III-62 Undercover

Regardless if Young Lord Rogers had overstepped when he seized your daughter by her wrist and refused to let go, even when she demanded it.

Regardless if Young Lord Rogers had overstepped when he seized your daughter by her wrist and refused to let go, even when she demanded it.

Regardless if Young Lord Rogers had overstepped when he seized your daughter by her wrist and refused to let go, even when she demanded it. In that case, the extreme violence she responded with has escalated this matter from simply being an issue of self-defense to something bordering on attempted murder. Even now, the academy Biomancers are unsure if Young Lord Rogers will pull through.

We understand that you might be uncomfortable facing the graphic nature of the following report, but we insist that you read it regardless, so you understand just how extreme your daughter's actions were.

After Young Lord Rogers refused to let your daughter go following a final and extremely vulnerable warning, she did not try any measure of de-escalation. Instead, she pressed her hands over his face and channeled Pyromancy directly into Young Lord Rogers' eyes, blinding him immediately. As he collapsed, she placed both hands over his ears, formed icicles on the insides, and then burst them, dealing severe damage to not only his eardrums but also his inner skull.

At this point, Young Lord Rogers' cousin, Young Lady Alyssa, rose from her seat in the mess hall. According to multiple eyewitnesses, Young Lady Alyssa might have used profanity on your daughter, but Young Lady Alyssa made no overt or violent attempts to attack your daughter, nor was there any indication that she was going to do so. This makes it all the more egregious when your daughter used her Aeromancy to fling Young Lord Rogers directly into Young Lady Alyssa's face, thus shattering both her cheekbone and her nose. This turned out to be the least of Young Lady Alyssa's injuries, as your daughter proceeded to drop part of the ceiling on them using her Geomancy.

As of now, both Young Lord Rogers and Young Lady Alyssa are fighting for their lives in the school infirmary, and your daughter currently sits within our brig. We ask that you deliver yourself to Phoenix Academy with all haste to attend to these matters and settle affairs with House Roger before this incident can escalate further…

-Letter of Reprimand for Young Lady Roselle Van Erren, Phoenix Academy

III-62

Undercover

Shiv couldn’t believe this shit. "What the hell do you mean she got into a fight with Whisper? She just went into the cape."

"Yes," Uva said, sounding exasperated herself. "She went into the cape and immediately tried to gouge out the orc's eyes. Apparently they have history." A brief pause followed. "More than a little history. Whisper murdered someone dear to Adam's mother, and now she is swearing eternal bloody vengeance. Meanwhile, the orcs are just staring at her with their fangs in wide smiles."

That didn’t sound good.

"Have they tried to do anything?" Shiv asked.

"No. In fact, they're taking special pleasure in goading her. I think they're treating this as a game."

Shiv sighed as he considered pulling Rose out. However, an unexpected individual intervened on her behalf.

"Keep her here," Valor said.

That caught Shiv entirely off guard.

"What?" Adam said. He was listening in on the conversation. And Shiv could feel an ocean's worth of anxiety bleeding over from the Gate Lord. However, Adam didn't have the nerve to assert himself over his mother. A lifetime without her had left him with deep mental scars, mental scars that she was currently exploiting to strong-arm herself into a position on this mission. And now Valor was vouching for her for some reason.

"Let her stay," Valor repeated again. "She apparently has deep insight into our enemy, this City-Lord Havel. Her personal history there will be most useful. Furthermore, she is an experienced Pathbearer. She may not have many skills right now, but she knows how the Republic operates, knows the structure of the Inquisition and the tactics they might use."

Shiv frowned. "Couldn't Uva just pull out some of those memories?"

"Not nearly so fast," Uva said, hesitantly. "Not without damaging her mind if we rush this.”

"And it wouldn't be the same," Valor added. "Those are not Uva's experiences. It will take her months to years to properly learn the context and sift through all the details."

"All right, fine, shit. Well, if she's going to be in there, just keep her away from the orcs. The Forest of Alloy is larger than before, right?"

