Oh thank god this is working, Felix thought with relief. The Skill wasn't as effective here on the Continent as in the Void, but it camouflaged him enough that when he'd run to the wall and out of line of sight, it must have compensated. Lafei didn't even glance in his direction. That was so stupid. Why did I attack?

 

He didn't know what had come over him. He had just felt so angry.

 

It took Lafei eight entire seconds to call for reinforcements; he knew because he was frantically counting down the time until Abyssal Skein ran out and he had to take a breath. His chest felt fine so far, but he had a minute at most. Once Keryk stopped convulsing Lafei banged on the gate, sending muted thumps through the strong metal. In moments, more white and gold armored Acolytes and even an Initiate, whatever that meant, flooded out.

 

 

"What happened, Acolyte? Report!" The Initiate was wearing armor of a similar design to Lafei, but wore her helmet and had a thick crimson cloak draped from her shoulders. She also gripped a gold-chased longsword in her left hand, one that shimmered with barely held back fire Mana. Lafei saluted, throwing her fist to her heart.

 

"There was a suspect, ma'am! He attacked Acolyte Keryk with an unknown Mana Skill and fled the scene."

 

"Who was it? Name and level." The Initiate looked around the area with sharp eyes, stopping briefly to stare at Mervin who sat on the ground before them, not daring to move. Felix crept closer to the open door, but there were two armored figures in the way.  "Any day now, Acolyte!"

 

"Ah, um, ma'am, I didn't..." Lafei looked flustered and was sweating. "I didn't get a chance to Analyze him."

 

"What?" The Initiate's voice went low and flat. "Why?"

 

"He-he didn't seem like a threat, ma'am. Keryk--" Lafei's eyes looked down to her still unconscious partner.

 

"Keryk is a moron. I had thought assigning him to you would curb his impulsiveness. I appear to have been wrong." The Initiate growled the last. "So we have a rogue element who attacked one of our own with a Skill of unknown provenance? You let such a threat escape, Acolyte? Is that what you're telling me?" The sword in the Initiate's hand started to cast of hazy waves of heat, and a small flicker of fire licked the tip of the blade.

 

"Y-yes, ma'am. But!" Lafei frantically pointed to Mervin on the ground. "This one arrived with the assailant. He knows them!"

 

All of the Inquisition members stepped toward the Tin Rank, and Felix found his opportunity. He crept to the open door as quietly as he could. He cast a final look at Mervin, who was still cowering on the ground with wide eyes and trembling hands as the Initiate stood over him with that flaming sword. Felix clenched his jaw but had to leave it at that; he couldn't hold Abyssal Skein much longer. Either Mervin would give up what he knew about Felix or he wouldn't. There was nothing Felix could do about it now. He ducked through the doorway...

 

...and nearly ran into another Acolyte who rushed through. Diving forward Felix rolled to his feet, agony shot up from his heels to his spine, and he stumbled forward, barely catching himself before he barrelled through another member of the Inquisition. He staggered toward the tunnel wall and got his bearings, his lungs beginning to burn for oxygen. He was in a corridor that extended nearly fifty feet, with numerous holes in the ceiling through which he could see various men and woman in leather and mail armor moving about. The corridor was filled with Guilders, each of them wearing their Tin Rank badge on their chest. Felix didn't stop to gawk, but stuck to the shadows and hurried out.

 

The tunnel opened up into an open field, easily two hundred feet wide and as long as the exterior wall. It was all hard-packed earth and stone, and there were a few dozen groups of armored figures clustered throughout. Lungs aching for breath forced him toward an unattended cart, half-filled with unmarked wooden crates. Reasonably out of sight, Felix let out his breath and felt the oil slick sensation of the Void dissipate.

 

Shit that sucks. Feels harder to do here, more...strain. He was panting, gulping air and sweating beneath his light clothes. Footsteps crunched all around him as Guilders and a few members of the Inquisition moved in groups to train or guard or whatever they did here. Taking a few quick breaths, he pulled in as deep as he could and activated Abyssal Skein again. Felix peered through the wheels under the wagon and saw another gate on an inner wall, about three hundred yards down to his right. There were a number of carts throughout the field, each one in the process of being unloaded. Timing his movements around the moving soldiers, he swept past them, moving as fast as he could while still remaining quiet. That turned out to be pretty fast, almost equal his old Earth running speed.

 

 

Each bump in level made the breath in his chest a touch easier to hold onto, a bit less of a burning burden. The sun was rising now, but it came from the east, the opposite side of the city. Long shadows from the walls cast the grounds into cool darkness, and by moving cautiously between the carts Felix was able to make it across the field and to the internal wall. It was made of a pale grey stone, granite according to his Eye, and was both fifty feet shorter than the outer wall and entirely mundane.

