Burning Night: A Tale of the Everburning City

Chapter 4, Part 1: Tabitha

To reach the main entranceway of the Foundry, you had to pass a statue. Had to, because the causeway was raised, and took great pains to wind around the eighty foot tall monument.

"Subtle as a cannon shot," Agrias said, ahead of the others. Tabitha could see the woman was staring up at the statue, just as she stepped into its immense shadow. Agrias didn't bother to turn around to see if her comment had been heard.

The statue they walked around depicted an impossibly beautiful woman, her right arm raised into a fist, staring up into the sky defiantly. She wore a long coat over military issue clothing, and the hems of her coat were inscribed with the the seal of the Guild of Flamecrafters.

"And galling," Agrias added.

"That you have to be reminded of a Crafter's heroism, even when you go to kill one?" Tabitha asked.

"I wish it were just one." One of the other shadows said. Tabitha didn't recognize the voice, but the tone was definitely a man's voice. Gaharm, then.

"It's not offensive, it's shameful to us," Mathias explained. "Olivia Polden is one of our Bureau's greatest failures."

"Her shadow kept his nerve and stayed his hand until he had to, even as she fought the invasion. How is that a failure?" Tabitha asked.

"Because the woman that killed Olivia Polden wasn't a shadow."

That was a surprise.

Not just to her. All three shadows turned back to Mathias. "I didn't know that,"Agrias admitted, after a silent moment.

"It's not public knowledge." Mathias answered. "So rule eleven applies."

The other three shadows nodded, and returned to their march. Tabitha scratched her head, and turned to Trisha. "What's rule eleven? Is it part of your Bureau's rule book?"

Trisha laughed. "Rule eleven is 'secrets are secrets for a reason'. It's not the Bureau's rules, it's his," she pointed to Mathias for emphasis.

"What division is he chief of?" she asked, seriously.

Trisha laughed again. "He isn't. We're the people who get called when things goes sideways. We call ourselves the nannies, for all the shit we have to wipe up. He's the guy who teaches the nannies."

"I figured the four of you were some kind of elite force. You're wearing enough cold-stone that I could cap off a minor distribution line by pushing you into it. I could buy almost anything in the underground markets with your crossbow bolts. You must have some sort of official sanction," Tabitha said.

"Sure. We save the day, the Bureau looks the other way when we forge a requisition request or two. Otherwise, we're usually farmed out into the divisions. Hell, Mathias was on Final Evaluator duty until a couple of months ago."

Evaluator duty was the Bureau's term for a shadow assigned directly to a Crafter, to evaluate their condition. A final posting was because the Bureau felt a Crafter was close to losing themselves to their power. It only ended with the Crafter's death.

Trisha saw her come to that conclusion, and her eyes widened. "Right, sorry."

"It was Roenall Carrahe, wasn't it?" Tabitha asked, accusingly.

Crafter Roenall Carrahe, Tabitha recalled, was a pioneer in researching cold-stone applications. Theo went to work for him after his apprenticeship. He was a magnificent Crafter, endlessly patient, and surprisingly soft-spoken for someone with willpower like his. Even Brenda respected his strength.

She had attended his cremation a few months ago.

"Yeah. We don't get cushy assignments." Trisha admitted.