Warsinger James Baldwin (read this if TXT) 📖

Napath will invade for the first time in a millennium because of their activities.”

Suri sighed. “Right. Give us the quest, then.”

Davri smiled. “I never thought you’d ask.”

Casper was slightly wild-eyed now. As discreetly as possible, he frantically shook his head. I was about to say something when Suri made a sound of affirmation, and a new quest alert appeared:

New Quest: A Candle in the Dark

The capital of Dakhdir, Dalim, is roiled by revolutionary unrest and retaliatory pogroms due to the misrule of Dakhdir’s king, Sultir Yazid Khememmu. There are numerous splinter factions vying to bring the Sultir down, but the largest and most effective by far are the Morning Stars, nationalists who want to reinstate the ancestral Fireblooded Sacharan Dynasty, destroy the country’s caste system, and purge the upper castes – the nobles, priests, and scholars – who descend from the ethnic Asyut invaders that established the current Khememmu Dynasty.

Thanks to Aksil, you know that Davri the Laundress, one of the crime bosses of Dalim, has put her money on the revolutionaries and is hell-bent on proving that she is the direct and most viable descendant of Sachara the Demon Queen. She hopes that the Morning Stars will instate her as the new Queen of Dakhdir and Empress of the Shalid when the time comes.

Davri is offering a rather flimsy excuse to send you out to rescue Mehkhet, but based on his reputed knowledge of Sachara and her history, there is a very good chance he knows something about Sachara’s Warsinger, Withering Rose, and possibly even its last known location.

Rescue Mehkhet the Illuminator from the temporary jail that has been set up in a compound just aside of the Bulls of Heaven Square marketplace, and return him to Davri the Laundress to claim your rewards.

Difficulty: Hard

Rewards: 1400 EXP, access to the Morning Stars revolutionary faction, Knowledge (Sachara & the Warsingers), 2000 Dakhari dinari (400 Vlachian olbia)

Special: When you hand in this quest, Mehkhet the Illuminator must be alive to receive awards.

The last line of the quest was odd. Usually, you automatically failed an escort quest if the primary died, but this seemed to imply we could complete it regardless if we managed to rescue him or not.

Suri looked to me, Vash, and Karalti. “You all up for it?”

I glanced at Casper, who was shaking his head more vigorously now. “Sure. I’m game.”

Chapter 38

We found the Bulls of Heaven Square by following the smell of burning flesh and the sound of screams.

The four of us crouched on top of one of the tinkling mosaic canals, watching the perimeter of the jail from the cover of darkness. The witch hunters had turned an old barracks into a holding center, a compound that faced the market plaza. They were burning four mages at the stake, three humans and one Meewfolk. By the time we got there, the screams were dying down, the bodies still thrashing but completely engulfed in flames. An anxious crowd hooted and heckled the victims, throwing everything from mugs to dead rats onto the blazing pyres. The bonfires were large enough that we could feel the heat on our faces from the rooftops.

“By the order of the Sultir, we will cleanse this city of magical filth! These four were caught thanks to you, citizens of Dalim. No longer will we fear being Stranged by these criminals! No matter their caste or creed, all witches and sorcerers shall be burned!” The Witch Hunter Captain, who paraded up and down in front of the pyres, still clutched the torch he'd used to light them.

“Poor bastards.” Vash hawked in his throat, turned, and spat into the canal. “The Nine would weep to see this madness.”

It was hard to tear my eyes from the fire, but I made myself look away and studied the walls of the jail. From the outside, it looked just like an especially secure manor compound. Ten-foot walls topped with wicked bronze spikes surrounded a wide, bare perimeter yard crawling with guards. Six of them were crowding at the front gate, watching the proceedings with the furtive air of troops goofing off while on-duty. There were two [Sandstrider Snipers] pacing outside of the walls, their clawed steel feet crunching into the dirt road.

The house inside of the compound was surprisingly normal-looking. It was a big, squat complex made of plain white-washed adobe. The only notable things about it were its size and the lack of windows. There was a coach station that allowed prison wagons to be driven inside. Gates could be pulled across while it unloaded and prisoners walked into one of the buildings, and then the gates could be moved back and the coach driven out the other side.

“Hmm. That looks hard to get into.” Karalti sounded subdued, though she was the least disturbed of all of us by the display in the market square. The smell of cooking human flesh didn’t really bug her much.

“It really does.” As I had so many times, I reminded myself that Archemi was a game - and because it was a game, the guard patrol patterns were at least somewhat predictable. The only problem was the lack of save points. I'd noticed that you got second chances on most quests, but I wasn't counting on it here. I loved stealth games, but they weren't very forgiving once you caught the attention of fifty guards.

“Alright, ladies,” Vash said quietly. “How do you want to do this?”

“I think we're on the wrong side of the compound,” I said. “If we come from the alley, you and I can hop from the roofs over the wall to the top of that coach house. We can ghost in behind one of the patrols and take them out. Do you see that drainage channel over there?”

Vash narrowed his eyes. “Over where?”

I pointed at the other side of the compound. “Way behind the coach house, near the far wall.”

The Baru scowled. “You mean where that line of ants is marching?”

“Huh?” I closed my eyes to zoom