At last, air that wasn't drenched with the smell of the sea would soon grace my nostrils once again. The schooner had just come to a stop as I heard Levi climb onto the docks and begin to tie it down with a rope. I was about to go above deck as well, but Cornelius grabbed the collar of my jacket.
"Slow down Rico. You can't just walk out in broad daylight. This is one of the biggest cities in all of Aclium. Creatara aren't welcome here."
"How do you expect me to get inside then?"
"Simple" Cornelius turned to the table behind us, tapping Alice who was just finishing a cold glass of orange juice on her shoulder.
"Is it time?" Alice tucked her chair in and walked over to us, cracking her knuckles softly.
"Indeed." Cornelius motioned for the rest of the team to arrive, and so they did each one piling in after the other.
"Listen everyone," Cornelius raised his hand for attention, "Zleigh is not particularly fond of your kind, so Alice here is going to cast a spell to change all of your appearances. Keep in mind that this spell only lasts for around two hours, so you have that long to find shelter and make camp so Alice can get some rest and cast it again. The spell is quite tolling on her body and considering she's going to be casting it multiple times she'll probably be extremely tuckered out."
"Indeed," Alice yawned, I had forgotten she had taken a short nap before we had arrived. "I may need someone to help me walk or straight up carry me, ever since casting peprit I haven't been the same energy wise. She lifted up her empty glass of orange juice, "Vitamins help though."
"Alright then." Julian clasped his hands together, "Shall we get started? The Lord's banquet isn't gonna get crashed by itself!"
Cornelius tapped his chin, "There is one more thing. I am confident that they are not allowing anyone to enter or exit Zleigh at this time as a precautionary measure. So Alice is going to have to save enough energy to teleport us all in there."
"Alright, let's get going then." Ray stood up from the chair he was sitting in from the corner of the room, "The clock is ticking."
Alice did a little warm up, shaking her arms and legs and relaxing her body, "Alright, I'm going to need everyone to remain still for a moment." She looked to Corra, "I'm not going to be able to transform myself before passing out so you guys are going to have to conceal my wings with some sort of large cloak."
"On it." Ray nodded, "We'll get you that as soon as the spell is cast."
Alice nodded, her eyes beginning to close as she raised her arms above her head, "Well Marauders, I wish you luck. See you on the other side." Her hands began to glow and everything went dark.
I was out of breath, out of shape, and out of luck. Normally I had always looked for chance to help me through my problems. Whether it was at the craps table or when talking to a lady at the bar, you could guess I trusted the dice more than myself. But today however, lady luck did not smile upon me, instead she simply spat down at my feet. I glanced down at my feathered hands. These were the hands that had gotten me into this predicament, they were worth more money then you could possibly fathom.
I began to aimlessly make my way down the rainy wet streets of Grustenburg, I seemed to wander for hours, but eventually I found my way into a local bar. The familiar smell of ale pounded my senses as I stumbled inside, I was bruised and beaten but that wasn't going to stop me from getting a drink. I gingerly shuffled onto one of the stools that lined the bartenders counter, resting my bloody head on it's varnished wooden surface.
"Avemium eh?" I could barely make out the words behind the throbbing in my head and the bartender's thick accent, "I haven't seen one of your kind in quite some time."
I ignored him, I wasn't in the mood for small talk, "Please, as many shots of whiskey as you can get. I want to feel something."
"Rough night?"
Another voice came from beside me, however this one didn't ache of long night shifts and drunken customers, it was cold and oddly sympathetic. I pulled the corner of my jacket cuff, still groggy and delirious. I barely payed the man any attention, not even giving him a single glance.
"I suppose you could say so." I answered.
"Well, if you feel something even close to the way you look then I suppose I'll pay for your drinks." A voice from beside me cut the bartender off.
Surprised I glanced to the side, curious who the man was, "That's quite generous of you. What might your name be?"
He held out his pale hand, "Greyson. Greyson Okinji."
"So tell me Grey," I shook his hand and downed a shot, the liquid setting my throat alight, "What brings you to this dump? You look like a pretty distinguished fellow."
Greyson fondled the wine glass in his hand, "I'm on a mission of sorts, a mission to end this creatara versus human debacle."
