos instantly shifted his focus from the surviving eggs to the single one most likely to break, forming a shell made of pure force of will. The egg rolled, smooth and perfect, to Yazof's feet.

Kaamos cracked an eye open to see his teacher smiling serenely. "Quite good. Take these to the icebox, then it's off to bed with you."

The apprentice slept easily that night, and in the morning the omelettes tasted especially good.

[cielo]

Three weeks later, and Kaamos' training had shifted slowly from the psychic to the more outwardly magical. It was on a Saturday that Yazof explained his new lessons, and it was on that same Saturday that the dead-end investigation of Viscount Tildry's brutal murder would spring back to life.

"You are still a ways away from mastering the psychic arts," Yazof stated. "But to go further, you shall need another teacher to assist me. Upon Woodford's return, your training will continue as normal, though at a more intense pace."

"So what until then, master?"

"Magic, boy. Most mages discover psychic talents after training in the more arcane arts, and it is unfortunate that what with studying books in dim lighting and with no exercise, rarely do they find a use for the outward psychic arts, and so their skills in that category atrophy. Your position, however, is quite optimal."

Kaamos cocked his head to the side, questioning.

"You see, because of your nature as an Etheling, you are capable of learning magic aside from your major talent. And with your spectacular focus and ability to learn, perhaps you are even more well-off than I had thought."

"I'm... Afraid I'm not quite smart enough to learn your, er, elaborate arts, master."

Yazof made a dismissive gesture. "Nonsense. You are my apprentice. Your natural talents notwithstanding, I am the one teaching you. And I have faith in you."

The corners of Kaamos' mouth turned upwards. The old creature was prideful as any nu mou that deserved it had a right to be, but the compliments made him feel more self-sure.

"So, your true apprenticeship begins tomorrow. You have the rest of the day off."

---

It was at sunset that the crimes happened. Kaamos had returned from his self-imposed drills just five minutes before when, sitting with Yazof in the quiet of his--their--study, a magical alarm broke the quiet.

Their eyes met. "Scrying room," Yazof said, and vanished with a blink.

Kaamos took the stairs two at a time, ascending to the mansion's top floor, to the scrying room.

Yazof's scrying room was actually an observatory with an impressive and finely-crafted telescope of brass and silver point skyward, but the ceiling was closed because it was not in use. Tables with charts and instruments lay about the room, and in the one uncluttered corner of the large room, Kaamos found Yazof talking to somebody that was reflecting off a mirror, other magical viewing instruments in plain sight.

"I just don't see how whoever it is could do both one after the other," said a pretty woman with tanned skin and brown hair that Kaamos judged to be quite young. She was dressed in a deep forest green robe, wearing a strange silver circlet with eight emerald eyes.

"Was anybody else hurt? The Captain?"

"Reports are pointing negative, but they did break through four strong wards, so whoever was protecting Bythan's house must have got a bad case of backlash."

"I see. Penelope, this is my apprentice, Kaamos."

Her gaze, nearly as green as the gems on her circlet, turned to Kaamos, and in his street clothes, made for flexibility and rapid movement, he felt underdressed compared to her. "Hello," she said shortly, and turned back to Yazof. "Are you going to send the boy out?"

Kaamos felt a twinge of annoyance. He was a young man, thank you. Yazof smiled over his shoulder. "Perhaps. But first I shall need to explain to him what's happened. Until next time, dear."

"I'll inform you if anything else comes up."

The connection was severed, and Yazof turned his chair to face Kaamos. "Viscount Tildry's murderer has decided to take a more active approach to crime, it seems."

"How's that, master?"

Yazof sucked his cheeks in. "The Captain was called in with Rio Rela to investigate a death that shared the same signs as Tildry's; similar bruising, at least."

"Who was it?"

"Baron Iula Feige, who has lands in the northeast corner of Cradil County. However, the crimes don't stop there," Yazof said, and looked uncomfortable. "There was a kidnapping. Captain Bythan's daughter Judeth. She was taken when the Captain and Rela were called to the murder scene. As you heard Penelope say, the criminal burst through at least four major wards, and it had to have been in quick succession or the intrusion would have been blocked by secondary magic."

"So whoever did it is very good."

"Exactly that. They located Judeth Bythan and extricated her from the Bythan house in under a minute."

Kaamos fidgeted. "You're sending me after whoever it was?"

Yazof nodded slowly. "I believe so. You're very slippery, and know the city well. Of course, if you do not desire to go, I will not send you."

"No, master. You're right. Murder is one thing, but the Captain's daughter is in danger."

The old master nodded. "Quite good. Change to your mottled grays, and I have something to loan you for the purpose of tonight's hunt. Go now! We have who knows how much time before something happens."

