171 - Missing

Councillor Torak’s residence was located high on the cliff. Carved right into the highest rock face, it could be seen from across the city. The stairs leading up to it were wide and strangely pleasant to climb. Each step was spaced perfectly so that it barely felt like they were going up.

With Cem leading the way, they passed without resistance through multiple guarded doorways hiding lush gardens and sprawling fountains.

“How is Torak so rich?” Alexandra asked.

“This is none of your business,” Cem answered as they walked up another flight of stairs.

“Come on. I’m sure everyone in town knows.” She paused. “Unless it’s something illegal.”

“Commerce and high rank.” Cem scoffed. “Mind your words.”

They strolled into the troglodyte building, crossing a few underground rooms before stopping in front of a door. Cem knocked. He didn’t wait for an answer to push it open.

Torak was pacing around the room. As soon as they came in, he turned his head toward Alexandra.

“Where is my cousin?” he asked, moving toward her.

Alexandra blinked. “Who?”

“My cousin.” The councillor grabbed her shoulders. “Where is she?”

Cem coughed. “Councillor, I believe she is not aware of your relationship with your cousin.”

Alexandra shook him off. “Yeah, that. Also, don’t touch me.”

“I apologize,” Torak said, gathering himself. “Yes, I’m sorry. I let my emotions get the better of me.”

“Aww. You’re making me blush,” Alexandra teased, waving her gloved hand in front of his face. “What do you think?”

Torak’s face reddened, and he took a step back. “That…”

Cem coughed again. “Sir.”

“Right. My cousin. She was last seen leaving Balrum with you. It’s been more than three weeks. She should be back by now.”

Alexandra raised an eyebrow. “You still haven’t told me who your cousin was.” She paused. “Wait. Zeynep?”

“Precisely so.” Torak nodded. “She didn’t tell you about me?”

“No. She only said her parents had left the basin.”

“My uncle and aunt reached Platinum a few years ago.” He shook his head. “Anyway, I would appreciate you telling me what you did after leaving town.”

“Of course.”

Alexandra told them how they’d crossed the mud wastes and parted ways after Oldwater. She’d continued toward Izrum while Zeynep went to hunt elementals in the stone fields. She hadn't paid attention. She'd been busy fighting in the sewers, and it hadn't once occurred to her to wonder if Zeynep had made it back.

“You parted ways at Oldwater,” Torak said slowly. “Three weeks ago.”

“Yes. That’s about right. Though we didn’t enter the town.”

“And you didn't think to check on her on the way back.”

“She wasn’t in Oldwater. I assumed she was still hunting.”

“She probably was,” Torak agreed. “I already verified the timing of your return from the records of courier delivery you took from Emher.”

Alexandra opened her mouth, then closed it. Not the time to get into that.

“How long are her hunting trips usually?”

"No more than two weeks," Cem said. "That includes the time needed to cross the mud wastes twice."

“Did you send someone to look for her?”

“Not yet,” Torak answered. “My cousin is capable. I believed she had found something worthwhile. Now I’m getting worried.”

“You’re Gold-rank,” Alexandra stated. “Go.”

“I can’t. My position on the council prevents me from leaving Balrum. But I will hire people.” He frowned. “Cem, find the first caravaneer planning to cross the mud wastes. Hire competent people. No matter the price.”

This tale has been pilfered from NovelPhoenix. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Yes,” Cem said, leaving with a short bow.

“I’ll go too,” Alexandra said.

Torak looked at her.

“What? Zeynep is a friend,” she protested.

“You’re Bronze.”

“And competent. I doubt you can hire Gold-ranks that easily, anyway.”

“I was going to hire Silvers,” Torak said. “The information you gave us should be enough to catch her trail.”

Alexandra stepped toward him. He stepped back.

“You think I won't go just because you tell me to? I’m sure you kept track of what I was doing in your sewers. Send any normal Silver in there, and they won't come out.”

Torak opened his mouth to argue. Nothing came out. His eyes flicked, just for a second, to her gloved hands.

There it is.

She stepped closer. He stepped back again, until his back bumped against the wall.

She put a hand on his shoulder. “Listen up, Torak. Zeynep’s my friend. I’m going to look for her. Meanwhile, get the council to approve my request. Okay?”

He stared at her, unblinking.

“Okay?” she repeated.

The councillor nodded.

She smiled. “Good.”

*

“I’ll move faster on my own,” Alexandra said, packing rations inside her bag.

“This is stupid. There’s a caravan crossing the mud wastes,” Willow argued.

