Have you read Sorcerers Part Two - Drums?
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She weaved her way through the dark cobbled alleys for a few blocks before confirming she wasn’t being followed. She didn’t move the ring from her fist though, in case someone was still watching. As she rounded the next corner, she pulled her wand out and pointed it at the door of one of the skinny crocked townhouses lining the street. There was a whirring sound and a small click. She checked up and down the street one last time before slipping through the door.
She walked straight into her huge wardrobe, lined with clothes and jewellery, shoes and weapons, bathed in flickering candlelight. Tucking the ring in her bra, she pulled off her clothes and threw them on the floor. At the chest of drawers she slipped into a skin-tight suit and shoved her feet into her favourite sneakers. She went back to the door she’d just entered, but rather than emerging back onto the empty street, she walked into her large blue and white bedroom.
At the dresser opposite the bed she strapped daggers and her wand to her body, threw a scarf around her head, and went out into the dark hall. At one end of the hall a staircase wound down to the lower two floors. At the other end, the door to her games room was a jar. She headed toward it, stopping outside the door to point her wand at the ceiling. A hatch silently fell open and a ladder unfolded to land in front of her. She climbed into the attic, retracting the steps behind her.
In the gloom she leapt between the trusses until she reached the other end where a brick chimney ran up through the roof. With a flick of her wand another hatch silently fell open. She jumped, grabbing the edge of the opening, and pulling herself onto the roof. Crouched, she stayed still as a statue, scanning the area with her eyes and magic. Even though she was far from the centre of the city where she’d gone through the door, she always liked to double check.
Finding nothing in the darkness she turned her attention to the clouds. They were heavy and hardly moving in the still night air, not ideal but she’d manage. She looked out in the direction she wanted to go, planning her route, assessing the roofs, alleys, and shadows for as far as she could see. She moved silently and swiftly along her chosen path, never hesitating, never stumbling. Like a shadow she flicked along the roofs, moving smoothly with a rhythm honed by years of training.
A spire came into view, a tall dark point rising above the snowy roofs. She slowed as she came to the city square. The gothic city hall stood in the centre of the cobbled square. Wide streets joined the square on the main axis, a dozen smaller alleys winding their way in wherever they could. Only the best shops lined the square, dark and empty in the early hours of the morning. She scanned them from the shadows of a chimney. Finally, she spotted the wolf insignia of the Varger Inn across the square.
She flitted off again, moving with the shadows. As she reached the roof of the inn she moved to the edge. A coil of chain sat near the gutter. She pulled out her wand and tapped the chain. Like a snake, it uncoiled, clinking quietly. It stretched across the gap until it reached the city hall, like a tightrope. Without hesitating she walked off the edge of the building and on to the chain. She moved easily as it swayed, not concerned by the ten metre drop.
The chain ended at the main roof of the city hall. She made her way toward the tower in the centre, the chain recoiling back to the inn’s roof. It was ornately carved stone, swirls and gargoyles and faces making for easy hand and foot holds. She swarmed up the tower and spire, making it to the top in no time. A small louvred window was set into the side of the spire. She gave it a gentle push and it swung inwards. Grabbing the frame, she pulled herself onto the sill, dropping into the dark room beyond.
Louvred windows looked out through each of the three other roof planes. In the centre of the tiny room was a chest. She pointed her wand at it and it made a small click. Opening the chest, she saw someone else had also done a drop off recently. A few ancient looking scrolls sat at one end of the chest. She reached into her bra, pulling out the ring.
“You can just hand that one straight to me,” said an oily voice from behind her.
She drew her daggers as she turned. “What do you want Bol?”
He gave the staff he was holding a lazy kick, letting it drop back to the ground with a thunk. The Dragur Staff from the other night. A thin smile stretching across his face. “Pick up.”
Pick up? Bol never did pick ups. And he just happened to come at the same time as her? Something wasn’t right. “Where’s your Pickers?” she asked cautiously.
“Give me the ring, I don’t have all night,” he said, ignoring her question and checking the pocket watch he kept in his vest.
She didn’t move. Stealing the Empress’s staff, assigned to steal Aast’s ring so soon after, Aast happening to be at the concert, and now doing his own pick up for the ring. As long as she’d been paid, she never asked questions about their jobs. But this one was off. Her eyes slid to the exit behind Bol.
He scowled at her. “Enough.” She didn’t see him move, didn’t feel the surge until it was too late. A stream of light shot from his staff tugging the ring from her fist. Bol caught it, sliding it onto his finger. The stone in the ring and the crystal in the staff glowed, an icy wind whipping up around them.
“Let’s see how this works,” he said, lifting his cruel eyes to hers.
She lunged, but it wasn’t quick enough as the staff shot a bolt of light at her. She fell to the floor with an icy thunk.