[cielo]

Kaamos was certainly impressed. With himself, for one. He'd crossed to the Bythan household, just in the shadow of the patrician's palace, in just under two minutes, a new record. Secondarily, with the kidnapper.

The Captains of the Guard had shared a house since time immemorial; when one retired or passed on, the family was moved to a more comfortable locale and the new Captain's family and staff moved in. The wards on that house were almost as old as the city itself, and renewed every year. Kaamos had passed the ancient house hundreds of times, always subconsciously aware of the powerful weave of magic.

Now, it was empty, a void where once great protective magics had stood for centuries. He felt around with his senses, felt the jagged edges where the wards had been torn through, ripped free and shredded. Yazof had warned him about things like this; how in theory magic was enforcing change, different kinds of reality, on a localized area. Tears like this could be dangerous in a myriad of ways.

An alarmed thought crossed Kaamos' mind. He couldn't replace the wards. But, aware of his powers as he was, he thought I could fix this.

But there were more pressing matters than what might be a rip in the fabric of reality. At least that wasn't such a pressing concern. There was a little girl out there that needed help.

He traced the threads of remaining magic, saw the direction the kidnapper had shot off in, what felt like tiny shredded ley lines suggesting a path that consisted of jumping and weaving, much like Kaamos himself moved. A psychic indeed, then.

Kaamos swallowed fear and followed.

[cielo]

Kaamos found himself heading westward, for the docks. He found it odd how the shredded lines of magic grew no more difficult to trace, not looping around or through any buildings.

He vaulted a low-cost apartment, pulling lightly on a wooden gate that swung when his mind touched it, using the momentum it afforded to swing around another apartment twenty feet in the air. He passed through something invisible, or so well hidden that finely tuned senses didn't detect it until Kaamos had already shot through it.

A magical alarm blared, interrupting Kaamos' telekinetic grasp, sending him wide of the next corner. Panicking, he flung his mind out in every direction to find a firm hold, saved from hitting a wall at some forty kilometers an hour by a web of thought.

On the ground, a fisherman late in getting home looked up in bewilderment at the teenager hanging in the air, breathing heavily. The boy looked down, and the fisherman went on his way. He was hungry.

Kaamos looked back, and saw the alarm trigger he had passed through; now clearly visible to his third eye, a throbbing red window set around the stream of magic he had been following.

He cursed aloud. Whatever it was had expected another psychic to follow. This didn't bode well. Thoughts rushing but unwilling to return to Yazof, Kaamos followed the stream down an alley to a building with a tower rising over top. He met a locked steel door, which swung open after ten seconds of nervous telekinetic fumbling with the lock.

The stream of magic stopped a few feet inside the door, which shut once he was standing at its end. Kaamos groaned at the darkness.

[cielo]

Kaamos took a step forward, and paused. He didn't have a light on him, and Yazof hadn't taught him any fire magic yet. If he reached around with his mind to become aware, that would leave him vastly more open than he wanted to be hunting a super-psychic.

"Damn it." He crawled forward, trailing his hand on the bare concrete wall.

The hallway was longer than Kaamos had expected it to be, but it had no doors, which gave off the eerie impression of a building that had been made to be a secret lair from the start. The hall eventually ended at a spiral staircase going both up and down, with a lit lantern at either extreme, casting faint light down to him.

Fighting the instinct that told him to turn tail and go back home, Kaamos started ascending the staircase. The building's tower hadn't been too tall or wide, so there was only a certain amount of space he would need to cover going up; building underground, the extent of the house could get ridiculous.

The climb was uneventful. Kaamos grabbed the lantern as he passed, entering a doorless room that he realized took up the building's entire top floor; there was a skylight through which he could see half a constellation, and little besides that. It occurred to Kaamos that there could be a trap door or that an illusion was hiding something important; reluctantly, he extended his mind.

In the space of a moment, Kaamos became aware of a few things; one, that the entire building except for this room was shielded by magic, giving the impression that this room was floating thirty feet in the air. Two, that there were no illusions or hidden levers in the room. And third, that something was heading for the room from the east very quickly.

Kaamos flung himself at the staircase as the east wall crumpled inwards, loose pebbles and bricks scattering across the floor. Evening air rushed in, and Kaamos turned to the hole to see a boy his age standing there, a shielding spell surrounding him. It was Rio Rela, Captain Bythan's new assistant, and he seemed irked. Kaamos stood up.

"So it was you! What a rat! Where's the kid, rat?"

"I don't--"

Rio flicked his hand, and Kaamos noticed a second too late the hermetic circle that had formed itself at his feet; a block of stone shot up out of the floor, hitting Kaamos in the jaw and sending him stumbling. He tasted blood.

"C'mon! The kid's got nothing to do with the investigation. Let'er go."

"I'm looking for her, too!"