 

Keeping low he managed to get to the inner gate, tailing behind a departing wagon. This gate was manned entirely by medallion bearing Guilders, Tin Ranks both, and low level ones at that. Felix passed by them without causing either to blink, and in seconds he was in. He had made it.

 

 

Felix could see the street became paved with wide, flat stones and rose ahead of him in a low but steady incline. The shadows were still thick here, the hill that Haarwatch was built upon raising the houses in tiered rows that blocked the rising sun like a mountain. Even so, dawn broke across many of the building's highest edges, their roofs limned with honeyed light. The sky, in contrast to his dark surroundings, was a bright, robins egg blue with only a small scattering of clouds. Grey plumes drifting lazily from the businesses and residences around him, and had Felix been able to take a breath he was sure the smell of woodsmoke would have filled the air.

 

As it was still early morning, only a few folk were out and about and nearly all of them were Guilders. They moved to and from the wall, fresh faces scurrying forward with cleaned weapons and armor while a tired few came down sets of stairs built into the inner wall. Those trudged off in various directions, the street splitting into one that ran parallel with the wall and one that led up, toward the apex of town. Inns and taverns filled the thoroughfare before him, more than he expected, and they were beginning to bustle with early morning business. Felix hustled forward, less concerned with being spotted now due to the increase in people. He wanted to drop his Skill as soon as possible; the feel of the Void was not pleasant, despite how useful the Skill was proving itself to be. Idly, as he passed lamp posts and tavern after tavern, he wondered what Skills he might have picked up from a Tenebril or Narhollow.

 

 

A sudden spate of shouting behind him caused Felix to flinch and glance backwards. A few Acolytes had run out through the inner gate and were gesturing furiously to each other. They tried to be quiet and calm, but Felix's focused his Perception and could just barely make them out.

 

"What's going on? Why aren't you at the wall?" An older Acolyte had stopped his fellows from shouting, trying to make sense of their agitation.

 

"Initiate Zala sent us. Says someone got inside, a human male, younger looking with blue eyes." One said, looking around furtively.

 

"She suspects Sorcery! A beast, loose in the town!" Another Acolyte offered, not nearly as quietly.

 

"Quiet! You'll start a panic!" The older Acolyte grumbled. "Things are bad enough with the murders..."

 

Felix moved beyond the range of his senses, but didn't stop. He'd heard enough. He started looking for a viable inn, somewhere he could hideout and rest. Felix spotted a sign with a huge, round horse eating a pie and smiled. The Fat Horse, huh?

 

Except the place was swarming with Guilders and, briefly, he could see the telltale flash of white enamel and gold trim. Inquisitors.

 

There was the sound of metal against stone, and the jangle of harnesses that drew his eye back down the street, toward the inner gate. Two of the Acolytes were sweeping down the road, eyes panning and halberds at the ready.

 

Shit shit shit. Felix's lungs were beginning to burn again. He needed to move, fast. He ducked down a narrow side street, little more than an alley between two wood and stone buildings. Seconds later, he burst onto another street, this one just as wide as the last and running parallel. The main difference was that it was significantly quieter.

 

Which made it far easier to hear the *clomp-scrape* of booted feet coming his way.

 

Screaming inside, Felix rushed to the nearest building and tried the door. Locked.  He ran to the next, but it was also locked. Few of the buildings here had smoke rising from them, and those that did were closer to the wall road. Toward the Acolytes.

 

The next door had a sign above it with an illegible script and the picture of a book, a needle, and a candlestick. Felix didn't care what kind of shop it was, he needed to get off the street. With a mental apology to the owner, Felix placed his shoulder against the door and pushed. With a tearing sound and the metallic plink of hardware falling apart, the door opened. Felix shoved himself inside and closed the door, releasing a gasp as the Void fled his body once more.

 

 

Inside he saw all manner of strange things from food to rope to what looked like candles, all of it filling a half dozen shelves that squeezed the small shopfront for all the space it had. A barrel was next to the door, filled with what looked like nails. Felix grabbed it and rolled it in front of the door just as the sound of booted feet came close. He ducked and invoked Abyssal Skein again, but his Mana was running low. The Skill was extremely inefficient and used a ton of his Mana, so much that even his prodigious recovery wasn't enough. He used the Skill to scurry forward and past the rows of shelving, which he ducked behind and released his breath.

 

Muted voices sounded outside, too soft and muffled for him to make out much of anything. For a short, worrying moment they lingered...before continuing onward.

 

Felix huffed a relieved sigh and leaned back against a burlap sack of dried beans. Holy shit, buddy. Why can't I just have a normal day? Pit let out an annoyed squawk and Felix sighed. Ok ok, hold on.