"An admirable mission indeed," I sniffed the empty shot glass, hoping to regain any sense of feeling from the warmth of ale, "Unfortunately one person can't make a difference."
"Hmm. This may be somewhat true, but two is always better than one."
I looked at Greyson and nodded.
I felt my boots hit hard stone pathing with a thump, making my knees buckle and causing me to tumble to the ground. I was in Zleigh for sure, but something was indeed off. There was some strange atmosphere around wherever I had been teleported that I couldn't shake. Why did everything feel so… cold? It was as if I had been stripped of my warmth. As I lay on the cold ground it hit me like a slap to the face, I had been transformed.
I glanced at my wings, but instead of feathers, I was greeted with dark skin and freckles. I jumped back, afraid and shocked as the other Marauders began to teleport in around me.
"Glad to see you're awake. You've been out for quite some time."
Ray was the first to approach me, a mop of walnut hair was gracefully swept across his pale complexion. He still retained his unsettling crimson red eyes however, they seemed to seep malice as he held out his hand.
I ran my hands through my jet black hair, "R-Ray! You… We…"
He squatted next to me, "The moment Alice cast the spell you passed out. We've made our way into Zleigh."
I frantically glanced around, trying to clear the dark spots from my vision, "Where's Alice? Is she alright?"
Ray sighed, "The moment she cast the spell she collapsed, she was barely able to teleport us in here."
I felt someone tap me on the shoulder and I whirled, it appeared Corra had made her way to Zleigh. She looked normal, except her ears and tail were gone, she looked extremely solemn as she glanced down at the cloaked figure she held in her arms.
"Greeting Rico," Corra said, "Here's Alice if you want to-"
I immediately scrambled upright, throwing off the hood of the cloak to reveal long blonde hair. Alice's eyes were closed, and blood was trickling down the corner of her mouth. She was breathing quite heavily and her face looked like it had been sapped of all colour.
I tapped her cheek, it was cold. "We have to find shelter as soon as possible."
Ray nodded, "Agreed. The other's should be joining us fairly soon."
Right on cue two more figures walked around the corner of the alley we had been dropped in, one was fairly lean with a sword at their side, while the other was stockier with a cigar in their mouth.
Corra tilted her head to say hello, "Julian! Jack! Get over here! Where were you two?"
The taller one which I could now make out to be Julian, spoke first, "Apologies, it appeared we were transported somewhere different than the two of you." His shaggy black hair seemed to come to a part where it turned a dark shade of green.
Jack nodded, taking a puff of his cigar, "It appears so. How's the girl?"
I held my palm to Alice's forehead, it was searing hot, but oddly cold at the same time. "Not too good. We'd better get a move on."
We all nodded, and came full sprint out of the alley, the dampened sound of crowd chattering becoming louder as we approached. Light flooded my senses as the sights and sounds of Zleigh came in at full force. Towering buildings, festive music, and energetic crowds, it was all I'd ever wanted.
Ray gave me a firm pat on the shoulder, "Remember to stay focused. We'll keep at a steady pace towards the outskirts or the city, from there we should be able to find a hotel. Remember to not run too fast, we don't want to seem suspicious."
I agreed and continued sifting through the massive crowd of people, making sure to keep my eyes on the rest of the group. I scanned the crowd, there appeared to be men wearing masks and cloaks surveying the area like soldiers, when Corra noticed them she sunk down into her burgundy jacket.
I tapped her on the back, she was still cradling Alice, whose wings were thankfully concealed, "Dawn Syndicate?"
She nodded, not a single word escaped from her mouth. It was if her eyes were glued to the floor. Whoever these Dawn Syndicate guys were I didn't want to mess with them. We continued through the crowd, I tried my best to stay focused, but I found my eyes drifting to the many sights and sounds of the city.
I shook my head, I needed to keep on task and vigilant for Alice. If something were to happen to her I'd never forgive myself.
"Excuse me, miss."
I whirled. It appears Corra, who was trailing in front of me, had been stopped. One of the masked men that had been surveying the crowd has stepped in front of her, his hand outstretched.
I immediately interviended, "What's the meaning of this?"