Rio snorted and made a gesture at the south wall; this time, Kaamos saw the circle forming [he realized through the pain in his jaw that that should be impossible], and rolled forward, pulling on the edges of the new hole in the wall to send himself flying at Rio just as the air behind him caught fire, a stream of energy blowing out the north wall and probably waking up the entire neighbourhood.

[cielo]

Kaamos' first kick bounced off of Rio's shield. He yanked on the skylight and new hole in the wall, flipping to deliver another blow with added telekinetic force, reinforcing his leg with his mind so it wouldn't break under the pressure.

Rio's shield cracked and shattered, and he moved into the room around Kaamos' next kick, surprisingly agile. Rio slapped the floor and a stone wall rose to protect him from a straight kick, and the lantern shattered on the other side of the wall, oil spilling. Kaamos flew around the wall, apparently using it as leverage, and Rio caught his foot. The attacking psychic swore and slipped his shoe off, dodging to the left as Rio threw it. Now-enchanted shoe met the west wall, and both exploded outwards.

It took them both a second to realize that that ominous creaking sound was the roof only be supported by the north wall, the others now rubble. They exchanged a glance and dove for the staircase, Kaamos getting there first and kicking backwards at Rio, who caught his leg and jumped forward, sending them down the staircase as the roof collapsed.

Rolling down the staircase, neither had the focus to use their gifts and instead focused on try to pummel the other. When they finally came to a stop, Kaamos headbutted Rio and tried stepping off, only to trip on a now-loose brick and go tumbling down the stairs with a shout again.

Rio stood up and groaned, realizing how badly bruised he would be the following day. He walked [limped?] down the staircase, following Kaamos' cries in the darkness before slapping the wall beside him, forming about ten bricks into a glowing orb of light about the size of a baseball. It hovered behind his head, providing illumination.

He reached the midpoint of the staircase at the hallway, found Kaamos lying in a pained heap, and prodded him with a sandal. The psychic grunted and stood up, assuming a defiant stance.

"I told you, I didn't take the kid!" he said, and spat blood to the side. His face would be as much of a black and blue mess tomorrow, too.

"Aright, fine, I believe you."

"...You do?"

Another long creak, followed by a groan. The hallway's roof caved in partially, bits of the upstairs tower room apparently deciding to fall right at the two. Both ducked for the staircase again, jogging down it on bruised shins as the hallway upstairs collapsed.

[cielo]

A cough in the dark. Rio slaps another set of bricks, making a couple more motes of light. "All in one piece?"

"Dammit. I tried to tell you I didn't take the kid, but NOOO of course I'm lying and--"

"Shaddup, everyone makes mistakes."

"You tried to kill me! What convinced you I wasn't the kidnapper?"

"Ye're not strong enough, for one. Took you two kicks to crack my shield, bad guy busted through magic older than lore in one sweep."

"Gee, thanks."

"Welcome. Gonna have to blast our way out, but first we go down."

"Do we have a plan?"

"We locate the kid first, if resident child thief slash murderer is still in residence you run interference while I ventilate the ceiling enough to make an escape. No one else knows where we are right now so this could turn into a grave pretty quick if we aren't careful."

"Right. Can you shield me?"

"So you bounce around like a pinball? Worse than useless then. You're fast and good at getting out of the way, so just distract the bastard."

Why do his compliments feel like veiled insults? Whatever. "Alright."

[cielo]

"What do you think took the Captain's daughter?" Kaamos asked as they descended the staircase, the air gradually growing cooler.

"We got a couple theories," Rio said, and swung one of the motes of light back up the staircase to make sure nothing was following them. "There's forbidden magic out there that would let something that strong exist, stealing powers from people and piling them up. Or maybe somethin' we've never heard of from the ages of myth, before we recorded history."

"What do you believe, personally?"

"Personally? I don't really care. It's apparently smart enough to have a motive. We'll get the kid back, and if we can knock it around a bit, it's going on trial."

Kaamos snorted. "You're going to put it on trial."

"We're gonna try. ...Now, here we are."

They reached the bottom of the stairs, and found a tall wooden door lit on either side by lanterns. Rio threw one of the two motes of light back up the stairs, and for the briefest moment a tall shadow was cast on the wall. Neither noticed, and the alchemical automaton returned to float between them. "Alright, coast looks clear. You ready?"

Kaamos stretched for a few moments, pushed himself off the ground with his mind, landed, and nodded. Rio held up a hand, and glowing on the palm was a hermetic circle; he slapped the wooden door, blasting it inwards. Kaamos looked dumbfounded. "Why the hell did you do that?!"

"Element of surprise! Come on!"

