It was supposed to be a quick job, in and out, no problems. Accidentally freeing a high profile prisoner on her way out and subsequently discovering an evil scheme, was not part of the plan.
Suddenly, it's her own face that Kaia finds on the front o...
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Two weeks earlier.
I waited for the guards to turn their backs to me before I jumped down from the high wall surrounding the fortress. To cushion my fall, I activated one of the runes on my gear midair. As quietly as possible, I moved along the wall, and slowly made my way further in. It was the third -and hopefully last- time I had come to this place.
The fortress was built at the base of Mount Raz. The mountain loomed over its highest tower like a bad omen. The walls were built of the same black stone native to the area. It blended in so well at night that the structure was nearly indistinguishable from its surroundings.
Only dim lights adorned the walls, making it hard to see, but also much harder to be seen. However, the various magical and physical traps that were installed all over were more than enough to keep the average intruder out.
The place had been dormant for some time, a fact I still believed to be true before coming down here. When I had gotten this request, I'd thought the client was mistaken at first, and all I'd be able to find in here were spiders and rats.
Normally, I didn't mind the darkness, especially since I was still able to navigate perfectly fine. However, the dark, chilly hallways, gruesome traps, and the overall lack of activity gave me the creeps.
Of course, I would never mention these sorts of worries to my little twin brother. Well, calling Kieran little could be considered a bit of a stretch since he towered over my much smaller frame by at least eight inches.
Kieran was one of those people that just oozed confidence. That, coupled with his height and a more mature look, made everyone automatically assume that he was my older sibling. A fact he enjoyed a lot. So much actually that he started calling me his little sister just to rub it in. Technically, I was three minutes older, not that anyone cared.
Both of us had inherited our dad's brown hair and grey eyes, but while he managed to pull it off looking handsome, I looked, well, normal. I was pretty enough to attract male attention, but I could easily blend in the crowd whenever I wanted to.
Since both of us were able to wield two magic affinities, air and lightning, we were right at the top in terms of raw power.
Although air magic was a more common element, we still stood out. Kieran in terms of raw power, and me in terms of precision. Not even five percent of all air magicians could use their affinity the way I could. Kieran was usually too lazy to rely on precision and patience to get a job done, which was why I took on jobs related to infiltration or uncovering sensitive information, whereas he focused on those that required more brute force.
Our second affinity, lightning, was comparably rarer. Kieran could basically summon his own storm, while I could use it for example, to detect runes, or even read the electric impulses people sent out if they were lying.
Focusing back on the task at hand, I made sure my air magic cushioned my steps as I worked my way deeper into the fortress. Using magic this way was so natural to me by now that I could focus my attention elsewhere, like watching out for any unusual air movement around me.
