The dawn sky was still shrouded in darkness, the first hints of sunlight yet to grace the horizon in Araway. Despite the early hour, a sense of anticipation hung in the air as we gathered our gear and prepared for the mission ahead.
Fleur, her movements sluggish from a slight hangover, struggled to shake off the remnants of drowsiness. Caius who was already ready as always, was trying to wake Fleur up by splashing water on her face, urging her to hasten her preparations.
"Come on, Fleur, we haven't got all morning," Caius chided gently, the urgency evident in his tone. "We need to be ready to go."
With a groan, Fleur begrudgingly complied, rubbing her eyes and mustering what little energy she had.
"This is why you need to quit drinking so much before we actually have a job to do," Lucas snarked while polishing his boots.
Lucas's retort woke Fleur up enough to comment back, "Oh fuck off Lucas."
"Fleur!" Caius shouted. "Let's just get ready."
The door to the master room creaks open and Darius walks out holding a small wooden case which he puts in his jacket pocket. "I've arranged a carriage to take us near the estate. They should have arrived outside right about now."
"Ready to go, everyone?" Darius's voice cut through the early morning stillness, his tone a blend of authority and reassurance. And with a swift motion, he adjusted his coat.
I nodded in affirmation, a surge of anticipation coursing through me as I fastened my gloves tight.
With our preparations complete, we made our way outside to where the waiting carriage stood under the soft glow of the street lamps. The faint scent of damp earth hung in the air, a testament to the possible rainfall that had washed overnight.
The carriage driver, a weathered man with a grizzled beard, tipped his hat in acknowledgment as we approached. "Mornin', folks," he greeted, his voice carrying a gravelly timbre. He had a slight accent rather northern and more similar to what you'd hear back in Leode.
Thankfully The Huntsmen and the other units had carriage drivers posted around in various cities for times like this.
"Good Morning," Darius replied, returning his nod as he climbed into the carriage, followed by Fleur, Lucas, Caius and I.
The carriage ride was a quiet affair, the rhythmic clatter of hooves against cobblestone providing a steady backdrop to our thoughts. Half an hour passed in comfortable silence, the rolling hills gradually emerging on the horizon as we left the city behind.
As the carriage came to a halt, we disembarked and began the remainder of our journey on foot. The crisp and damp morning air filled my lungs, invigorating me as we trekked northward for another half-hour along the wet gravel road.
Eventually, the gates of the estate came into view, their imposing presence casting a shadow over the surrounding landscape. A long, stony path stretched out before us, leading our eyes upward to the grandeur of the estate's main building.
"We're here," Darius announced, his voice tinged with a sense of determination as he surveyed our surroundings.
As we approached the gate, I steeled myself for the task ahead. Activating Fractured Sight, I grasped my revolver tightly, the weight of it grounding me amidst the swirling visions.
The webs of fractured reality coalesced, revealing the Victorian-style building standing proudly amidst sprawling grounds, and the long stone driveway stretching out like a beckoning path. Two figures loomed ahead, their presence ominous against the backdrop of the estate. Guards, are likely to be arcanists as well.
With a determined blink, I disabled Fractured Sight, returning to reality.
But this time, a weightless sensation accompanied the deactivation and washed over me. It was a knowing sensation. One that Alexei had told me about before.
I was ready to advance as an Arcanist, to Tier 7: Visionary.
Turning to face Darius and the rest of the team, I relayed our next steps. "We'll have to get past two guards at the entrance," I stated, my voice steady despite the gravity of the situation.
Darius, after a moment, nodded in agreement and sighed. "This won't be a stealth mission after all," he affirmed, his tone resolute. "Lucas, Fleur, you two can take on the guards while Eli and Caius go looking for the pages. I'll make sure neither Pink nor Xerces can interfere. There are always uncertainties and we don't know what could and will happen. Be ready for the worst and remember, we're just here for those pages."
We all looked at each other, silently acknowledging the task ahead.
As we passed the gates and walked up the crunchy stone path, the sun began to come over the horizon. The two guards stationed by the front entrance to the estate started to come into view in the dawn light. Their presence was formidable, their uniforms adorned with intricate red insignias that hinted at their affiliation with the estate's security detail and The Arcane Group that Pink was a part of.
One guard, tall and imposing, stood with an air of authority, his gaze unwavering as it swept over us. The other, slightly shorter but no less imposing, exuded a quiet intensity, his hand resting on the hilt of his revolver.
Lucas and Fleur moved ahead, their strides purposeful as they approached the guards. I followed closely behind along with Caius and Darius, my senses heightened in anticipation of the impending confrontation.
As we drew nearer, the guards' movements became more pronounced. They reached down to their sides, fingers curling around the grips of their revolvers in a warning gesture.
"Stop right there!" one of the guards barked. "This is private property. You have no business here. Go back to where you came from!"
Fleur and Lucas pressed on even faster ahead of the rest of us, undeterred by the guards' warnings.
With a swift, fluid motion, the guards reached for their revolvers, readying themselves for whatever confrontation lay ahead.
Before anyone could react, the guards raised their weapons, the metallic glint of their revolvers catching the dim light. "I said leave!" the other guard shouted, his tone laced with urgency.
Without a moment's hesitation, the two guards instantly pulled their triggers, letting out a crack in the dawn sky.
Fleur moved with an otherworldly speed that I had seen before, her movements a blur as she darted to the side with supernatural speed. The guard's bullet whizzed past her with barely a whisper, the air crackling with energy in her wake.
