Clap… clap… clap…
Nathan groaned, already recognizing that slow rhythm. There was only one person daring enough to do that here.
"Nathan Black..."
That voice was crisp, noble and laced with mock admiration. Nathan didn't need to turn around. He already knew.
Raphael Leywin.
The last born of the famed Leywin family who are Barons of Aerenthal. Known across Lunaria not just for their elegant swordsmanship and absurd good looks, but for being disturbingly overachieving ability wielders.
Raphael, the youngest, was no exception. Currently the Assistant Knight General of the Lunaris Order, wielder of dual affinities, and a proud reminder that privilege and talent could indeed coexist to be annoying.
Nathan turned slowly, exhaling.
"Raphael. Did you miss me?"
Raphael descended the broken stone steps, his white knight cloak flowing like a dramatic stage curtain. "You ruined the pilgrims' main lair, left behind eight injured cultists, detonated three glyph traps, and activated a restricted beacon with a beeping metia."
He stopped a few feet away and smiled.
"I missed you so much."
Nathan shrugged. "I was being subtle."
"Subtle?" Raphael chuckled. "You burst into a heretic cult, they kidnapped you then you killed most of their members making an enemy of the rest."
"I was improvising."
Raphael's sharp blue eyes narrowed as he stepped closer. "Improvisation is for poets and beggars. Not detectives tasked with infiltrating the most dangerous cult since the Ash Veil."
Nathan crossed his arms, ignoring the sting in his shoulder. "You're welcome for the haul. I delivered your knights half their upper echelon gift-wrapped."
"True," Raphael admitted, before pausing. "Though the Prophet's name wasn't on any of the record. Which means either you missed something..."
"…or he's not stupid enough to keep his name on physical," Nathan finished.
They stared at each other for a moment.
Then Raphael sighed and unclipped something from his belt.
A silver flask.
"Drink?"
Nathan grinned. "Now you're speaking my language."
Raphael watched Nathan sip the silver flask like it was holy water, a satisfied smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"Enjoy it," Raphael said. "Might be your last taste of freedom for a while."
Nathan paused, flask halfway to his lips. "Why do you sound like snitch with a badge?"
"Because I am a snitch," Raphael replied sweetly. "With a very shiny badge."
Nathan rolled his eyes and handed the flask back. "Let me guess. The General wants to see me."
Raphael's smirk vanished, replaced by something sterner. "You're not wrong. General Emerald has summoned you personally. Said your 'methods' warrant a 'thorough briefing.'"
"That sounds… diplomatic."
"She also said, and I quite, 'Drag that feral hound by the scruff if he resists.'" Raphael let that hang in the air before adding, "She's in a mood,"
Nathan exhaled slowly, his gaze drifting to the shattered remnants of the lair behind them. The air still reeked of the burnt flesh. Pilgrim corpses were being cataloged by junior knights. A few were being loaded into glowing containment runes, still twitching under the effects of Nathan's traps.
"Guess I made too much noise," Nathan muttered.
"You think?" Raphael gestured broadly at the smoldering ruin. "You turned a hidden sanctuary into a crater of breadcrumbs."
Nathan didn't answer. His thoughts were already three steps ahead… Aerenthal. The capital of Lunaris. Crown jewel of the continent, where politics and steel danced in equal measure.
He hadn't been there in years.
Not since…
"Tell Emerald I'll come," he said quietly, interrupting his own thought. "Just… give me a few hours."
Raphael narrowed his eyes. "Hours to do what? You're not going rogue again."
"I need to pick up something."
Raphael sighed like a long-suffering parent. "You've got four hours. If you're not at the gate tower by dawn, I'll hunt you myself. And this time, Nathan, I will bring chains."
Nathan grinned, stepping past him. "That's cute, coming from the Leywin family's baby."
"Keep talking," Raphael muttered. "You'll make a great cellmate for a lunatic."
Yeah, the only lunatic I see is you…
Raphael's footsteps faded behind him. Nathan didn't look back.
He waited until the knight's aura vanished from his senses before ducking down a side path, leaving behind the smoldering ruin and the humming containment runes.
I need to move fast
Aerenthal wasn't far, and if he was going to play Emerald's game again, he'd need a few things first.