‘Your big sister’s pretty damn impressive, Syline,’ she said over her shoulder.
‘Don’t have to tell me,’ Syline grumbled as the two men threw Amberly. She didn’t fly with quite as much grace as Kat, but she still managed it well, catching her feet on the wall and grabbing Kat’s wrist to walk the rest of the way up.
‘Alright, you next, Syline,’ Ioann said, giving her a smile. Syline climbed up into their hands, wobbling to and fro before managing to get her balance.
‘O-okay, I’m ready.’
As one, they threw her up, and as they did, it occurred to Syline that both men would be able to see straight up the skirts of her robes. That distraction was enough to have Syline lose any sense of what she should do in the air, and she found herself madly flailing as her light frame went up to the window, easily higher than Amberly went, just for how little Syline weighed. If it hadn’t been for Kat grabbing onto Syline’s wrists and Amberly leaning over to take her staff and drag it in ahead of her, Syline probably would have gone straight back down into the snow. She caught her sister and friend sharing a snicker as Kat helped her through the window.
‘You’ve gotten a lot better, Syline, but you’re still pretty clumsy,’ Kat teased.
The three had a quick glance around the office. It was dark, the door shut. Just to be sure, Syline took her staff from Amberly and wedged it diagonally into the doorframe. Kat made a little hum of approval and, as one, the trio turned to see just what Ioann had in mind to get the big men up there. A quick conversation went on between the pair below that, thanks to the harsh wind and pelting snow, none of the girls could hear.
Amberly was distracted, anyway. Something felt… off. She felt a nagging pain as if she had just lost something. It reminded her of what she’d felt when she watched Laes burn. Without thinking about it, she clutched the feather in her pocket, and the pain eased but didn’t go away. It was as if something was tugging on her heartstrings, trying to get her attention.
Ioann grabbed Thelonious and the snow exploded away from the pair, green magical energy lapping like flames off Ioann’s coat. Thelonious leapt and went straight over not just the window, but the house; propelled on a huge stream of half-seen wind that faded as quickly as it came. Thelonious flailed in the air for a moment, but he managed to regain his focus, grab onto the top sill of the window and change his momentum to swing straight in.
The women inside jumped aside just in time to avoid being crushed by the armoured hellblooded. Ioann followed suit but did so with a little more grace than Thelonious, who stumbled into the desk and barely managed to stop it falling over. Ioann came in through the window tucked in and rolled up to his feet after hitting the floor. He looked at Syline for approval and she had to giggle, giving him a thumbs-up.
Ioann seemed pretty pleased.
‘You need to learn that trick Syline,’ Thelonious said as he looked around the room, ‘Would’ve come in handy in that “Scholar of Ascension” place.’
‘I’ll try and teach it to her later,’ Ioann said, grinning. ‘For now, let’s find those documents.’ As one, they spread throughout the office, searching cabinets, cupboards, the desk, and even the liquor cabinet. The only one who did not was Thelonious, who knew that too many cooks in the kitchen ruined the pot. Instead, he stood by the door, watching and waiting for anything to try and enter. For the most part, they found little of interest: trade documents, mercantile records, and similar papers, but their time didn’t go completely wasted. It was Amberly who first found something of note: a letter pulled from its envelope.
‘Does anyone know what the… “Materinskaya Ruka” is?’ she asked. ‘It sounds familiar.’
‘Materin –’ Kat started but was cut off by Syline.
‘It’s Old Human. These days not many people speak it; the “New Trade Tongue” has almost completely replaced it, but that means “The Mother’s Hand”, I think.’
Amberly and Ioann cursed as one. ‘Are you sure that’s what it means, Syline?’ Ioann asked.
‘What does the letter say?’ Syline squeaked, wondering why this was such a big deal all of a sudden.
Amberly held up the letter and read aloud:‘Dear sister. The Materinskaya Ruka appreciate your efforts, but as it stands, we’ve no interest in expanding our operations to the Sea Without Sky. You are diligent and ingenious, Jane, but do not push beyond your bounds, or ours.’
