Hope

Three weeks had passed since his meeting with Old Owl and Irwyn, who at this point had the start of a beard, did as his mentor had suggested. Jumping between merchant caravans that had the extra space for a passenger or moved slow enough for him to walk with them. The monetary strain was noticeable but not urgent, in part thanks to the occasional opportunity to replenish. He would have more than enough for lodgings and food for a few weeks after reaching Abonisle. Then he could either see if Old Crow’s contact’s support was also monetary or he could find work with the Guild.

Frankly the most difficult part had been barely using any magic for all this while.

After years of basically daily training in the safety of their home, Irwyn had never quite realised that abstinence would unnerve him so much. Every time he stayed in a town overnight or could disappear for a while he had used it to its fullest, trying to make his light as invisible as he could while he kept pouring in as much power as he could to scratch the itch. In that area at least there had been notable improvement:

Irwyn had managed to make a proper invisible and semi-undetectable barrier of solid light around himself. The trick had been, besides continuous practice, to imbue it with the intention of hiding. That, however, meant that he could not simultaneously also make it defend or block which for a barrier was less than ideal. Imbuing a second intention into the same magic so far eluded him. He was either missing something or just needed more experience. Still, he had achieved switching the intentions in that barrier in less than a second or erecting a second intent-imbued shield of Starfire while keeping the invisible one active. In the first place, he wanted the hidden barrier to block the start of an ambush.

If there was any issue, it was his newest acquaintance which Irwyn still had very much mixed feelings about. As he passed the gate he quickly noticed those two blue eyes staring from beneath the hood, one of them still feeling uncanny to the point Irwyn had begun to suspect it was artificial. It seemed his ‘friend’ was still headed the same way.

They had met many times during these past weeks of travel. After the third they had modified their oaths to more widespread secrecy, not to mention mutual oaths that they weren’t actually following each other. Though they did not know where they were headed, Irwyn was beginning to suspect that their destination would be the same. Which could be an issue since he still wasn’t quite confident how far that mutual secrecy would go whenever a proper manhunt for him began.

On that point Irwyn was blatantly fascinated that it hadn’t already. At the very least that absurdly powerful Shadow/shadow following Alira had a good look at him and all his involvement. It was mystifying how there wasn’t a wanted poster or at least a description around every corner. Irwyn didn’t believe for a second that they had given up on persecution though. This was, after all, the same house Blackburg that had gone on a brutal terror campaign throughout the whole Ebon Respite’s underworld just for attempted theft.

“How was your trip?” Desir, because that was the man's name asked. Irwyn could not quite tell how old he was though he was guessing at least below 25 or even younger.

“Awful seat and the cart was loud,” Irwyn mock sighed. “How was yours? I have not seen you for... 4 days.”

“Took a different road. To the East rather than West,” the man nodded. Well, Irwyn might have also gone through there but it was barely shorter but a lot closer to City Black. He didn’t confirm nor deny going the other way though, which the other man obviously expected and did not push Irwyn for an answer.

“Any interesting rumours on your side then?” Irwyn asked. Not just because the pursuit was on his mind. He had been asking this question repeatedly specifically to avoid suspicion for the time when the other man knew something actually important.

“I heard about some mess South in Ebon Respite. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?” Desir asked, his blue eyes carefully observing any reaction.

“Cannot say I do. What happened?” Irwyn did not show the slightest crack in his poker face though. He had expected this would happen eventually and wouldn’t let himself be caught off guard.

“Apparently necromancers. Rumour has it the Duke had personally gone out to wipe out a cabal not too far away.”

“Good riddance that, I suppose,” Irwyn grimaced, not unusual when necromancy was mentioned, to better hide his thoughts. He distinctly did not get the impression that there were actual necromancers in Ebon Respite, mostly because they would have definitely been caught in Alira’s rampage and even her guard would have most likely made sure to remove them if he found any. And Old Crow himself had said he also thought the undead had risen 'naturally'. But then, he hardly knew the full picture nor had any real expertise in how difficult necromancers were to actually find.

“True,” Desir nodded. “Then there is the other thing that is more local. Apparently, kobolds are roaming the roadsides North-East for the past week.”

“Demons?” Irwyn raised an eyebrow, “How has no one hunted them down yet?” those were bad for trade. Worse than monsters because they were far smarter.

“Apparently, they are just stalking the roads and hiding,” the blue-eyed man shrugged. “They avoid any group equipped to deal with them and raid the smaller caravans. Rumour has it, it might be a whole week longer before enough actual troops are gathered to root them out of the area, even then, it might be another week after that before the roads are back to normal.”

“Not great if I were to head that way,” Irwyn nodded, already thinking. He was very close to his destination and staying here for so long would be his last resort.

“Well, if you are, you better hurry,” the man shrugged. “There is only one caravan setting out for the next two days as far as I know, heading directly for Abonisle.” and skipping the last 2 towns on the way, Irwyn mentally added. “The caravan master is as paranoid as you, so better don’t mention you know me. Considering the siege engine of a vault he is bringing I cannot say I blame him. Best head straight there before he changes his mind about allowing any more passengers.”

