Chapter 503: Aftershocks (2/2)
I didn’t kno much more pressure the nation could take before it tore itself to shreds in a terrified frenzy
“Listen to you, worrying about ‘the nation’ again,” Cynthia said fro kicked over the other, absently picking at the sole of her boot “You’ve rediscovered patriotism, it seems”
I scoffed “Been shackled to it by Arthur Leywin, hed,She wasn’t even there Just a hallucination of a brokensad She looked out herI blinked She was gone
“Howat the driver, suddenly antsy to be out of the carriage It was starting to grow dark, and the lights of a se could just be seen in the distance
He clicked his tongue at the equine e, and it slowed to a stop “You’ve got a good nose on you, e and opened the door with a grunt “Feller you're looking for hadstone that le of bushes that separated the road from the rocky coastline “No idea where he went from here”
I kicked a rock It skipped twice before vanishi+ng into the bushes “We’ve coether, friend Maybe our relationshi+p has had some ups and downs, but I’d like to think we’ve built some trust over the last few hours Most people take years to build up to the comfortable silence we’ve shared”
I pushedintent without casting a spell “It would be a shame to ruin it now”
“Ah, piss on this,” hefor some bloke I don’t even know My cousin has a shack down on the beach, on the other side of town” ‘nobody’ the coached his shoulders in defeat “Cousin works on a shi+pping vessel that runs ‘round the north coast to Dzianis, don’t he? So he ain’t hardly ever home Told this feller he could stay there for a bit”
I considered forcing hiht to the front door His appearance in town h Besides, I was pretty sure he was telling the truth “Get out of here” I pressed pay other than high-tail it back to Onaeka “And sell off that belt as soon as you can, or sout you for it”
The coachled to find words, then grunted, juue at his ed the cart in a loop, crushi+ng the brush on the other side of the road, then hurried away
The coachht ahead
A cool wind blew in off the sea I pulled ht around e The main road veered left, while a separate path broke away to the right, leading right through the center of the village A couple of far cropsin the twilight, stopped his work to lean against a rake and watch e itself was fairly quiet At its center, it had a small square defined by a warehouse that stank of fish, an inn with no sign out front, and an out-of-place uessed was sogling Named Blood controlled the place
Several market stalls lined the square, but they were all closed up The dull roar of drunken conversation ca ht of two armored men as they rounded a corner down the street past the inn Not wanting to get caught up answering questions frouardsuards passed by without even glancing inht frolanced into the inn, searching for athe Instiller’s description Many of the locals were out for a drink and a late dinner, probably only having recently returned fro, but none of thee, and no onearound behind the inn, I ave way to a rocky beach The sound of the sea lapping against the shore was h to cover any noise I made as I followed the stony shore northward
Just as the coachman had said, I found a poorly maintained shack a few minutes outside of town It backed up to the short cliff that separated the beach from the untamed land behind it A rickety peer floated thirty feet out into the sea, buoyed so that it could rise and fall with the tide The shed itself was raised up on pylons, keeping it above the high water ae and rotten One had sunk down slightly, giving the entire structure an off-kilter lean
A suppressed nature was just barely detectable inside the shack
Although I’d ed to learn a fair bit about this Instiller as I tracked hiar, then Itri, and finally Onaeka, he’d been careful to avoid letting his naardless, his name probably wouldn’t help me; it’d only warn him that I knew exactly who he was
I cautiously approached the ranature as best I could while watching for any flicker from his that he’d channeled a rune
Suddenly, the as blowing fro to be quiet Forgetting what I was even doing
The farasped thebackwards The sea-ood of the door frah the door and landed onI stared senselessly up at ablade
The shortsword slipped frorasp as both his hands went to his chest The point thunked into the floorboards an inch froaway
I was diht overturned a sround He followed it only a ainst the pain of having all runt escaped fro and weeping, his atte at either his lips or my ears, I couldn’t be certain
Behind low as it streamed away fro Each choked breath was interspersed with a wet cough
“fuck,” was all I could th to utter But I had toit across
Once on my side, I opened my eyes The Instiller was only a couple of feet away, eye to eye with me The short sword stuck up fro, and with each cough, he curled inward, clutching his chest Blood ran freely from his nose and badly split lip
“I’ to catch my breath I completed the roll onto my stomach, then pushed myself to my knees “I’m here to help you”
Now fully in the fetal position, his face distorted in a grimace of pain, he shook his head
With treed the blade free and tossed it aside The Instiller flinched at the clatter of steel on wood
My wits finally returned to me, and I used the tiny portion of e artifact, drawing out two s the top free frohpain inthrough my muscles, bones, and brain meat
I let out a relieved breath “Here, one for you too And I won’t even say you owe led as I lowered the elixir to his lips, but he had no strength to fight me The elixir filled his mouth, which I then claed and his nostrils flared desperately as he struggled not to s Nature and physics worked against hi liquid
“There, see, not so…” I trailed off, watching his reaction to the elixir Despite the h his body, he wasn’t relaxing “Vritra’s balls, what…”
Perhaps finally realizing that I was trying to help hirabbed the hereen, his eyes bloodshot and desperate “Ch-chest…can’t…”
I eased the man onto his back, and then felt his head, neck, and chest Jaw clenched, dripping in a cold sweat, looks like he’s about to be sick…
The signs were consistent with backlash, but the elixir should have relieved them immediately I’d seen men push themselves harder than their heart could handle more than once, and they’d all died just like this
My focus switched This was no longer aback a potentially hostile resource
“The recorded irona, fro around the dim shack I pressed down on his chest, and they snapped back toYou kno to access it”
A flicker He knew “We don’t have much tiet you to the village Surely they have a healer who can help you” Catching rona’s captured, you saw it yourself You’re a free man after this I just need your help”
“N-not…can’t—” He choked on his own tongue and coughed blood across my sleeve
“We can prove to the entire continent that Agrona’s gone,” I said, inflecting my tone so it sounded like a plea “You hold the key to an entirely new era for Alacrya”
A spasm of pain shook the Instiller, and he looked away
“Is it loyalty, then?” I didn’t try to keep the bitterness out of ’s short hairs, willing to do whatever it takes to maintain your stake in his broken world—”
“No!” The Instiller grimaced, then affixed , but soue He just couldn’t form the words But the look in his eyes spoke volumes
I took his hand in bothto tell ure this out”
The Instiller jerked his hand free Turning his head, he spit a mouthful of blood on the floor He shook badly as he tried to write in the blood, but his hand was no more under his control than hiswhich he accorain of the wood, he let his head fall back to the floor
Another spas
Suddenly he raised both hands above hian to leak froue and backlash, but I didn’t ilared athit me like a brick to the back of the head “The ain!”
His ar wildly now The mana fluctuated more than it had the first ti, I followed along easily and committed it to memory “Thank you, friend You’re da, his fingers kneading into his chest and neck
I withdrew another vial froer, sealed with a waxed cork The liquid inside was clear I peeled the wax and uncorked the vial carefully, not wanting to get any on myself
“Here This will ease the pain Then I’ll take you to the village”
His senses robbed by the pain and fear, he opened his
Even with et him to a healer in time The best I could do was offer hi
He let out a relieved breath as his systems shut down The poor bastard even s to move in thanks He was dead before he could form the words
Myit over and over again to seal it away in ht corpse and carried hi would represent to the people of Alacrya Proof
I left the corpse at the edge of the village where the guards would find hi it look like he’d traveled there under his oer They’d assuh Probably give hi in that shed for a week or two before the owner ca a dark alley where I wouldn’t be observed, I retrieved idan, where Seris and Caera awaited news