The masked man spoke, Corra was still frozen in fear, she didn't make a single noise, "Nothing too serious sir. We're just checking the…" He glanced down at the cloaked Alice. "...package that this young lady is carrying."
Cripes, play it cool Rico.
"Indeed," I stepped between the two of them, taking off the hood Alice had placed over face, being careful to not show her wings. "This is our daughter, she is extremely sick and we need to give her care as soon as possible."
The syndicate member glanced at the two of us sceptically, "You two seem a little young to have a child."
"That's quite an inappropriate question to ask, now is it?" Corra replied, she seemed to be getting into the act now.
"And…" He cautiously removed the hood off of Alice, "How old is your child? She seems around the same age as the both of you."
Corra and I both glanced at each other nervously, she seemed to motion towards me as if to say "you take this one".
I cleared my throat, "Oh, she's adopted." The words felt stupid as they left my mouth.
There was a moment of odd silence before Corra stepped forward, attempting to walk past the guard, "Please sir, if you don't mind we need to get going! She needs to be treated as soon as possible."
He grabbed the cuff of her sleeve, "I don't think so, you two are going to come with me and answer some questions."
We didn't want to act suspicious, so we followed the syndicate guard into one of the various back alleys that littered Zleigh. My heart was pounding as he motioned for us to step forward, but I listened like any good civilian would.
The masked figure pulled out a paper and quill, "Now then, can I get your names?"
"Oh," I glanced back to Corra, "Jarvis and C… Catherine Lysis."
He scanned his paper for a moment before glancing back up at us, "Lysis eh? We don't have anybody who goes by that name in our records." He seemed to glance towards Corra sceptically, and then, I tensed as I realized what was about to happen. "Say, you remind me of someone... Wait a min-"
He went to walk closer towards her but in an instant Corra had unsheathed her knives, clubbing the figure in the side of the head with the blunt of its hilt. A sickening crunch rang in the air as polished ivory made contact with bone.
Corra cracked her knuckles, "That was a close one." She reached for the enamel pin the syndicate member wore on the cusp of their jacket that seemed to resemble the same mask they wore so proudly.
"What's that?" I questioned, my heart was still pounding.
"It's where they get their power." She tossed it on the ground and stomped on it, snapping the thin piece of metal in half. "Now help me hide his body, alright?"
"He… he's not dead, is he?"
Corra grasped the man by his ankles, hauling him behind of the trash receptacles so he was hidden from sight, "I don't think so, hopefully by the time he wakes up we'll be out of Zleigh. I hit him pretty hard." She kicked him in the stomach, "That's one more for good measure."
"Who are these people Corra?"
"That's not important right now," she glanced down at Alice's frail frame that lay nestled in her arms, "what's important is that we get Alice well again before the banquet."
I nodded, as much as I was curious about the strange group that were patrolling the city, I had to get my priorities in check. For once I had to forget about my curiosity, love was on the line. We gingerly exited the dank alley, being sure to check that the coast was clear before leaving. We had completely lost track of the rest of the group, so we were on our own now. Thankfully Corra seemed quite accustomed to the city.
We made our way through many winding streets and corridors, each time we turned down the next, the sound of crowds chattering and the smell of freshly baked goods slowly began to fade away like a desert mirage. Eventually the sights and smells had drifted away and we had made our way into the slums of Zleigh.
"Corra, where are we going?" I sidestepped, avoiding a dead rat carcass that was lying in the center of the alley.
"We're taking a shortcut, if I'm correct the path we're taking should lead us to the hotel that Cornelius booked for us."
"Cornelius paid for our lodging?"
"Indeed, unfortunately you were incappacatated at the time he told us."
I assumed that the hotel that Cornelius had booked would be in the slummy backstreets of Zleigh, but as we began to drift closer and closer to the familiar sounds of merchants shouting and people conversing I saw that it wasn't the case. Eventually we made our way back into the sunlight, and back into the streets of Zleigh. As the blinding sunlight passed, I saw we had come up right next to a towering structure. Quartz pillars lined the structure's base, and gold trim accented it's stained windows.
"It's a little much, don't you think?" The towering building made me feel as feeble and small as an insect.
"Yes Rico, yes it is."