Open Chronicles Levels of Light

[Finn]

Blue eyes remained glued to her boots as she walked. A small crease interrupted her forehead as she thought about his question. "They're less in numbers but they still patrol the outer rings. A village might be the best bet."

Ugh. Away from her shop.

Kellen's arm caught her in the shoulders and she stumbled against it, trying to quickly back-pedal with her heavy pack on. The girl gulped as the patrol continued on. Head shook.

Wait. Her shop.

"I know a place we could lay low but it's in the city," she whispered, waiting until the guards were a few blocks away. "Under the main bridge entrance to the city." Hopefully she wouldn't regret telling Kellen this. All her projects were there. She'd never even shown Gristle.

 

[Naghi]

Kellen frowned for a moment, glancing at her, then the street ahead. "Alright."

It was probably better than trying to sneak out of the city.

He had no idea how much she knew about the guard gates, patrols, or anything of the like. Best to go with the safe bet and just hide out wherever it was she was thinking of. There was an element of danger there too of course, she could be leading him into a trap.

At this point though there was little choice.

"Lead the way." He told her. "I'll make sure no one follows."

 

[Finn]

The girl nodded.

Taking a breath and squaring her bony-shoulders, she set off, sticking to the natural shadows the buildings had to offer. Clouds rolled across the stars. Looked like a storm might be building. Would provide them with more cover.

They didn't run into any other problems as they made it to the bridge. Finn scrambled down the bankment, boots hitting ankle-deep water. Sloshing ahead, she reached a small wall of lopsided stones. Staring at the wall for a moment, she pulled one particular stone out. With a crank-clicking sound, part of the wall slid away.

An opening.

She was pretty proud, she designed it herself.

 

[Naghi]

Kellen perked an eyebrow.

A secret door, how handy.

He'd often wondered just how effective things like that were. Whether or not they could fool guards and mages. It certainly would have taken him. Had she asked Kellen to open the door he simply would have stared. "Neat."

The Underlord commented quietly.

"Should sell that." He mused to her.

At his core Kellen was a business man, and when he saw something clever he couldn't help but notice. There were always people looking to hide after all.

 

[Finn]

She shrugged.

“Maybe. Doubt I’d get to keep much of it.” That was life in a street gang. Never got to keep the winnings. Just a teeny-tiny percent. Finn wasn’t much of a business woman. She was an inventor - head stuck in the proverbial clouds/always dreaming.

Taking a breath, she lead the way inside.

The room had deceptively high ceilings. And after lighting a few sconces on the wall with good-old fashioned fire, they had light. Kellen would see a work table with all sorts of tools, gears, scrap metal, odds and ends. In the middle of the cleared room, there was a cloth hanging over something big.

Finn spun around, hand coming up to rub across her tattooed arm uncertainly.

“I know we don’t know each other well but I’m...trusting you not to tell anyone about this place.”

That included the boss.

 

[Naghi]

"Who would I tell?" He said with a small amount of amusement.

There wasn't really much reason too in all honesty. Every criminal ran a side-racket of some sort, even if they were part of a bigger gang. There was no reason not to.

As long as it didn't conflict with anything who cared?

That was Kellen's thought process anyway. He knew that half the members of his own gang ran siderackets of some sort. Everything from gambling to hustling poker. Kellen had never particularly cared, as long as they kept their nose out of trouble. How was this any different?

Walking around Kellen began to peer at things in the workshop, occasionally pickling something up and inspecting it.

"What is all this stuff?" He said inspecting some sort of magnifying device.

 

[Finn]

Closing the door behind them, she scooched up on the work table, letting her legs swing free. “I just like to dabble. Sometimes the boss needs some....creative solutions for jobs.”

There were a pile of scrolls in the corner, clearly stolen from the libraries she could get into.

“Careful with that one. The lense tends to pop out.”

Nudging her shoulders, she finally eased off her busted wings.

 

[Naghi]

"Clearly." He said putting the toy down onto the table, gazing around for a moment at everything else and trying to come up for uses with half this junk.