“I appreciate the tip,” Irwyn nodded in thanks, received the nod of acknowledgement, and then they parted ways. Essentially, along the same lines as most of their previous interactions.

Irwyn did not wait around and quickly headed to the other side of the small-ish town. After weeks of travel he had figured out where the caravans generally loaded so it was not particularly hard to find where he needed to be. There were multiple caravans stationed here, though the one that would be setting out soon was obvious at a glance. Besides the flutter of people moving around, preparing for departure, Irwyn immediately spotted the massive metal vault, its enchantment leaking enough magic he could feel it from a hundred meters away.

Still, Irwyn did not head straight there. He went to the closest caravanner he could find and inquired as to whether they intended to head out soon. Of course, he was told that was not the case. Still, Irwyn repeated this with 3 other groups before someone finally directed him towards the vault. If the caravanner was ‘as paranoid as him’, well, Irwyn would have left someone on the lookout for new arrivals if he had the personnel to spare. Just to spot the least careful infiltrators.

“Do you have any place left for passengers?” Irwyn approached the closest person who seemed to be managing the various caravan hands. The whole setup was a lot more than just the massive vault, having at least three dozen carts as far as Irwyn could see. That was one of the biggest Irwyn had beheld so far.

“Where are you headed?” the man stared Irwyn down for a moment but then asked.

“Anywhere North-East, really. Towards Abonisle,” Irwyn pretended not to notice. The man measured him up for a few moment longer before he turned around.

“Hey, Horatio, another one wants to tag along!” he shouted towards the apparent caravan master. Or at least the owner, considering the blatant opulent jewelry and a whole squad of over-armed bodyguards. The man had apparently already been watching them, or Irwyn most likely, and one of the bodyguards beckoned Irwyn closer.

“So, why would a young lad be desperate enough to risk demon infested roads?” the man immediately questioned Irwyn as soon as he were in ear-shot, not even bothering with a greeting.

“Just figured it would be cheaper in the long run than getting stuck in this hole for who knows how long,” Irwyn shrugged nonchalantly, pretending he did not really understand the risks. Obviously, he had gotten his story straight weeks ago. Multiple stories in fact, to fit any situation.

“And for what reason are you headed this way?”

“My pa got done in by a bad cough,” Irwyn shrugged, though it hurt him inside a bit to use slang to stay in character. That only helped make his grimace more genuine. “Apparently have an aunt in Abonisle. Figured it might be better there. Just got to town a few hours ago and ain’t gonna stay stuck this close if I can help it, you know.”

The man took out a small pebble, one which Irwyn quite easily recognised as something very similar to the ones the Tears would use to detect casters. Thankfully, Irwyn was not betrayed by his years of training in keeping his magic as subtle as possible with exactly one such gem. Satisfied with the result, the man finally spoke with a nod: “Fine, you get two meals a day and a seat in one of the wagons. We are not stopping overnight and it will cost ya.”

That worked just fine for Irwyn, though he pretended to hesitate for a bit over the frankly exorbitant price. About 4 times as much as Irwyn had expected this last stretch of the journey to cost him. Leave it to merchants to exploit desperate or stupid youths with few other options, Irwyn supposed. Despite that he was satisfied. Heading straight for Abonisle and travelling through the night would save him up to a full day. He might have gone for this even if there were other options. The sooner he was in Abonisle, the better.

“We are leaving in two hours, best be gone before the damn monsters swarm more,” the clerk plus driver that had counted out Irwyn’s payment on the side nodded.

"Not actually monsters, you know," Irwyn corrected. It might not be strictly necessary but it didn't break his character either and he drew satisfaction from it.

"What?" the man was clearly surprised by the comment.

"Book of the Name says demons have souls. Monsters don't."

“Just be here or be left behind,” and that was the end of the discussion.

“Fair enough,” Irwyn nodded and went to find lunch. He had come to enjoy the comfort of eating at a proper establishment before another few days of journeying.

As chance would have it, Irwyn shared the carriage with his blue-eyed acquaintance, Desir. That did not mean they acted particularly familiar though. In fact, they had not talked during the first day of the journey and apparently both preferred it that way.

For the first 20 or so hours of the journey, they never stopped for more than 15 minutes, only to distribute meals. Irwyn had no idea how the horses could keep going and he was not eager to pry at this time. At least the vault was self-explanatory considering the surges of magic its self-propelled movement gave off. And all was going well, really. As well as Irwyn could expect.

Then, because Irwyn couldn’t just arrive at Abonisle without incident, there was an unexpected stop.

Followed by the scream of gunfire.

Irwyn made quick eye contact with Desir, then left the carriage as he happened to be seated right by the exit. What welcomed him was surprisingly enough not complete chaos. Yes, people were walking around, surprised by the sudden stop but the sounds of battle had ceased.

“Everyone, please stay calm return to your seats,” it was the caravan leader, projecting his voice through a magical item. He had done so before so that was not surprising anyone. “We will set out again in 5 minutes. There is no cause for worry, one of the guards just got a bit too trigger happy with an animal.”

