Lyra worked with a focused intensity that was at odds with her usually chaotic nature, carefully, almost delicately, pulling the smaller splinters from Riko's arm with a pair of tweezers sheâd produced from a hidden pocket. Riko flinched with each one, her teeth gritted against the sharp, stinging pain, her other hand gripping the fabric of her own cloak until her knuckles were white.
"Alright, just the big one left," Lyra announced cheerfully, her bedside manner leaving much to be desired. She grabbed the end of the large, deeply embedded piece of wood that jutted from Riko's forearm. "Hold still!"
Before Riko could protest or even properly brace herself, Lyra yanked. A raw, unfiltered scream of pain and betrayal ripped through the ruined tavern, echoing off the shattered walls.
"AHHHHHHH! LYRA, JUST HEAL ME ALREADY!" Riko shouted, cradling her now-bleeding arm, tears of sheer, undignified pain welling in her eyes. The rest of the party, who had been trying to look stoic and heroic, all flinched in sympathetic agony.
Lyra nodded, all business now that the unpleasant part was over. She placed her hand above the ragged wounds. "Goddess Caelia, mother of mercy, lend me your grace. I cast: Elixir!" Her eyes glowed a soft, verdant green for a moment. A warm, soothing light enveloped Riko's arm, and the angry red splinter holes slowly knit themselves shut, leaving behind smooth, unblemished skin in a matter of seconds.
Riko turned to Lyra, a glare so intense it could freeze fire forming on her face. Lyra yelped, her professional healer's demeanor vanishing instantly. She scrambled behind Noel, using him as a human shield. "NOEL! HELP ME AND I'LL CALL YOU THE BEST LOOKING FOR A WHOLE WEEK!" she shouted in desperation.
Noel glanced at Riko, whose murderous aura, even without a visible Crest, made his blood run cold. He took one deliberate, self-preserving step to his right, leaving Lyra completely exposed to Rikoâs silent wrath.
Before Riko could get her well-deserved revenge, a deep, rhythmic tremor shook the floorboards. It was faint at first, then stronger. The sound of marching. More knights. A lot more.
Riko was on her feet in an instant, her anger completely replaced by a cold, urgent focus. "We have to go. Now," she said, her voice sharp and commanding. "Unless you want to end up like Ronan did!" She gripped a piece of the shattered wall and, with a powerful leap that sent dust and debris flying, launched herself onto a nearby rooftop with an eerie silence.
The party, shocked for a moment by her sheer jump force, snapped out of it as the first column of armored figures, their silver plate gleaming in the morning sun, appeared at the end of the street. They scrambled into the adjoining alley, using crates and barrels to climb hastily up to the rooftops, hot on Riko's heels.
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Rooftop running, as it turns out, is not as graceful as the stories make it out to be. For most, anyway. Kaelenâs heavy landings sent tiles skittering into the streets below. Noel was nimble but cautious, his eyes constantly scanning for loose footing. Lyra, surprisingly agile, used small, controlled bursts of wind magic to soften her landings and lengthen her jumps. But Riko⦠Riko was a ghost. She flowed from one roof to the next, her steps completely silent, her Kokugan painting the world ahead in safe, stable white lines, a perfect path through the urban chaos. They ran, a desperate flight across the sun-drenched tiles of Valoria, the shouts of the City Guard growing louder behind them.
Suddenly, a different kind of shout, a panicked, civilian cry from the street below, cut through the noise of their escape.
"SOMEBODY HELP! HE STOLE MY PRODUCE!"
Riko stopped mid-stride, her body tensing. Her friends, a few rooftops ahead, turned back, their expressions a mixture of confusion and alarm. She could ignore it. She should ignore it. To stop now was insane. It would risk the lives of the four people who had just risked everything for her. But the thought of an injustice, however small, happening right in front of her while she did nothing⦠it was a thorn in her soul. What would Finn have done? Damn it.
She turned toward the noise. Her senses painted a frantic picture: a small, flickering, panicked outline running with several rounder, calmer outlines in his hands. He ducked into a dark, narrow alley between two storefronts.
With a massive, gravity-defying leap, Riko launched herself from the roof and landed silently as a falling shadow in the alley, blocking the boy's path. He gasped and stumbled backward, dropping a stolen apple. To her Kokugan, he was a portrait of pure misery. His aura was a frantic buzz of fear and hunger. The outlines of his clothes were thin, frayed, and broken. She could perceive the hot, salty trails of fresh tears on his face. He couldn't be more than ten years old.
She knelt, her expression softening, and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. From a pouch at her belt, she pulled a small loaf of bread and a piece of dried meat and gave it to him. "Don't steal," she said softly, her voice devoid of any anger. "You'll get into far more trouble than a meal is worth. If you're ever this desperate again... find me. I'm always around, kid."
She took the stolen bread and apples from his unresisting hands and, in a blur of motion, was back on the main street, standing in front of the merchant's stall. The owner, a portly man wringing his hands and cursing, jumped back in surprise at her sudden appearance. Riko calmly placed the produce back on his counter.
"Thank you so much!" he said, his face flooding with relief. "I thought he'd surely get away!"
"He's just a hungry kid," Riko said, her smile not quite reaching her eyes. "He's had a rough time. Mind giving him a discount if he comes back? I promise he won't steal again."
A distant horn blast echoed through the city, much closer this time. The rhythmic tramp of steel-shod boots was now just a street or two away.
The owner's eyes narrowed, his initial relief turning to suspicion. He looked from Riko's sincere face to the returned produce and let out a long, weary sigh. "I guess I could⦠but only because you brought it back. If he steals again, I'm holding you responsibleâ"
"Gotta run!" Riko said, her smile turning genuine for a moment. "And you never saw me!"
She leaped, grabbing the edge of a nearby awning and vaulting herself back onto a rooftop with practiced ease. She sprinted into the darkness of the city's shadowed upper levels, her heart pounding, attempting to catch up with the rest of her new, chaotic, and undoubtedly very worried family.