Kellen supposed some of it could be useful, though if it worked as well as her...wings, then it likely wouldn't be very useful at all. His lips pursed for a moment, fingers brushing over the top of his head.

"There's a school in Alliria that does this sort of thing." He'd seen it once or twice. "Trying to recreate things from the Age of Wonders."

Magic without magic in a way.

 

[Finn]

Sandy brows perked up in interest.

“Oh yeah?”

Finn didn't know much about outside Elbion. She’d heard stories but nothing she’d put significant weight in. Things here always managed to keep her occupied. Distracted. Not to mention whenever she got around someone with magic, their powers never seemed to work in her direction.

The girl didn't much understand it.

Wards broke when she was around. Portals didn't work for her. It was very strange.

“Seems like any school would be expensive and hard to get into. That where you’re from?”

 

[Naghi]

"It is." He told her, glancing around before continuing. "The school is free, as long as you pass the test to get in."

Set up and paid for by Alliria's merchants.

Patrons, but for a good reason. Much of what was created at the school eventually went on to be used by the merchants themselves. Sometimes for good, sometimes for war. Alliria's City Guard was not as powerful or well trained as Vel Anir's, nor did they have the mages Elbion did.

They needed every advantage. "I've only been there once."

To steal something.

 

[Finn]

“Do you think I’d have a shot?”

The girl asked candidly.

Of course, she didn't know what it would take to leave the gang. Or, if they’d let her. Wasn’t always that simple. Hopping down from the table, she wandered over to a shelf and pulled a stolen apple from the bag.

After a moment of hesitation, she pulled out a second and offered it to Kellen.

 

[Naghi]

A shrug rolled over his shoulders.

"Some of the stuff in here looks better than what I saw in there." While he was rummaging around looking for what he'd been stealing.

Of course Kellen didn't feel the need to drop that little detail on her, didn't really seem all that necessary. When she offered him an apple he waved her off. The magic he stole was more than enough to sustain him, and if he ate anything at this point he'd make himself sick.

"Worth a shot." He mused. "Though it's a long trip."

 

[Finn]

“Yeah,” she took a healthy bite of apple and put the second back. Pulling out a bedroll and keeping the apple in her mouth, she shook it open and put it on the floor. Easing down on it, she munched on the apple, clearing her mouth.

“I dunno if I could leave Elbion. The boss isn’t exactly thrilled with deserters. Probably get a bounty on my head.”

Lose a few fingers, y’know.

She sighed, elbow propping against a leg, upturned palm supporting her chin. For a brief moment, a dreamy look crossed her blue eyes. What would it be like? Being in a school meant for inventors.

 

[Naghi]

He considered her words for a few seconds, giving her a wondering look before he smiled and moved over to a crate that was sitting in the middle of the room.

"So kill him." It was a bold suggestion.

One that could likely get her killed.

Yet it was also a good option. Crime Bosses tend to drop dead anyway, and it was likely the only way that she would be able to get out of her obligations without much trouble.

 

[Finn]

Mouth dropped open. Blues oggled Kellen. Openly.

Finn was a lot of things: mediocre theif, better inventor, dreamer, reckless at times. But murderer wasn’t one of them.

Head began shaking, blond hair coming loose from its tie, cascading down her bare shoulders.

“Ha. Are you smoking something? Something wrong with that head of yours?”

 

[Naghi]

He chuckled. "You have a problem."

Kellen pointed out with that same smug smile. Murder wasn't everyone's style, but sometimes it just had to be done. He'd learned that lesson at a young age, most would have argued too young, but that was the lot dealt to him.

Growing up in the slums hadn't been pleasant.

"I merely offered a solution." He went on. "The boss would be gone, the gang would fall into infighting, and you..."

Kellen waved a hand. "You can disappear."

 

[Finn]

She, too, had grown up on the streets. She’d done some less than desirable things to survive. And if Gristle hadn’t found her, she knew she could've ended up doing far worse things. Easily.

“Well,” back of her hand rubbed across her nose.

“It’s not an option. For me.”

Lips pushed out in thought.

