In the Dark of the Night

In the Light of the Day 5

Sparrow reached the back door of the outpost breathlessly, checking behind her for pursuit before lifting the latch and stealing inside. She nearly closed the door on her own tail in her haste. She heard the other Rangers conversing in the main room, so she took a minute in the storage room to catch her breath and compose herself before joining them.

Getting their attention, she summarized her day for them in one unbroken monologue before taking questions.

"Enemy of the state, he said?" asked Mapstone. "Nothing more specific?"

"No," Sparrow said. "He didn't seem like he cared much about the reason, either."

"If our shayakar theory is correct," said Eis'Libe, "then that is a possibility."

"Only ye think that," Del reminded him. "And if there'd been actual evidence of anythin', they wouldnae have had to do a kidnappin' in the dead o' night."

"True enough," said Mapstone. "Brigitte - that's the clerk - said she'd look into the records, but this still sounds too irregular for a legal arrest. As for the Duke's involvement...he's been bedridden for about a year now. That news wasn't made public for a while after it happened, so I'm not sure of the date, but the time frame puts it close to our abduction. That might be a coincidence, but maybe not. It could mean it became easier to fake a Ducal order."

"Or maybe it made the Duke desperate for something," ventured Sparrow. "If Trayps is a faelakar after all...what might someone want with him? What can they do?" She directed these last questions at Eis'Libe.

"I've been wondering that myself," he replied. "The most obvious answer would be their magical abilities. The faelakar were the original druids, and though their techniques have been refined and improved over the millennia, their raw power is unmatched. At least when it comes to druidry; other schools of magic have managed to exceed them on occasion."

"If the Duke - or anyone else - wanted someone to do magic for him, abduction is nae a great start," Del said. "Anythin' else they might be useful for?"

"I did find a book on alchemy that mentioned faelakar blood as a powerful component in various potions. It ascribed restorative properties to the blood, useful in healing potions, or even as fertilizer for crops. It also said that eldakar or even alakar blood could be substituted for a weaker effect. To be quite honest, I think the author was speciesist."

"But true or not, if someone believed that," Sparrow speculated, "they might try to use his blood to make a potion that could help the Duke."

"A dangerous precedent, if true," Eis'Libe replied.

"We don't know enough to do more than guess," Mapstone said. "Del, what did you find out about the brooch?"

"Nae much," he admitted. "It's magic, definitely, and powerful at that. But it cancels out all my attempts ta find out more. A master artificer with a proper workshop might do better."

"I know of one in town," Mapstone said. "I'll send a letter and see if they can take a look at it. Though I don't suppose any of the book research turned up anything?"

"Aside from the raven being the symbol of Saiderin the Wanderer," answered Eis'Libe, "Not especially, no."

"...are you going to tell us who that is?" asked Sparrow.

"Ye seriously don't know?" Del asked. " I thought everyone knew that."

"I know I didn't pay the most attention in school, but honestly, no. Maybe they just don't talk about him in the west. Or maybe he has a different name there."

"That's possible," Eis'Libe admitted. "He does go by many monikers. The Guide, The Interloper, The Weaver of Infinite Strands..."

"Ooh! That last one, I've heard," exclaimed Sparrow. "He's, like, a demi-god or something."