“Yeah, yeah. Fine.” Salvo grimaced in irritation and looked at the card again before he slid it into his pocket. “So these might be our guys. But we still don’t know where they will meet.”
“I can take a guess,” Koli said and held a finger up. “Just before I ported here, I saw an artifice in the sky.”
“An artifice?” His partner frowned, then shrugged. “One of those little mechanical things? It could be something the guards use.”
“It was an exotic artifice,” he clarified with a smile. “And it was in the shape of a bird.”
Realization dawned on the man’s face and he drew the card out and looked at it again. His toothy grin returned. “Well, caw-caw then. Did you see where it came from?”
“The forest on the west side of the village.” Koli pushed away from the wall and walked to the cage. “I could trace the user of the artifice. They’ll have to use Mana to control their device, after all. But it now seems like a good opportunity to test your boss’ little project, don’t you think?”
Salvo’s grin faltered as he joined him to look into the cage. “Well…I guess so. He did want us to do that,” he mumbled hesitantly. “Eh, but do you think we should let the big guy out? It’ll cause a commotion.”
“And you won’t?” Koli asked, amused. “It’s not like you care all that much about subtlety.”
The man rolled his shoulders and shrugged. “You got me there, I guess. I’ll get the door.” As he reached for the lock, the cage began to rattle and the occupant uttered a hungry, enraged roar. Birds took wing frantically outside the cave, startled by the beast within.
“Maybe we should double-check that the runes are working,” his partner said cautiously and took several steps back.
Koli laughed. “I think that would be smart of you.”
“Jazai, Devol,” Asla called as she ran up to them. “There you are.”
“Hey, Asla.” The diviner pointed to Devol. “I found our buddy. He got stuck in an alley with some lady.”
“Lady?” the wildkin asked and looked at the other boy. “Alley?”
“I’m telling you he wasn’t a lady!” Devol repeated. “He was clearly a man.”
“Slender body and long violet hair that went down to her waist,” his friend recalled. “Are we talking about the same person?”
“To her waist?” Devol questioned. “He had long violet hair but it kind of spikes away from his neck. If it were straighter, it would fall to maybe the middle of his back.” He sighed and waved dismissively. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter. Sorry for holding you two up.”
“It’s all good,” Jazai assured him. “I finished my meal, at least.”
“Speaking of which…” Asla handed the swordsman something wrapped in cloth. “Here. I brought it for you since you didn’t get to finish.”
He opened the parcel to find a sandwich inside, made from the inn’s bread and the rest of his meal. “Oh, thanks Asla!” he said happily and began to scarf it with enthusiasm. As his teammates watched him, a bird cried loudly above them. All three looked up as it continued to call over the town square.
“Man, that is loud,” Jazai grumbled and put his hands over his ears. “I thought birdsong was supposed to be pleasant.”
“It’s not birdsong,” Asla stated and studied it with a frown of concentration. “It’s a message.”
“Hmm?” Devol swallowed a mouthful. “A message?”
“Remember the call sign?” she prodded.
“Caw-caw?” Jazai said quickly. “Wait, the bird is our carrier?”
“No, the owner is,” she replied. “And that’s not a bird—not a real one anyway.”
The two boys narrowed their eyes at the large avian that seemed to look directly at them. It appeared to nod and spread its wings that looked almost segmented. It banked into a turn and headed toward the forest.
“I hope you can run and eat, Devol,” Asla said as she began to pursue it.
“I’m more used to it than she probably thinks,” he told Jazai as he took another bite and they hurried behind her through the village and into the woods.
They ran along the ground for a while, but when they reached a safe distance from the settlement and away from curious eyes, they began to leap up through the trees to get a better view of the bird as they traveled deeper and deeper into the woods.
“These red leaves are so pretty,” Asla noted as she pushed forward through the various hues of red and orange that adorned the trees.
“Ah, that hit the spot,” Devol said merrily as he patted his hands to get rid of any crumbs. “I was worried that I had lost my appetite.”
Jazai shook his head. “I would think eating and running so quickly would make you sick.”
“You know, I think it should too,” he agreed. “But it has never been a problem for me.”
“The bird is circling,” Asla informed them and pointed. “Over there.”
It flew around a patch of land a few hundred yards ahead. The friends nodded to one another as they dropped from the branches and onto the forest floor as they approached, looking for the owner. The avian swooped from overhead, passed them, and landed on the waiting arm of a figure in deep brown leathers with a blue tunic and cowl.
“Are you the carrier?” Devol asked.
“It’s one of the things I do,” the man stated and regarded the three of them curiously. “Among many things. I suppose I could be a carrier for you, but I wouldn’t know that without knowing who you are first.”
He nodded and pointed to himself. “Oh, well I’m Dev—”
Jazai held a hand out to interrupt him. “That’s not what he means, Devol. He’s looking for proof that we’re here for the box.”
The young swordsman nodded. “Right, let me find the card.” He began