And that was almost a sensible explanation. Except, Irwyn felt something, like a downwind smell. In the air there were motes of void magic. Ever so slight.

Such as the kind that would probably appear if those demons reported in the area had been close.

Irwyn exchanged another look with his acquaintance, who had also gotten outside and he could tell that they had felt the same thing. There was no exact assignment of seats, though the inner ones were more desirable as the breeze by the entrance was supposedly quite cold. Irwyn found it to be just fine and preferred the fresher air, which is why he had opted to sit there, not to mention the improved ease of leaving in an emergency. This mattered because this time around, his acquaintance had opted to let everyone else get inside first and now sat right opposite to Irwyn at the entrance.

When the caravan moved again, Irwyn was on his guard, trying to feel for traces of the void magic outside the caravan while also carefully observing the passing treeline. The background presence of Void seemed nothing above the usual ambience, though to his surprise, it took him only five minutes to spot one lurking around. A small creature with a snout and thin scales across it’s body, hiding in a tree top. As small as a child. A kobold. A demon of greed.

Supposedly they avoided large armed groups in the area. The whole reason this caravan even set out, besides kobolds being relatively harmless. They were much like children. Even in numbers they were not that dangerous for someone prepared, unless there was a horde load of them.

Except, Irwyn remembered from the vision being told that they would grow stronger in numbers. What that meant, Irwyn had no idea. What was the difference between 10 and 100? 100 and 1000? Considering he had not even heard of this ever happening before, Irwyn assumed it was not something blatantly noticeable. At least not in low numbers.

That was when, during his musing, Irwyn spotted a second one. This one hidden in a bush. Considering it had been less than 10 minutes since their stop that did not look great. Irwyn glanced at his acquaintance who was just like him staring at the treeline in the opposite direction and waved his hand for attention. Then he tried to sign the word ‘spotted’ in the only sign language he knew, the one he had been somewhat taught for work with the Guild, and followed it by 2 raised fingers. The blue-eyed man nodded, either knowing the sign or just guessing the obvious meaning, and shoved Irwyn 4 fingers of his own. Then he signed to continue with natural ease of someone used to non-verbal communication in heated moments.

That certainly implied answers to some questions about Desir's background and posed twice as many new ones. Still, Irwyn was determined not to pry when not necessary. Instead, he decided to indeed continue observing.

By the time they stopped 3 hours later for a meal, Irwyn had spotted well over 40 kobolds. On one hand, they could be the same ones. Running after the slow-ish pace of the caravan and hiding, maybe to spook them or look for stragglers. But that was the optimistic option and Irwyn always assumed the pessimistic view: That these were the scouts for a much larger force.

“I have about 50 total, give or take,” Desir said. They had taken this opportunity to step aside with their meal, a hearty broth with bread, to discuss in privacy.

“A bit over 40 on my side,” Irwyn nodded, a bit grim. “I do not like this. For all we know there could be a whole army.”

“I suppose that depends on what’s in the vault, doesn’t it,” the man sighed.

“You think they are coming after it?” Irwyn frowned but immediately realised why. “Of course, demons of greed. They can probably smell something valuable to them from miles away.”

“And they have been gathering since we set out. Maybe even before we did. I don’t know about you but I have doubts the caravan is prepared to withstand a tide.”

“I have heard that kobolds supposedly become more powerful with numbers,” Irwyn decided to reveal. “I am not sure how exactly but supposedly it does not have an upper limit.”

“Are you thinking what I am thinking?”

“We ditch,” Irwyn nodded. Better walk than be dead.

“Good. But not yet. You have any interest in riffles?” the blue-eyed man said.

“Cannot say I do.”

“Those rifles that the bodyguards who follow the leader around carry are enchanted,” he explained. “Restricted goods. Enchanting firearms requires a special permit and each such piece requires an individual license just to own and use privately. Meaning people don’t really bother with making any of those subpar. Considering how paranoid the caravan leader is, the odds are better than not that he would have us shot if we up and left and I wouldn't count on any barrier stopping a shot from one of those.”

“So we need a distraction,” Irwyn nodded. “Like a swarm of kobolds attacking from all sides.”

“Yes,” the blue-eyed man nodded. “If they never attack, it’s all good. If they do, we get out in the chaos and follow the road all the way to Abonisle. I can hide us visually from other people with a spell I know, especially in the dark; and the odds are that creatures from the Void will attack us at night. My magic won’t fool the demons though.”

“I know some magic that I believe would be effective against them, whether we need to cut our way through or just dissuade pursuers.”

“We are agreed then,” the blue eyed man nodded. “Best we change our routine from now on so that we are fresh after dusk.”

Then they returned to their carriage, though not before agreeing to the amendment to their mutual oaths. In case of an emergency, those were better to have sorted out in advance. If they had to travel a long way in demon infested territory after an ambush the duo would inevitably have to rely on one another to an extent.

Though it did not happen that night. Nor the one after. Oh, the demons kept gathering in increasing numbers and there were several more emergency stops but they did not attack.

They waited until the last night. When Abonisle was close enough Irwyn could quite literally feel the city's magic in the distance.

Then all Void finally broke loose.