“I can come too,” Kam said.

“As I said. I’ll be faster alone. The caravan isn’t leaving until tomorrow. Zeynep might need help now. We can’t delay.”

Willow sighed. “Alex, I want to get to Zeynep as much as you do, but you have to get to the other side in one piece. Else, you won't be able to help.”

“It’ll be fine. Probably.” She fastened the straps of her bag. “I’m going. Take care.”

Alexandra didn’t leave her friends any chance to protest as she raced out the door. She ran to the gate. On the way, she spotted Cem talking with a caravaneer. Their eyes met, and his flashed with surprise as he watched her run past the gate and into the pass leading down to the wastes.

She didn’t slow down. Pulling from her skills and high constitution, she reached the mud in less than an hour.

Alexandra pushed through the heavy terrain at a steady pace. Without a guide, she couldn’t avoid the pitfalls of the wastes, her feet sinking ankle-deep with every step she mistakenly took in quicksand.

“I. Can. Scout,” Speck whispered from inside her. “Wet. Dark.”

She followed the darkness elemental’s instructions, her feet moving as fast as her brain allowed them to.

Despite her caution and Speck’s guidance, the ground suddenly yielded beneath her left foot without warning.

She dropped instantly, her leg slipping down into a pocket of liquid quicksand. The cold sludge churned around her knee, pulling hard against her weight as she tried to adjust her stance. Her right boot began to slide into the surrounding slurry as well.

“Fuck.”

Alexandra took a deep breath, refusing to panic. Leaning her torso forward to spread her weight across the firmer mud behind her, she flexed her core and pulled her left leg free.

“Too. Fast.”

“I know.”

Catching her breath, she wiped a streak of gray sludge from her trousers and looked back at the trap. A confident smile touched her lips. Navigating the wastes alone was proving manageable, just as she had told Willow. Sure, it wasn’t clean, but she’d survive.

She stood up, brushed off her gloves, and took a step forward.

Before her foot could land, the surface of the mud pit directly ahead burst upward. A towering surge of mud rose into the air. Two glowing, amber cracks split open near the top of the mass like eyes, fixing straight onto her.

“Fuck,” she cursed under her breath. She almost jumped back to create distance between her and what she assumed was one of the mud elementals everyone had been warning her against. At the last moment, as her leg was already pushing, she remembered the pool of quicksand behind her, and adjusted her direction to the right. Her feet didn’t move as free as she was used to. The sticky mud made her steps a second late.

I’m in its element.

The mud elemental lunged, swinging a dense arm of mud straight toward her chest.

She connected with the elemental with Drain Life as she dodged and followed up with Aggressive Assimilation. As soon as her next step landed on the mud, she felt the difference. It wasn’t sticking anymore.

Finally something useful.

The buff from using Aggressive Assimilation on a mud elemental was nowhere near what she got on the trolls near Kator, but it was just what she needed now.

She pivoted, pulling out her swords to deflect one mud ball that the elemental had started firing at her. She dodged those she could and blocked the others while keeping on the move and analyzing her opponent.

Silver. Should be fine.

She cast Inflict Weakness, then followed up with a Solar Blast. A patch of mud covering the surface of the elemental dried up.

Seeing that, she didn’t give the creature time to recover. Focusing her mana, Alexandra cast Rays Of The Sun. A bright, searing beam of light erupted from her spell and slammed into the mud elemental, ripping through its dense body. The sludge hardened and cracked instantly under the scorching heat, turning the Silver-rank monster into a brittle, crumbling shell of dry earth before it collapsed into a heap.

She didn’t have to conserve her mana as long as the sun was out. She looked up. There were still a few hours left in the day.

Stepping forward, she reached into the remains and extracted the elemental source. Tucking it securely into her bag, she wiped her brow, feeling the lingering heat of what she’d just unleashed at the poor elemental.

At least Medh would be happy.

With no time to waste, Alexandra broke into a steady sprint heading straight toward Oldwater.

Steady Balance 3 -> 5

Even rushing as she was, reaching Oldwater before nightfall was impossible. But with Speck’s help, darkness wasn’t an obstacle, and she was able to continue through the night. No sun meant no free mana, but Speck was able to roam free, which more than made up for it. They had to fight a few elementals and wriggle out of a few quicksand pools she hadn’t seen coming, but when the sun rose, she saw the walls of Oldwater peek over the horizon.

This time, she didn’t avoid the town. Who knew? Perhaps Zeynep was there, waiting for passage.

If not, she had questions to ask, and a daily to complete.