"Indeed," Valor said. "We have a great deal of more space here. However, the materials are constantly regrowing and spreading as well. Can Hu is trying to start up a factory of a sort as well. Perhaps he can build a specialized shelter for her there.”

"Okay, but in the meantime, just keep her away from the orcs. No more problems between her or Whisper. If either of them start something, I'm jumping back to the gate and chucking both of them out.”

A grunt of annoyance came from Uva. "She wants to be part of the conversation as well.”

"What, mentally?"

"Yes," Uva sighed, "mentally."

Shiv hesitated for a moment, then shrugged. "Fine, link her.”

Uva synchronized him with Rose's mind. He was startled as he realized just how much anger was in the woman. Rose Van Erren was boiling from the inside out. She hated Whisper. She hated the orcs. And most importantly, she hated herself for being weak right then. Just through that alone, Shiv realized why she wanted to be a part of this operation. She was looking for high risk. She wanted to build her skills back up, and fast. Which meant that she was accompanying him for the same reasons the orcs were.

"Hey. Did you tell her that I'm system favored?" Shiv frowned.

Adam blinked. "I... perhaps? I briefly recounted everything we've gone through." And then the young lord's eyes widened. "Do you think that's why she wants to go with you? To advance her skills quicker?"

"Yeah," Shiv replied. "Something like that."

"It's simply the most optimal thing," Rose injected herself into their conversation. "Now stop wasting time. Get moving. And someone explain to me the general plan here. We're not just going to walk up to the Inquisition and surrender ourselves, are we?"

"No," Shiv said as he held up his Mask of False Paths. "I've got a perfect semblance to assume. And there are several other mind-controlled Inquisitors we're going to dump on Stormhalt. It's going to look like we escaped from Necrotech custody."

As Rose took in the plan, a building weight of suspicion swelled inside of her. "Did you damage their devotion skills?"

Shiv paused. "The hells a Devotion Skill?”

"You don't know what a Devotion skill is?" Rose scoffed. "You're going to want to break that before you send them over. It lets the Ascendants channel their power through a Pathbearer, at least as much power as the Pathbearer can sustain. It also lets the Ascendants review everything that's happened to the Pathbearer directly through the skill itself. If you're dealing with Inquisitors, they likely have Oracles, Seers, Diviners, or Investigators. Oracles are especially a fucking annoyance to deal with since they can invoke the power of the gods. It’s practically their entire deal.”

She looked at Adam, and the Gate Lord nodded. "Well, I suppose we should do that before we leave, then." 

Valor called out to Shiv, asking to be let out of the Cape. "Best that I assist Adam, so that the damage seems more spread out, instead of specifically targeted. Otherwise, it will seem suspicious for them to only be so damaged in one area.”

"And already I'm here saving you kids from your fuckups," Rose chuckled to herself. “Now. Explain the rest of your terrible plan to me so I can tell you which parts are shit, and which aren’t.”

***

"All right," Adam said as he pulled back a Veilpiercer. His eyes were glowing as he stared off into the distance. "The sun will be up soon, so Uva needs to stay hidden. I caught sight of some Inquisition scouts. They're closer than I expected. And they're moving fast. I'm going to adjust your positioning a little. It'll be thirty kilometers closer to us and a few hundred meters away from the Tidewall. I don't think it'll be any issue, but just be mindful about where you are. Use Margarita Point as a landmark in case you get lost."

"Got it." Beside Shiv were seven other Inquisitors. They stared on with vacant gazes and slack expressions. Their faces were scabbed with dried blood and recently healed cuts. Their armor had been taken away, and they were dressed in tattered rags, some of which were bloodstained. Others were sour with unclean urine and other sources of foulness. Ultimately, it looked like they escaped from hell, which was exactly the illusion Shiv wanted to sell.

"All right, going over everything one final time, remember this. First, you're going to encounter the skirmishers and scouts. When you do, say that you managed to escape with your cohort. What do you say, Shiv?"

