To Kill a God

Planning

Zips was hysterical.

The young woman walked back and forth through Matilda's shop, taking long strides that managed to land with loud thumps that almost seemed to make the ground shake. When she saw Al and Violet enter the shop, she rounded on him. "They took my fluffy!"

Al was about to talk, when he finally looked passed Zips' attitude and looked at what she was wearing. Matilda and her girls had found the time to make Zips an outfit that was very... Zips-like. It had a short skirt that was cut along the centre and that came down to just above her knees on the sides, revealing a pair of dark knee-high boots underneath. Two long pieces of cloth jutted out behind her from the small of her back and trailed down until they almost touched the floor. Her top was of the same dark, crimson material, with a black corset around her waist that accentuated what little figure Zips had. The entire thing was covered in lace and ribbons and little touches of embellishment on the edges of the cloth.

"You look like one of those Japanese magical girls," Al said. "You know, those cartoons you watch."

"They're not cartoons. And that's not important right now!" Somehow, on Zips, the otherwise cute ensemble made her look fierce and terrifying. Like a bunny rabbit covered in gore. "We need to get her back. You need to get her back."

Al raised a hand, stalling her. "What I need is information. Then I need to know what we can use. But that's only if we do plan on saving Mara."

Zips, who was pacing away from him, spun on the heel of her new boots and stared at him. "What?"

"Do we really want to go through all that trouble? For all we know, we'll be out of here in a day or two. If we lay low--"

"We will not 'lay low,'" she said, mocking his voice. "She's one of ours, for better or worse, until she wants out. An Ardito never abandons a friend."

Al and Zips locked eyes. He broke first. "I'll need more information. After that we can make a plan. I swear, I'll do everything I can to get Mara back to safety. It's what mother would want us to do. And if we're going to be here for a while, we might as well batter down the Reckoners." He turned to Violet. "We could use some of your resources for this."

The elven woman bit her lower lip. "I have known for some time that the Hawkeye family and the Reckoners would come to blows. I did not plan on it happening so soon."

"Then we don't involve the Hawkeyes. Not directly." Turning again to Zips, he asked. "What sort of spells do you have?"

Zips wiped her eyes with a fluffy sleeve, then found and opened her grimoire. "Mostly weak ones. Little fireballs, lights, things to stun people. One that can turn a scream into a very, very loud scream. Nothing awesome."

An idea came to Al's mind. He shelved it for later. "Alright," he said. "Violet, where will they be holding Mara?"

"They have a detention centre next to the city jails. It's private, and fairly well guarded. They'll be bringing their security up if they think something's going to happen."

"So we can't just break her out," he muttered. He needed ideas, and thinking on his feet was never his forte. But years of seeing his mother act allowed him to think outside the box. "Who's the most important member of the Reckoners?"

"Archbishop Keely," Violet supplied.

He nodded. "Is there anyone in the Hawkeye family that's well versed in illusions? I'm talking invisibility, smoke, visual warping effects?"

Primm, who had been silently leaning against the doorframe, spoke up, "We do."

"I'll need to meet with them, as soon as possible. Send a runner to your estates."

Violet nodded to Primm and he passed the message on to one of his men.

"Do the Reckoners have any services? Big events or gatherings?" he asked, his head bowed and his hand on his chin.

Edwin answered this time. "Every Moonsday evening. Tonight. At the central cathedral near the city's centre plaza."

"Good, good," Al said absentmindedly. When he looked up, he saw that Zips was grinning. "What?"

"Oh, nothing. I just really like that look in your eyes." She swallowed and her grin grew. "Tonight's going to be fun." Somehow, her young voice and those otherwise innocent words, mixed with that particular tone of voice, make a shiver run down his spine.

"We'll need a place to lay low for a few hours after tonight. Cogs' place?" he asked.

Violet raised a hand, like a child in a classroom. "You can stay in my estates. They're close to the city centre. And I have ways of getting in that will keep you all hidden."

"Perfect." Al beamed at those around him. "I have something in mind. This is going to be very, very dangerous. But if it works, it'll make for an impressive show." He pulled out his phone and stared at the time. 4:48PM. He'd yet to switch over to anything close to local time, but it did give him an idea of how long they had been up. This world was about three hours behind his. Or the spell had taken that long. He didn't know the details yet. "When's the meeting, exactly, Edwin?"

The man shrugged a little. "It'll start a few hours before sunset. So--" He paused and looked outside. "In two or so hours?"

Al nodded. "We should get going, I want to stalk to place out a little, and then explain to Zips what her part of this fiasco will be."

With some quick goodbyes and a hasty bit of haggling on Al's part, they paid Matilda, even though the dwarven lady was hesitant to take his gold. In the end, Al suspected that she had charged him far, far too little for the clothes they now wore, and she had promised to have something similar delivered to the Hawkeye estate before the day's end, "In case you get that nice suit all torn up doing god stuff," she explained.

With the group outside, Al told Primm to redirect the illusionists to somewhere they could meet along the way, then he pushed everyone into the carriage with very little ceremony. Once they were all seated and being jostled along through the city, Al relaxed. "This plan I'm thinking of. It calls for me being in the limelight, at least for a minute or so. How would the Reckoners react if I declared them wrong in their church?"

"Badly," Edwin piped up. "Very badly."

Al smiled. "That might do. Do any of you know any defensive spells? Those yellow ones?"

Violet nodded. "I can muster a little yellow magic. But the spells I know are fairly long and involved."

"Would it incomber me?"

She shook her head. "Not at all. The one I'm thinking of will take a while to apply, but it'll stop most weaker offensive spells, and some of the more common crowd control abilities. It'll also take me an hour or so to summon it."

"Then spell me," he said.

Violet nodded, closed her eyes, then reached out her lithe hands, placing one on both cheeks. He felt his face warming under the touch. And so Al waited, thinking and plotting and preparing as they rode to the church of the Reckoners.