A dozku farmer ran in through his wooden door and slammed it shut.
“What was it?” asked his wife with concern in her voice.
He looked at her, eyes wide with fear. They locked on to his wife at first and then drifted up to his two children that lay huddled together in one bed, holding their blankets up to their eyes.
“I...I don’t know.” he said.
The night outside was silent, which only made him more fearful. He held tightly on to the door, frantically trying to think if there were any other ways into their farmhouse.
Suddenly there was a low growl, coming from somewhere outside. Then it went quiet again. When it returned it was right outside their door.
His wife backed up towards the children.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Hello?” said a frail voice from the other side of the door. “Could you help me, please? I’m very injured.”
His wife shook her head frantically.
“Sorry.” he said. “Can’t help you. Please go away.”
There was silence again, followed by the terrifying return of the growl.
Suddenly something heavy came crashing into the door. He could hear it crack and bend and with the next impact splinters flew out of the door. It would not survive another such attack.
The man looked at his wife and their two children. Hearing rapid footsteps approach the door he opened his mouth to say the words he had always held back from saying...and then he was knocked to the floor with a shower of splinters and pieces of wood raining down on him.
...
The girls were led through the peacekeeper headquarters towards the office of Marshal Delona. Occasionally they passed by people in handcuffs, criminals awaiting interrogations as well as regular citizens giving statements.
“Is it me or is it a little busy here?” asked Arcaea.
“Not really.” said the peacekeeper leading them. “Today has actually been kinda quiet.”
The others looked at the constant flow of people and listened to the droning cacophony of chatter.
“Quiet indeed.” muttered Kurai.
Only Raven heard and smiled at the jape.
Most of the criminals who were either being brought into custody or for questioning had corrite collars around their necks with runes etched into them. These little trinkets were not a modern invention as they had been used throughout the ages to stifle a spellcaster’s ability to cast spells.
While crime was common amongst people of all walks of life a significant number of criminals seemed to have magical abilities. Janette had personally heard the cautionary tale that ‘power corrupts’ more times than she cared to count.
Luckily none of them had to wear these collars since they were here at a professional capacity. Raven personally took solace in this fact since that meant that the peacekeepers of Keystone had no reason to fear them to distrust them.
A moment later the peacekeeper, who was a tall sunborn man with golden locks and fair skin, stopped in front of an ornate wooden door.
“The marshal awaits you in there.”
Arcaea nodded and the peacekeeper marched off to some other assignment that awaited him. The girls looked at each other and then at the door. Wooden doors were not a common sight in larger cities and ones as ornate as this they had never seen. Most buildings simply used metal doors that slid into the walls when a button was pressed.
They opened the door and walked in. The air in the office was heavy and specks of dust could be seen in the rays of sunlight that shun through the blinds. A couple of lamps, positioned in opposite corners of the office, gave off a warm but faint light that struggled with illuminating the office.
Behind a wooden desk that seemed to match the door in style, sat a moonlet woman with melanistic skin, that was as dark as night, and bright white hair. Big black horns curled from her forehead and over her head, both heavily scarred and chipped. Her one eye was a deep violet while a leather eyepatch covered the other. She was dressed in a peacekeeper uniform and was flipping through documents on several holographic screens that hovered around her. As the girls walked in she looked up and gave them a nod of acknowledgement.
“Ah, there you are. Please, have a seat while I finish a few things.”
The girls looked at the four wooden chairs that had been lined up in front of the desk. There was definitely a motif going on here. As Raven took in the details of the office she noticed that most of the furniture was wooden. Not necessarily as uncommon as a wooden door or desk but these all fit the same style. All in a deep reddish brown with golden decor that told her that the marshal had probably come from a wealthy family.
They all took their seats while Delona signed a couple of documents on a datapad and then turned off the floating screens.
“So. I hear you four are a group of capable adventurers. Word is you managed to take down an urthog without any firearms. Is that true?” she asked in a gentle but mildly stern voice.
The girls looked at each other to see who would speak first.
“Uh, yes, that is true. But not because we wanted to prove anything. It was simply because we couldn’t afford the firearms.” said Arcaea.
“Well, out here on the Frontier we have to make due with what we got. I also heard your group located a Pre-Downfall bunker and notified the Reclamation Committee of its whereabouts. I thank you for that. It’s good money in your pockets but it also might help this community a great deal. Who knows what we might find down there.” said Marshal Delona as she sat back in her chair. “Tell me, how did the four of you start working together?”
The girls looked at each other again, somewhat confused by the question.
“We all met during a job through a series of complicated events. We figured we worked well together so we decided to continue to do so. If only for a while.” said Arcaea.
“Why is that important?” asked Kurai bluntly.
The marshal looked at the brash varg with her one good eye. A look that wasn’t unkind but could still shoot daggers. Raven correctly deduced that the marshal was probably a very intense person.
“Call it professional curiosity.” said the marshal. “You all come from such diverse backgrounds and it warms my heart to see you being able to cooperate despite your differences.”
