Shadowmage

two factions over the excesses one saw in the other. However, the schism was rooted in just one difference of interpretation of ancient texts. The Faith believed mankind had to be led on a tight and narrow path towards complete unity, in order to achieve salvation of all and ascendance to the next plane of existence. To this end, the priesthood was known to play politics at the highest levels, influencing cities and nations in an attempt to bind the peninsula into one cohesive organism.

Indeed, it was said that the Faith was the prime motivator behind the last war, seeking to make the Empire of Vos dominant over its old rival, Pontaine. That past Anointed Lords had tried to make Pontaine ascendant over Vos did not seem to strike any true believer as contradictory.

The Brotherhood believed Mankind was already on this path, and merely had to suffer war, bloodshed and terror as part of the process it was already fated to follow. The rituals and observances differed between the two religions, of course, but this was the centre of their dispute, the one difference responsible for so many deaths over the past hundred years.

Scanning the square, Lucius saw another patrol on the far side, and began to time their approach. Just gaining entry to the church would be problematic, he realised, for the priests clearly had enough friends within the Citadel to ensure the square was watched at all times.

He was confident that a man of his… abilities could do it but he suspected only the most accomplished of thieves would succeed, and they would likely not be interested in the risk/reward ratio of breaking into the church, the ultimate calculation every good thief lived by. Once inside, the pillars, statues and altars, along with the shadows they created, would be his allies, but everything rested upon crossing the open square without catching the attention of the guard. He began to look upwards at the roofs of the nearest buildings, wondering if a more vertical approach would be appropriate, though the closest structure lay over a hundred yards away from the church, which seemed an impossible chasm to cross.

'So, you are running with the Hands now.'

The female voice behind him made Lucius start with a fright, and he was ashamed to find that all the excuses he had rehearsed for the event of getting caught by a patrol momentarily fled his thoughts. He caught himself and turned round, his mind working once more as it recognised the voice.

'Aidy, you are forever creeping up on me,' he whispered.

Her eyes, dark on the brightest of days and virtually invisible in the shadows, looked at him with what he guessed was utter contempt.

'There is no need to keep your voice low,' she said, and he thought something approaching loathing was in her words. 'The guards cannot hear us.'

Lucius tilted his head to one side as he concentrated on the flow of magic he now realised filled the alley. Adrianna was using her mastery of stealth to ensure a passer by would neither see nor hear them. He finally nodded in understanding.

'Your training has all but deserted you,' she said scornfully.

Not wanting to engage in another verbal duel, Lucius tried to change the subject. 'How did you find me?' His question drew a hiss of frustration.

'I told you before, you are like a beacon to me. I can feel your presence from half a city away.'

Becoming irritated at her superior manner, Lucius snapped back. 'So, what do you want?'

She took a step closer, looking straight into his eyes. Of matching height, he could feel anger radiating from her in waves, and he fought to return her stare without blinking.

'You have caused me no end of problems lately. Do you consider yourself a thief now?'

'I am a thief, Aidy.'

'So far the mighty fall,' she said.

It was his turn to show anger. 'I told you before why I had come back to the city. I'm doing alright at the moment, and I'll thank you to stay out of my business. You'll just have to endure my presence a little longer, then I'll be gone.'

'Unless, of course, you make yourself too comfortable where you are,' she pointed out, then seemed to change tact. 'And as it happens, you are not doing me the courtesy of staying out of my business.'

'What do you mean?'

'I'm working a contract with the Guild of Coin and Enterprise.'

Things suddenly clicked for Lucius. 'It was you there that night. In Brink's house. How can you be working for those bastards, Aidy? Do you have any idea what they are doing?'

'Don't be such a bloody idiot. People like you and I have greater allegiances than the petty concerns of thieves. Or, at least, we should. They are but a means to an end, Lucius.'

'They are my friends.'

'A man like you has no friends,' she said caustically.

Once again, anger flared in him. 'You don't know a damn thing about me now, Aidy. Whatever you thought of me before was wrong, and you are no closer to the truth now. People died in that house, and I am willing to bet you were in a position to stop that happening.'

'I raised the alarm, nothing more. I had thought the mercenaries we had brought in would be able to handle a bunch of rouges with few problems. They probably would have, had a Shadowmage not been among them.'

'Well, you could have done something about that, surely,' he said. 'You are clearly greater than I, so why not just kill me and let the mercenaries deal with the rest of us?'

She looked at him as though he were being particularly stupid, an expression he was beginning to resent a great deal. 'Are you deaf, or just wilfully ignoring what I tell you?'

'Was there something you wanted, Aidy, or did you just come here to torment me?'

Adrianna stopped for a moment, then sighed heavily. When she spoke, it sounded as though she were almost spitting the words.

'If you are going to continue working in the city, there are going to have to be some rules.'

'Damned if there will be!'

Her hand shot out of the darkness to close, painfully, around his arm. 'Listen to me, idiot! I don't want this conversation any more than you do but, as I have been trying to tell you, there are larger things at work here. Now, shut up and follow me!'

Saying that, she spun on her heel and stalked into the depths of the alley, disappearing from sight almost immediately. Casting a last look back at the church, Lucius groaned inwardly and raced to follow her. The Final Faith would have to wait at least another day.

Lucius had visited the docks earlier, and this time his ears became accustomed to the crashing sea far quicker. The noise was relentless, with immense waves breaking against the grey stone defences that rose from the water like monoliths.

Before men had laid the foundations of Turnitia, the sea had already carved a wide bay from the cliffs, hacking away at the land over aeons. The origins of the architects of the defences that were built across the mouth of the bay were lost in antiquity. Merchants and dockmasters, certainly, couldn't care less about the effort that must have gone into building the immense structures, and scholars had long since moved on to investigating the mysteries of the Sardenne and the world's Ridge Mountains, explaining the construction away as the product of ancient magic and, therefore, unknowable. Some tales suggested the barriers were older than the race of men, though Lucius put little credence in children's tales.

Standing on the edge of the cliffs, he looked down as the water surged against the granite harbour. A complex array of winches, lifts and ropes were fixed to the sheer wall of rock, allowing goods brought in from the sea to be brought up to the city, where they could be traded in the merchants quarter and, finally, the Five Markets. A dozen ships lay in the bay, heaving constantly as the water surged beneath them. They remained in relative safety, so long as their anchors and the ropes that bound them to the harbour did not break their grip and send the vessels crashing into the barriers or cliffs. After gold had changed hands with one of the dockmasters, Lucius had learned earlier that the captains were waiting for the sea to subside a few degrees before risking an egress that would take them beyond the barriers and into the violent waves. Few risked such voyages, preferring the safety of travel over land. But for those willing to risk the churning waters, rogue waves and, so tales went, immense serpents, the rewards could be great.