 

There was a bright flash of light, near blinding in the dark shop, and Pit re-materialized next to him. The tenku shook his body and wings, though at least had the good grace not to extend them. The aisle was much to small to accommodate his increased wingspan. Felix bit his lip and furrowed his brow.

 

Anyone who Analyzes Pit is gonna know he's a chimera. Hell, anyone with eyes will figure it out. I gotta find a way to hide him, something better than Convergence; even if I brought Etheric Concordance to level 200 that still wouldn't be enough to hide him full time. He scrubbed at his face and rubbed his eyes, feeling the hours of no sleep weighing on him more heavily than ever. Not to mention that I'm rocking a Lost Race, one that isn't well thought of. I'm sure Mervin Analyzed me, even if he doesn't know who or what the Nym are--wait. He sat up. If he identified my Race, why were the Acolytes chasing me looking for a 'human?' Did he cover for me? Or...

 

Felix brought up his Status.

 

 

Felix focused on his Race and noted that the asterisk was still there. Concentrating on it brought up a familiar notification.

 

 

It's increased. Is it based on time? I should ask---No. The Maw stays where it is until I can figure out a way to deal with it. At least locked up in my Bastion it can't annoy me. Felix sighed. So is this what tripped Mervin up? Or did he have a low leveled Analyze? I still can't believe I forgot about Analyze. Got so used to it not working on the Continent. I got lazy.

 

Abruptly, there was a soft scuffing sound followed by a light thump from above, and Felix leaped to his feet. Someone's here!

 

The sound of creaking wood filled the air as someone trudged down a set of nearby stairs. Felix scanned the room, and noticed two doors; one behind the counter and another in the back. Quickly, he motioned to Pit and moved to the back door in the hopes he could get out...but the door was locked and he could still hear the clomping of Inquisitors on the street outside. Briefly he considered bashing down the backdoor, but a loud crash and gasp assured him that he was too late.

 

"Who are you?! What are you doing in my shop!" An elderly human woman no taller than five feet stood behind the counter with her arms akimbo. "Trying to break into my stores, eh? Well I've got the solution for that--!"

 

"No, no! I'm not--I mean no harm! My friend and I were trying to ah, evade some attention. I'm so sorry if we woke you." Felix was babbling, he knew, and the woman peered at him from across the room and then looked down. She started, exactly how Felix had feared she would, but then tilted her head curiously. She looked back up at Felix and squinted, then mouthed a word, as if reading something to herself.

 

Shit, she Analyzed me. Felix looked at the door he was attempting to open, and let his legs tense beneath him. He could move fast, maybe fast enough to--

 

There was a knock on the front door.

 

Felix's head whipped around, and through the curtained window he could see the silhouette of an armored figure. Felix turned to the woman, clearly the shopowner, and swallowed. She merely considered him for a long moment, while the figure outside knocked with increasing frequency. Nodding to herself, the woman walked to the front door. The huge barrel in front of it stymied her at first, but she moved it over easily enough. In fact, Felix saw Mana flare along her wrists and forearms, just underneath her blouse sleeves as she manhandled the barrel.

 

Cleared, the door opened under the figure's knocking, though the woman kept it from opening too far. She stuck her face out through the small opening.

 

"Yes? How might I be of service?" Her voice was sharp and waspish, and he could see the figure lean back.

 

"Ah, have you seen a young man come by here? Blue eyes, dark hair, about yea high?" The Acolyte outside held up his hand at roughly Felix's height while simultaneously trying to peer deeper into the shop. In response, the woman closed her door tighter.

 

"Why? Has this person done something wrong?" Out of sight of the Inquisitor, Felix saw the woman reach toward a shelf right next to the door.

 

"He's wanted for assaulting an Acolyte of the Inquisition and for entering town without paperwork." The Acolyte held his head up high and straight,

 

"Is that all? Busy morning for you, hmm?" She gripped something on the side shelf, but did not pull her hand back. "I can't imagine having to spend my morning chasing down some unlucky sod through town. My condolences."

 

"Ma'am, have you seen him or--"

 

"No. I have not," she snapped. "Now, I have business to attend to. Have a pleasant morning, Acolyte."

 

The woman closed the door and leaned against it, pausing a moment to let the Acolyte walk away. Moments later, he did. She turned back to Felix with a stern expression, and he could see that she was not as old as he had originally thought. Perhaps late-forties at most. "Now, explain to me why I lied for you," she looked at both of them with unnerving eyes. They were dark, but they pierced right through him. "And why an Unknown Race is walking through Haarwatch with a chimera, of all things."