***
Uller woke with a gasp. It felt as if a bucket of ice had been thrown over him. His hands moved across the bed, but it was dry. The dark-haired girl next to him mumbled as she rolled over, pulling the blankets with her. Although the large room was warm, he was freezing. Something wasn’t right.
He threw off the covers, padding across the polished timber floor to the ensuite. Running his hands under hot water, he splashed some on his face, but he was still freezing. His stomach dropped. Skadi.
Running to the wardrobe he threw on a shirt, pants, and boots. He didn’t bother leaving a note for the girl. She’d either be here when he got back or not. He slipped out onto the balcony and stepped on the ornate iron balustrade to reach the stone gutter. He pulled himself onto the roof with ease, then dropped low to scan.
He could see the spire of the city hall only a few blocks away. He scanned halfway up but couldn’t see anything. Silently he slid over the tightly packed roofs, dipping between the cloud’s shadows. As he reached the edge of the city square, he felt an echo of magic cascading down the tower. A powerful echo. His eyes snapped to a roof across the square. The tiniest flicker of movement caught his eye. Right over the Varger Inn.
Moving as quickly as possible he made his way over. The chain was coiled in place, no footprints on the snowy roof surrounding it. Ducking into the shadow of a chimney he scanned the area, but the echo was too powerful to read any other magic. He saw no further hint of what had moved earlier.
With a flick of his wand, he sent the chain coiling over to city hall. He moved across easily and started hauling himself up the tower. The magic was stronger the further he climbed. As he neared the entrance, he could hear the timber floor creaking as someone walked around. Poised to haul himself into the room and attack whoever was in there, he paused as he heard a voice.
“Shit, he's got it,” whispered a female voice.
“Obviously the twins didn’t know what they were stealing,” a low voice replied.
“Good dogs don’t ask questions, do they Skadi?” the other voice crooned.
He saw red. Before he could fully form a plan, he launched himself through the small opening in the spire. He shot a bolt of light towards the two shadowy figures. A yell came from one, while the other swiped their wand through the air, deflecting his spell. He ran over to where he sensed Skadi’s magic, shooting another bolt at the figures as he went.
“Uller stop!” the deep voiced figure shouted. “We didn’t do it.”
He slowed but didn’t drop his guard. “You didn’t do what?”
One of the figures moved into the strips of moonlight coming through one of the louvred windows. The Enchantress. Her heavily lashed eyes glanced further into the room. He followed her line of sight.
Skadi was lying behind the chest. Her face was fixed in a furious scowl, her body stiff and sparkling slightly. Uller moved toward her. She was frozen. As he scanned her, he could see steam curling in the air around her. He chuckled.
“How can you laugh?!” Aast asked.
“Oh, she’ll be unfrozen soon, and she’s pissed. I’d advise running as far as you can before she defrosts.”
“We didn’t do it,” Aast said through gritted teeth.
“You’re the ones here. If it wasn’t you then who was it?” he paused for a moment, considering them. “Actually, how are you even here? This is one of our most secure drop off points.”
“We’re here for the same reason you are, that huge surge of magic. It wasn’t hard to trace,” Elsa said. The Enchantress was known for her unusually powerful ability to trace magic, both to its location and caster.
“So, who was it?” Uller asked.
Elsa opened her mouth to reply, but a growl cut across her. “It was Bol.” Skadi was starting to move.
Uller looked to Elsa who nodded.
He ran his fingers through his white hair. “Bol? But why?”
“He wanted the ring,” Skadi said.
“My ring,” Aast cut in.
Skadi stared dagger at him, which was still terrifying even if she was half frozen. She turned her eyes back to Uller “He had the staff from the other night. It seems to work with the ring. I knew something was wrong, but he was too quick.”
“Of course they work together, the Iza Ring contains the ice elements used to forge the Draug Staff.” Aast said in exasperation.
“And?” Uller said with a shrug.
“If Bol has even one of the other rings, he’ll be almost impossible to stop,” Elsa said. She hesitated but seemed to come to a decision. “The Draug Staff and its elemental rings wield huge power, dangerous power. The Enchantresses have been protecting them for centuries.” She pulled up the sleeve of her blouse to revel a dragon tattoo down her arm. “I protect the staff, the rings are distributed between my inner circle. But even we don’t have all the rings, some are still missing, stolen or lost to time. That kind of power in the hands of someone like Bol…”
A tense silence fell over them.
“Well, I don’t give a shit what Bol is going to do with it,” Skadi growled. “I’m going to kill him for freezing me. He’s a dick and he’s finally given me an excuse to end his miserable life.”
Elsa grinned. “Then it looks like we have a temporary alliance.”
***