Shiv gritted his teeth in annoyance. This was the tenth time Adam asked him to recite the lines. "I know what to say."

"Just do it again, Shiv. Go through it again, so I'm absolutely confident."

"Alright, so when they find me, I'm going to tell them that I managed to break out from a Necrotech internment camp before they shuttled us down into the Abyss. I will tell them that we all suffered severe torture. That my comrades suffered severe torture. That I managed to escape because they thought I was already dead. Hence, why I'm better dressed and why my skills are mostly intact. After that, I'll tell them Sullain has the Animancy Core, and he intends to use it on Blackedge at any moment. Probably tell them he kidnapped Sijik too and shit.”

"Good," Adam said. "And if any of them try to use Psychomancy on you, I'll warn them off. I'll say that the Necrotechs planted things in our minds specifically to harm enemy Psychomancers."

"Right, that should buy you some time and get you moved closer to their main camp. Once you're there, make contact with City-Lord Havel if you can. Gather as much intelligence about their forces as possible, tell them about the Animancy Core again, make sure they're going in the direction of Lost Angeles to fight the Necrotechs, and then jump back. When you're done, do not wait, do not linger, simply jump back."

"If I find an opening, I'll let the orcs out and do some damage."

"If," Adam stressed, "if. That is secondary. That is only if there is an opportunity. Do not risk yourself, and by extension," Adam stared hard at him, "do not risk the people going with you.”

"Yeah, I know, Adam. And if you had the goddamn balls to tell your mom that she wasn't going—"

"If I had the goddamn balls?" Adam snapped. "Why don't you tell her?"

"I did tell her she went in anyway."

"And why didn't you stop her?"

"Really? You're just going to let me grab your mom and pull her out? What are you going to do if she attacks me?"

"She can't even hurt you."

"She can hurt my feelings, Adam. What matters more to you? My feelings or hers?"

"Hers!"

"You see, Adam, you never changed. You're still the same asshole that first fell down the Abyss, still treating me like an Omenborn."

Adam glared at Shiv with narrowed eyes. He was no longer drawing his arrow back. “Really. You’re doing this to me right now?”

"Is the guilt-tripping working?" Shiv asked.

Adam let out a slightly hissed, "Yes."

***

From inside the cape, Rose shuddered as she heard Harlon’s boy speak to her Adam. She swallowed and tried to compose herself. She leaned against a tree made from titanium bark and copper leaves. The lich—Udraal Thann’s supposed father—watched her; standing as her guard against the orcs.

“If you feel uneasy—” he began.

“It’s not that,” Rose breathed. She swallowed sour spit as she tried not to think about what happened. “It’s like the past keeps taunting me.”

Valor tilted his head. “How?”

“Adam. Shiv. They sound like Harlon and Roland from years before. Almost exactly. Almost…” Rose tried to calm herself by focusing on her breathing. It didn’t work. “Fuck me. Godsdamned fucking system brought me back just to hit me with trauma.”

“I don’t think the system brought you back,” Valor said. “But I think I understand what you mean when you speak of ghosts.”

***

Adam rolled his eyes and drew his arrow back. "Get your mask on. Go across before my courage collapses entirely."

And Shiv did just that. He lifted his helmet and placed the Mask of False Paths on his head. In an instant, his Perfect Semblance triggered, and he was Inquisitor Morgan Hyde: Master-Tier; Path of the Archer, with around twenty Adept Skills and two Master.

Shiv briefly looked through Morgan Hyde's status sheet and reviewed the most critical details one final time. As soon as that was done, he felt Uva's mana strand tap him twice on the mask before receding, confirming her readiness. He shifted the Forest of Alloy so that no one would be able to directly drop in if they fell into his cape for whatever reason. 

With that done, he reached out using his Biomancy and seized the other Inquisitors. He grasped them using his mana hydras and their bodies didn't resist. Adam fired his arrow in that instant, and a rift opened before them. The Inquisitors remained slack and limp, responding to Shiv’s power as he nudged them through the dimensional pathway. He followed thereafter with a tug on his gravitic field, but before he could cross over entirely, Adam called out.

