Chapter 73: His Escape Artist

Raziel didn’t have time to answer.

Lucian pulled him from the cot and pushed him towards the window.

“Move!”

Down on the street, the Inquisitors’ torches surrounded the safe house.

Raziel counted four figures in crimson robes, swords drawn and the Church’s seal shining on their chests.

One of them pounded on the main door with his fist.

BOOM! BOOM!

“Open up in the name of the Inquisition!” The voice cut through the walls like a divine command.

Raziel looked at Lucian.

“Kiera?”

“She already left through the back exit with Aerion, and Odessa is waiting for us in the alley.”

Lucian leaned out the window, sizing up the distance to the roof of the next building.

“Can you jump?”

“No.”

“Well, learn fast.”

Lucian threw the window open, climbed onto the frame, and jumped.

His feet hit the tiles of the other building with a dull thud.

He turned, holding out his hand. “Let’s go!”

Raziel took a deep breath, the parasite throbbed again, but he ignored it.

He climbed onto the frame, felt the cold Shipyard wind on his face, and jumped.

The void welcomed him with open arms as he landed badly.

His shoulder hit the edge of the roof and he slipped.

Lucian grabbed his wrist before he could fall three stories to the alley below.

“I got you!”

He pulled him up, the muscles in his arm tense under his robe.

Raziel landed on the tiles. “Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me yet.” Lucian pointed down.

The Inquisitors had broken down the door.

CRASH!

They stormed in, swords high and torches lighting up the inside of the house. “Search every room!”

“The heretic is here!”

Raziel and Lucian ran across the roof.

The tiles creaked under their feet, but they didn’t stop.

They jumped to the next building, then the next.

The Shipyard District was a maze of sloped roofs, crooked chimneys, and clotheslines that swayed in the wind.

Raziel looked back and two Inquisitors were following them.

They leaped from roof to roof with an agility that shouldn’t be possible in full armor.

One of them raised his hand.

A sphere of fire formed in his palm.

FWOOSH!

He threw it and Raziel dove to the ground.

The sphere flew over his head and exploded against a chimney.

BOOM!

Bricks flew in every direction.

“Shit!” Lucian grabbed his arm and pulled him into a gap between two buildings.

They fell together onto a rotten wooden balcony.

The wood groaned under their weight, but it held.

Down in the alley, Odessa was waiting for them with her sword drawn and shield raised. “Move your asses!”

Raziel and Lucian jumped from the balcony.

They landed badly again, their knees taking the impact against the cobblestones.

Raziel felt a pull in his ankle, but he forced himself to get up.

The two Inquisitors appeared on the edge of the roof.

Odessa planted herself in front of Raziel and Lucian, her shield glowing with holy light. “Run! I’ll hold them off!”

One of the Inquisitors jumped.

Odessa met him with her shield.

CLANG!

The impact echoed through the alley, The Inquisitor stumbled back, but the second one was already coming down.

Odessa spun and blocked his sword with her own, The blades clashed, sparks flying.

“I said run!”

Raziel didn’t move because his mind was working fast.

Two Inquisitors here and two more in the house.

They needed a way out.

The System flickered in his vision.

[SKILL AVAILABLE: ILLUSION WEAVER]

[COST: MENTAL STABILITY -3%]

[EFFECT: CREATES VISUAL COPIES OF THE USER. DURATION: 30 SECONDS]

Raziel gritted his teeth but he activated the skill.

The world distorted.

Three copies of Raziel materialized beside him, identical down to the last detail.

The movements, the breathing, the tremor in his hands.

The Inquisitors stopped. “What the hell…?”

Raziel and his copies ran in opposite directions.

One to the left, another to the right, the third straight at the Inquisitors.

The Inquisitors hesitated and That second was enough.

Odessa shoved the one closest to her with her shield and stabbed her sword into his shoulder, right at the joint of the armor.

The Inquisitor screamed.

Lucian appeared behind the second one and he pulled a dagger from his belt, thin and curved, its handle engraved with the Nyxian seal.

The Inquisitor turned, but Lucian was faster.

He cut the strap of his breastplate with a precise move.

SHING!

The armor loosened and Lucian kicked the Inquisitor in the chest.

The man fell back against the wall, the air knocked out of his lungs.

Lucian smiled. “Never chase a Nyxian in a dark alley.”

Raziel appeared behind Lucian the illusory copies had already dissolved.

“Where did you learn that?”

“My father made me train with assassins since I was ten.” Lucian wiped the dagger on his robe.

“He said a noble who doesn’t know how to fight dirty is a dead noble.”

Odessa looked at them both. “Can you two chat later?”

She pointed towards the end of the alley.

The other two Inquisitors appeared, running towards them with their swords high.

“Surrender! The heretic has no escape!”

Odessa cursed.

“This way.”

They ran, the alley split into three paths and Odessa took the middle one, a staircase that went down to the docks.

Raziel followed her, with Lucian right on his heels.

The Inquisitors shouted behind them. “Don’t let them escape!”

They rushed down the stairs.

The smell of rotten fish and stagnant water hit them in the face when they reached a narrow passage between two buildings.

Odessa stopped in front of a rotting wooden door.

She knocked three times, then two. A code.

The door opened and a man with an eyepatch looked at them.

“Odessa?”

“Let us in, Garrett.”

The man stepped aside.

Raziel, Lucian, and Odessa went inside.

The door shut behind them with a heavy thud.

They were in the basement of a tavern.

Barrels of ale were stacked against the walls, the floor was damp earth, and a staircase led up to the noise of drunk voices and off-key music.

Garrett slid the bolt shut. “The Inquisitors are everywhere. What the hell did you do?”

“It’s complicated.” Odessa leaned against the wall, breathing heavily.

Raziel dropped onto a barrel.

The parasite throbbed again, stronger this time.

Garrett looked at them suspiciously. “Kiera told me to help you, but she didn’t say you’d be bringing a heretic.”

“He’s not a heretic.” Odessa took off her helmet. “He’s an ally.”

“The Inquisitors don’t see it that way.” Garrett walked to a table in the corner of the basement.

There was a sealed envelope on it.

He grabbed it and tossed it to Raziel. “This arrived for you an hour ago.”

Raziel broke the seal, The message was written in black ink, with tight, nervous handwriting.

“Marius has spoken before the Inquisition. He told them everything Or rather, he made it all up you only have 24 hours before they hunt you with Templars.”

It wasn’t signed But Raziel recognized the handwriting.

Arawn.

Lucian read over his shoulder. “Templars?”

Raziel closed his eyes. “Yeah.”

“That’s…”

“A death sentence.”

Odessa walked over. “What does it say?”

Raziel handed her the message.

Odessa read it, her jaw tight. “We have to get you out of the capital.”

“No.” Raziel stood up.

“If I run, Marius wins. The Inquisition will hunt me down anyway and I lose my only chance to clear my name.”

“And what’s that chance?”

“Arawn.”

Lucian frowned. “The guy who almost killed us?”

“The very same.”

Raziel tucked the message into his robe.

“If Marius lied, Arawn has proof. I just need to get to him before the Templars get to me.”

Odessa looked at him like he was crazy. “That’s suicide.”

“I know.” Raziel walked towards the stairs. “But it’s the only move I have left.”

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