[cielo]

They charged into a candlelit room, to find a girl of thirteen or fourteen sobbing in the center of an uncomplicated hermetic circle. The walls were painted dark red, and there was little decoration; a cot with black sheets set in a distant corner. The candles were mostly on the floor, some knocked over; the girl, Kaamos surmised, had been on the bed and rushed back to the circle when Rio undoored the room. Other than those things, the splinters of the door, and the girl in her cotton nightclothes, the room was empty.

"Sabby? You aright?"

"Rio? It is you!"

She ran for him and hugged the older boy, short for her age. Under the glow of Rio's motes Kaamos could see her hair was the same dark brown as the Captain's, though with her face buried in Rio's chest he could only hope she didn't share her father's features.

"Did it hurt you?"

"No, i-it just grabbed me and flew. Who's that?"

Kaamos guessed the girl took much more after her mother. In a few years, Sabine Bythan might be pretty, but for now she had a big nose to grow into. "I'm Kaamos, a, uh, friend of Rio's. Nice to meet you, but we really need to get out of--"

He was cut off by what felt like a wagon full of bricks falling at terminal velocity smacking him across the room, into a wall, and onto the ground. Reflexive use of telekinesis saved him from broken bones, though a few cracked ribs would be expected.

Rio kicked off the ground, grabbing Sabine and using a series of inverted shields to propel himself away from the door. "Sabby, hide under the bed!"

The girl did so as Kaamos struggled back to his feet. Both boys turned to the door, watching for whatever had thrown the psychic.

[cielo]

It floated in through the door's now-empty frame. Rio's first impression was It ain't got feet! and Kaamos' groggier interpretation was It's got no face.

They were both correct, though Rio perhaps more than Kaamos. The creature, whatever it was, was mostly gray with lighter marks across its body; it wore a black wrap across its waist that went down to the knees, and below that there were no feet; no stumps, the legs just ended in points that dangled above the ground.

Kaamos shook his head and took a second look at it. The arms looked human enough, though gray like the rest of the creature; they ended in large hands with long, nailless fingers. The face was covered by a mask of iron, with a single eye and vents on either side. From the front, it showed no signs of being able to propel itself off the ground.

And, as the teenagers in the room realized, it was blocking their only way out.

"Distract him!" Rio shouted. The etheling closed his eyes and started muttering something vaguely formulaic.

Kaamos groaned and pushed himself off of the wall he had just hit like a ragdoll, shooting forward and throwing a wheel kick, which the creature blocked with its forearm, remaining stationary. That was almost comforting to Kaamos; if it blocked his attacks, then it thought he could hurt it.

The hand snapped around, apparently not at odds with whatever bones the creature had. A ball of energy formed in its palm, forcing Kaamos to retract his leg and yank himself to the left. The ball shot past, detonating against a wall and showering the motionless Rio in rubble.

Kaamos, taking what he thought was an opportunity, swung around to kick the creature in the back of the head, catching a glimpse of what looked like stubs where wings had been torn off before a wall of force shoved him backwards. Ignoring both boys, the creature floated past Rio to the cot, which it lifted one-handed. Sabine shrieked and tried to hide further back.

A muttered curse came from behind the creature, and Kaamos turned to see Rio had somehow preserved whatever spell he had been working on before in his right hand, before gesturing with his left and shouting "Second Array: Hellfire. Get her out of there!"

Acting instantly, Kaamos yanked Sabine around the creature, using the doorframe as an anchor. He caught her and moved himself out of the way as runes lit up the wall behind Rio. An impressive number of magic projectiles shot out at their target, who faced the assault with both arms outstretched.

"Up the stairs!" Rio shouted, turning to--ohdamnwhat.

The punch caught him in the stomach, and Rio dropped. The magic missiles slammed into the opposite wall, doing nothing any harm. Rio coughed and tried to grab one of the pointy leg-ends from his spot on the ground, but it had already floated towards Sabine, who Kaamos then covered with his own body.

Rio's muttering started again, and Kaamos shoved with his mind at the creature, hoping to find a weak spot in its psyche to exploit. His efforts went unnoticed, thoughts sliding over an alien mind like water over gravel.

Forsaking attacks on the creature's mind, Kaamos fished around in a pocket for a second before retrieving an orb filled with some sort of glowing gas, and crushed it in his hand. The creature stopped, cocking its masked head to the side. Kaamos shot forward, hand leaving a trail of luminescent vapour, but kicking again. Kaamos' reasoning was that it possessed little to no etheric shielding; if he could just plant his hand on it...!

"Seventeenth Array: Skycracker! DUCK!"

The creature blocked Kaamos' kick, but turned its head to see Rio; taking this opportunity, Kaamos flipped about and struck it in the center of its chest, just over where a human's heart would be. The first noise it had made, a hiss, came out of the mask, and the creature clutched the spot where Kaamos had struck it; already, the mark of a palm was visible in light blue.

Light overcame them, and Kaamos threw himself back to cover Sabine again as the ceiling split open.