"Shiv."

"Yeah?" Shiv said, turning around.

The Gate Lord's mouth opened, but for a moment he only managed to awkward grunt. "Just be careful. Be very, very careful. Keep my mom safe. And everyone else. And yourself.”

The Deathless held up a fist. "See you soon, Adam. And if this goes well, Blackedge will get some very unwitting reinforcements, and your dad will get a moment to breathe.”

Shiv ferried the Inquisitors across the pathway. As he reached the other side, he found himself emerging over a sprawling green meadow, overshadowed by the Tidewall. He released the other inquisitors and he looked to his left, searching for Margarita Point. 

His gaze followed a mountain trail leading upward until finally the glow of an active gateway lit the pre-dawn sky. With his position confirmed, he began herding the inquisitors along with him, moving them using his Biomancy field. They staggered forward, some of them toppling over, requiring Shiv to reset them several times. He adopted the posture of a starved, exhausted man. 

"Come on!" he shouted out. "Come on, just a little more! We're almost there, just a little more!" He made noise, hoping to attract Havel's scouts. 

And after a few minutes of loud “fleeing,” something impacted the ground right in front of him.

Dirt splashed upwards. And as he looked down, he found an arrow embedded right beside his left foot. As he looked up, he saw no traces of the shooter, but sight was only one of his senses. He triggered his new armor's Pheromonic Cipher, and he followed a scent he tasted in the air, a scent that resembled his and his fellow Inquisitors. It led four hundred meters away, up along the edge of a small hill. 

As he activated his Compound Ocular Network thereafter, his sight zoomed in, and he saw a slight shimmer in the air. Six bodies stood there, nearly entirely transparent, aside from a few wispy threads of air painting their contours. They were using Aeromancy to bend light itself, making themselves invisible. Underneath his mask, Shiv smirked as he gained a new Awareness level.

Awareness 39 > 40

Bribery or not, Helix was pretty thoughtful, giving me this armor. Really makes up for some of my weakest skills.

"Keep your arms by your sides. Do not move," a voice echoed from the horizon. Shiv frowned as he realized that wasn't the direction the shooters were in, and then he realized there were probably several other groups all around him as well. Where there was one shadow, there was probably another.

Shiv complied. He spread his hands open, and he called back. "I'm Inquisitor Morgan Hyde!" he shouted, trying to inject as much anguish and desperation into his voice as possible. "We... we were attacked! We were with Master-Inquisitor Sijik’s Expeditionary Force to Gate Theborn. We were attacked! We were attacked and ambushed by Necrotechs! It was a slaughter! It was an absolute slaughter!" He drew in a long, shuddering breath. "Vicar Sullain! He has the Animancy Core! He used the Animancy Core on us! We barely managed to escape from one of their internments after! City Lord Havel needs to know! He needs to know! Please, before it's too late! Before he takes Blackedge from us, he needs to know!"

A moment of tense silence followed. A rustling breeze washed through the world, and a whistle rose through the air. Immediately, Shiv caught sight of movement passing in his periphery. Even invisible, Shiv could see the distortions clearly. His new ocular enchantments were excellent at separating moving objects from all that which remained still. 

In less than a second, ten invisible Pathbearers landed behind Shiv and the other Inquisitors without making any noise at all. But they still reeked with the scent of humanity. He watched as the seven other mind-broken Inquisitors were restrained from behind. Their arms were bound together by dense manacles of adamantine, and then they had hoods pulled over their heads. 

A moment later, Shiv felt someone grabbing his arms as well. He almost resisted, but then went slack and let them cuff him. As a dark rag was pulled over his face, Shiv gagged at the acrid smell. At the same time, all sound was severed from him. He blinked. This wasn't just some dirty rag. It was some kind of sensory deprivation hood meant specifically for prisoners.