“And, uh, what do you know of our backgrounds?” asked Janette hesitantly.
“A decent amount. I try to stay well informed on the people whom I serve. Arcaea Sidonis…” she said looking at the person in question. “...Warrior, brawler, you are a titanite dozku who hails from the western front and are most likely from either Butcher Cove or Volheim. Your family fought in the second dozku uprising and, well, no one knows what became of them. From what I gather, they were all leaders and warriors of great renown.”
“Uh, thank you.” said Arcaea, sheepishly.
Delona then looked at the short moonlet in the group. “Janette Blackwood, onyx moonlet, heir of the illustrious and rather eccentric Blackwood dynasty. You, of course, hail from Blackwood Grove where your family has resided for generations. We hear you are a very gifted arcanist who somehow never trained at the Magistry. But of course that wouldn’t be too uncommon for the Blackwoods, now would it?”
“No...my family doesn’t really like the Magistry.” said Janette.
“Nor should they, but they could do a little more to help unify the Frontier against them.” Said Delona before turning her attention towards the varg. “Then there is you, Kurai Ikara. Or was it Kurai Hitari?”
Kurai looked at her compatriots uncomfortably, knowing she had come clean before the conversation could progress. “It’s Hitari.”
“I figured as much. You are a ferali varg who originally hailed from the easter front. Possibly somewhere close to the Graying Sea? You are a rather talented and resourceful engineer and have become quite famous for crafting or fixing machinery on the fly. Very impressive.” Delona then paused as she looked back at her tablet and without looking up she added; “I’m sure your mother would be proud.”
One by one they all sort of sunk in their seats as they all felt as if the marshal was peering into their souls. Kurai tensed up but then managed to calm herself down before she said anything too rash.
Delona then, finally, she shifted her gaze at the final member of the group,
“You, however, are something of a mystery. We know you go by the name of Raven and that you are a valkyrie but we have no last name for you. Which only rouses my suspicion of you.”
“You think I’m a Magistry spy?” asked Raven rather calmly.
Her compatriots all looked at her. It was a serious accusation that they had all secretly wondered that exact same question to themselves.
“I believe if you really were a spy you would have been trained to better hide your nature than this.” said Marshal Delona who kept her one remaining eye fixed on her target. “That doesn’t necessarily wipe away the unease I feel of having you in my city.”
“I have no love for Infinitum or the Magistry.” said Raven calmly. “And the further I get from their reach the more I value the level of freedom that I and the people around me have.”
“Well said.” replied Delona. “That still doesn’t wipe away the fact that you were raised to be their soldier and executioner. As all valkyries are.”
Raven thought carefully on what the next words out of her mouth would be.
“I came here unarmed and with no nilshards. Clearly I don’t intend to use my powers to hurt anyone.”
“Again, that doesn’t change anything. That just means if you do use your powers we all suffer the consequences.”
The two of them kept their eyes locked on one another. Even when Janette interjected they maintained their casual staring contest.
“Raven has been more than careful with her powers. She has even been greatly hurt in the past because she reserved her abilities in order to protect those around her. We’ve never seen her misuse her abilities or spread void corruption. Ever.”
After a moment Delona slowly turned her intense gaze at Janette.
“Oh, I’m well aware. Like I said, none of that erases the unease that her presence brings. Valkyries are usually bad news, especially one who fought in the last uprising.” Delona gave a knowing look at Arcaea but much to her surprise the dozku did not flinch or seem surprised at all. “However, I know from the research I’ve done that all four of you are capable assets. And I’m in need of capable assets at the moment.”
Kurai shook her head. “Then what was all of this? Why the power flex if you’re just gonna offer us the job anyway?”
Arcaea nudged Kurai with her elbow.
“What? It’s a valid question!” she spat out at her friend.
“Again, call it professional curiosity. You all hail from such different backgrounds that it is hard to imagine you’d be able to work together. A dozku and a valkyrie working together despite the valkyries being used to quell the last two dozku uprisings is quite admirable. Not to mention a former Magistry member working openly with an unlicensed arcanist of the Blackwood family. And then Kurai, over here, hasn’t exactly gained a reputation of being easy to work with either.”
Kurai angrily sat there, silent but furiously tapping her knees with her claws. Delona smiled.
“Maybe we’re just the odd pieces that don’t fit anywhere else but fit perfectly well together.” said Arcaea.
“And clearly I don’t care about the Magistry’s totalitarian mandate. Janette is very talented at what she does and she uses her magic to help people. That is good enough for me.”
Marshal Delona smiled. “That makes her very different from the rest of the Blackwoods.”
The silence hung in the air for what seemed like forever.
“Well…” said Raven, finally. “Like we already said, despite all of our differences we still work well together. So why don’t you cut to the chase and tell us what this is all about? Who is the target? What are their crimes?”
“Their crimes?” said Delona, a smirk snaking its way up her cheek. “Hematurgy. Blood magic.”
Another deafening silence filled the room, again broken only by Raven.
“Drim.”
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