“So where is that door?” asked Adam with a smile as they walked into the dark alleyway. He held a lantern to light the way; the light showed little of their surroundings though. The clouds overhead hid the moon and stars tonight and there hung an eery atmosphere in the narrow street.
Terrance chuckled. “You're going at it fast, aren't you?” He took the lantern from him and shone the light on the back wall of the butcher shop. There seemed no cellar door or any kind of hatch.
“Did Reinwald lie to us?” said Adam.
“He didn't. He told us exactly what we needed to know.”
“Which is?”
“Brandenshield,” Terrance replied with a smile. He examined the blank wall, although Adam did not seem to understand why. “It hides itself.”
“We should have brought Lupine,” Adam muttered. “She's good at sensing magic.”
“I doubt she'd be able to sense this though; you are underestimating the power of the shield. If this shield has a steady power supply, it can become invisible and virtually undetectable to anyone who doesn't know what to look for. That is probably why Reinwald built it underneath a butcher shop.”
Adam glanced at the Red Cleaver; it seemed nothing worthwhile. Just a small shop, with living space above. The lights were out inside. Either the owner had fled the town, or he was in hiding somewhere. “Doesn't look like much,” he said.
Terrance met his eye with a smile. “You should know better than to judge a book by its cover.”
“Looks just like an ordinary butcher shop though.”
“That's because it is an ordinary butcher shop,” Terrance explained. “Think about it: the Brandenshield is a very complicated piece of bloodmagic. It locks everything inside away from the outside in any way possible. However, it does need energy. It get that energy from its surroundings—subtly but surely. So what better place to hide it than a butcher shop, where there always is plenty of blood? It can power itself with the animals rather than the humans, which would sooner be detected.” He chuckled. “I've got to hand it to Reinwald, that's clever.”
“So it's powered up and invisible,” said Adam. “But you know how to find it, right?”
“I know I know how to find it,” Terrance answered vaguely, then turned back to the blind wall. He walked alongside it slowly, up and down, then finally stopped, stepped back and pointed at the ground before him. “It's here.”
Adam came closer and crouched down, trying to see whatever Terrance saw. “How can you tell?” he asked.
“I don't know. I just know that it's here.”
YOU ARE READING
Water's Reflection or Hero's Guilt
Fantasy[Part Four of the Travelling with a Wolf series]