"Don't be too rough with them," Shiv called out, though he suspected it was in vain. "They've experienced significant torture. We've all experienced torture at the hands of the Necrotechs. They need support. They need to see a Biomancer. But don't let them see any Psychomancers. The Necrotechs, they touched our minds. They planted something there. Something... I think it's a trap. I think..." And immediately, he felt something prod into his back, urging him to start moving.

Shiv let the inquisitorial scouts drag him along. He didn't know how long he walked. It felt like an hour. But on the way, he felt several clenches of spatial distortion. At some point, he'd been teleported. And not just once. Thanks to his armor's Mycelial Interface, he still had some available senses. He could feel the temperature outside, feel the wind rushing over him, the moisture dancing against his outer carapace. The ground was still soil as well. A bit of grass. Then, sand. Were they walking him closer to the water? He could hear waves crashing…

Awareness 40 > 41

They teleported again. A pressure squeezed down around Shiv. The wind faded entirely. And the world grew dry. Heat washed over him. Abruptly, he found himself stomping down on concrete flooring rather than dirt or soil.

Two inquisitors pulled him by his arms and dragged him down. As Shiv sat, he felt his rear land on a seat. It promptly broke beneath him. He crashed down onto the floor with a grunt of surprise. Right. Perfect Semblance hides my identity and skills. But it doesn't really do anything for my weight. And Shiv was considerably heavier than Inquisitor Morgan Hyde. He was pulled back to his feet and, a moment thereafter, made to sit down again. This time, he found a sturdier chair beneath him. But even so, it groaned and bent slightly. I am not physically built for spy shit at all, Shiv winced.

His hood was wrenched off of his face. And across from him was a familiar figure. A tall, gaunt man stared at him. Static danced at the ends of his wild, trimmed beard. And the armor he wore was characterized by slats, slats with slight separations in between, and copper wires that coiled along the crenulations. Electricity surged through his armor, and slight forks of lightning leapt out from his body in a crackling aura. 

Shiv wondered what it would take for him to make contact with City-Lord Stormhalt. But here he was in the flesh. Havel Stormhalt. Looking just like he did in the Jealousy's memory back at Elaboration.

"Inquisitor Morgan Hyde," Stormhalt said, a resonant baritone followed the end of his words. He pushed before he continued speaking. And there was a faint rumble of thunder in the back of his throat. "The scouts have reported what you said. And I find your claims to be disturbing." The City-Lord leaned back and sneered down at the table between them. The City-Lord made a gesture thereafter, and one of the nearby inquisitors placed a cup of water on the table. Shiv stared at the cup of water and he reached out. He wasn't going to be able to drink it with his helmet on, but he could still pretend. He picked the glass up with shaking hands and he poured it against his face. It splashed down and Shiv made lapping noises, making it seem as if he was dehydrated. 

Stormhalt shot him a look of pity and sighed. "The scouts also said you've claimed to have escaped from a Necrotech internment camp."

"Yes," Shiv rasped out. He looked around the room. It was like a metallic box. Just him. Stormhalt. Two automata Pathbearers. A door. Shiv couldn’t tell much else about this place besides that. Wait… There was also some kind of sterile taste in the air. “Y-yes. They ambushed the expeditionary force. We were just past Margarita Point when they hit us in the air. They overwhelmed us immediately. They—"

Stormhalt held out a large hand and interrupted him. "You claim that Necrotechs did this. Was it only the Necrotechs."

Shiv blinked and offered a frown. "I... I think so. The attack was sudden, overwhelming. We tried to hold against them, but we couldn't. They were among us, ripping through us from the inside, even as our magi tried to set up defenses. When our inner shields collapsed, the rest of our forces followed. And then... and then..." Shiv shook. He tried not to overdo it, but he wanted to sell the look of a traumatized man. Someone who faced and tasted too much death, and came out broken. Someone who was most assertively not Shiv. "And then I saw him, Vicar Sullain. He had the Animancy Core. He unleashed it upon us, and with that baleful blue... it killed so many. We were betrayed by Oldsmith. The ambush was a set-up. So many died. So many."

