ADRIAN KEPT HIS eyes covered with a strip of cloth, pretending he was using the cane to feel his path as he walked through the city gates. The thread bare cloth around his eyes allowed him to see his surroundings, but kept his identity hidden.
When he walked by, people only saw a blind boy, struggling to find his way with a cane. Not even the guards at the gate stopped him. Like his mother said, the disabled made everyone uncomfortable, made them feel guilty for their own health, so they averted their gazes quickly.
I have no idea what I'm waking into, this is just a precaution, he thought.
- "And a smart one too! Your mother is quite the genius!" - Daevera said, excitedly.
What are you so chirpy about?
- "The world, Adrian. It's so bright, so vibrant. So much has changed since I've been locked away." -
She was locked away? Adrian pondered on that tidbit of information as he kept to the edges of the crowded morning streets where the shadows were deepest, faces were mere blurs, and he could melt into the hustle of city life.
Guards manned nearly every corner, and he took great care to avoid them. Every step felt like a risk; if anyone looked too closely, suspected he wasn't really blind and forcibly removed the cloth, his cover would be blown, and everything would be over.
Last night, he'd been certain none of the guards had seen his face, so they wouldn't know he was the last member of the gang still at large. Still, he moved like a hunted animal, trying to draw as little attention as possible.
The hum of town life surrounded him - the usual sharp, cheerful bartering voices mingled with quieter, anxious murmurs. He strained to pick up anything about why everyone was on edge by piecing together fragments of conversations.
""...a thief should have been dealt with long ago…"
"...right from Lord Varik's own keep, imagine the nerve…"
"...grew great wings and vanished like a beast, some say."
Well, so much for hoping this would all blow over. I hope that stupid wizard, Valtak, never finds peace in the afterlife. The only good thing is I finally have enough to leave nightmare behind.
But as he moved past an alley, something made him stop cold. A poster, freshly pasted on the stone wall, caught his eye. It was a sketched face - his face - marked with the words "WANTED."
He stared in silent horror as he took in the details, careful to not let anyone know what he was looking at. After all, he was supposed to be blind.
The image was a perfect likeness, right down to the color of his eyes. If not for his precaution, he would have been caught the moment he walked though the city gates.
His stomach churned, a sick realization crashing down. There was only one way the City Watch could know his face with such detail.
As he had feared from the moment Jax had been caught, Jax had sold him out.
Daevera's voice broke through his thoughts. - "You don't know what happened, Adrian. He might've been tortured all night. Maybe he had no choice." -
Her voice was calm, trying to soothe the fury building inside him, but he ignored her.
Betrayal was a wound that cut deeper than any blade, and it bled bitterness that pooled into his heart with every step.
Jax.
He was always a sniveling coward, and I know it was stupid to expect anything more. I was prepared for this, so why do I feel so betrayed?
- "Are you still going to rescue him after Halena?" -
Adrian thought hard before responding, checking to see if this changed anything. Like you said, he was probably tortured all night, so we'll see.
He continued down the street, noticing just how many guards had been posted to keep an eye out for him. If they'd gone this far, his mother could already be in danger.
As he moved, he caught more fragments of conversation, the words clawing at him, dark and heavy.
"…find him like the rat he is…"
"…stealing from Lord Varik, what nerve…"
"…curse on the town, born of sin…"
Adrian wound his way down narrow alleys, emerging at last on the edge of town. Just ahead, he could see the woods that stretched on both sides, and a stone bridge arched over the river winding out toward his village.
Finally, he took off the cloth from his eyes and discarded the cane.
His cover was blown, and it was foolish to think they wouldn't go search for him at the village first. He had to see if his mother was safe. If anything happened to her, he'd…he'd...
As he approached the bridge, he saw a thin plume of smoke rising in the distance, darker than the morning mist, staining the horizon like a bruise. Dread crept through him, chilling his spine.
No. No, not the village.
Adrian's heart plummeted. He abandoned all caution and broke into a sprint, his mind racing even faster than his feet as he imagined what lay ahead. Fire. Death. Innocents trapped in a nightmare because of him.
As he neared the outskirts of the village, he saw black plumes rising over familiar rooftops, curling above trees he had once climbed with Jax and Thorne.
Adrian stopped just before the edge of the village, crouching low behind a crumbling stone wall and took in the horror before him.
From his vantage point, he could see the City Watch - Lord Varik's men, their black-clad forms stark against the orange glow of flames licking at the wooden homes.
Bodies lay strewn in the mud, familiar faces twisted in pain and death. The City Watch moved in groups through the streets, dragging those they hadn't murdered yet out of their homes.
Each one wore the star-and-claw insignia of Lord Varik's men. And at the center of it all, a burly guard with silver armor, their captain, was dragging a frail, dark haired woman through the mud and snow.
Captain Braxton. Lord Varik had sent his most vile captain, famous for his cruel tax collection methods to look for him.
And the captain had his mother.