Beside her, Lucas's form seemed to distort and warp, space itself bending to his will. With a low thrum, he surged forward, the bullet passing him harmlessly as if repelled by an unseen force.
I started to pick up the pace alongside Caius and Darius behind us to catch up to Fleur and Lucas up ahead.
The guards holstered their revolvers and began pacing towards both Lucas and Fleur with great confidence in their stride.
As the distance closed, Fleur exploded into action, her form a blur as she attempted a sweeping punch aimed directly at the taller guard. However, her attack, swift and powerful, was met with nothing but air as the guard sidestepped and ducked with grace, his movements fluid and eerily precise.
The guards both countered with attacks of their own, but both Fleur and Lucas had incredible speed and reflexes of their own.
With a heavy swing, Fleur aimed at the guard's midsection, but in a display of incredible reflexes he twisted away. Her fist continued its trajectory and crashed into the wooden door of the estate's entrance.
The impact was thunderous, splinters of wood flying as the door shattered under the force of her strike. The entrance blew apart at the hinges breaking pieces of the walls too, leaving a gaping hole where the entrance once stood.
We could now see inside as I was catching up to the battle. The estate was lit inside in contrast to the dawn light outside.
The guard, capitalizing on Fleur's momentary imbalance from her missed strike, launched a swift counterattack. His fist descended with terrifying precision, aimed directly where Fleur had been a mere second before. But with her ability as a Tier 7 Blinker, she dashed to the side and his punch collided with the ground instead with a loud smash.
The impact was so forceful that it left a crater in the stone floor, scattering debris around their feet.
As the dust settled from the guard's blow, I finally caught up to the scene, with Caius ahead and Darius close behind. The gaping hole Fleur had created in the entrance provided us with an unexpected, yet opportune, passage into the building. Without a moment's hesitation, Caius, seizing the chance, sprinted past the guards, Fleur, and Lucas, his figure passing by inside the estate.
Taking a deep breath, I followed suit, hastening my steps towards the breach in the wall.
But as I passed by Fleur, Lucas, and the guards, a sudden flash caught my eye. A metallic blur flew passed my eyes. Before I could react, it was upon me, piercing through my outstretched left gloved hand with a sickening sound.
The pain didn't come immediately, but as I stumbled forward and tripped over the ornate red carpet that lined the entrance, it slowly crept up on me and was searing, as if my entire hand had been set ablaze.
The shock of the knife's cold steel through my flesh was jarring, contrasting starkly with the warmth of the blood that began to form around the edges of the blade on both sides of my hand. One of the guards must've thrown it with perfect precision.
Behind me, I heard the ongoing clash, the sounds of combat from Fleur, Lucas and the guards, but all seemed momentarily distant as I focused on the excruciating pain in my hand.
"Elias!" Caius's voice cut through the haze of my agony. He was by my side in an instant, his expression one of concern mixed with urgency. Without a word, he grasped the handle of the knife coming from my palm.
"Stay still," he muttered, more to himself than to me, bracing my arm with his other hand.
The pain flared unbearably as he pulled the blade free with a swift motion. I couldn't help but curse through clenched teeth biting my lip, the pain blinding and sharp.
"We need to keep going," Caius said firmly, tearing a strip off from the hem of his trousers. He took hold of my bleeding hand, wrapping the makeshift bandage tightly around the hole in my hand. The pressure was painful but necessary, and I found myself nodding, gritting my teeth against the pain.
"Shit," I cursed again under my breath as I got to my feet and looked around the lobby of the Stanway Estate.
Hues of red and amber surrounded the room from the eloquent carpets, decorations and flickering candlelight. Ahead of us was an imperial-style staircase coming from both sides of the room leading up to the second floor above flanked with an ornate railing.
Up above us was a magnificent chandelier, its crystals catching the dim light of the candles and casting a dazzling display of refracted patterns across the lobby.
"Eli, we need to get those pages before Pink or Xerces notice anything. Hurry up," Caius reminded me.
I nodded and led the way ahead. Caius wasn't an arcanist, so I had to be there if anything irregular were to happen.
We began to run through the hallway beneath the staircase, my injured hand throbbing with each heartbeat and sweat starting to build on my forehead. But I ignored the pain, focusing instead on the task at hand. I couldn't let them down this time.
Running my good hand along the cold metal of each door handle we passed, I activated fractured sight momentarily with each touch. The vision was always the same—a scene of both Caius and I continuing down the dimly lit hallway, our figures moving like shadows in pursuit of something just out of reach.
With each scene, I would see myself for a brief moment, causing my head to throb more than it already was, a minor symptom of losing control of my abilities. I knew I shouldn't be doing it, but this was necessary.
Finally, the hallway ended at a narrow staircase spiralling downward. The air grew cooler as we rapidly descended, the ambience shifting from opulent to utilitarian.
At the bottom, a new corridor stretched out before us, darker than the last. The faintest light seeped from beneath a door at the corridor's end, a sliver of brightness in the encroaching gloom.
Reaching the door, I hesitated only a moment between laboured breaths before grasping the cool metal of the handle and letting fractured sight flood my senses. The vision was clear this time; Caius stepping in front of me into a room filled with crates and objects that glittered even in the scant light. This had to be it.
Shutting out the fracture, I turned to Caius and nodded, seeing the same determination mirrored in his eyes. With a deep breath, I pushed the door open gently.
Caius stepped inside ahead of me and began to look around. But I didn't need to look anywhere else. I saw it instantly.