Stormhalt snarled slightly. His nostrils flared, and his eyes flashed with electrical power. "So the Abyssal Mongrel makes his move." The City Lord pressed his lips together as he mused, as he considered everything Shiv had said thus far. "And you are certain there were no orcs among the Vicar's forces."

That brought Shiv's mind to a complete halt. He remembered seeing a bolt of lightning leaving the Expeditionary Force. He guessed that was how they were communicating. Adam managed to intercept one of those bolts with his arrow. But maybe another went through. Maybe multiple bolts went through, carrying multiple messages. 

If that was the case, then perhaps they were trying to catch Shiv in a lie. Or they already knew he was lying, and this was a counterintelligence operation more than anything else. 

Shiv found himself fighting the urge to cast himself back across time and return to Gate Piety. His last foray into spycraft had gone poorly, and this time, it wasn’t just him here. But just then he noticed a dense pressure grinding against him. It was faint, heavy, and its weight carried multitudes. He felt it pushing against every single magical field he had, from Chronomancy to Biomancy to even his Hydromancy. 

Shiv stared at the air, and he focused. He focused as he saw a thin glitter of mana there. It was kaleidoscopic mana, prismatic mana, mana of all colors and varieties, and it was suffusing the very atmosphere around him. He had a feeling that if he tried to jump right now, something terrible might happen. Might be some kind of really subtle mana warding. Or something else entirely. Don’t like how it's bunched around my fields. Still have no idea where they teleported me.

"Maybe," Shiv finally answered. He gave Stormhalt a shaken expression. "There was a great deal happening."

Stormhalt held up a hand. "That's enough, Inquisitor. At ease." Shiv nodded slowly. "I understand that you've experienced quite the ordeal. But even so, you managed to save seven of your fellow inquisitors. It is a commendable action, an honorable action. I salute you, Master Hyde. For caring about your fellows, even in these direst of circumstances."

"It was simply my duty, City-Lord."

Stormhalt nodded along. "We've also gone through the minds of your fellow inquisitors."

Shiv pretended to be shocked. He drew in a sharp intake of breath. "The Necrotechs—They planted things in our minds. They reached into..."

"We are aware," Stormhalt interrupted him. "Be calm, Master Inquisitor. Our heroic Psychomancers have delved into them. Their minds have indeed been altered to some extent. That is what they are certain about. Yours, however, we have not touched yet. For you seem more stable compared to the others."

And Shiv was glad Adam had him review what to say over and over again. "That's because the Necrotechs thought I was dead. They threw me in a pit along with a lot of other corpses. They were preparing to resurrect me, to twist me into one of their undead abominations. I managed to get free because of that, escape and save the others."

Acting 12 > 14

"Remarkable," Stormhalt said. "But even so, we will need to review your mind to discover if you've been affected in any way." The way the City-Lord said that implied a great many things. 

Shiv simply nodded along. "Of course, City-Lord Stormhalt. We cannot risk the Inquisition and the Ascendant's glory. Not even for my own safety and comfort."

"Good man," Stormhalt said. "Good man." He patted Shiv on the arm twice, and he rose from his chair. A tremor of electricity danced down Shiv’s arm. "Do you know what happened to Master Inquisitor Sijik, for that matter? I know that you must be overwhelmed, but  any information pertaining his status will be helpful.”

"I think he was taken. I think Sullain took Sijik… The Vicar wanted there to be an audience for when he conquers Blackedge. For when he destroys the town and the Perch."

Bolts of lightning blasted out from Stormhalt. The man's expression was impassive, but Shiv could feel the anger radiating off of his body. 

"I understand," Stormhalt said. "You will be teleported out of holdings and placed under watch. We will have a Biomancer and Psychomancer come look over you shortly. In the meantime, we have food prepared, along with a cot if you desire rest. But understand that we will be making full speed toward Blackedge. And we are moving spatially silent, so we cannot teleport you back to Fortress-City Diego for recovery." He reached down and grabbed Shiv by the shoulder before squeezing slightly. "Are you still in this fight with us, Inquisitor? For that is where we are heading, into a fight. We cannot let the vicar destroy what is ours, unmake what is ours."