“I’d rather try disappearing on my own. Assuming you won’t rat me out. I know you made a deal with the boss.”

Duh. She’d been there. In that bar. Paying mostly attention.

 

[Naghi]

Disappointing. "I have no reason to rat you out."

Her decisions were her on, but as soon as she declared her intent his own plan went out the window. He thought he'd found a convenient little way to expand into Elbion. Yet it seemed she was not the sort, disappointing really. Not to mention that it presented him with a small bit of a problem.

For a moment Kellen considered.

"I can help you." She didn't want her boss dead, but perhaps he could use her to achieve the same goal anyway. "Get you out of the city I mean."

It was what he did after all.

 

[Finn]

Sandy brows lofted in surprise. Bony-butt shifted on the bedroll. She may be young but she wasn’t born yesterday.

Grabbing a blanket, she wrapped it around her shoulders.

Apple was finished off.

“Why would you help me? What’s in it for you?”

Kellen was sharp. Observant. Seemed to get his way. Dangerous. And like her, had some odd magical abilities.

 

[Naghi]

He shrugged. "I'd just need a favor."

That was really the only thing he could tell her. One never knew when someone like her came in handy, smart people were few and far in between.

"I'm not innocent." He told her. "But I'm not without morals."

Another shrug. "If I see someone who doesn't enjoy their place, why would I force them to stay?"

 

[Finn]

“Hmm,” she mused, eyeing him carefully.

The girl scooched down on the bedroll, resting on her side so she could still look up at Kellen. They’d be stuck in this hole together for the next day or so with the guards still looking for them. Or rather, looking for a man and a woman.

“What if it’s a favor like murdering someone or something I don't agree with?”

Sandy brow arched.

 

[Naghi]

He waved. "I don't need you to murder anyone for me."

That would be silly.

From what he knew of this girl she wouldn't be very good at murdering anyone. Why would he send an inexperienced killer to do a job that he could have a professional do? Or himself for that matter.

"I don't use people for what they're bad at." He told her. "I use them for what they're good for."

Kellen gestured to the workshop. "I'm sure a mind like yours will come in handy."

 

[Finn]

She didn’t argue his point or look indignant when he implied she’d be bad at murdering someone. It wasn’t a skill she ever wanted to be recognized for. Or good at.

“Perhaps,” the girl turned over, her back to the man. “I’ll sleep on it and let you know.”

He must know what he was getting himself into. If the boss ever found out he’d helped her...they’d be after him too. Could be a cross-city gang war. Finn didnt think it’d come to that. She didn’t think she was THAT important. Eyes slowly closed. Beneath the blanket, her slender fingers gripped the handle of a small knife.

It wasn’t necessarily for Kellen but it made her feel safe all the same. Their hideout should stay secret. Hard to say if the rest of the night would go uninterrupted until morning.

 

[Naghi]

Kellen did not sleep.

He was in a foreign environment surrounded by things he did not trust or fully understand. Rest in a situation did not come easily, if it came at all. So he stayed up and awake, alert and keeping sleep at bay merely by the power he had stolen from the mage Guards of Elbion.

The longest he'd gone without sleep had been several days, all fueled by a single mage who had taken his own power from the life force of another being a day earlier.

It was a cruel memory, and one that Kellen did not enjoy in the least bit. He was a criminal, some might even say a murderer, but he never preyed on the weak or the infirm. Not long some necromancer and blood mages whose power he had stolen.

Goosebumps ran up his spine at the memory, lips thinning as the night wore away.

 

[Finn]

Who was she sharing her secret hideaway with? Some murderer? Ganglord from another city? Someone who wasn't a mage but had magical abilities. Someone who agreed to help her out of the city - and - essentially her gang for a price.

A price Finn didn't know. Not yet.

A small crack of light made it through her hideaway's door. Blue eyes fluttered open as she shifted on the bedroll. Limbs stretched beneath the blanket. Sitting up, fingers raked through wild blonde hair. Sleepy-gaze found Kellen.

"I've been thinking about the offer and...I want to accept. When do we leave?"

And there it was. She was leaving everything she knew.