‘That confirms it,’ Ioann said, the monster hunter and Morning’s Fury sharing a glance.
‘You both seem very clever, mysterious and, dare I say, cool,’ Kat said dryly. ‘But would you mind letting the rest of us into your little talk?’
Ioann blushed as Amberly let out a tiny, quiet chuckle.
‘Sorry, sorry,’ he started. ‘The Mother’s Hand are a known threat within the kingdom and many others in the region, but they’re too difficult to nail down or even prove their presence. It’s impossible to say anything public about them, for they’ll simply disappear and come back decades later. They’re a group of female vampires who infiltrate positions of power and use their abilities to control the kingdom to their goals.’
‘I encountered one in Dawnsteel recently,’ Amberly offered. ‘They had their fingers in the cultist pie, so to speak, I think they helped organise and fund whatever the cultists were doing with the demons, but I don’t think the Mother’s Hand were taking part in it themselves. Dammit! I’d completely forgotten about that until now, with all that’s been happening, it slipped my mind.’
‘So, she’s a vampire, then. I knew vampires were supposed to be strong but,’ Syline said.
‘But not as strong as you described, Syline. There’s no way she should have been able to throw you like that. There has to be something else going on,’ Amberly said.
‘Let’s keep looking, then,’ Syline said, and went back to doing so.
As she did, a thought occurred to her: vampires could charm people and make them do almost anything, that’s what made them so dangerous. The first man she ever killed. No other had looked as confused and afraid as he had; he had looked as if he had no idea why, or even how he got there. Jane must’ve been controlling him – not just bribing him but forcing him to hunt Syline. Guilt surged anew in her breast, but right with it was fury. Jane had forced that man to his death. She was more at fault than Syline, even if her blade had killed him. It was a bizarre thought, but she had it all the same. She wished to avenge the man.
They slipped into silence, searching again. It was amazingly lucky that no one tried to come into the study, but so late at night, the Petrov patriarch likely had no interest in the business. It was odd his wife was storing such illicit letters here, though. They had a near miss or two, the entire group freezing as they’d heard footsteps going by the door. It was so easy to forget how deep in enemy territory they were, and more than once, they were all left holding their breath until the footsteps faded away. It was Syline who next found something of worth, pulling a letter from within the pages of a diary in a desk drawer. A chill went down Syline’s spine, and a strangled gasp escaped her.
‘What is it, Syl?’ asked Kat, moving by her side.
Syline ignored her, looking to Amberly and Thelonious.
‘I’m paraphrasing it, half the words don’t make sense, but this letter is… she traded something called a “tome of deific ascension”, for the spell-book and for a caged, powerless demigod. She traded for them with the Scholar of Ascension.’
‘The who?’ asked Kat.
Syline quickly filled her in on the story of their venture beneath the earth and their encounter with the horrific, waxy elves and that mutated, draconic beast, and the invitation they’d found on the pillars there. Amberly was more focused on another idea, though, turning the feather back and forth in her fingers. The nagging pain grew worse when Syline told her about the god.
‘If a vampire drank the blood of a demigod, I can’t even think of what would happen, but I’m going to say that’s the source of her strength. We need to settle this, and now.’
It’s you, isn’t it? Amberly thought. You’re calling out to me. She stared at the feather, turning it to and fro, feeling the gentle warmth it gave off.
‘We’ve got proof she’s a vampire and that she’s been dealing with terrible things,’ Kat said. ‘These letters will be enough to protect us when this is all over, but if we turn them in now, she’ll just disappear. Are you all ready? There’s no telling what she’ll be able to do.’
Kat drew her sword, a far larger sibling to Syline’s own duelling sabre, heavier and weighted for a master’s grace.
‘For mother and Anatoly, let’s do this,’ Syline said, drawing her axe off the harness on her back and taking the staff from the doorframe. Thelonious pushed in front of her, drawing his bastard sword.
Amberly clutched the feather tight against her breast and drew Syline’s sword. I hear you, she thought. I’ll save you. Please, help me do it.
