Restricted Magic - Arc 2: The Competition

Chapter 15

The tunnels beneath the city were dark, damp and cold. Made more for defense and the quick transport of troops, no consideration was given to the occupant's comfort, or visibility. It was not a place that one would typically enter willingly.

Erin walked quietly, staying close to the walls, her eyes wide open and alert for any possible movement within the shadows. It was a bewildering maze of passages, but Erin kept her artifact in hand, moving towards the center of town... towards Gerald's location. Finally she came to a tunnel with two guards standing on either side of it. Their appearances only partially illuminated by magical lighting, Erin could see the masks and cloaks worn by the terrorist group.

As she prepared her ambush she studied their rigid, disciplined stance and couldn't help wondering further.

Is this really an anti-magic group like Frederick was thinking? What was their involvement with the prince then? Their interest in the border patrols? Nothing makes sense.

Shaking her head to clear it, Erin began. First, she tried casting an illusion, but had some difficulty holding it in place. Without strong emotions... she briefly considered thinking about what happened to Gerald to make herself angry again, but with a shudder discarded that idea. There was a dark place within her, a place filled with agony and rage, and staying far away from it was better.

It was inconvenient to not always have access to her illusion abilities, however.

Instead, She activated her physical enhancement and wind magic as much as possible, carrying herself faster than the eye could follow.

"What the...!" Before the two guards could react, both fell to the ground, one with a blade sunk into their throat, another through the eye. As blood pooled around their quickly cooling corpses, Erin quickly and emotionlessly searched their clothing for any hint of their identity. There was something familiar, each time she saw them: the way they stood, the way they moved, the way they fought. Erin couldn't quite put her finger on it.

She continued to move forward through the dark tunnel, carefully listening for sounds of further guards up ahead, and thought about the conversation that had brought her here:

"Erin!" Catherine had been shocked to see her show up in her room that morning, once she had left from spying on the meeting in the seventh tower. "Are you okay?"

Even as Gerald's older sister asked after her wellbeing, Erin got the sense that the young woman was leaning away, afraid of her. She sighed quietly. It was a feeling that she knew all too well. It was the same look she had seen in the eyes of servants, soldiers, other children... anyone who had encountered her while she was still training under her father.

They had seen what she was capable of. The monster she could be. The one he had shaped in his own image.

None of this showed on her face as she smiled lightly at Catherine, pretending not to notice her fear.

"I'm fine. I hid out in the seventh tower and witnessed the meeting."

Briefly she described the conversation between Richard and the masked man.

"That idiot!" Catherine cursed, "He's betrayed the country!"

"What's more important are the plans they were discussing... the ones regarding the competition later today."

"What do you think they will do?"

"My guess is... given their previous movements, they are likely to set off an explosion... a large one. Near the stage." Erin's mouth went dry as she spoke about it, fear clawing at her throat as she considered that Gerald might be in danger. "We need to stop the competition, tell the king and queen."