"I'm still with you, City-Lord," Shiv forced out in a stammer. He rose, meeting the City-Lord's gaze as he tried to express his devotion.

"Good. Very good." Stormhalt nodded, and he nodded a bit too long. Shiv felt something terribly wrong turn inside his stomach. And when the City Lord finally stopped nodding, he gave Shiv a final look, and looked at one of the automaton Pathbearers standing guard.

“Move us to temporary quarters,” Stormhalt ordered.

Before Shiv could ask what that was, one of the machine Pathbearers channeled a burst of Dimensional mana over the Deathless. Dark static swallowed Shiv, and a moment thereafter he was pulled across a small gulf of space. Three seconds later, Shiv appeared in a new, wider chamber.

A cot on the ground awaited him, while with a table was placed against the wall. Atop it, a steaming bowl of porridge called out to his senses while a painted mural featuring thirteen enshrouded figures decorated the left wall.There were no windows in his chamber. Only a small air vent lined the corner of his ceiling. But so far, his cover remained intact. Even with the awkwardness he experienced earlier, he hadn't been cut down. It seemed like Stormhalt just had him moved from an interrogation room to a detention chamber. 

Shiv let out a quiet breath and struggled not to celebrate. Maybe I'm actually getting better at this spy stuff too. He looked around and he waited another moment for the system to disappoint him. When it didn't, he walked over toward his cot to examine the amenities offered to him. But as he turned his head, something shimmered in the corner of his vision. Shiv paused, and he turned to stare at the mural of the Ascendants. He narrowed his eyes at the colors. He triggered his Compound Ocular Network. He zoomed in on one of the Ascendants, on one that resembled a winged figure that had two arms and bore a bow.

Starhawk, Shiv thought. But there was something about the painting, about its shape that drew his attention. As he took a few steps forward, he stared at the Starhawk but couldn't find anything. He shifted again, performing the same action he did earlier when he was preparing to head to the cot. And just then he saw something in the corner of his vision once more. Something was moving there, something minuscule. He immediately whipped his head back in place, and he tried to remember where the visual disturbance was. After a moment of looking, of zooming in further, he finally found it.

There was a small crack lining the painted body of the Starhawk. A crack that continued through the wall. And between that small crack he saw a woman, a very short, very petite woman, who was looking right back at him. She had short, strawberry blonde hair and her eyes were piercing green. More strikingly was her armor; it was covered in tessellating plates, the same kind of vibrating tessellating material that made up Shiv's Magebreaker gauntlet. And on her back was a sword. No, it was far too long and too large to be called a sword. It was taller than the woman by several times over, wider than her by far. But somehow, somehow it remained attached to her, hovering just behind her.

She took a final bite of her apple and tossed it aside. As soon as she threw the apple away, it expanded, materializing into a fully chewed apple core that bounced off of Shiv's foot. "Wow!" She clapped her hands and the air thundered. The room shook slightly. Even though she was barely the size of a single hair, Shiv felt she had enough strength to rip this room asunder. This room, and maybe even him.

Awareness 40 > 42

"Can't believe you noticed me with that Adept-tier awareness of yours, Master Inquisitor," she giggled. "This is embarrassing. Puts me in a bit of a bind. City-Lord wanted me to watch you quietly in case you did anything weird." She hopped out from the crack, and suddenly she expanded to full size as well. Or at least human size. Her natural height ended somewhere just under Shiv's torso. But her blade? Her blade was about as tall as he was prior to being Plaguefueled. And Shiv was glad he didn't take his mask off, because that would have made things very, very ugly.

"Titansbane, I presume," Shiv said.

The Legendary Pathbearer burped into her hand and offered it to Shiv for a shake. "Don't call me that. I hate that fucking name. Call me Jessica. Jessica Hawgrave. Are you’re pretty sharp for a guy who supposedly got the life tortured out of him.”